cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute Coronary Syndromes: Unstable Angina and Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) encompass the clinical entities of unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Several advances have occurred over the past decade, including the emergence of new antiplatelet and antithrombotic therapies and novel treatment strategies, leading to marked improvements in mortality. However, there has also been an increased incidence in NSTE-ACS as a result of the use of high-sensitivity troponins and the increase in cardiovascular risk factors. This article provides a focused update on contemporary management strategies pertaining to antiplatelet, antithrombotic, and anti-ischemic therapies and to revascularization strategies in patients with ACS.
Simple, effective computation of principal eigenvectors and their eigenvalues and application to high-resolution estimation of frequencies

We present the results of an investigation of the Prony-Lanczos (P-L) method [14], [38] and the power method [39] for simple computation of approximations to a few eigenvectors and eigenvalues of a Hermitian matrix. We are motivated by realization of high-resolution signal processing in an integrated circuit. The computational speeds of the above methods are analyzed. They are completely dependent on the speed of a matrix-vector product operation. If only a few eigenvalues or eigenvectors are needed, the suggested methods can substitute for methods of the LINPACK or EISPACK subroutine libraries. The accuracies of the suggested methods are evaluated using matrices formed from simulated data consisting of two sinusoids plus Gaussian noise. Comparisons are made to the corresponding eigenvalues and eigenvectors obtained using LINPACK as a reference. Also, the accuracies of frequency estimates obtained from the eigenvectors are compared.
GO-PCA: An Unsupervised Method to Explore Gene Expression Data Using Prior Knowledge.

Method Genome-wide expression profiling is a widely used approach for characterizing heterogeneous populations of cells, tissues, biopsies, or other biological specimen. The exploratory analysis of such data typically relies on generic unsupervised methods, e.g. principal component analysis (PCA) or hierarchical clustering. However, generic methods fail to exploit prior knowledge about the molecular functions of genes. Here, I introduce GO-PCA, an unsupervised method that combines PCA with nonparametric GO enrichment analysis, in order to systematically search for sets of genes that are both strongly correlated and closely functionally related. These gene sets are then used to automatically generate expression signatures with functional labels, which collectively aim to provide a readily interpretable representation of biologically relevant similarities and differences. The robustness of the results obtained can be assessed by bootstrapping. Results I first applied GO-PCA to datasets containing diverse hematopoietic cell types from human and mouse, respectively. In both cases, GO-PCA generated a small number of signatures that represented the majority of lineages present, and whose labels reflected their respective biological characteristics. I then applied GO-PCA to human glioblastoma (GBM) data, and recovered signatures associated with four out of five previously defined GBM subtypes. My results demonstrate that GO-PCA is a powerful and versatile exploratory method that reduces an expression matrix containing thousands of genes to a much smaller set of interpretable signatures. In this way, GO-PCA aims to facilitate hypothesis generation, design of further analyses, and functional comparisons across datasets.
Fluxes of CO2 From Grazed and Ungrazed Tallgrass Prairie

Abstract To determine the impact of seasonal steer grazing on annual CO 2 fluxes of annually burned native tallgrass prairie, we used relaxed eddy accumulation on adjacent pastures of grazed and ungrazed tallgrass prairie from 1998 to 2001. Fluxes of CO 2 were measured almost continuously from immediately following burning through the burn date the following year. Aboveground biomass and leaf area were determined by clipping biweekly during the growing season. Carbon lost because of burning was estimated by clipping immediately prior to burning. Soil CO 2 flux was measured biweekly each year using portable chambers. Steers were stocked at twice the normal season-long stocking rate (0.81 ha steer −1 ) for the first half of the grazing season (∼ May 1 to July 15) and the area was left ungrazed the remainder of the year. That system of grazing is termed “intensive-early stocking.” During the early growing season, grazing reduced net carbon exchange relative to the reduction in green leaf area, but as the growing season progressed on the grazed area, regrowth produced younger leaves that had an apparent higher photosynthetic efficiency. Despite a substantially greater green leaf area on the ungrazed area, greater positive net carbon flux occurred on the grazed area during the late season. Net CO 2 exchange efficiency was greatest when grazing utilization was highest. We conclude that with grazing the reduced ecosystem respiration, the open canopy architecture, and the presence of young, highly photosynthetic leaves are responsible for the increased net carbon exchange efficiency. Both GR and UG tallgrass prairie appeared to be carbon-storage neutral for the 3 years of data collection (1998 ungrazed: -31 g C·m −2 , 1998 grazed: -5 g C·m −2 ; 1999 ungrazed: -40 g C·m −2 , 1999 grazed: -11 g C·m −2 ; 2000 ungrazed: +66 g C·m −2 , 2000 grazed: 0 g C·m −2 ).
Convenient preparation of tert-butyl esters

