cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
COMPARISON OF SHORT-TERM ANALGESIC EFFECTS OF EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK WAVE THERAPY (ESWT) AND CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT (CT) IN MEN WITH CHRONIC HEEL SPUR (HS).

Background. The surgical removal of heel spur (HS) provokes many controversial opinions, but clinical studies show the risk of complication after operation. An alternative to the surgical removal of HS is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT), because it is non-invasive method. Objective. The aim of the study is to compare the short-term analgesic effects of ESWT and conservative treatment (CT) in males with chronic HS. Methods. Sixty patients (mean age 54.9±4.3 years; range 42 to 59 years) were examined who had pain associated with HS. In the shockwave group (group 1) patients received 1000–2000 impulses of shocks to the affected heel in a single session. The patients in this group took a series of 5 ESWT in 1 week intervals. Patients in the control group (group 2) at the same time received CT consisting of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), orthotics and a local cortisone injection. The basic method of research was to evaluate pain according to Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) 0–10. The patients of the two groups were tested before the treatment, after the last treatment and 3 months and 6 months after the treatment. Results. A significant decrease of VAS (p=0.000) was seen in the shockwave group. In the control group no significant decrease of VAS was seen. Conclusions. ESWT reduces pain more effectively than CT in men with chronic HS. KEY WORDS: extracorporeal shock wave therapy, conservative treatment, visual analogue scale, heel spur, pain.
New paths to social justice and recovering the past

ABSTRACTOn April 1, 2014, after months of investigative work and intensive planning, FBI agents knocked on the door of a private collector in rural Indiana. This was the start of a complex, multi-year investigation that resulted in the recovery of several thousand objects of cultural heritage. The collection, noted by scholars and agents alike for its “astounding global and temporal scope,” included material culture from places as diverse as Colombia, China, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Italy, Canada and the United States. What is most relevant, however, is the way the FBI has handled the case and why it may prove to be a replicable model. This article examines this unique, collaborative approach and its implications for future cases worldwide. It also highlights the moral issues surrounding cultural heritage protection and the shared sense of responsibility that this investigation engendered among stakeholders.
Direct Correlation between Motile Behavior and Protein Abundance in Single Cells

Understanding how stochastic molecular fluctuations affect cell behavior requires the quantification of both behavior and protein numbers in the same cells. Here, we combine automated microscopy with in situ hydrogel polymerization to measure single-cell protein expression after tracking swimming behavior. We characterized the distribution of non-genetic phenotypic diversity in Escherichia coli motility, which affects single-cell exploration. By expressing fluorescently tagged chemotaxis proteins (CheR and CheB) at different levels, we quantitatively mapped motile phenotype (tumble bias) to protein numbers using thousands of single-cell measurements. Our results disagreed with established models until we incorporated the role of CheB in receptor deamidation and the slow fluctuations in receptor methylation. Beyond refining models, our central finding is that changes in numbers of CheR and CheB affect the population mean tumble bias and its variance independently. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the degree of phenotypic diversity of a population by adjusting the global level of expression of CheR and CheB while keeping their ratio constant, which, as shown in previous studies, confers functional robustness to the system. Since genetic control of protein expression is heritable, our results suggest that non-genetic diversity in motile behavior is selectable, supporting earlier hypotheses that such diversity confers a selective advantage.
Alternative Position and Navigation Based on DME Accumulated Delta Range

A method that estimates absolute aircraft position and velocity based on time-series of accumulated delta range measurements from distance measuring equipment (DME) ground transponders is analyzed. This method provides an Alternative Position and Navigation – but not quite Timing – system for use in airplanes as a back-up to a Global Navigation Satellite System such as GPS. The results show that a steady-state accuracy level better than 0.025 nm is achievable for the whole duration of a simulated flight trajectory with the tracking of four DME ground stations when aided by sporadic absolute range measurements. The system with only accumulated delta range measurements is challenged in low speed cases; however, this system exhibits convergence times of about 340 and 130 s, respectively, for an aircraft speed of 200 and 500 kn when tracking five DME ground stations.
REDUCING BLOOD LOSS AFTER TKA: A FIBRIN SOLUTION

While advances in the design and fixation of implants have improved the survival and function of total knee replacements, blood loss from the procedure remains a significant concern. It is estimated that 800 mL to 1700 mL of blood is lost during the peri-operative period of a total knee replacement. Accordingly, allogenic blood transfusion following total knee replacement has been reported to be as high as fifty percent. Transfusion of allogenic blood, however, is not without risk, and has been shown to be associated with higher rates of infection, fluid overload, and increased length of stay following total knee replacement. Topical fibrin sprays applied to the exposed tissues and bony surfaces during total knee replacement has shown promise as an alternative hemostatic option in prior studies. By promoting hemostasis prior to tourniquet deflation, it is thought that post-operative blood loss will be reduced. In addition to reduction of total blood loss from TKA, it is possible that intra-articular hemarthrosis will be reduced, and patients may regain motion more quickly post-operatively. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to compare the total blood volume loss in patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty with and without the intra-operative application of a fibrin sealant. Secondary aims included a comparison of the rate of allogenic blood transfusions, post-operative pain scores, and knee range of motion between groups.
Separability of Lyapunov functions for contractive monotone systems

