cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Laser Deposition of CdS Thin films on Various Substrates

We have deposited CdS thin films onto substrates such as glass, sapphire and high Tc YBCO superconducting films by Nd:YAG laser evaporation in a vacuum environment. X-ray diffraction, optical and electrical measurements were used to study the deposited CdS films. The films are highly oriented with c-axis perpendicular to the surface and are optically smooth. The effects of laser fluence, substrate temperature on the film quality will be discussed. Additionally, Indium doped CdS films were also grown on sapphire substrates by laser deposition. In-situ resistivity measurements were employed to study the film formation process during laser deposition. A simple model was given to explain the in-situ resistivity data. Finally, a deposition temperature window was found to produce good quality CdS/YBCO heterostructures. The superconducting transition temperature of the YBCO films was degraded to 68K from an original Tc of 85 K after CdS deposition. The degradation of the superconducting properties was found mainly due to the interactions in the interface region.
Substrate control of stereoselection in the rhodium(I) catalyzed intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction

The Rh(I) catalyzed intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition of representative achiral and chiral enedienes has been shown to proceed with excellent levels of stereoselectivity and in high yield under mild reaction conditions. In contrast, the corresponding noncatalyzed cycloadditions for three substrates in the latter category require higher temperatures and exhibit low levels of stereocontrol.
Trauma to the corpus callosum: MR features

The frequency, distribution, and appearance of corpus callosum injuries were evaluated with MR and CT in a prospective study of 78 patients with acute (n = 63) and chronic (n = 15) head injuries. Traumatic lesions of the corpus callosum were detected in 47% of patients. MR was significantly (p less than .001) more sensitive than CT in the detection of callosal injuries. MR and CT visualized 100% and 27%, respectively, of the traumatic callosal lesions that were detected in the study population. The majority of lesions were located in the splenium but a few were also found in the body and genu. Patients with callosal injuries had a significantly higher incidence of primary brainstem injury (p less than .02) as well as a greater number of subcortical gray-matter (p less than .05) and diffuse axonal "shear" (p less than .001) lesions. In addition, patients with callosal injuries had a significantly higher incidence of traumatic lesions of the septum pellucidum (p less than .007) and fornix (p less than .001). Intraventricular hemorrhage occurred significantly more often (p less than .002) in patients with callosal injuries, especially if traumatic lesions of the fornix or septum pellucidum were also present. Patients with callosal injuries had significantly lower initial Glasgow Coma Scale scores (mean, 6.6) than those without injuries (mean, 10.7) (p less than .001). Injury to the corpus callosum occurs much more often with nonfatal head injuries than had been believed previously.
A statistical perspective of sampling scores for linear regression

In this paper, we consider a statistical problem of learning a linear model from noisy samples. Existing work has focused on approximating the least squares solution by using leverage-based scores as an importance sampling distribution. However, no finite sample statistical guarantees and no computationally efficient optimal sampling strategies have been proposed. To evaluate the statistical properties of different sampling strategies, we propose a simple yet effective estimator, which is easy for theoretical analysis and is useful in multitask linear regression. We derive the exact mean square error of the proposed estimator for any given sampling scores. Based on minimizing the mean square error, we propose the optimal sampling scores for both estimator and predictor, and show that they are influenced by the noise-to-signal ratio. Numerical simulations match the theoretical analysis well.
Strongly refuting random CSPs below the spectral threshold

Random constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) are known to exhibit threshold phenomena: given a uniformly random instance of a CSP with n variables and m clauses, there is a value of m = Ω(n) beyond which the CSP will be unsatisfiable with high probability. Strong refutation is the problem of certifying that no variable assignment satisfies more than a constant fraction of clauses; this is the natural algorithmic problem in the unsatisfiable regime (when m/n = ω(1)). Intuitively, strong refutation should become easier as the clause density m/n grows, because the contradictions introduced by the random clauses become more locally apparent. For CSPs such as k-SAT and k-XOR, there is a long-standing gap between the clause density at which efficient strong refutation algorithms are known, m/n ≥ Ο(nk/2-1), and the clause density at which instances become unsatisfiable with high probability, m/n = ω (1). In this paper, we give spectral and sum-of-squares algorithms for strongly refuting random k-XOR instances with clause density m/n ≥ Ο(n(k/2-1)(1-δ)) in time exp(Ο(nδ)) or in Ο(nδ) rounds of the sum-of-squares hierarchy, for any δ ∈ [0,1) and any integer k ≥ 3. Our algorithms provide a smooth transition between the clause density at which polynomial-time algorithms are known at δ = 0, and brute-force refutation at the satisfiability threshold when δ = 1. We also leverage our k-XOR results to obtain strong refutation algorithms for SAT (or any other Boolean CSP) at similar clause densities. Our algorithms match the known sum-of-squares lower bounds due to Grigoriev and Schonebeck, up to logarithmic factors.
COMPARISON BETWEEN KNEE BALANCING AT SURGERY WITH THE VARUS-VALGUS DEVIATIONS AT FOLLOW-UP