A general method is presented for the preparation of tert-butyl esters by the gentle warming of the carboxylic acid in the presence of excess of tert-butyl acetoacetate and a catalytic amount of acid. This method generates only low pressures, and is therefore suitable for laboratory scale pressure glassware.
Syntheses of two potential food mutagens

The syntheses of the potential heterocyclic amine food mutagens l,4,6-trimethyl-2-aminoimidazo[4,5-c]-pyridine and 1,5,7-trimethyl-2-aminoimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine are described.
1,2- vs 1,4-Addition of Acylbenzotriazoles to α,β-Unsaturated Aldehydes and Ketones. A Novel Route to 3-Alkyl-4,6-diaryl-3,4-dihydropyran-2-ones

Lithiation of aliphatic 1-acylbenzotriazoles with subsequent reaction with α,β-unsaturated ketones and aldehydes affords either 3,4,6-trisubstituted 3,4-dihydropyran-2-ones or 1,3-dienes depending on the carbonyl reagent used. Substituent effects on product yield and isomer ratio are discussed.
Fast Greedy Algorithms in MapReduce and Streaming

Greedy algorithms are practitioners’ best friends—they are intuitive, are simple to implement, and often lead to very good solutions. However, implementing greedy algorithms in a distributed setting is challenging since the greedy choice is inherently sequential, and it is not clear how to take advantage of the extra processing power. Our main result is a powerful sampling technique that aids in parallelization of sequential algorithms. Armed with this primitive, we then adapt a broad class of greedy algorithms to the MapReduce paradigm; this class includes maximum cover and submodular maximization subject to p-system constraint problems. Our method yields efficient algorithms that run in a logarithmic number of rounds while obtaining solutions that are arbitrarily close to those produced by the standard sequential greedy algorithm. We begin with algorithms for modular maximization subject to a matroid constraint and then extend this approach to obtain approximation algorithms for submodular maximization subject to knapsack or p-system constraints.
Synthesis and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor binding affinities of 2- and 3-isoxazolyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octanes

Abstract A series of epiboxidine homologues, 2- and 3-isoxazole substituted 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane derivatives was synthesized and evaluated as potential ligands for neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in [ 3 H]cytisine labeled rat brain. The 2β-isoxazolyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane 9b ( K i =3 nM) was the most potent compound of the series with a binding affinity twice that of nicotine. The 3β-isoxazolyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane 15b ( K i =148 nM) exhibited moderate affinity while the corresponding 2α- and 3α-isomers exhibited micromolar binding affinity.
In Vitro Effects of Plantago Major Extract, Aucubin, and Baicalein on Candida albicans Biofilm Formation, Metabolic Activity, and Cell Surface Hydrophobicity.