We consider constructing Lyapunov functions for systems that are both monotone and contractive with respect to a weighted one norm or infinity norm. This class of systems admits separable Lyapunov functions that are either the sum or the maximum of a collection of functions of a single argument. In either case, two classes of separable Lyapunov functions exist: the first class is separable along the system's state, and the second class is separable along components of the system's vector field. The latter case is advantageous for many practically motivated systems for which it is difficult to measure the system's state but easier to measure the system's velocity or rate of change. We additionally provide several examples.
Empirical Biases and Some Remedies in Estimating the Effects of Selective Reenlistment Bonuses on Reenlistment Rates

Researchers have, for decades, been attempting to estimate the effects of Selective Reenlistment Bonuses (SRBs) on the probability of reenlistment for the military services. SRBs are targeted to specific military occupations for which reenlistment rates are lower (or expected to be lower) than what is needed. This article first identifies four primary sources of biases affecting these models: reverse causality from supply shifts (a negative bias), the endogeneity of the decision point causing coded SRBs to be higher for reenlisters than leavers (a positive bias), measurement error (a likely negative bias), and excess supply preventing the full effect of an SRB change to materialize (a positive or negative bias). The report proceeds to develop a model that attempts to address the first two biases. With U.S. Navy data from FY2001-FY2008, I examine the extent to which these two biases are affecting the estimated SRB effects. Despite these corrections, the difficulty of addressing the other biases calls into ...
Two-Dimensional Hermite Filters Simplify the Description of High-Order Statistics of Natural Images

Natural image statistics play a crucial role in shaping biological visual systems, understanding their function and design principles, and designing effective computer-vision algorithms. High-order statistics are critical for conveying local features but they are challenging to study, largely because their number and variety is large. Here, via the use of two-dimensional Hermite (TDH) functions, we identify a covert symmetry in high-order statistics of natural images that simplifies this task. This emerges from the structure of TDH functions, which are an orthogonal set of functions that are organized into a hierarchy of ranks. Specifically, we find that the shape (skewness and kurtosis) of the distribution of filter coefficients depends only on the projection of the function onto a one-dimensional subspace specific to each rank. The characterization of natural image statistics provided by TDH filter coefficients reflects both their phase and amplitude structure, and we suggest an intuitive interpretation for the special subspace within each rank.
INTRAOPERATIVE DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY: ASSURING COMPONENT ALIGNMENT

Acetabular component orientation can directly influence dislocation rates, polyethylene wear, and revision rates. Precise placement has been found to occur in only 38–47% after total hip arthroplasty (THA). The recent introduction of digital radiography (DR) has enabled a paradigm shift in intra-operative imaging technology. Rather than deal with the cumbersome process of chemical image processing we can now acquire a high quality digital image in a matter of seconds. The functionality approaches that of fluoroscopy, or even a C-arm, however, a digital system can operate with lower radiation, higher resolution, and perhaps most importantly a larger field of view. These features make it very suitable for use during surgery. The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate the current intra-operative technique and share the overwhelmingly positive experience gathered over the past five years. Traditional THA employs use of post-operative radiography for “outcome assessment.” This unfortunately does not allow the surgeon to evaluate the relevant parameters and make necessary adjustments without returning to the operating room. Digital imaging, however, permits intra-operative guidance and “outcome control.” It provides an immediate and complete preview of what the post-operative film will show. There is now an opportunity to optimise component orientation, sizing, apposition, screw position, limb length, and offset, before leaving the operating room. This can be done with minimal intrusion on normal workflow, adding only a few minutes of operating time.
Fine-needle aspirates of thyroid microcarcinoma.

