cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-tenant utility computing with compute containers

From the growing demand for utility computing resources emerged both the hardware and software for cloud computing technology. Still varied enterprises to fulfill their capacity need while adhering a strict fiscal cost structure. However, the exponential increase in demand and complexity of the network topology, threatens to simultaneously violate both initial cost and capacity aspects. In order to best fulfill customer needs, cloud service providers (CSP) should operate together to create a scalable, novel, and fair ecosystem. While every CSP wishes to provide its value proposition, there is also a need for a cohesive utility service that enables generic computing resources. Such eco-system should be bottom line attractive financially and should also fulfill the elasticity and density properties of cloud computing. This paper explores a container-based paradigm for achieving dense and elastic virtualization technologies. It describes on-going experiments with several discreet Linux Containers (LXC) and illustrative applications. The experiments shows 22% improvements in CPU cores allocation when using compute-containers. It demonstrate the proven range of both the density and elasticity properties via a prototype with both virtualization paradigms that runs an illustrative distributed application. The prototype manifests a fine-grained resources allocation with the container paradigm and indicates its suitability, advantages and disadvantages for utility computing services.
Chemical and Computational Methods for the Characterization of Covalent Reactive Groups for the Prospective Design of Irreversible Inhibitors

Interest in drugs that covalently modify their target is driven by the desire for enhanced efficacy that can result from the silencing of enzymatic activity until protein resynthesis can occur, along with the potential for increased selectivity by targeting uniquely positioned nucleophilic residues in the protein. However, covalent approaches carry additional risk for toxicities or hypersensitivity reactions that can result from covalent modification of unintended targets. Here we describe methods for measuring the reactivity of covalent reactive groups (CRGs) with a biologically relevant nucleophile, glutathione (GSH), along with kinetic data for a broad array of electrophiles. We also describe a computational method for predicting electrophilic reactivity, which taken together can be applied to the prospective design of thiol-reactive covalent inhibitors.
Arthralgias, myalgias, facial erythema, and a positive ANA: not necessarily SLE.

Physicians frequently see patients with vague musculoskeletal complaints and intermittent rashes who are thought to have a connective tissue disease.
The economic status of parents with serious mental illness in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: Parents with serious mental illness may be vulnerable to financial insecurity, making successful parenting especially difficult. We explored relationships among parenting, serious mental illness, and economic status in a nationally representative sample. METHOD: The sample included all working-age participants from the 2009 and 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (n = 77,326). Two well-established scales of mental health distinguished participants with none, mild, moderate, and serious mental illness. We compared economic status by parenthood status and mental illness severity. RESULTS: Rates of employment were low for parents with serious mental illness (38% full time and 17% part time among mothers; 60% full time and 9% part time among fathers) compared with parents with no mental illness (50% full time and 19% part time among mothers; 85% full time and 5% part time among fathers). Mothers and fathers with serious mental illness were twice as likely to fall below the U.S. Census poverty threshold as their peers without mental illness. CONCLUSIONS and Implications for Practice: Parents with serious mental illness are less likely to be employed than those without mental illnesses, and are highly likely to be living in poverty. Reducing poverty by helping parents with serious mental illness achieve better jobs and education is likely to translate into family stability and better outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Definition,category and features of sexual harrassment

There exists a high occurrence rate of sexual harassment in China nowadays,which merits our attention.In order to foster full understanding of sexual harassment among people,the author details the occurrence rate,history,category,manifestation,features,causes and harm of sexual harassment,and analyzes it from medical,psychological,sociological,educational and legal perspective.As for self-protection,the author suggests some effective means,including fostering self-protection awareness,taking active attitude,escaping harassment in a wise and brave way,applying self-protection tactics.The author also believes that applying computer and internet for conducting harassment will become the new trend in the information era,which needs the reinforcement of internet management and monitoring.The corresponding laws should be drafted and put into effect to check the overflow of sexual harassment in order to create a harmonious and safe social envioroment.
Primary Carcinoid Tumor of the Kidney: A Light and Electron Microscopic, and Immunghistochemical Study

We report a case of primary carcinoid of the kidney. The neoplasm had a trabecular growth pattern and was argyrophil positive and argentaffin negative. An extensive battery of immunohistochemical stains was negative for specific peptide products and keratin. Electron microscopy disclosed numerous cytoplasmic membrane-bound electron-dense core secretory granules and masses of intermediate microfilaments. A review of the pertinent medical literature revealed 5 previously reported cases.
Is it time to abandon the digital rectal examination? Lessons from the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial and peer-reviewed literature.