PURPOSE Soft tissue balancing can be achieved by using spacer blocks, by distractors which measure tensile forces, or by instrumented devices which measure the forces on the lateral and medial condyles. However there is no quantitative method for assessment of balancing at clinical follow-up; to address this, we developed a Smart Knee Fixture (SKF) which measured the varus and valgus angles for a moment of 10 Nm. Our purpose was to determine if varus and valgus angles measured at clinical follow-up, was equivalent to the balancing parameters of distraction forces or contact forces measured at surgery. METHODS: The SKF, which measured VV angles using stretch sensors on each side of the knee, was validated by cadaver studies, fluoroscopy, and emg. The balancing parameters were: The lateral and medial contact forces at surgery, expressed as FL/FM The distraction tensions in the collateral ligaments at surgery, expressed as TL/TM The moments to cause lift-off when a varus or valgus moment is applied, MVAR/MVAL The varus and valgus angles measured at post-op follow-up, VAR/VAL A force analysis, and measurements on 101 surgical cases & clinical follow-up in an IRB study, were carried out to determine the relationship between these parameters. RESULTS The ratio TL/TM was approx. equal to FL/FM, especially near to a balanced state The ratio MVAR/MVAL (lift-off moments) was equal to FL/FM The ratio VAR/VAL was approx. equal to FL/FM only if the collateral stiffnesses were equal; otherwise the ratio was approx. proportional to the collateral stiffnesses. In the clinical follow-ups, there was no significant linear relation between VAR/VAL and FL/FM. CONCLUSIONS While follow-up measurements of varus and valgus angles are useful indicators, their lack of correspondence to the intraoperative parameters is a limitation. However, lift-off moments at follow-up would correspond, and we have now modified the SKF to measure these moments. SIGNIFICANCE A method for measuring both lift-off moments and VV angles at follow-up would provide a valuable comparator to surgical balancing and quantitatively indicate clinical stability.
Synthesis of the Layered Quaternary Uranium-Containing Oxide Cs2Mn3U6O22 and Characterization of its Magnetic Properties.

A layered quaternary uranium-containing oxide, Cs2Mn3U6O22, was crystallized from a cesium chloride flux. The crystal structure was determined to consist of α-U3O8 topological layers that are separated by alternating cesium and manganese layers. This ordered arrangement creates a separation between manganese layers of 13 A, leading to complex low-dimensional magnetic properties. The compound crystallizes in a new structure type in the monoclinic space group, C2/m, with a = 6.8730(10) A, b = 11.7717(17) A, c = 13.374(2) A, and β = 99.673(5)°. The magnetic properties were measured and analyzed by first-principles density functional theory calculations.
Introduction to proceedings from a conference on newborn screening for nontreatable disorders.

This is an introduction to proceedings from a conference on newborn screening for non-treatable disorders
Neutrino Oscillations With Two Sterile Neutrinos

This work estimates the probability of μ to e neutrino oscillation with two sterile neutrinos using a 5×5 U-matrix, an extension of the previous estimate with one sterile neutrino and a 4×4 U-matrix. The sterile neutrino-active neutrino mass differences and the mixing angles of the two sterile neutrinos with the three active neutrinos are taken from recent publications, and the oscillation probability for one sterile neutrino is compared to the previous estimate.
Self-monitoring of tear glucose: the development of a tear based glucose sensor as an alternative to self-monitoring of blood glucose

Tear glucose sensing for diabetes management has long been sought as an alternative to more invasive self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). However, tear glucose sensors were known to have limitations, including correlation issues with blood glucose due to low sample volume, low concentration of glucose in the tear fluid, and evaporation of the tear sample. An engineering design approach to solve these problems led to the development of an integrated device capable of collecting the tear sample from the ocular surface with little to no stress on the eye, with an extremely low limit of detection, broad dynamic range, and rapid detection and analysis of sample. Here we present the development of a prototypical self-monitoring of tear glucose (SMTG) sensor, summarizing bench studies on the enzymes and their specificity, the development of the fluid capture device and its manufacture and performance and results of system testing in an animal study where safety, lag time and tear glucose to blood glucose correlation were assessed.
Disentangling orthogonal matrices.