Introduction Widespread use of ultrasound allows for detection of smaller thyroid nodules and preoperative evaluation with fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Both incidental and non-incidental microcarcinoma can be found, leading to uncertainty with clinical management. Materials and methods A retrospective analysis of thyroid FNAs performed at our institution was conducted for the 5-year period from 2010 to 2014. Aspirates were categorized using the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Cytologic diagnoses were then correlated with final histopathology. Among samples with malignancy on surgical resection, nodules were stratified by size. Results A total of 2531 thyroid FNAs were identified; 587 samples had histologic correlation, and 259 malignancies were reported. They were separated into nodules >1 cm (n = 144, 56%) and ≤1 cm (n = 115, 44%). Microcarcinoma was further subdivided into incidental (size ≤0.5 cm, n = 55, 48%) and non-incidental (size >0.5 cm and ≤1 cm, n = 60, 52%). The preoperative cytologic diagnoses for incidental microcarcinoma were: benign (B, n = 11, 20%), follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS, n = 15, 27%), follicular neoplasm (FN, n = 11, 20%), suspicious for malignancy (SM, n = 7, 13%), malignant (M, n = 8, 15%), and nondiagnostic (ND, n = 3, 5%). The FNA categories for non-incidental microcarcinoma were: B (n = 13, 22%), FLUS (n = 3, 5%), FN (n = 3, 5%), SM (n = 10, 17%), M (n = 29, 48%), and ND (n = 2, 3%). Conclusions Incidental microcarcinoma is not an uncommon entity, making up 21% (55 of 259) of malignant nodules on thyroidectomy. Indeterminate diagnoses (FLUS + FN + SM) accounted for the majority (60%) of preoperative FNAs for incidental microcarcinoma, compared with 27% for those of non-incidental microcarcinoma ( P 2 test).
Cross-sections for neutral atoms and molecules collisions with charged spherical nanoparticle

This paper presents cross sections for collisions of neutral atoms/molecules with a charged spherical nanoparticle, which is the source of the dipole potential. The accuracy of the orbital limited motion (OLM) approximation is estimated. It is shown that simple analytical formulas for the atoms/molecules and heat fluxes, obtained in the OLM approximation, give an error of not more than 15% and are applicable in all reasonable range of nanoparticles and weakly ionized plasma parameters.
Inspiration or Preparation?: Explaining Creativity in Scientific Enterprise

Human creativity is the ultimate driving force behind scientific progress. While the building blocks of innovations are often embodied in existing knowledge, it is creativity that blends seemingly disparate ideas. Existing studies have made striding advances in quantifying creativity of scientific publications by investigating their citation relationships. Yet, little is known hitherto about the underlying mechanisms governing scientific creative processes, largely due to that a paper's references, at best, only partially reflect its authors' actual information consumption. This work represents an initial step towards fine-grained understanding of creative processes in scientific enterprise. In specific, using two web-scale longitudinal datasets (120.1 million papers and 53.5 billion web requests spanning 4 years), we directly contrast authors' information consumption behaviors against their knowledge products. We find that, of 59.0% papers across all scientific fields, 25.7% of their creativity can be readily explained by information consumed by their authors. Further, by leveraging these findings, we develop a predictive framework that accurately identifies the most critical knowledge to fostering target scientific innovations. We believe that our framework is of fundamental importance to the study of scientific creativity. It promotes strategies to stimulate and potentially automate creative processes, and provides insights towards more effective designs of information recommendation platforms.
A new polar decomposition in a scalar product space

Abstract There are various definitions of right and left polar decompositions of an m × n matrix F ∈ K m × n (where K = C or R ) with respect to bilinear or sesquilinear products defined by nonsingular matrices M ∈ K m × m and N ∈ K n × n . The existence and uniqueness of such decompositions under various assumptions on F, M, and N have been studied. Here we introduce a new form of right and left polar decompositions, F = W S and F = S ′ W ′ , respectively, where the matrix W has orthonormal columns ( W ′ has orthonormal rows) with respect to suitably defined scalar products which are functions of M, N, and F, and the matrix S is selfadjoint with respect to the same suitably defined scalar products and has eigenvalues only in the open right half-plane. We show that our right and left decompositions exist and are unique for any nonsingular matrices M and N when the matrix F satisfies ( F [ M , N ] ) [ N , M ] = F and F [ M , N ] F ( F F [ M , N ] , respectively) is nonsingular, where F [ M , N ] = N − 1 F # M with F # = F T for real or complex bilinear forms and F # = F ¯ T for sesquilinear forms. When M = N , our results apply to nonsingular square matrices F. Our assumptions on F, M, and N are in some respects weaker and in some respects stronger than those of previous work on polar decompositions.
25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population.

Methods: We tested the association of low 25(OH)D levels with all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in 13 331 nationally representative adults 20 years or older from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) linked mortality files. Participant vitamin D levels were collected from 1988 through 1994, and individuals were passively followed for mortality through 2000. Results: In cross-sectional multivariate analyses, increasing age, female sex, nonwhite race/ethnicity, diabetes, current smoking, and higher body mass index were all independently associated with higher odds of 25(OH)D deficiency (lowest quartile of 25(OH)D level, 17.8 ng/mL [to convert to nanomoles per liter, multiply by 2.496]), while greater physical activity, vitamin D supplementation, and nonwinter season were inversely associated. During a median 8.7 years of follow-up, there were 1806 deaths, including 777 from CVD. In multivariate models (adjusted for baseline demographics, season, and traditional and novel CVD risk factors), compared with the highest quartile, being in the lowest quartile (25[OH]D levels 17.8 ng/mL) was associated with a 26% increased rate of all-cause mortality (mortality rate ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.08-1.46) and a population attributable risk of 3.1%. The adjusted models of CVD and cancer mortality revealed a higher risk, which was not statistically significant.
Is aggregate volatility a priced risk factor