AbstractObjective: In 2012 the US Preventive Services Task Force released recommendations against prostate specific antigen (PSA) based screening for prostate cancer, but did not fully address screening via digital rectal exam (DRE). As such, many practitioners continue to perform DRE in attempts to identify men with clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPC). This study seeks to determine the value of DRE in detecting CSPC in the era of PSA-based screening.Methods: Data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Screening Trial, a nationwide population-based study evaluating cancer screening programs and their impact on cancer mortality, was analyzed for PSA, DRE, and cancer status. In the screening arm of the PLCO, 38,340 men received annual PSA and DRE examinations for the first 3 years. Those with an abnormal test result were referred to their individual care provider for biopsy. The ability of DRE to detect CSPC, defined as intermediate risk or higher based on National Comprehensive C...
Review of Select Previous Research

The complex sequence of events that led to the Holocaust, the rise and subsequent fall of the Third Reich, and the founding of the German Democratic Republic and its ultimate collapse have been the subject of many debates and discussions within and outside of Germany. The approaches that deal explicitly with the topic of National Socialism, the Holocaust and/or the GDR range from historical representations, survivor accounts, sociological, philosophical, political, and psychological analyses to cultural representations including music, film, art, memorials, museums, literature, and poetry. In terms of academic examination and inquiry, the number of contributions and publications that focus on research related to the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and/or the SED dictatorship, be it on a theoretical, philosophical, or empirical level, is so vast that even attempting to cover all research in these areas would by far exceed the scope of this research project.1 In this chapter, I will therefore concentrate on reviewing a select number of contributions that lay the groundwork for the development of the theory of action consciousness and that are particularly relevant for validating the main hypotheses outlined in Chapter 2. Although the range and scope of previously published concepts and approaches exceed what is necessary for this work, the following subchapters explicate relevant research and theories for the understanding of history didactics even though they may not address the need to complement historical consciousness with an action component.
Abstract 1746: Discovery and evaluation of a small molecule KIFC1 inhibitor for breast cancer treatment

Historically, drugs used in the treatment of certain cancers may cause damage to healthy cells while affecting cancer cells. Therefore, finding compounds that are specific toward cancer cells only is still a high priority in the search for new therapies. In contrast with normal cells, most cancer cells contain multiple centrosomes which are associated with genome instability and tumorigenesis. Cancer cells can avoid multipolar mitosis which can cause cell death by clustering the extra centrosomes into two spindle poles, thereby enabling bipolar division. Kinesin-like protein KIFC1 plays a critical role in centrosome clustering in cancer cells, but is not essential for normal cell survival. Therefore, targeting KIFC1 may give some insight into how a novel therapy can selectively target only cancer cells. Here, we report that KIFC1 up-regulation is a frequent event in human breast cancer and that KIFC1 is highly expressed in all 8 tested human breast cancer cell lines, but is absent in normal human mammary epithelial cells and weakly expressed in 2 human lung fibroblast lines. We also found that depletion of KIFC1 in breast cancer cells induced cell death. From a high throughput screen of 30,000 compounds, we identified a small molecule KIFC1 inhibitor, SRH06, which has an enzymatic IC50 value of 6.5 μM versus KIFC1 and binds directly to KIFC1 without interacting with the microtubule. Results from our computer modeling studies suggested that SRH06 binds to a novel allosteric site on KIFC1 that appears suitable for the development of selective KIFC1 inhibitors. Importantly, SRH06 prevented bipolar clustering of extra-centrosomes in breast cancer cells and significantly reduced colony formation and cell viability, but was less toxic to normal LL47 fibroblasts. Therefore, SRH06 provides a very valuable tool to study the biological function of KIFC1 and serves as a potential lead for the development of a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer. Citation Format: Wei Zhang, Ling Zhai, Wenyan Lu, Yimin Wang, Vandana V. Gupta, Indira Padmalayam, Robert J. Bostwick, Lucile White, Ross Larry, Joseph Maddry, Sam Ananthan, Mark Suto, Bo Xu, Rongbao Li, Yonghe Li. Discovery and evaluation of a small molecule KIFC1 inhibitor for breast cancer treatment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1746. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1746
Icons Brought Forward: Renee Cox’s Queen Nanny of the Maroons

This essay explores the photographic series Queen Nanny of the Maroons (2004–5) by artist Renee Cox. In the series Cox appropriates the eighteenth-century Jamaican folk hero Queen Nanny, leader of the Windward Maroon community, and brings her into the present. Very little is known about the actual historical figure of Nanny, though the continued presence of the Maroon communities keeps her memories and legend alive to the Jamaican population. I argue that Cox uses her own body to give Nanny a visual presence, presenting her as a military strategist, warrior, and sexual female. This changes the public imaginary version of Nanny, who was thought to have been well into her sixties when she battled the British colonists. Cox’s depictions of Nanny in various staged tableaus draw attention to the multifaceted nature of this little-known female figure and remind viewers of the legacy of black women as soldiers and partners alongside men in the fight for racial freedom in centuries past and present.
Bone Marrow in Aging: Changes? Yes; Clinical Malfunction? Not So Clear.