Motivated by a certain molecular reconstruction methodology in cryo-electron microscopy, we consider the problem of solving a linear system with two unknown orthogonal matrices, which is a generalization of the well-known orthogonal Procrustes problem. We propose an algorithm based on a semi-definite programming (SDP) relaxation, and give a theoretical guarantee for its performance. Both theoretically and empirically, the proposed algorithm performs better than the naive approach of solving the linear system directly without the orthogonal constraints. We also consider the generalization to linear systems with more than two unknown orthogonal matrices.
Heat, Salt, and Freshwater Budgets for a Glacial Fjord in Greenland

AbstractIn Greenland’s glacial fjords, heat and freshwater are exchanged between glaciers and the ocean. Submarine melting of glaciers has been implicated as a potential trigger for recent glacier acceleration, and observations of ocean heat transport are increasingly being used to infer the submarine melt rates. The complete heat, salt, and mass budgets that underlie such methods, however, have been largely neglected. Here, a new framework for exploring glacial fjord budgets is developed. Building on estuarine studies of salt budgets, the heat, salt, and mass transports through the fjord are decomposed, and new equations for calculating freshwater fluxes from submarine meltwater and runoff are presented. This method is applied to moored records from Sermilik Fjord, near the terminus of Helheim Glacier, to evaluate the dominant balances in the fjord budgets and to estimate freshwater fluxes. Throughout the year, two different regimes are found. In the nonsummer months, advective transports are balanced by...
Measurement of Antiscatter Grid Effectiveness in Thermal-Neutron Radiography of Hydrogenous Materials

It is well recognized that scattered neutrons cause serious image degradation in thermal-neutron radiography of hydrogenous objects. If these scattered neutrons are removed from the neutron beam be...
Experimental Analysis of Tools Used for Doxing and Proposed New Transforms to Help Organizations Protect against Doxing Attacks

Abstract Doxing is a term derived from documents, and hence consists of collecting information on an organization or individual through social media websites, search engines, password cracking methods, social engineering tools and other sources of publicly displayed information. The main purpose of doxing attacks is to threaten, embarrass, harass and humiliate the organization or individual. Various tools are used to perform doxing. Tools such as Maltego visualize organization's architecture which helps in determining weak links within the organization. This paper discusses limitations of Maltego Chlorine CE 3.6.0 and suggests measures as to how organizations can use these tools to protect themselves from doxing attacks.
Neuroimaging in dementia

Neuroimaging has become increasingly important in the clinical assessment and diagnosis of dementia. Structural imaging with MRI and functional imaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography and single photon emission CT, increasingly are used to aid in the differential diagnosis and early detection of dementia. Imaging techniques also can track disease progression over time and may be useful to monitor treatment effects. The most important development in the field over the past decade is the ability to image amyloid in the brain. This technique will revolutionize patient management and care.
The caregiving responsibilities of retirees: what are they and how do they affect retirees’ well-being?

ABSTRACTUsing data from the 2010 and 2012 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS) and the associated Well-being Modules (WBM), this article examines how caregiving affects the well-being of retirees who are caregivers. Different caregiving activities are examined, including caring for household adults, caring for non-household adults, and caring for children. Different aspects of well-being are examined, including how meaningful respondents find their activities and how happy, sad, tired, in pain, and stressed their activities make them. The results show that, controlling for selection into caregiving, most caregiving negatively affects the well-being of retirees. This suggests that policies that remove some of the caregiving burden from retirees would increase their well-being.
Selective Purcell enhancement of two closely linked zero-phonon transitions of a silicon carbide color center.

Point defects in silicon carbide are rapidly becoming a platform of great interest for single-photon generation, quantum sensing, and quantum information science. Photonic crystal cavities (PCCs) can serve as an efficient light–matter interface both to augment the defect emission and to aid in studying the defects’ properties. In this work, we fabricate 1D nanobeam PCCs in 4H-silicon carbide with embedded silicon vacancy centers. These cavities are used to achieve Purcell enhancement of two closely spaced defect zero-phonon lines (ZPL). Enhancements of >80-fold are measured using multiple techniques. Additionally, the nature of the cavity coupling to the different ZPLs is examined.
New angles on energy correlation functions

Jet substructure observables, designed to identify specific features within jets, play an essential role at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), both for searching for signals beyond the Standard Model and for testing QCD in extreme phase space regions. In this paper, we systematically study the structure of infrared and collinear safe substructure observables, defining a generalization of the energy correlation functions to probe n-particle correlations within a jet. These generalized correlators provide a flexible basis for constructing new substructure observables optimized for specific purposes. Focusing on three major targets of the jet substructure community — boosted top tagging, boosted W/Z/H tagging, and quark/gluon discrimination — we use power-counting techniques to identify three new series of powerful discriminants: M i , N i , and U i . The M i series is designed for use on groomed jets, providing a novel example of observables with improved discrimination power after the removal of soft radiation. The N i series behave parametrically like the N -subjettiness ratio observables, but are defined without respect to subjet axes, exhibiting improved behavior in the unresolved limit. Finally, the U i series improves quark/gluon discrimination by using higher-point correlators to simultaneously probe multiple emissions within a jet. Taken together, these observables broaden the scope for jet substructure studies at the LHC.
CERVICAL SPINE TUBERCULOSIS