This study shows that the relationships between sensitivity to changes in aggregate volatility and expected return on stocks documented by Ang et al. (Journal of Finance, 2006, 61, 259–299) for the 15‐year period from 1986 to 2000 have disappeared in the following 15‐year period. Aggregate volatility betas in the portfolio preformation month have not predicted postformation returns. Alphas from time‐series regressions of excess returns on the high‐minus‐low sensitivity to aggregate volatility portfolio with respect to the CAPM, the Fama–French three‐factor model, and the Fama–French five‐factor model have not been statistically different from zero. Finally, the price of aggregate volatility risk has not been statistically different from zero. Analysis based on high‐frequency data support these results. Thus, the importance of aggregate volatility as a factor in the presence of well‐known factors such as SMB and HML appears to be unclear.
Ultrasonic Imaging Transceiver Design for CMUT: A Three-Level 30-Vpp Pulse-Shaping Pulser With Improved Efficiency and a Noise-Optimized Receiver

This paper demonstrates a four-channel transceiver chip for medical ultrasonic imaging, interfacing to the capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). The high-voltage transmitter (Tx) uses a three-level pulse-shaping technique with charge recycling to improve the power efficiency. The design requires minimum off-chip components and is scalable for more channels. The receiver is implemented with a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) topology and is optimized for tradeoffs between noise, bandwidth, and power dissipation. The test chip is characterized with both acoustic and electrical measurements. Comparing the three-level pulser against traditional two-level pulsers, the measured Tx efficiency shows 56%, 50%, and 43% more acoustic power delivery with the same total power dissipation at 2.5, 3.3, and 5.0 MHz, respectively. The CMUT receiver achieves the lowest noise efficiency factor compared with that of the literature (2.1 compared to a previously reported lowest of 3.6, in units of mPA ·√(mW/Hz). In addition, the transceiver chip is tested as a complete system for medical ultrasound imaging applications, in experiments including Tx beamformation, pulse-echo channel response characterization, and ultrasonic Doppler flow rate detection.
Vanadium dioxide based Fabry-Perot emitter for dynamic radiative cooling applications

Abstract An asymmetric Fabry-Perot emitter is proposed with a lossless dielectric spacer inserted between a vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) thin film and an opaque aluminum substrate. Switchable mid-infrared emittance has been achieved due to the insulator-to-metal transition of VO 2 . When VO 2 is dielectric below 341 K, the structure is highly reflective, thereby minimizing thermal radiation loss. Above 345 K, the VO 2 becomes metallic and forms a Fabry-Perot resonance cavity with high broadband emissivity around 10 µm wavelength, providing a radiative cooling effect due to enhanced thermal emission. The radiative properties are calculated via a uniaxial transfer matrix method and Bruggeman effective medium theory. The physical mechanisms that provide the observed absorption enhancements are elucidated by examining the total phase shift in the multilayer structure and the phonon modes of VO 2. When experiencing the VO 2 phase transition, the radiative power of the proposed coating achieves a 6.5 fold enhancement for extraterrestrial spacecraft systems, and 7.3 fold enhancement for terrestrial systems such as buildings, making it a promising choice for dynamic radiative cooling applications in a variable environment. The findings here will facilitate research and development of novel coating materials for radiative cooling applications.
Hype and heavy tails: A closer look at data breaches

Recent widely publicized data breaches have exposed thepersonal information of hundreds of millions of people. Somereports point to alarming increases in both the size and fre-quency of data breaches, spurring institutions around theworld to address what appears to be a worsening situation.But, is the problem actually growing worse? In this paper,we study a popular public dataset and develop BayesianGeneralized Linear Models to investigate trends in databreaches. Analysis of the model shows that neither sizenor frequency of data breaches has increased over the pastdecade. We nd that the increases that have attracted at-tention can be explained by the heavy-tailed statistical dis-tributions underlying the dataset. Speci cally, we nd thatdata breach size is log-normally distributed and that thedaily frequency of breaches is described by a negative bi-nomial distribution. These distributions may provide cluesto the generative mechanisms that are responsible for thebreaches. Additionally, our model predicts the likelihood ofbreaches of a particular size in the future. For example, we nd that in the next year there is only a 31% chance of abreach of 10 million records or more in the US. Regardlessof any trend, data breaches are costly, and we combine themodel with two di erent cost models to project that in thenext three years breaches could cost up to $55 billion.
Quantifying perceived impact of scientific publications