Like every organ system, the bone marrow undergoes changes with age. The most readily apparent change is a decline in marrow cellularity. The percentage of marrow space occupied by hematopoietic tissue goes from 40–60% in young adults to 20–40% in older people, with the remaining space being taken up by fat. It is unclear whether the expansion of marrow fat with age is a cause or an effect of aging. A similar change happens in the thymus much earlier in adulthood. At about age 30, thymic fibroblasts become fat-laden and the expansion of fatty tissue essentially replaces the cellular elements of thymopoiesis. In late life, this thymic inactivity is manifested by a reduction in naive T cells and a compromise in cellular immunity. It is unclear whether the processes in the marrow and the thymus are qualitatively similar. Bone remodeling and osteoporosis can also lead to a decrease in trabecular bone in the marrow. Several age-related changes have been noted in hematopoietic cells, including shortening of telomeres, accumulation of mitochondrial DNA mutations, skewed X-inactivation, and others. However, in the absence of disease, sufficient stem cell proliferation and maturation is preserved so that people are capable of living their entire life span, up to 120 years, without running out of blood cells. Indeed, even when a person is given stem cells from another person, presumably in numbers far less than were present in the host before myeloablation, the transferred stem cells appear to be capable of maintaining normal hematopoiesis throughout the lifespan of their adoptive host. Normal blood counts are maintained throughout life. Physiologic compensations may be necessary to achieve this end. A longitudinal study of older people with normal hemoglobin levels over a period of 30 years showed that people increase serum levels of erythropoietin over time to maintain normalcy. Older people also seem to increase their neutrophil count to a lower extent and somewhat more slowly in response to pharmacological G-CSF than younger people, though such an intervention is generally done in people with underlying disease. Qualitative neutrophil defects in older people may include impaired phagocytosis and respiratory burst response to soluble signals. Enhanced in vitro platelet aggregation in older people does not have a clear in vivo functional correlate.
Gastrointestinal dysfunctions as a risk factor for sleep disorders in children with idiopathic autism spectrum disorder: A retrospective cohort study

Sleep disorders often co-occur with autism spectrum disorder. They further exacerbate autism spectrum disorder symptoms and interfere with children’s and parental quality of life. This study examin...
An Enhanced Voting Algorithm for Hybrid Jamming attacks in VANET

DSRC Safety Applications, as part of Intelligent Transportation Systems, are an effective means to reduce road accidents. These applications rely on connected vehicle technologies using wireless communication and thus inherit their security problems. Reliability of safety applications is paramount. Voting-based approaches have been proposed to increase reliability. This research addresses safety application reliability in the presence of jamming, specifically hybrid jamming, which is an unavoidable attack on such technologies. The impact of hybrid jamming on voting-based approaches is investigated, and an Enhanced Voting-based Algorithm is presented, capable of overcoming deficiencies of previous algorithms under this jammer model. Field experiments using commercially available equipment were conducted to measure the performance of the proposed algorithm. Experimental results show that the new algorithm is superior in terms of time required to make decisions and reliability compared to previous work reported in the literature.
Generative models of disfluency

This thesis describes a generative model for representing disfluent phenomena in human speech. This model makes use of observed syntactic structure present in disfluent speech, and uses a right-corner transform on syntax trees to model this structure in a very natural way. Specifically, the phenomenon of speech repair is modeled by explicitly modeling the partially completed constituent structure, building up phrasal structure as it is read in, and allowing incomplete constituents as part of the final structure of an utterance. This model is then implemented in a working system for parsing transcribed text. This system maps transformed syntax trees to a hierarchical time-series model, which is able to parse in linear time by implementing a fixed-depth stack. The results of this system dramatically improve parsing and repair detection over standard baselines, and are approaching the performance of models that are not constrained by incremental processing and psycholinguistic plausibility. These results are then analyzed, and the parameters to this parser are varied systematically to examine the effect of various settings and models of repair. Several extensions to the model are introduced which incorporate additional features such as lexical identity while remaining incremental, suggesting suitability for extended models of disfluency as well as providing a starting point for psycholinguistic models of disfluency. Finally, this thesis concludes by laying out several possible future research directions, and by summarizing the work produced so far.
Biology needs more staff scientists.

Independent professionals advance science in ways faculty-run labs cannot, and such positions keep talented people in research, argues Steven Hyman.
Depression and cognitive impairment among newly admitted nursing home residents in the USA.