Bone localization of tuberculosis mainly affects the thoracolumbar spine. The cervical spine is rare. Its diagnosis is often late which exposes to great instability and potentially serious complications. We reported the case of a patient with cervical spine tuberculosis with a rare localisation. A 10-years old boy with no medical history, showed torticolis and high temperature without neurological complication. In the physical examination, he had torticolis and pain in the third, forth and fifth cervical vertebra. The biology showed high CRP 200mg/l. The tomodensitometry of the cervical spine showed a collection of the third cervical spine. The patient took non specific Antibiotics for two months with no radiological improvement. When biopsy was performed, we find an inter apophysis (between C3 and C4) collection. The histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of apophysis tuberculosis. The cervical spine is a rare localisation of the tuberculosis. The apophysis localisation is a more uncommon localisation. The diagnosis is difficult. The histological examination is essential for the diagnosis. The management based on tuberculosis chemotherapy and immobilization started as soon as possible.
A Case Study of iPad Implementation in One Rural Elementary School

The study explored the implementation of a 1:1 iPad initiative with a focus on leadership. The distributed leadership model provided the framework using semistructured interviews as the primary sou...
Árna saga biskups / Kafka / Bureaucracy / Desire

“Where one believed there was law, there is in fact desire and desire alone” – so wrote the philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari in their groundbreaking assault on the work of Franz Kafka, Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature. Deleuze and Guattari expose the exploitative power-plays and the sometimes awe-inspiring (sometimes grubby) workings of desire in moments which superficially appear to be sombrely official or legalistic. Arna saga biskups, an early fourteenth century saga concerning the life of Bishop Arni Þorlaksson, readily presents itself for reconsideration through this theoretical lens. Often dismissed as dull and unfinished, the saga actually contains many episodes of narrative deftness and moving drama. In this article, attention is focused upon the narrative voice’s ambivalence towards Bishop Arni, the bishop’s essentially bureaucratic aspirations, and the merit of Arna saga biskups not only as a historical source, but as a literary triumph.
Generalizing Latent Semantic Analysis

Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is a vector space technique for representing word meaning. Traditionally, LSA consists of two steps, the formation of a word by document matrix followed by singular value decomposition of that matrix. However, the formation of the matrix according to the dimensions of words and documents is somewhat arbitrary. This paper attempts to reconceptualize LSA in more general terms, by characterizing the matrix as a feature by context matrix rather than a word by document matrix. Examples of generalized LSA utilizing n-grams and local context are presented and compared with traditional LSA on paraphrase comparison tasks.
Going Off the Grid: Iterative Model Selection for Biclustered Matrix Completion

ABSTRACTWe consider the problem of performing matrix completion with side information on row-by-row and column-by-column similarities. We build upon recent proposals for matrix estimation with smoothness constraints with respect to row and column graphs. We present a novel iterative procedure for directly minimizing an information criterion to select an appropriate amount of row and column smoothing, namely, to perform model selection. We also discuss how to exploit the special structure of the problem to scale up the estimation and model selection procedure via the Hutchinson estimator, combined with a stochastic Quasi-Newton approach. Supplementary material for this article is available online.
The durability and fragility of knowledge infrastructures: lessons learned from astronomy

Infrastructures are not inherently durable or fragile, yet all are fragile over the long term. Durability requires care and maintenance of individual components and the links between them. Astronomy is an ideal domain in which to study knowledge infrastructures, due to its long history, transparency, and accumulation of observational data over a period of centuries. Research reported here draws upon a long-term study of scientific data practices to ask questions about the durability and fragility of infrastructures for data in astronomy. Methods include interviews, ethnography, and document analysis. As astronomy has become a digital science, the community has invested in shared instruments, data standards, digital archives, metadata and discovery services, and other relatively durable infrastructure components. Several features of data practices in astronomy contribute to the fragility of that infrastructure. These include different archiving practices between ground- and space-based missions, between sky surveys and investigator-led projects, and between observational and simulated data. Infrastructure components are tightly coupled, based on international agreements. However, the durability of these infrastructures relies on much invisible work - cataloging, metadata, and other labor conducted by information professionals. Continual investments in care and maintenance of the human and technical components of these infrastructures are necessary for sustainability.
Fast Fourier Color Constancy