Abstract We report on an empirical verification of the degree to which citation numbers represent scientific impact as it is actually perceived by experts in their respective field. We run a survey of about 2000 corresponding authors who performed a pairwise impact assessment task across more than 20,000 scientific articles. Results of the survey show that citation data and perceived impact do not align well, unless one properly accounts for psychological biases that affect the opinions of experts with respect to their own papers vs. those of others. Researchers tend to prefer their own publications to the most cited papers in their field of research. There is only a mild positive correlation between the number of citations of top-cited papers and expert preference in pairwise comparisons. This also applies to pairs of papers with several orders of magnitude differences in their total number of accumulated citations. However, when researchers were asked to choose among pairs of their own papers, thus eliminating the bias favouring one's own papers over those of others, they did systematically prefer the most cited article. We conclude that, when scientists have full information and are making unbiased choices, expert opinion on impact is congruent with citation numbers.
Instantaneous Dynamics of QCD

We start from the observation that, in the confining phase of QCD, the instantaneous color-Coulomb potential in Coulomb gauge is confining. This suggests that, in the confining phase, the dynamics, as expressed in the set of Schwinger-Dyson equations, may be dominated by the purely instantaneous terms. We develop a calculational scheme that expresses the instantaneous dynamics in the local formulation of QCD that includes a cut-off at the Gribov horizon.
SPITZER PHOTOMETRY OF ∼1 MILLION STARS IN M31 AND 15 OTHER GALAXIES*

We present Spitzer IRAC $3.6-8 \mu$m and MIPS $24 \mu$m point-source catalogs for M $31$ and $15$ other mostly large, star forming galaxies at distances $\sim3.5-14$ Mpc including M $51$, M $83$, M $101$ and NGC $6946$. These catalogs contain $\sim1$ million sources including $\sim859,000$ in M 31 and $\sim116,000$ in the other galaxies. They were created following the procedures described in Khan et al. (2015) through a combination of point spread function (PSF) fitting and aperture photometry. These data products constitute a resource to improve our understanding of the IR-bright ($3.6-24 \mu$m) point-source populations in crowded extragalactic stellar fields and to plan observations with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Release-free silicon-on-insulator cavity optomechanics

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) provides an important material system for photonic-electronic integration. Further integration of mechanical devices in SOI is hampered by incompatible under-etch or release steps required to prevent leakage of mechanical energy into the substrate. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate co-integration of nanomechanical structures on the surface of SOI. Silicon fin waveguides are used to generate co-localized and interacting optical and mechanical resonances. Radiation pressure interaction from laser driving is demonstrated. Our work enables co-integration of electronic, photonic, and phononic degrees of freedom on a single platform.
Implicit and Implicit–Explicit Strong Stability Preserving Runge–Kutta Methods with High Linear Order

Strong stability preserving (SSP) time discretizations preserve the monotonicity properties satisfied by the spatial discretization when coupled with the first order forward Euler, under a certain time-step restriction. The search for high order strong stability preserving time-stepping methods with high order and large allowable time-step has been an active area of research. It is known that implicit SSP Runge–Kutta methods exist only up to sixth order; however, if we restrict ourselves to solving only linear autonomous problems, the order conditions simplify and we can find implicit SSP Runge–Kutta methods of any linear order. In the current work we find implicit SSP Runge–Kutta methods with high linear order $$p_{lin} \le 9$$ and nonlinear orders $$p=2,3,4$$ , that are optimal in terms of allowable SSP time-step. Next, we formulate a novel optimization problem for implicit–explicit (IMEX) SSP Runge–Kutta methods and find optimized IMEX SSP Runge–Kutta pairs that have high linear order $$p_{lin} \le 7$$ and nonlinear orders up to $$p=4$$ . We also find implicit methods with large linear stability regions that pair with known explicit SSP Runge–Kutta methods. These methods are then tested on sample problems to demonstrate the sharpness of the SSP coefficient and the typical behavior of these methods on test problems.
Measuring the movement of a research paradigm

A research paradigm is a dynamical system of scientific works, including their perceived values by peer scientists, and governed by intrinsic intellectual values and associated citation endurance and decay. Identifying an emerging research paradigm and monitoring changes in an existing paradigm have been a challenging task due to the scale and complexity involved. In this article, we describe an exploratory data analysis method for identifying a research paradigm based on clustering scientific articles by their citation half life and betweenness centrality as well as citation frequencies. The Expectation Maximization algorithm is used to cluster articles based on these attributes. It is hypothesized that the resultant clusters correspond to dynamic groupings of articles manifested by a research paradigm. The method is tested with three example datasets: Social Network Analysis (1992-2004), Mass Extinction (1981-2004), and Terrorism (1989-2004). All these subject domains have known emergent paradigms identified independently. The resultant clusters are interpreted and assessed with reference to clusters identified by co-citation links. The consistency and discrepancy between the EM clusters and the link-based co-citation clusters are also discussed.
Seiberg-Witten theory and Calogero-Moser systems

We present a brief account of a series of recent results on twisted and untwisted elliptic Calogero-Moser systems, and on their fundamental role in the Seiberg-Witten solution of gauge theories with one massive hypermultiplet in the adjoint representation of an arbitrary gauge algebra G.
On the detectability of node grouping in networks