Objective The objective of this study is to describe the prevalence of depression and cognitive impairment among newly admitted nursing home residents in the USA and to describe the treatment of depression by level of cognitive impairment. Methods We identified 1,088,619 newly admitted older residents between 2011 and 2013 with an active diagnosis of depression documented on the Minimum Data Set 3.0. The prevalence of receiving psychiatric treatment was estimated by cognitive impairment status and depression symptoms. Binary logistic regression using generalized estimating equations provided adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between level of cognitive impairment and receipt of psychiatric treatment, adjusted for clustering of residents within nursing homes and resident characteristics. Results Twenty-six percent of newly admitted residents had depression; 47% of these residents also had cognitive impairment. Of those who had staff assessments of depression, anhedonia, impaired concentration, psychomotor disturbances, and irritability were more commonly experienced by residents with cognitive impairment than residents without cognitive impairment. Forty-eight percent of all residents with depression did not receive any psychiatric treatment. Approximately one-fifth of residents received a combination of treatment. Residents with severe cognitive impairment were less likely than those with intact cognition to receive psychiatric treatment (adjusted odds ratio = 0.95; 95% confidence interval: 0.93–0.98). Conclusions Many newly admitted residents with an active diagnosis of depression are untreated, potentially missing an important window to improve symptoms. The extent of comorbid cognitive impairment and depression and lack of treatment suggest opportunities for improved quality of care in this increasingly important healthcare setting. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Building the biomedical data science workforce.

This article describes efforts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2013 to 2016 to train a national workforce in biomedical data science. We provide an analysis of the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) training program strengths and weaknesses with an eye toward future directions aimed at any funder and potential funding recipient worldwide. The focus is on extramurally funded programs that have a national or international impact rather than the training of NIH staff, which was addressed by the NIH’s internal Data Science Workforce Development Center. From its inception, the major goal of BD2K was to narrow the gap between needed and existing biomedical data science skills. As biomedical research increasingly relies on computational, mathematical, and statistical thinking, supporting the training and education of the workforce of tomorrow requires new emphases on analytical skills. From 2013 to 2016, BD2K jump-started training in this area for all levels, from graduate students to senior researchers.
Frailty and Postkidney Transplant Health-Related Quality of Life

BackgroundHealth-related quality of life (HRQOL) reflects a patient’s disease burden, treatment effectiveness, and health status and is summarized by physical, mental, and kidney disease-specific scales among end-stage renal disease patients. Although on average HRQOL improves postkidney transplant
Concessions or Crackdown: How Regime Stability Shapes Democratic Responses to Hostage taking Terrorism:

A prominent view in the terrorism literature is that democracies make soft targets for terrorists due to their citizenry’s low tolerance for civilian casualties. This study tests this claim in the ...
Locked in by Social Media Features? Translating Clicks and Comments into Value

Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Snapchat have yielded huge valuations in equity markets and through acquisitions. In this study, we propose that the design features experienced by the platform users are important drivers of value in social media platforms. Also, we suggest a research design to empirically test the link between social media design feature types, the subjective value of the platform as assessed by users, and how platform features are reflected in equity value.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy with Guillain-Barré syndrome.

A 70-year-old woman presented with progressive lower extremity weakness and heaviness accompanied with chest pain. Troponin T was elevated, and an echocardiogram showed a left ventricular ejection fraction of 30% and a hypokinetic left ventricular apex. Neurophysiologic testing was consistent with Guillain-Barre syndrome, which was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. Repeat echocardiogram showed an improved left ventricular ejection fraction and no left ventricular wall motion abnormalities. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a rare complication of Guillain-Barre syndrome; less than 10 cases have been reported.
Measurements of ion velocity separation and ionization in multi-species plasma shocks

The ion velocity structure of a strong collisional shock front in a plasma with multiple ion species is directly probed in laser-driven shock-tube experiments. Thomson scattering of a 263.25 nm probe beam is used to diagnose ion composition, temperature, and flow velocity in strong shocks ( M∼6) propagating through low-density ( ρ∼0.1 mg/cc) plasmas composed of mixtures of hydrogen (98%) and neon (2%). Within the preheat region of the shock front, two velocity populations of ions are observed, a characteristic feature of strong plasma shocks. The ionization state of the Ne is observed to change within the shock front, demonstrating an ionization-timescale effect on the shock front structure. The forward-streaming proton feature is shown to be unexpectedly cool compared to predictions from ion Fokker-Planck simulations; the neon ionization gradient is evaluated as a possible cause.The ion velocity structure of a strong collisional shock front in a plasma with multiple ion species is directly probed in laser-driven shock-tube experiments. Thomson scattering of a 263.25 nm probe beam is used to diagnose ion composition, temperature, and flow velocity in strong shocks ( M∼6) propagating through low-density ( ρ∼0.1 mg/cc) plasmas composed of mixtures of hydrogen (98%) and neon (2%). Within the preheat region of the shock front, two velocity populations of ions are observed, a characteristic feature of strong plasma shocks. The ionization state of the Ne is observed to change within the shock front, demonstrating an ionization-timescale effect on the shock front structure. The forward-streaming proton feature is shown to be unexpectedly cool compared to predictions from ion ...
Individual Good as Happiness