Purpose To determine the in vitro effectiveness of Plantago major extract, along with two of its active components, aucubin and baicalein, on the inhibition of Candida albicans growth, biofilm formation, metabolic activity, and cell surface hydrophobicity. Materials and Methods Twofold dilutions of P. major, aucubin, and baicalein were used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC), and the minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) of each solution. Separately, twofold dilutions of P. major, aucubin, and baicalein were used to determine the metabolic activity of established C. albicans biofilm using a 2,3-bis (2- methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-carboxanilide reduction assay. Twofold dilutions of P. major, aucubin, and baicalein were used to determine the cell surface hydrophobicity of treated C. albicans biofilm by a two-phase assay using hexadecane. The hydrophobicity percentage of the cell surface was then calculated. A mixed-model ANOVA test was used for intergroup comparisons. Results The MICs of P. major extract (diluted 1:2 to 1:8), aucubin (61 to 244 μg/ml), and baicalein (0.0063 to 100 μg/ml) on the total growth of C. albicans were noticeable at their highest concentrations, and the inhibition was dose dependent. The MFC was evaluated after 48 hours of incubation, and aucubin (244 μg/ml) exhibited a strong fungicidal activity at its highest concentration against C. albicans growth. The MBIC indicated no growth or reduced growth of C. albicans biofilm at the highest concentrations of aucubin (61 to 244 μg/ml) and baicalein (25 to 100 μg/ml). Similarly, the effects of these reagents on C. albicans biofilm metabolic activity and hydrophobicity demonstrated high effectiveness at their highest concentrations. Conclusion P. major extract, aucubin, and baicalein caused a dose-dependent reduction on the total growth, biofilm formation, metabolic activity, and cell surface hydrophobicity of C. albicans. This demonstrates their effectiveness as antifungals and suggests their promising potential use as solutions for C. albicans biofilm-related infections.
Vision-based system identification and state estimation

There are many situations where a (primary) controlled system must “interact” with another (secondary) system over which it has no direct control; e.g. the robot arm of a space vehicle grasping some free-floating object, a plane being refueled in flight by a tanker aircraft, a military tank intent on identifying and destroying enemy tanks, a surgeon attempting to remove all portions of an oddshaped tumor, and a highway vehicle trying to maintain a certain speed as well as a safe distance from other vehicles. Such scenarios can involve both stationary and moving objects. In virtually all cases, however, the more knowledge that the primary system has about the secondary system, the more probable the success of the interaction. Clearly, such knowledge is very often vision-based. This paper will focus on some recent results related to both identifying what a planar object (system) is and what its static or dynamic state is, based primarily on different views of its boundary. Boundary data information has been used extensively in a wide variety of situations in pattern analysis and image understanding. While the results that we will present here also are more generally applicable in computer vision, we will focus on how they can be applied to control system applications, and more specifically to the “visual” part of “visual-servoing.”
Interaction of Knowledge Sources in a Portable Natural Language Interface

This paper describes a general approach to the design of natural language interfaces that has evolved during the development of DATALOG, an English database query system based on Cascaded ATN grammar. By providing separate representation schemes for linguistic knowledge, general world knowledge, and application domain knowledge, DATALOG achieves a high degree of portability and extendability.
Accurate Mass Measurements in Proteomics

To understand different aspects of life at the molecular level, one would think that ideally all components of specific processes should be individually isolated and studied in details. Reductionist approaches, i.e., studying one biological event at a one-gene or one-protein-at-a-time basis, indeed have made significant contributions to our understanding of many basic facts of biology. However, these individual “building blocks” can not be visualized as a comprehensive “model” of the life of cells, tissues, and organisms, without using more integrative approaches.1,2 For example, the emerging field of “systems biology” aims to quantify all of the components of a biological system to assess their interactions and to integrate diverse types of information obtainable from this system into models that could explain and predict behaviors.3-6 Recent breakthroughs in genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics are making this daunting task a reality.7-14 Proteomics, the systematic study of the entire complement of proteins expressed by an organism, tissue, or cell under a specific set of conditions at a specific time (i.e., the proteome), has become an essential enabling component of systems biology. While the genome of an organism may be considered static over short timescales, the expression of that genome as the actual gene products (i.e.,more » mRNAs and proteins) is a dynamic event that is constantly changing due to the influence of environmental and physiological conditions. Exclusive monitoring of the transcriptomes can be carried out using high-throughput cDNA microarray analysis,15-17 however the measured mRNA levels do not necessarily correlate strongly with the corresponding abundances of proteins,18-20 The actual amount of functional proteins can be altered significantly and become independent of mRNA levels as a result of post-translational modifications (PTMs),21 alternative splicing,22,23 and protein turnover.24,25 Moreover, the functions of expressed proteins can also be extensively modified by PTMs26-31 or by their interactions with other biomolecules or small molecules.32,33 Thus, it is highly desirable that proteins, the primary functional macromolecules involved in almost all biological activities, can be studied directly and systematically to determine their diverse properties and interplay. Such proteome-wide analysis is expected to provide a wealth of biological information, such as sequence, quantity, PTMs, interactions, activities, subcellular distribution and structure of proteins, which is critical to the comprehensive understanding of the biological systems. However, the de novo analysis of proteins isolated from cells, tissues or bodily fluids poses significant challenges due to the tremendous complexity and depth of the proteome, which necessitates high-throughput and highly sensitive analytical techniques. It is therefore not surprising that mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable technology for proteome analysis.« less
Carboxyl-Terminal Cleavage of Apolipoprotein A-I by Human Mast Cell Chymase Impairs Its Anti-Inflammatory Properties