In typical studies of node grouping detection, the grouping is presumed to have a certain type of correlation with the network structure (e.g., densely connected groups of nodes that are loosely connected in between). People have defined different fitness measures (modularity, conductance, etc.) to quantify such correlation, and group the nodes by optimizing a certain fitness measure. However, a particular grouping with desired semantics, as the target of the detection, is not promised to be detectable by each measure. We study a fundamental problem in the process of node grouping discovery: Given a particular grouping in a network, whether and to what extent it can be discovered with a given fitness measure. We propose two approaches of testing the detectability, namely ranking-based and correlation-based randomization tests. Our methods are evaluated on both synthetic and real datasets, which shows the proposed methods can effectively predict the detectability of groupings of various types, and support explorative process of node grouping discovery.
Flash photolysis of flavins. IV. Some properties of the lumiflavin triplet state.

Analysis of lumiflavin triplet-state decay kinetics in aqueous solution has given the following results:k 1 (first-order decay)=670 sec−1,k 2 (triplet-triplet quenching)=8·9×108 M−1 sec−1,k 3 (triplet-ground-state quenching)=3·7×108 M−1 sec−1. The FMN triplet decays mainly via intramolecular quenching by the ribityl side chain and triplet-groundstate quenching. Ferricyanide and phenols are shown to be excellent quenchers of the flavin triplet (comparable to KI and O2). In the case of phenols, quenching occurs via hydroxyl hydrogen abstraction to generate flavin radical and phenoxy radical. Recombination of these radicals (by reverse hydrogen transfer) competes effectively with flavin radical disproportionation. The lumiflavin triplet is also able to abstract hydrogen from a ground state lumiflavin molecule (probably from the 10-methyl group). The radicals so generated can either recombine or undergo a buffer-catalyzed reaction leading to permanent bleaching. Evidence is presented for rapid oxidation of lumiflavin radical by both oxygen and ferricyanide. In dry non-polar solvents, lumiflavin triplet formation is prevented; addition of small amounts of water restores the ability to produce triplet state molecules. This is probably due to an effect of water on intersystem crossing.
Money Talks, but What Is It Saying? Semiotics of Money and Social Control

The article with the help of semiotic methodology considers social functions of money. The author provides a brief overview of semiotics, and shows how to establish links between inquiry into meanings and contexts and study of money, putting accent on the analogy between money and language and discussing contributions from Austrian and institutionalist traditions. Marxist approach to the analysis of moneys symbolic meanings is used to show how money becomes discourse of power.
Factors influencing care seeking for a self-defined worst panic attack

464 Only 60 percent of persons who experience panic attacks seek medical care for them (1). Those who do seek care are most likely to visit a family physician’s office, an emergency department, or a psychiatrist’s office or to telephone for an ambulance (2). Persons who have panic attacks tend to be high users of medical care because they seek care for their panic symptoms; moreover, they do so regardless of their health insurance status or coverage (3). However, the decision-making processes of people who have panic attacks are not understood. If we could understand these processes, we might be able to increase the proportion of persons who seek appropriate care and thus reduce the inappropriate use of services, particularly emergency services. Attempts have been made to identify predictors of service use among panic sufferers (1). These predictors, including demographic characteristics, panic characteristics, self-perceptions of symptoms and of reasons for the panic attack, and attitudes toward illness, vary by setting (2). However, previous studies of panic have been limited in that they examined predictors at nonspecified times during the course of the disorder and looked only at service use without looking at contemplation of care seeking. According to the transtheoretical model of change, behavioral change moves through five stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance (4). During the precontemplation stage, the person does not even consider change. Change is considered during the contemplation stage. In the preparation stage, the person is actively preparing to make a change— for example, setting dates for the change. A person is considered to be in the maintenance stage when the change has been maintained for at least six months. Although not previously applied to care-seeking behavior among panic sufferers, this model may provide a useful framework for considering patients’ decision-making processes. In the context of decisions about care seeking, three stages emerge: precontemplation, contemplation or preparation, and action. An understanding of the determinants of these stages may enable us to promote the appropriate use of health care services by people who suffer from panic attacks. The aim of this study was to explain care-seeking behavior among persons living in the community who had experienced panic attacks and to examine factors associated with whether and from what source a person sought care. Factors Influencing Care Seeking for a Self-Defined Worst Panic Attack
Optimal Multistage Adjudication