We present Fast Fourier Color Constancy (FFCC), a color constancy algorithm which solves illuminant estimation by reducing it to a spatial localization task on a torus. By operating in the frequency domain, FFCC produces lower error rates than the previous state-of-the-art by 13&#x2013;20% while being 250-3000 times faster. This unconventional approach introduces challenges regarding aliasing, directional statistics, and preconditioning, which we address. By producing a complete posterior distribution over illuminants instead of a single illuminant estimate, FFCC enables better training techniques, an effective temporal smoothing technique, and richer methods for error analysis. Our implementation of FFCC runs at ~700 frames per second on a mobile device, allowing it to be used as an accurate, real-time, temporally-coherent automatic white balance algorithm.
Stochastic nonlinear minimax dynamic games with noisy measurements

This note is concerned with nonlinear stochastic minimax dynamic games which are subject to noisy measurements. The minimizing players are control inputs while the maximizing players are square-integrable stochastic processes. The minimax dynamic game is formulated using an information state, which depends on the paths of the observed processes. The information state satisfies a partial differential equation of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) type. The HJB equation is employed to characterize the dissipation properties of the system, to derive a separation theorem between the design of the estimator and the controller, and to introduce a certainty-equivalence principle along the lines of Whittle. Finally, the separation theorem and the certainty-equi. valence principle are applied to solve the linear-quadratic-Gaussian minimax game. The results of this note generalize the L/sup 2/-gain of deterministic systems to stochastic analogs; they are related to the controller design of stochastic systems which employ risk-sensitive performance criteria, and to the controller design of deterministic systems which employ minimax performance criteria.
Technical design aspects of Feasibility Study-II

Abstract Feasibility Study-II examined a high-performance Neutrino Factory providing 1×1020 neutrinos per year aimed at a long-baseline detector. The Study was sponsored jointly by BNL and the Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider Collaboration and is based on a 1 MW proton driver operating at 24 GeV , i.e., an upgraded version of the AGS accelerator. Compared with the earlier FNAL-sponsored study (Feasibility Study-I), there is a sixfold improvement in performance. Here we describe details of the implementation of Study-II concepts and discuss their efficacy. Alternative approaches that will be pursued in follow-on R&D activities are also described briefly.
Parallel Critical Field in Thin Niobium Films: Comparison to Theory

For the first time, a comparison to the predicted behavior for parallel critical field is carried out for the model of Kogan and the model of Hara and Nagai. In this study, thin niobium films in the moderately dirty regime were considered. Experimental values of the $$-C_{2}$$ term are seen to be lower than those from the model of Hara and Nagai. A possible reason for this could be not including the non-spherical Fermi surface of niobium into the model. There is clearly disagreement with the model of Kogan as the films get cleaner and thinner, and two films which should be below his critical thickness still show positive values of $$-C_{2}$$ , in disagreement with his theory.
Statistical Power in Evaluations That Investigate Effects on Multiple Outcomes: A Guide for Researchers.

Researchers are often interested in testing the effectiveness of an intervention on multiple outcomes, for multiple subgroups, at multiple points in time, or across multiple treatment groups. The r...
Strategic flexibility analysis of agrifood nanotechnology skill needs identification

Abstract The world is experiencing significant, largely economic and sociotechnical, induced change. These induced changes are meaningful with a function of people taking collective actions around common beliefs. These changes are more than jargon, cliche, and hyperbole, and they are effecting major transformations. These transformations will impact on how human resources are developed, and we need to be able to forecast its effects. In order to produce such forecasts, Human Resource Development needs to become more predictive - to develop the ability to understand how human capital systems and organizations will behave in future. As part of a multi-phase, mixed methods study design based on systems and complexity theories to identify skill needs for the emerging agrifood nanotechnology sector, a strategic flexibility analysis (SFA) was conducted. Strategic Flexibility Framework (SFF) is a scenario analysis tool and its use in this study is based on the idea that Business Leaders, Managers, Educators and Human Resource Development professionals require flexibility to adjust decisions within given constraints. This paper describes the use of strategic flexibility analysis and the qualitative systems approaches as tools for systems research and it implications for human resources development and management.
An Adaptive Parallel Algorithm for Computing Connected Components

We present an efficient distributed memory parallel algorithm for computing connected components in undirected graphs based on Shiloach-Vishkin’s PRAM approach. We discuss multiple optimization techniques that reduce communication volume as well as load-balance the algorithm. We also note that the efficiency of the parallel graph connectivity algorithm depends on the underlying graph topology. Particularly for short diameter graph components, we observe that parallel Breadth First Search (BFS) method offers better performance. However, running parallel BFS is not efficient for computing large diameter components or large number of small components. To address this challenge, we employ a heuristic that allows the algorithm to quickly predict the type of the network by computing the degree distribution and follow the optimal hybrid route. Using large graphs with diverse topologies from domains including metagenomics, web crawl, social graph and road networks, we show that our hybrid implementation is efficient and scalable for each of the graph types. Our approach achieves a runtime of 215 seconds using 32 K cores of Cray XC30 for a metagenomic graph with over 50 billion edges. When compared against the previous state-of-the-art method, we see performance improvements up to 24 $\times$ .
Semantic compression for edge-assisted systems