Objective—Apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) has been shown to possess several atheroprotective functions, including inhibition of inflammation. Protease-secreting activated mast cells reside in human atherosclerotic lesions. Here we investigated the effects of the neutral proteases released by activated mast cells on the anti-inflammatory properties of apoA-I. Approach and Results—Activation of human mast cells triggered the release of granule-associated proteases chymase, tryptase, cathepsin G, carboxypeptidase A, and granzyme B. Among them, chymase cleaved apoA-I with the greatest efficiency and generated C-terminally truncated apoA-I, which failed to bind with high affinity to human coronary artery endothelial cells. In tumor necrosis factor-α–activated human coronary artery endothelial cells, the chymase-cleaved apoA-I was unable to suppress nuclear factor-κB–dependent upregulation of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and to block THP-1 cells from adhering to and transmigrating across the human cor...
Ionosonde observations of ionospheric disturbances due to the 15 February 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor explosion

We report the results of our investigations on ionospheric effects potentially caused by the 15 February 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor explosion. We used the observation data from a number of digisonde s...
Efficient method for the reduction of large piston errors in segmented-mirror telescopes

Phase discontinuity sensing (PDS) is one of two successful approaches to segment phasing that are currently in use at the Keck telescopes, but it has only a limited capture range. We describe and present numerical simulations of a broadband version of the current (narrowband) PDS algorithm that can extend the capture range from 0.4 to 40 μm. Like the original algorithm, the new broadband PDS algorithm requires no special-purpose hardware but only a high-resolution area detector operating in the 2–3-μm range. The potential application of this algorithm to extremely large telescopes is also discussed.
WORK CONTINUATION WHILE TREATED FOR BREAST CANCER: THE ROLE OF WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATIONS.

Given the short- and long-term disabilities associated with breast cancer and its treatment, the authors investigate the influence of workplace accommodations on the employment and hours worked of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Accommodations that allow women to work fewer hours or that ease the burden of work could also generate health benefits by reducing workplace demands and allowing women more time to tend to treatment needs and recovery. In prior research, the authors found modest labor supply impacts on employment for this group of women. Evidence from this study suggests that some accommodations are associated with fewer hours worked, while some are associated with higher employment or hours. In addition, some of the accommodations that may affect hours of work—sometimes positively and sometimes negatively—are associated with positive health benefits.
Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap: Policy Insights from Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence

Despite several decades of government policies to promote energy efficiency, estimates of the costs and benefits of such policies remain controversial. At the heart of the controversy is whether there is an "energy efficiency gap," whereby consumers and firms fail to make seemingly positive net present value energy saving investments. High implicit discount rates, undervaluation of future fuel savings, and negative cost energy efficiency measures have all been discussed as evidence of the existence of a gap. We review explanations for an energy efficiency gap, including reasons why the size of the gap may be overstated, neoclassical explanations for a gap, and recent evidence from behavioral economics that has potential to help us understand why a gap could exist. Our review raises fundamental questions about traditional welfare analysis, yet we find the alternatives offered in the literature to be far from ready for use in policy analysis. Nevertheless, we offer several suggestions for policymakers and for future economic research.
Trapped modes in linear quantum stochastic networks with delays