In many settings, there are preliminary or interim decision points at which legal cases may be terminated: e.g., motions to dismiss and for summary judgment in U.S. civil litigation, grand jury decisions in criminal cases, and agencies’ screening and other exercises of discretion in pursuing investigations. This article analyzes how the decision whether to continue versus terminate should optimally be made when (A) proceeding to the next stage generates further information but at a cost to both the defendant and the government and (B) the prospect of going forward, and ultimately imposing sanctions, deters harmful acts and also chills desirable behavior. This subject involves a mechanism design analogue to the standard value of information problem, one that proves to be qualitatively different and notably more complex. Numerous factors enter into the optimal decision rule – some expected, some subtle, and some counterintuitive. The optimal rule for initial or intermediate stages is also qualitatively different from that for assigning liability at the final stage of adjudication.
A variational-geometric approach for the optimal control of nonholonomic systems

Necessary conditions for existence of normal extremals in optimal control of systems subject to nonholonomic constraints are derived as solutions of a constrained second order variational problems. In this work, a geometric interpretation of the derivation is studied from the theory of Lie algebroids. We employ such a framework to describe the problem into a unifying formalism for normal extremals in optimal control of nonholonomic systems and including situations that have not been considered before in the literature from this perspective. We show that necessary conditions for existence of extremals in the optimal control problem can be also determined by a Hamiltonian system on the cotangent bundle of a skew-symmetric algebroid.
Thermal noise in mirror coatings for gravitational wave detection

Mid-band sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors is limited by Brownian noise in interferometer mirrors. We discuss connections between thermal noise and elastic dissipation in mirrors, and between that dissipation and the structure of amorphous films.
ANALISIS PENILAIAN KEPUTUSAN INVESTASI MENGGUNAKAN METODE NET PRESENT VALUE

Investment for most companies is the development of the activity as a business is run. Investment capital investment not only alone, but also on other matters relating to the use of funds, such as the purchase of assets, asset replacement and others. Management of the investment must be done carefully which of course will produce optimal returns. For measurements that need to be done on assessing the viability of an investment. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the use of methods that are commonly used in assessing an investment. Through a comparison between several methods such as average rate of return, payback period, internal rate of return, profitability index, and Net Present Value (NPV), the results showed that the NPV method can be regarded as a more representative method to generate the feasibility and optimization of the investment. Keywords: Assessment, Investment, Net Present Value
Effect of Irradiation on the Degradation of Nucleotides in Turkey Meat

The degradation of nucleotides in cured ready-to-eat (RTE) as well as uncured raw and cooked turkey meat products by irradiation were determined to evaluate the potential impact of nucleotides on the taste changes in irradiated turkey meat. Four irradiation doses (0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 kGy) were applied to cured RTE and uncured turkey meat products, and the amounts of nucleotides and their degradation products were measured. Results showed that irradiation had a significant impact to the amount of nucleotides (adenosine diphosphate, adenosine monophosphate and inosine monophosphate) and the breakdown of these nucleotides (inosine and hypoxanthine) in uncured turkey meat when irradiated at 3.0 kGy might attribute to uric acid and other compounds formation. The increase in K-value (the percentage of inosine and hypoxanthine over the total content of adenosine triphosphate) at lower irradiation dose in uncured cooked than raw turkey meat indicated that cooked meat is more susceptible to oxidation. But little effect was found on the nucleotides and nucleotides degradation products in cured RTE turkey meat products because of the antioxidant effect of sodium nitrite.
Propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays

Abstract All particles of energy approaching 10 20 eV interact inelastically in the microwave background and other astrophysical photon fields and lose energy. We describe briefly the energy loss processes and show the consequences of proton propagation in extragalactic space. We also discuss the influence of astrophysical magnetic fields on the propagation. To cite this article: T. Stanev, C. R. Physique 5 (2004).
URBAN BOTANY: NEED FOR A NEW SCIENCE

In the course of human history, there has been a growing tendency toward mass habitation, increasing in intensity over the centuries, in the form of villages, towns, and cities. In more modern times, the tendency has been greatly accelerated, and cities have not only increased in number but are growing in size by leaps and bounds, so that there are many metropolises scattered around the world and a number of megalopolises in the making. The number of urban and suburban populations in developed countries is already several times that of the farm population, and the same condition is evident in all developing countries. Within a short time, the majority of the world's population will live in an urban environment, an environment created by man that, in turn, is shaping his life. When our ancestors began to remove the natural cover of vegetation to build towns and cities, the love of nature inherent in men impelled them to plant trees around their homes and along the streets for shade and to create gardens and lawns for beauty and pleasure. These were the links between man and nature. As cities grew in size and their structures became more and more artificial and complex with the increasing advancement of technology, the urban environment became more and more divergent from the natural. As a result, plants growing in an urban area are living in an entirely different habitat from that for which they were originally designed and adapted. On the other hand, the human inhabitants of this man-made habitat depend on plants grown in an alien environment for the aesthetic and beneficial effects which they expect from nature. This has produced a conflicting and contradicting situation.
Modifications of Porphyrins and Hydroporphyrins for Their Solubilization in Aqueous Media