A novel semantic approach to data selection and compression is presented for the dynamic adaptation of IoT data processing and transmission within “wireless islands”, where a set of sensing devices (sensors) are interconnected through one-hop wireless links to a computational resource via a local access point. The core of the proposed technique is a cooperative framework where local classifiers at the mobile nodes are dynamically crafted and updated based on the current state of the observed system, the global processing objective and the characteristics of the sensors and data streams. The edge processor plays a key role by establishing a link between content and operations within the distributed system. The local classifiers are designed to filter the data streams and provide only the needed information to the global classifier at the edge processor, thus minimizing bandwidth usage. However, the better the accuracy of these local classifiers, the larger the energy necessary to run them at the individual sensors. A formulation of the optimization problem for the dynamic construction of the classifiers under bandwidth and energy constraints is proposed and demonstrated on a synthetic example.
Non-random perturbations of the Anderson Hamiltonian in the 1-D case

Recently (S. Molchanov and B. Vainberg, Non-random perturbations of the Anderson Hamiltonian, J. Spectral Theory 50 (2) (2011), pp. 179–195), two of the authors applied the Lieb method to the study of the negative spectrum for particular operators of the form H = H 0 − W. Here, H 0 is the generator of the positive stochastic (or sub-stochastic) semigroup, W(x) ≥ 0 and W(x) → 0 as x → ∞ on some phase space X. They used the general results in several ‘exotic’ situations, among them the Anderson Hamiltonian H 0. In the 1-D case, the subject of this article, we will prove similar, but more precise results.
Throughput optimal beam alignment in millimeter wave networks

Millimeter wave communications rely on narrow-beam transmissions to cope with the strong signal attenuation at these frequencies, thus demanding precise beam alignment between transmitter and receiver. The communication overhead incurred to achieve beam alignment may become a severe impairment in mobile networks. This paper addresses the problem of optimizing beam alignment acquisition, with the goal of maximizing throughput. Specifically, the algorithm jointly determines the portion of time devoted to beam alignment acquisition, as well as, within this portion of time, the optimal beam search parameters, using the framework of Markov decision processes. It is proved that a bisection search algorithm is optimal, and that it outperforms exhaustive and iterative search algorithms proposed in the literature. The duration of the beam alignment phase is optimized so as to maximize the overall throughput. The numerical results show that the throughput, optimized with respect to the duration of the beam alignment phase, achievable under the exhaustive algorithm is 88.3% lower than that achievable under the bisection algorithm. Similarly, the throughput achievable by the iterative search algorithm for a division factor of 4 and 8 is, respectively, 12.8% and 36.4% lower than that achievable by the bisection algorithm.
A modified version of free orbit-dimension of von Neumann algebras

Based on the notion of free orbit-dimension of Hadwin-Shen (2007) we introduce a new invariant for finite von Neumann algebras with arbitrarily large generating sets and acting on Hilbert spaces of arbitrary dimension. We show that this invariant is independent of the generating set, and we extend results in Hadwin-Shen (2007) to this larger class of algebras.
On multipartite Hajnal–Szemerédi theorems

Abstract Let G be a k -partite graph with n vertices in parts such that each vertex is adjacent to at least δ ∗ ( G ) vertices in each of the other parts. Magyar and Martin (2002) [18] proved that for k = 3 , if δ ∗ ( G ) ≥ 2 3 n + 1 and n is sufficiently large, then G contains a K 3 -factor (a spanning subgraph consisting of n vertex-disjoint copies of K 3 ). Martin and Szemeredi (2008) [19] proved that G contains a K 4 -factor when δ ∗ ( G ) ≥ 3 4 n and n is sufficiently large. Both results were proved using the Regularity Lemma. In this paper we give a proof of these two results by the absorbing method. Our absorbing lemma actually works for all k ≥ 3 and may be utilized to prove a general and tight multipartite Hajnal–Szemeredi theorem.
Planarization techniques for MEMS: enabling new structures and enhancing manufacturability

Planarization techniques such as chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) have emerged as enabling technologies for the manufacturing of multi-level metal interconnects used in high-density Integrated Circuits (IC). An overview of general planarization techniques for MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) and, in particular, the extension of CMP from sub-micron IC manufacturing to the fabrication of complex surface-micromachined MEMS will be presented. Planarization technique alleviates processing problems associated with fabrication of multi-level polysilicon structures, eliminates design constraints linked with non-planar topography, and provides an avenue for integrating different process technologies. The CMP process and present examples of the use of CMP in fabricating MEMS devices such as microengines, pressure sensors, and proof masses for accelerometers along with its use for monolithically integrating MEMS devices with microelectronics are presented.
Sleep during pregnancy: The nuMoM2b pregnancy and sleep duration and continuity study