Networks of open quantum systems with feedback have become an active area of research for applications such as quantum control, quantum communication and coherent information processing. A canonical formalism for the interconnection of open quantum systems using quantum stochastic differential equations (QSDEs) has been developed by Gough, James and co-workers and has been used to develop practical modeling approaches for complex quantum optical, microwave and optomechanical circuits/networks. In this paper we fill a significant gap in existing methodology by showing how trapped modes resulting from feedback via coupled channels with finite propagation delays can be identified systematically in a given passive linear network. Our method is based on the Blaschke-Potapov multiplicative factorization theorem for inner matrix-valued functions, which has been applied in the past to analog electronic networks. Our results provide a basis for extending the Quantum Hardware Description Language (QHDL) framework for automated quantum network model construction (Tezak et al. in Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A, Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 370(1979):5270-5290, 2012) to efficiently treat scenarios in which each interconnection of components has an associated signal propagation time delay.
Tending Fire: Coping with America’s Wildland Fires

Book Review: Tending Fire: Coping with America’s Wildland Fires, Stephen J. Pyne. Island Press, Washington, DC (2004).
Limitations on testable affine-invariant codes in the high-rate regime

Locally testable codes (LTCs) of constant minimum (absolute) distance that allow the tester to make a nearly linear number of queries have become the focus of attention recently, due to their connections to central questions in approximability theory. In particular, the binary Reed-Muller code of block length N and absolute distance d is known to be testable with O(N/d) queries, and has a dimension of a N − (log N)log d. The polylogarithmically small co-dimension is the basis of constructions of small set expanders with many "bad" eigenvalues, and size-efficient PCPs based on a shorter version of the long code. The smallest possible co-dimension for a distance d code (without any testability requirement) is a d/2 log N, achieved by BCH codes. This raises the natural question of understanding where in the spectrum between the two classical families, Reed-Muller and BCH, the optimal co-dimension of a distance d LTC lies --- in other words the "price" one has to pay for local testability.One promising approach for constructing LTCs is to focus on affine-invariant codes, whose structure makes testing guarantees easier to deduce than for general codes. Along these lines, the authors of [HRZS13] and [GKS13] recently constructed an affine-invariant family of high-rate LTCs with slightly smaller co-dimension than Reed-Muller codes. In this work, we show that their construction is essentially optimal among linear affine-invariant LTCs that contain the Reed-Muller code of the appropriate degree.
THE TIME-VARYING EFFECTS OF PERMANENT AND TRANSITORY SHOCKS TO REAL OUTPUT

Annual changes in volatility of U.S. real output growth and inflation are documented in data from 1870 to 2009 using a time varying parameter VAR model. Both volatilities rise quickly with World War I and its aftermath, stay relatively high until the end of World War II and drop rapidly until the mid to late-1960s. This Postwar Moderation represents the largest decline in volatilities in our sample, much greater than the Great Moderation that began in the 1980s. Fluctuations in output growth volatility are primarily associated with permanent shocks to output while fluctuations in inflation volatility are primarily accounted for by temporary shocks to output. Conditioning on temporary shocks, inflation and output growth are positively correlated. This finding and the ensuing impulse responses are consistent with an aggregate demand interpretation for the temporary shocks. Our model suggests aggregate demand played a key role in the changes in inflation volatility. Conversely, the two variables are negatively correlated when conditioning on permanent shocks, suggesting that these disturbances are associated primarily with aggregate supply. Our results suggest that aggregate supply played an important role in output volatility fluctuations. Most of the impulse responses support an aggregate supply interpretation of permanent shocks. However, for the pre-World War I period, we find that at longer horizons a permanent increase in output is generally associated with an increase in the price level that is frequently statistically significant. This evidence suggests aggregate demand may have had a long-run positive effect on output during the pre-World War I period.
A real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect breast carcinoma cells in peripheral blood