The increasing popularity of porphyrins and hydroporphyrins for use in a variety of biomedical (photodynamic therapy, fluorescence tagging and imaging, photoacoustic imaging) and technical (chemosensing, catalysis, light harvesting) applications is also associated with the growing number of methodologies that enable their solubilization in aqueous media. Natively, the vast majority of synthetic porphyrinic compounds are not water-soluble. Moreover, any water-solubility imposes several restrictions on the synthetic chemist on when to install solubilizing groups in the synthetic sequence, and how to isolate and purify these compounds. This review summarizes the chemical modifications to render synthetic porphyrins water-soluble, with a focus on the work disclosed since 2000. Where available, practical data such as solubility, indicators for the degree of aggregation, and special notes for the practitioner are listed. We hope that this review will guide synthetic chemists through the many strategies known to make porphyrins and hydroporphyrins water soluble.
A Modified Bayesian Algorithm with Decision Feedback for Blind Adaptive Equalization

Abstract A new blind equalization algorithm is presented that incorporates a Bayesian channel estimator and a decision-feedback (DF) adaptive filter. The Bayesian algorithm operates as a preprocessor on the received signal to provide an initial estimate of the channel coefficients. It is an approximate maximum a posteriori (MAP) sequence estimator that generates reliable estimates of the transmitted symbols. These decisions are then filtered by an adaptive decision-feed back algorithm in order to further reduce the intersymbol interference. The new algorithm is more robust to catastrophic error propagation than the standard decision-feedback equalizer (DFE), with only a modest increase in the computational complexity.
Fully Computable a Posteriori Error Bounds for Hybridizable Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Approximations

We derive a posteriori error estimates for the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) methods, including both the primal and mixed formulations, for the approximation of a linear second-order elliptic problem on conforming simplicial meshes in two and three dimensions. We obtain fully computable, constant free, a posteriori error bounds on the broken energy seminorm and the HDG energy (semi)norm of the error. The estimators are also shown to provide local lower bounds for the HDG energy (semi)norm of the error up to a constant and a higher-order data oscillation term. For the primal HDG methods and mixed HDG methods with an appropriate choice of stabilization parameter, the estimators are also shown to provide a lower bound for the broken energy seminorm of the error up to a constant and a higher-order data oscillation term. Numerical examples are given illustrating the theoretical results.
Nearfield Summary and Statistical Analysis of the Second AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop

A summary is provided for the Second AIAA Sonic Boom Workshop held on January 8–9, 2017, in conjunction with AIAA SciTech 2017. The workshop used four models of increasing complexity: an axisymmetr...
Hepatitis B Vaccination. Three Decision Strategies for the Individual

Three strategies regarding hepatitis B virus vaccination were compared by decision analysis: no vaccination, immediate vaccination, and vaccination after two years. The potential advantage of waiting two years is to learn whether serious side effects of the vaccine will become evident. For example, it was found that immediate hepatitis B vaccination of 100,000 surgical house officers with a 5 percent annual attack rate for five years would, compared with no vaccination, prevent 4,092 cases of icteric hepatitis, 335 cases of chronic active hepatitis, and 15 deaths from fulminant hepatitis. For a strategy of waiting two years, the number of cases prevented would decrease by about 40 percent. Persons in groups with an annual attack rate lower than 5 percent appear to benefit from vaccination. The known health risks of hepatitis B virus vaccination are low, and the hypothesized risks would have to be frequent to justify delay in vaccination. From an individual perspective, even persons at low risk of hepatitis B virus infection should seriously consider immediate vaccination.
Dynamic fuel price pass-through: Evidence from a new global retail fuel price database

Abstract We estimate the dynamic effects of crude oil price shocks on retail fuel prices, the pass-through, using the local projection approach of Jorda (2005). Using a novel monthly dataset of retail fuel prices in 162 countries over the period from 2000:1 to 2014:12, we find that: (i) retail gasoline prices respond positively to crude oil price shocks, but the responses vary across regions and income groups; (ii) there is also some variation across country groups in the persistence of the effects of crude oil price shocks on retail gasoline prices; and (iii) declines in crude oil prices lead to smaller effects on retail gasoline prices than increases in crude oil prices, pointing to an asymmetry in the fuel price pass-through.
Secondary Urinoma Mimicking Recurrent Tumor as a Cause of Bilateral Ureteral Obstruction

A case is reported of a previously resected adenocarcinoma of the rectum presenting with recurrent tumor in the pelvis and an abdominal mass that was found to be a large urinoma. Dialysis was discontinued after drainage of the extravasated urine, and the patient's condition became stable. A review of the literature is also discussed.
Experience With the Bowel Stapler for Ileal Conduit Urinary Diversion

Summary— Bowel-stapling instruments were used to construct an ileal conduit and ileoileostomy in 94 patients. Operative mortality was 3.2%, and the combined early and late complication rate was 34%. The data compared favourably with data from 199 ileal conduits and ileoileostomies using standard suture techniques. It is concluded that stapling devices provide an effective alternative to standard suture methods.