The purpose of the next two chapters is to provide an analysis of individual good: that is, for a given person, what is good for that person. This good may differ from what the person ought morally to do or what will achieve some ideal — either one of his own or one which society commends. I will try to show that individual good is identical with happiness, appropriately defined. In subsequent chapters I will argue that there is a central purpose of morality which is (1) to bring about as much happiness for all persons as is compatible with like happiness for all other persons, and (2) to bring about as much happiness for sentient nonpersons as is compatible with (1). Further, I shall argue that an individual ought to do what is strongly required for avoiding hindrance of this purpose,1 and that the best thing someone can do, morally speaking, is to do what is, of all that is within his power, most apt to advance that purpose. By a “strongly required” action I mean that unless that action is performed it will be difficult if not impossible for the goal in question to be attained.2
Esophagus, Stomach, and Pancreas

Cytologic examinations using fine needle aspiration, exfoliative brushings, and needle core biopsy are essential tests in the diagnosis of esophageal, gastric and pancreatic lesions, staging of malignancy, and follow-up of patients. The sensitivity and specificity of cytology is increased by the concurrent use of radiologic imaging (endoscopic ultrasound, ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging), immunocytochemistry, and molecular studies.
Donor-transmitted pneumonia in experimental lung allografts. Successful prevention with donor antibiotic therapy.

Bacterial pneumonia is the most common cause of early morbidity and mortality ( horac C ardiovasc S urg 1992;103:767-72)
Detection of ion shifts in proximal tubule cells of the rat kidney using x-ray microanalysis.

The present study represents an attempt to combine scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis on thin sections at the intracellular level using kidney tubules in both normal and altered conditions. The results show that semi-quantitative estimates made from X-ray microanalysis can predict the pattern of electrolyte change both in direction and degree; these estimates agree with previously determined chemical analysis of identically treated tissue. Before these promising results can be extended to quantitative intracellular compartment analysis, further work is needed in several areas including preparation of adequate standards, improved ultracryomicrotomy techniques, improvement of contrast of ultrathin frozen sections and standardization in computing background measurements.
Toward Truly Open Skies

the Europe-North America internation-al market is the largest air transport mar-ket in the world, accounting for 419,961billion revenue-passenger-kilometers in2000. It has also traditionally been one ofthe most profitable, and it connects theworld’s largest economic units — the European Union and theNorth American Free Trade Area. Because of its size and vital-ity, there have been numerous calls for the relaxation of regu-lation that limits U.S. and European carriers from expandingservice to each other’s nations.The belief that there should be free trade in services acrossthe Atlantic is not new. There has been a steady move towardthe global liberalization of air transportation markets since t helate 1970s, when the United States initiated the deregulation o fits domestic freight and passenger markets. However, the pat-tern of change has not been consistent across countries.In recent years, a major coalition of interests involving air-lines, user groups, and governments has advocated a freetransatlantic market in air services. But it will not be easy t o cre-ate a fully open transatlantic air transportation market. Thereare significant political obstacles that would need to be over-come, and they — in practice — would seem to dominate theagenda, at least in the short term.But even if the institutional difficulties could be circum-vented, EU airlines would have difficulty competing in an open
Mining the First 100 Days: Human and Data Ethics in Twitter research

INTRODUCTION This case study describes data collection from Twitter, Inc. conducted with the intent of capturing conversations following from President Trump’s and others’ use of the #MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) hashtag in Twitter posts during the first 100 days of his presidential administration. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Data was collected between November 2016 and May 2017, using Twitter’s public search, user timeline, and streaming APIs. NEXT STEPS The article discusses the ethical implications of collecting data from Twitter and describes the impact of Twitter’s terms of service and API policies on data collection and research. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Librarians engaged with data literacy and research conduct programs can support researchers in developing awareness of the context sensitivities of social media research. Data librarians and others involved with data management planning can where applicable provide guidance and resources to support ethical social media data collection and management. Twitter and other social media datasets which may be published within library supported institutional or data repositories must meet policy requirements.
Bringing What State Back In? Neo-Marxism and the Origin of the Committee on States and Social Structures:

This article examines the interdisciplinary movement to “bring the state back in,” advanced during the 1980s by the Committee on States and Social Structures. Drawing on the Committee’s archives at...
Prevention of Hypertension Related to Cardiovascular Disease