Summary Background The detection of occult carcinoma cells in patients with breast cancer has been shown to predict disease recurrence and metastasis Materials and methods To improve on molecular detection of breast carcinoma cells in blood, we have developed a sensitive and quantitative assay using real-time quantitative RT–PCR identifying transcripts of the cytokeratin-19 (CK19) gene. Results This real-time quantitative RT–PCR is sensitive, accurate and has a high reproducibihty within a wide dynamic range, which permits simultaneous quantitative analysis of samples with varying input concentrations Furthermore, the procedure offers several technical advantages over classic quantitative PCR methods (competitive RT–PCR, Northern blotting) such as decreased likelihood of contamination due to absence of post-PCR manipulations, high sample throughput because of absence of post-PCR processing time (no agarose gel electrophoresis). In this pilot study, we detected significantly elevated CKI9 transcript levels in 70% of the and stage IV breast cancer patients. Conclusions Analyses using this real time quantitative RTPCR for CK.19 mRNA may prove to have clinical implications in the assessment of circulating tumour cells in peripheral blood, micrometastases in bone marrow or lymph nodes in breast cancer patients Application of this technique in a clinical population may improve diagnosis and monitoring of metastatic breast cancer and its validation is currently ongoing
Optimal synchronization of directed complex networks

We study optimal synchronization of networks of coupled phase oscillators. We extend previous theory for optimizing the synchronization properties of undirected networks to the important case of directed networks. We derive a generalized synchrony alignment function that encodes the interplay between the network structure and the oscillators' natural frequencies and serves as an objective measure for the network's degree of synchronization. Using the generalized synchrony alignment function, we show that a network's synchronization properties can be systematically optimized. This framework also allows us to study the properties of synchrony-optimized networks, and in particular, investigate the role of directed network properties such as nodal in- and out-degrees. For instance, we find that in optimally rewired networks, the heterogeneity of the in-degree distribution roughly matches the heterogeneity of the natural frequency distribution, but no such relationship emerges for out-degrees. We also observe that a network's synchronization properties are promoted by a strong correlation between the nodal in-degrees and the natural frequencies of oscillators, whereas the relationship between the nodal out-degrees and the natural frequencies has comparatively little effect. This result is supported by our theory, which indicates that synchronization is promoted by a strong alignment of the natural frequencies with the left singular vectors corresponding to the largest singular values of the Laplacian matrix.
What is Different About Urbanization in Rich and Poor Countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States

Abstract Are the well-known facts about urbanization in the United States also true for the developing world? We compare American metropolitan areas with analogous geographic units in Brazil, China and India. Both Gibrat’s Law and Zipf’s Law seem to hold as well in Brazil as in the U.S., but China and India look quite different. In Brazil and China, the implications of the spatial equilibrium hypothesis, the central organizing idea of urban economics, are not rejected. The India data, however, repeatedly rejects tests inspired by the spatial equilibrium assumption. One hypothesis is that spatial equilibrium only emerges with economic development, as markets replace social relationships and as human capital spreads more widely. In all four countries there is strong evidence of agglomeration economies and human capital externalities. The correlation between density and earnings is stronger in both China and India than in the U.S., strongest in China. In India the gap between urban and rural wages is huge, but the correlation between city size and earnings is more modest. The cross-sectional relationship between area-level skills and both earnings and area-level growth are also stronger in the developing world than in the U.S. The forces that drive urban success seem similar in the rich and poor world, even if limited migration and difficult housing markets make it harder for a spatial equilibrium to develop.
Melting Phase Transitions and Catalytic Activity of Bilayer Gold Nanoclusters

Recent experiments in oxidation catalysis indicate that bilayer gold nanostructures exhibit exceptional catalytic activity at ambient temperatures. Here we use molecular dynamics simulations to show that an unsupported bilayer gold nanocluster has a melting transition smeared out over a broad temperature range. The transition is characterized by an interplay between the intralayer and interlayer diffusion processes, and the transition temperature region ranges from about 300 to 1200 K. We suggest that surface thermal instabilities of partially melted bilayer gold nanoclusters result in their exceptional catalytic activity at ambient temperatures. For gold nanoclusters with more than two layers, the melting transition temperature range narrows, and the activity of the cluster decreases due to the suppression of surface fluctuations. These results systematically explain experimental observations showing that catalytic ability of gold nanoclusters decreases with size.
Remittances and child labor in Bolivia

This article explores the effect of remittances on the prevalence and intensity of child labor in Bolivia. Using household survey data, we find that children in remittance-receiving households are less likely to be actively supplying labor, and the number of hours worked per week declines with the size of remittances received. The size of the impact varies between urban and rural households. Remittances to urban households have a larger impact on moving children completely out of the labor force, but a smaller increase in remittance size is needed for an equal reduction in number of hours worked in rural areas. JEL codes: F24, O15, E26
Feeding Practices and Input Cost Performance in U.S. Hog Operations: The Case of Split-Sex and Phase Feeding