Study objectives To characterize sleep duration, timing and continuity measures in pregnancy and their association with key demographic variables. Methods Multisite prospective cohort study. Women enrolled in the nuMoM2b study (nulliparous women with a singleton gestation) were recruited at the second study visit (16-21 weeks of gestation) to participate in the Sleep Duration and Continuity substudy. Women Results Valid data were available from 782 women with mean age of 27.3 (5.5) years. Median sleep duration was 7.4 hours. Approximately 27.9% of women had a sleep duration of 9 hours. In multivariable models including age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, insurance status, and recent smoking history, sleep duration was significantly associated with race/ethnicity and insurance status, while time in bed was only associated with insurance status. Sleep continuity measures and sleep midpoint were significantly associated with all covariates in the model, with the exception of age for fragmentation index and smoking for wake after sleep onset. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the relationship between sleep and important demographic characteristics during pregnancy.
Learning by Doing and Ben-Porath: Life-cycle Predictions and Policy Implications

Abstract Many government policies affect incentives to acquire human capital. Two workhorse models dominate the literature analyzing these policies: Learning by Doing (LBD) and Ben-Porath (BP). This paper makes two novel findings related to these models. First, LBD and BP generate different predictions for life-cycle earnings growth. BP predicts that the heterogeneity in earnings growth rates across workers should disappear over the life-cycle because the workers stop investing as they age. The LBD model cannot replicate this feature because workers accumulate human capital automatically throughout the life-cycle. Second, the same model features that generate different life-cycle predictions between BP and LBD also generate different implications for policies that affect the payoff to human capital accumulation. To illustrate this quantitatively, I show that increasing marginal labor tax rates for top earners depresses human capital accumulation more under BP. As a result, the Laffer curve for top marginal income tax rates is flatter, and peaks 10 percentage points lower, with BP versus LBD.
Self-organized mechano-chemical dynamics in amoeboid locomotion of Physarum fragments

The aim of this work is to quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of flow-driven amoeboid locomotion in small (~100 µm) fragments of the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum. In this model organism, cellular contraction drives intracellular flows, and these flows transport the chemical signals that regulate contraction in the first place. As a consequence of these non-linear interactions, a diversity of migratory behaviors can be observed in migrating Physarum fragments. To study these dynamics, we measure the spatio-temporal distributions of the velocities of the endoplasm and ectoplasm of each migrating fragment, the traction stresses it generates on the substratum, and the concentration of free intracellular calcium. Using these unprecedented experimental data, we classify migrating Physarum fragments according to their dynamics, finding that they often exhibit spontaneously coordinated waves of flow, contractility and chemical signaling. We show that Physarum fragments exhibiting symmetric spatio-temporal patterns of endoplasmic flow migrate significantly slower than fragments with asymmetric patterns. In addition, our joint measurements of ectoplasm velocity and traction stress at the substratum suggest that forward motion of the ectoplasm is enabled by a succession of stick-slip transitions, which we conjecture are also organized in the form of waves. Combining our experiments with a simplified convection-diffusion model, we show that the convective transport of calcium ions may be key for establishing and maintaining the spatiotemporal patterns of calcium concentration that regulate the generation of contractile forces.
Elastic stability and lattice distortion of refractory high entropy alloys

Abstract Refractory high entropy alloys containing elements from the Ti, V and Cr columns of the periodic table form body centered cubic (BCC) structures. Elements from the Ti column are noteworthy because they take the BCC structure at high temperature but undergo a shear instability and transform to the hexagonal (HCP) structure at low temperature. We show that the instability of these elements impacts the properties of the HEAs that contain them. In particular, the shear moduli are greatly reduced, causing increased dynamic contributions to lattice distortion. Relatively large size differences between elements of the BCC/HCP column compared with the regular BCC columns create additional static contributions to lattice distortion. These findings are supported by direct evaluation of elastic constants and lattice distortion in four representative HEAs. Comparing moduli of HEAs with those of compositionally averaged pure elements verifies the impact of BCC/HCP elements and allows us to estimate the compositions at which the BCC phases become elastically unstable, and these predictions could be useful in material design.
Patient-controlled Analgesia After Cesarean Delivery: Epidural Sufentanil versus Intravenous Morphine