Hypertension, among the common conditions encountered in primary care, is known to have a causal link with cardiovascular disease. With new thresholds for diagnosing hypertension, its prevalence is expected to increase. Currently, a high percentage of patients have suboptimal or inadequately controlled blood pressure, thus placing them at risk for cardiovascular disease. Among the best strategies for improved outcomes are inclusion of the patient in decision-making as well as provision of individualized treatment plans.
An Examination of Whether Firms Alter the Normal Evolution of Fourth Quarter Earnings to Avoid Losses

Our paper provides a comprehensive examination of issues and concerns in the current unresolved debate over the existence of loss avoidance behavior. We rely on a methodology that avoids previous strong assumptions for approximating pre-managed earnings and provide, instead, new earnings management tests. The primary issue that we consider is whether firms alter the normal evolution of earnings around the zero profit line relative to other nearby locations in the earnings distribution. Using generalized logistic regressions, we find that firms starting in adjacent intervals of the cumulative earnings distribution after three quarters generally have the same odds of experiencing a given fourth quarter earnings except when such fourth quarter evolutions result in annual earnings in close proximity to the zero profit line. It is there that the odds of a given magnitude of fourth quarter earnings diverge in favor of firms experiencing smallest annual profits, in comparison to firms experiencing smallest annual losses. Our results are robust to the choice of earnings measure: earnings scaled by size, net income, and earnings-per-share.
A rate-doubled 10-GHz fiducial comb generator for precision optical timing calibration

Solid-state optical fiducial timing pulse generators provide a convenient and accurate method to include timing fiducials in a streak-camera image for time-base correction. Current commercially available vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting in the visible range can be amplitude modulated up to 5 GHz. An optically passive method is utilized to interleave a time-delayed path of the 5-GHz pulsed light with itself, producing a 10-GHz pulsed fiducial, or comb. Comb pulse rates at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 GHz can also be selected. The instrument presented is a self-contained and portable generator with primary use for streak-camera temporal calibration. Applications can also be extended to many other optical timing needs. The VCSEL output is fiber optic coupled at a wavelength of 680 nm (visible red) with a nearly Gaussian pulse shape. The peak power of each ∼50-ps full width at half maximum (FWHM) comb pulse at 5-GHz operation, or picket, is approximately 5 mW. The low phase noise of the internal microwave modulation drive source provides low pulse to pulse jitter. An external reference frequency standard can be utilized to synchronize the output to external timing equipment. A selectable internal reference frequency crystal oscillator is incorporated for stand-alone operation.Solid-state optical fiducial timing pulse generators provide a convenient and accurate method to include timing fiducials in a streak-camera image for time-base correction. Current commercially available vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting in the visible range can be amplitude modulated up to 5 GHz. An optically passive method is utilized to interleave a time-delayed path of the 5-GHz pulsed light with itself, producing a 10-GHz pulsed fiducial, or comb. Comb pulse rates at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 GHz can also be selected. The instrument presented is a self-contained and portable generator with primary use for streak-camera temporal calibration. Applications can also be extended to many other optical timing needs. The VCSEL output is fiber optic coupled at a wavelength of 680 nm (visible red) with a nearly Gaussian pulse shape. The peak power of each ∼50-ps full width at half maximum (FWHM) ...
Abstract P037: Independent and Joint Associations of 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D and Parathyroid Hormone Levels With Cardiometabolic Biomarkers Among American White and Black Postmenopausal Women

Introduction: Despite evidence of racial disparities in independent relationships of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) status with cardiovascular risk, little is known abo...
THz-Pump UED-Probe on a Topological Weyl Semimetal

We used THz pulses to drive a topological transition in a Weyl semimetal WTe 2 via interlayer shear motion, as crystallographically measured using ultrafast electron diffraction (Sie et al, Nature (2018), in press).
Directed Credits and Financial Repression in Belarus

Belarus stands out among the former constituent nations of the Soviet Union in two dimensions. First, its economic collapse was less pronounced in the crisis period, while its economic recovery in the stabilization period has been below average for these states. Second, it has been a relatively high-inflation economy during both periods. The former suggests an economy relatively slow to introduce market reforms; the latter suggests an economy with larger-than-average excess demands for saving ex ante. Surprisingly, the government of Belarus ranks among the least deficitary when general government budget balances are measured as a percent of GDP, with only the Baltic states rivalling the near-balance reported by Belarus. This is documented in Tabele III.1 and Figuga V.2
Ranking-Based Voting Revisited: Maximum Entropy Approach Leads to Borda Count (and Its Versions)

In many practical situations, we need to make a group decision that takes into account preferences of all the participants. Ideally, we should elicit, from each participant, a full information about his/her preferences, but such elicitation is usually too time-consuming to be practical. Instead, we only elicit, from each participant, his/her ranking of different alternatives. One of the semi-heuristic methods for decision making under such information is Borda count, when for each alternative and each participant, we count how many alternatives are worse, and then select the alternatives for which the sum of these numbers is the largest. In this paper, we explain the empirical success of the Borda count technique by showing that this method naturally follows from the maximum entropy approach—a natural approach to decision making under uncertainty.
The association of plasma cytokines including VEGF with recurrent wheezing in allergic patients.

Background Various cytokines have been studied to determine their functions in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and their potential as therapeutic targets, but the roles and clinical applicability of many of these cytokines still remain unclear. Objective We aimed to measure the plasma levels of eight cytokines known to be relevant to allergic diseases, and to determine their association with the diagnostic characteristics of allergic patients. Methods The levels of a panel of eight cytokines (IL-5, IL-10, IL12p70, Leptin, CXCL5/ENA-78, CCL2/MCP-1, PDGFBB, and VEGF) were measured in plasma obtained from 83 allergic patients. We investigated whether the cytokine levels differed between children and adults. Statistical analyses were then performed to examine their association with the diagnostic characteristics of allergic patients. Results The levels of leptin, CCL2/MCP-1, PDGFBB, and VEGF were significantly higher in adult patients with allergic rhinitis than in children. Among patients with asthma, the levels of leptin and PDGFBB were elevated in adults. PDGFBB and VEGF levels were significantly associated with asthma. Interestingly, there was a significant association between VEGF level and recurrent wheezing regardless of the analyzed conditions. The levels of VEGF and PDGFBB or CCL2/MCP-1 showed a significant increase together in the presence of recurrent wheezing in child patients. CONCLUSIONonclusion: The plasma levels of four cytokines, particularly VEGF, showed significant associations with some diagnostic characteristics in allergic patients. We suggested that plasma VEGF, which performs pleiotropic functions in allergic responses, could serve as a serological marker relevant to recurrent wheezing in allergic patients.
Transfer RNA methyltransferase gene NSUN2 mRNA expression modifies the effect of T cell activation score on patient survival in head and neck squamous carcinoma.

Abstract Objectives To investigate how T-cell activation interacts with NSUN2 to influence HNSCC patient survival. Materials and Methods The relationships between T-cell activation status (Activation, Intermediate, and Exhaustion), NSUN2 expression, and patient survival were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariate Cox regression models in a public dataset with 520 HNSCC patients. HPV status was determined based on a VirusScan analysis of RNA-seq data. Results Among the patients with high NSUN2 expression, the Activation group exhibited longer survival than the Exhaustion group (trend P = 0.056). Adjusted hazards ratios (HRs) were 0.77 (95% CI: 0.49–1.19) for the Intermediate vs Exhaustion, and 0.61 (0.36–1.03) for Activation vs. Exhaustion. In contrast, there is a positive association between T-cell activation score and mortality in the patients with low NSUN2 expression (trend P = 0.016). The adjusted HRs were 1.97 (1.12–3.47) for the Intermediate vs Exhaustion, and 2.06 (1.16–3.68) for the Activation vs Exhaustion. In multivariate cox models with or without HPV status, the interaction between T-cell activation status and NSUN2 expression was statistically significant (P = 0.004 for with HPV status, and P = 0.002 for without, respectively). When not controlling for NSUN2 expression, there was no significant association between T-cell activation score and patient mortality (P = 0.84). Conclusions An interaction between NSUN2 expression and T-cell activation status affects patient survival in HNSCC regardless of HPV status, suggesting that NSUN2 is a potential precision marker for immune-checkpoint blockade, and a potential therapeutic target.
Welfare Entitlements in the Era of Devolution

In 1996, the Republican Congress and Democratic President enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), ushering in a new era of public benefits. This 1996 act’s fundamental change to the administration and substance of public benefits called into question the applicability of a substantial body of procedural due process doctrine. As a result, unanswered questions remain regarding the applicability of established due process doctrine in the welfare reform context.This Article analyzes whether public law entitlements exist in the context of PRWORA’s first order devolution from the federal to state governments as well as some states’ second order devolution from state to county or local governments. This article suggests that the statutory “no entitlement” declaration does not determine whether recipients retain constitutional procedural due process protections. Instead, utilizing a public law analysis, the article posits that PRWORA creates legitimate expectations to the receipt of benefits through statutory language and the concept and nature of the contractual agreements entered into between recipients and governments. Ultimately, these agreements form the basis of legitimate expectations in recipients and, therefore, a property interest.Using the example of one state’s devolution from the state to the county or local government, the articles explores the dangers that accompany unchecked agency discretion and highlights the continued, and arguably heightened, importance of procedural due process protections. The Article concludes that whether one focuses on the meanings of property interests, entitlements and/or legitimate expectations, or applies a fundamental requirement that government adhere to the rule of law, states remain accountable to welfare recipients when states offer benefits with conditions that impact the lives of their most impoverished residents.
Concordance of MRI-guided and systematic prostate biopsy for the detection of prostate cancer (PCa).