Background and Objectives. The authors studied the efficacy of sufentanil patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) for postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery and compared these results to a morphine intravenous-patient-controlled-analgesia (IV-PCA) regimen. Methods. Fifty patients were randomized into two groups to receive sufentanil PCEA or morphine IV-PCA after cesarean delivery under epidural anesthesia. Visual-analog-scale pain scores (0-100 mm: 0 mm = no pain, 100 mm = worst pain), sedation, side effects, recovery times, and patient satisfaction were assessed through 4 p.m. on postoperative day (POD) 2. Results. Analgesia was similar in the two groups, except following the initial physician-administered loading dose when pain was rated significantly lower by patients in the PCEA group at 30 minutes (6 ± 2 mm versus 38 ± 6 mm; P Conclusions. Although sufentanil PCEA provided satisfactory sustained postoperative analgesia, sufentanil PCEA appears to offer no clear advantage over morphine IV-PCA beyond the effects of the initial physician-administered loading dose.
Distributed mechanism design with learning guarantees

Mechanism design for fully strategic agents commonly assumes that messages are broadcasted between agents of the system. Moreover, for mechanism design, the stability of Nash equilibrium (NE) is demonstrated by showing convergence of specific pre-designed learning dynamics, rather than for a class of learning dynamics. In this paper, we consider the common private goods resource allocation problem: sharing K infinitely divisible resources among strategic agents for their private consumption. We present a distributed mechanism for a set of agents who communicate through a given network. In a distributed mechanism, agents' messages are not broadcast to all other agents as in the standard mechanism design framework, but are exchanged only in the local neighborhood of each agent. The presented mechanism produces a unique NE and fully implements the social welfare maximizing allocation. In addition, the mechanism is budget-balanced at NE. It is also shown that the mechanism induces a game with contractive best-response, leading to guaranteed convergence for all learning dynamics within the Adaptive Best-Response dynamics class, including dynamics such as Cournot best-response, k-period best-response and Fictitious Play. We also present a numerical study of convergence under repeated play, for various communication graphs and learning dynamics.
Efficacy and safety of aspirin in patients with peripheral vascular disease: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background Although considered a cornerstone therapy, the efficacy and safety of aspirin for prevention of ischemic events in patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) remains uncertain. Thus, we aimed to evaluate aspirin use in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with PVD. Methods An electronic search of databases was conducted from inception until January 2017 for all randomized trials comparing aspirin with either placebo or control (no aspirin) in patients with PVD. The primary efficacy outcome was all-cause mortality, and the primary safety outcome was major bleeding. Other outcomes of interest were major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and intracranial hemorrhage. Random-effects summary risk ratios (RR) were calculated using Der-Simonian and Liard model. The quality of evidence was assessed by GRADE tool and Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. Results A total of 6,560 patients from 11 trials were included. Only two trials were considered to have low risk of bias. Compared with control, aspirin was associated with similar incidence of all-cause mortality (RR = 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.8–1.1), MACCE (RR = 1.0, 95% CI 0.83–1.20), MI (RR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.67–1.23) and stroke (RR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.43–1.22), major bleeding (RR = 1.59, 95% CI 0.96–2.62) and intracranial hemorrhage (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 0.59–3.21). Conclusions Aspirin use in PVD might not be associated with improved cardiovascular outcomes or worse bleeding outcomes. Larger randomized trials assessing the efficacy and safety of aspirin in the contemporary era are mandatory to confirm the current findings. Guideline recommendations regarding the use of aspirin among patients with PVD need to be updated.
Emergency Physicians Are Able to Detect Right Ventricular Dilation With Good Agreement Compared to Cardiology.

Objective Focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) is a useful tool in evaluating patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute dyspnea. Prior work has shown that right ventricular (RV) dilation is associated with repeat hospitalizations and shorter life expectancy. Traditionally, RV assessment has been evaluated by cardiologist-interpreted comprehensive echocardiography. The primary goal of this study was to determine the interrater reliability between emergency physicians (EPs) and a cardiologist for determining RV dilation on FOCUS performed on ED patients with acute dyspnea. Methods Prospective, observational study at two urban academic EDs; patients were enrolled if they had acute dyspnea and a computed tomographic pulmonary angiogram without acute disease. All patients had an EP-performed FOCUS to assess for RV dilation. RV dilation was defined as an RV to left ventricular ratio greater than 1. FOCUS interpretations were compared to a blinded cardiologist FOCUS interpretation using agreement and kappa statistics. Results Of 84 FOCUS examinations performed on 83 patients, 17% had RV dilation. Agreement and kappa, for EP-performed FOCUS for RV dilation were 89% (95% confidence interval [CI] 80-95%) and 0.68 (95% CI 0.48-0.88), respectively. Conclusions EP sonographers are able to detect RV dilation with good agreement when compared to cardiology. These results support the wider use of EP-performed FOCUS to evaluate for RV dilation in dyspneic ED patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Concise synthesis of ω-borono-α-amino acids

A short protocol for the practical scale synthesis of several ω-borono-α-amino acids is described via the alkylation of benzophenone glycinimines with various electrophiles.