277Background: MRI/US guided biopsy (fusion biopsy) is increasingly utilized over systemic 12-core transrectal ultrasound biopsy (12-core biopsy) for men with MRI-visible prostate lesions. Methods:...
National Institutes of Health Institute and Center Award Rates and Funding Disparities

A previous report found an association of topic choice with race-based funding disparities among R01 applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health ("NIH") between 2011-2015. The report noted that applications submitted by African American or Black ("AAB") Principal Investigators ("PIs") skewed toward a small number of topics that were less likely to be funded (or "awarded"). It was suggested that the lower award rates may be related to biases of peer reviewers against topics preferred by AAB PIs. However, the previous report did not account for differential funding ecologies among NIH Institutes and Centers ("ICs"). In a re-analysis, I find that 10% of 148 algorithmically-designated topics account for 50% of applications submitted by AAB PIs. These applications on "AAB Preferred" topics are indeed funded at lower rates than applications on other topics, but their peer review outcomes are similar. The lower rate of funding for applications focused on AAB Preferred topics is likely primarily due to their assignment to ICs with lower award rates. In probit regression analyses, I find that topic choice does partially explain race-based funding disparities, but IC-specific award rates explain the disparities to an even greater degree.
Does Rewarding Pedagogical Excellence Keep Teachers in the Classroom

This paper analyzes the effects on teacher retention and between-school mobility of a program that rewards excellence in pedagogical practice in Chile. Teachers apply voluntarily for the award and those who succeed on a set of assessments receive a 6 percent annual wage increase for up to 10 years. A sharp regression discontinuity design is used to identify the causal effect of receiving the award. Using administrative data over several cohorts of applicants, the estimates indicate that locally the award does not alter transitions out of the school system. This suggests that around the threshold the skills rewarded by the program are not strongly correlated with the value of the teachers’ outside option. An increase in mobility, however, is observed within the school system among teachers who receive the award. These mobility patterns are consistent with the award providing a signal of teacher quality.
Contested Meanings of Freedom: Workingmen's Wages, the Company Store System, and the Godcharles v. Wigeman Decision

In 1886, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited employers from paying wages in company store scrip and mandated monthly wage payments. The court held that the legislature could not prescribe mandatory wage contracts for legally competent workingmen. The decision quashed over two decades of efforts to end the “truck system.” Although legislators had agreed that wage payments redeemable only in company store goods appeared antithetical to the free labor wage system, two obstacles complicated legislative action. Any law meant to enhance laborers' rights could neither favor one class over another nor infringe any workingman's ability to make voluntary contracts. These distinctions, however, were not as rigid and laissez faire-oriented as depicted by conventional history. Labor reformers argued that principles of equity must supplement these categories of class legislation and contract freedom. This essay explores how legal doctrine helped both sides of the anti-truck debate articulate the contested meanings of liberty. Ultimately, the Godcharles ruling enshrined the specialness of workingmen's labor contracts and rejected the use of equity principles to justify contract regulations, but the controversy also informed future labor strategies, especially the turn to state police powers as the rubric under which workers' safety, morals, and health could be protected.
Populism and Authoritarianism

Over the last few years, authoritarian populist parties and politicians have emerged in many different and varying parts of the world. Trump in the United States. Orban in Hungary. Duterte in the Philippines. Most if not all of these leaders have come to power by utilizing a form of populism, namely, by claiming to represent the will of the people and dividing the general populace into antagonistic and sympathetic camps. This trend in authoritarian populism is notable in two respects. First, it encompasses a wide swath of the world’s large and powerful countries, many of which are democracies. Second, the trend has broad support in each country’s respective populace. For example, in the United States, Trump was chosen by large portions of the American electorate. Many scholars agree that this global turn to authoritarian populism is a result of the failures of globalization. When promises of increased economic growth failed to materialize, globalization has instead resulted in deindustrialization, accelerating inequality and dramatic economic restructuring, political unrest, and a rise in nationalism. These trends were intensified during and after the 2008 financial crisis, making many populations worldwide dissatisfied with the world order. The electoral successes of authoritarian populist parties beg the question if authoritarian populism and its leaders can ever result in truly progressive policies and if populism can be democratic at its core? This chapter will analyze three case studies of the authoritarian populist parties’ successes and investigate the extent to which progressive policies have emerged from these party’s leadership and whether populism fits within a democratic model of governance.