This study determines the factors leading to adoption of split-sex and phase feeding by U.S. hog producers and consequently the impact of adoption on operation’s input cost performance. A sample selection model is employed to account for unobservable variables possibly being correlated with the decision to use split-sex and/or phase feeding and input cost performance. Results demonstrate that operations using phase or combination of phase and split sex feeding are most cost effective and productive than hog operations using conventional feeding.
Alcohol enhances unprovoked 22-28 kHz USVs and suppresses USV mean frequency in High Alcohol Drinking (HAD-1) male rats.

Heightened emotional states increase impulsive behaviors such as excessive ethanol consumption in humans. Though positive and negative affective states in rodents can be monitored in real-time through ultrasonic vocalization (USV) emissions, few animal studies have focused on the role of emotional status as a stimulus for initial ethanol drinking. Our laboratory has recently developed reliable, high-speed analysis techniques to compile USV data during multiple-hour drinking sessions. Since High Alcohol Drinking (HAD-1) rats are selectively bred to voluntarily consume intoxicating levels of alcohol, we hypothesized that USVs emitted by HAD-1 rats would reveal unique emotional phenotypes predictive of alcohol intake and sensitive to alcohol experience. In this study, male HAD-1 rats had access to water, 15% and 30% EtOH or water only (i.e., Controls) during 8 weeks of daily 7-h drinking-in-the-dark (DID) sessions. USVs, associated with both positive (i.e., 50-55 kHz frequency-modulated or FM) and negative (i.e., 22-28 kHz) emotional states, emitted during these daily DID sessions were examined. Findings showed basal 22-28 kHz USVs were emitted by both EtOH-Naive (Control) and EtOH-experienced rats, alcohol experience enhanced 22-28 kHz USV emissions, and USV acoustic parameters (i.e., mean frequency in kHz) of both positive and negative USVs were significantly suppressed by chronic alcohol experience. These data suggest that negative affective status initiates and maintains excessive alcohol intake in selectively bred HAD-1 rats and support the notion that unprovoked emissions of negative affect-associated USVs (i.e., 22-28 kHz) predict vulnerability to excessive alcohol intake in distinct rodent models.
Funding and Financial Regulation for Third Sector Broadcasters: What Can Be Learned From the Australian and Canadian Experiences?

The article takes an in-depth look at the experiences Australia and Canada have had dealing with issues related to the funding and financial regulation of the third or ‘private, non-profit’ sector of broadcasting. Through the analysis of these experiences, recommendations are extracted aimed at providing policy makers and stakeholders from other jurisdictions guidance regarding how to deal with these issues.
Hop: Elastic Consistency for Exascale Data Stores

Distributed key-value stores are a scalable alternative for relational databases and file systems. Different systems try to provide the right balance between scalability, consistency and reliability for a certain category of applications. Yet many applications don’t have a single static set of requirements for all the data they create and use. In order to meet different requirements, the applications end up using multiple data stores, each with its own interface, or suffer the unnecessary performance degradation. This paper describes Hop, our attempt to define an interface that allows specification of different consistency and replication levels, and by allowing the assembly of different implementations of the interface, provides the right balance of consistency, scalability and availability for different parts of application data. We describe the Hop interface and evaluate some of the implementations we created, as well as how they can be combined to provide flexible distributed deployments.
The Varieties of Arboreal Experience

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the varieties of arboreal experience. The Paris–Harrington Theorem is a variant of the Finite Ramsey Theorem, which, though provable in ordinary set theory (and so a theorem of ordinary mathematical practice), is not provable in formal number theory. This independence being of a character different from that of Godel's undecidable sentence or that associated with independence results in set theory, the result has been much touted by logicians seeking social acceptance by the rest of the mathematical world as something closely akin to the coming of the millennium. This is unfortunate as the result really is remarkable philosophically because of this new character of independence and mathematically for reasons requiring a new paragraph. The difference between the usual Finite Ramsey Theorem and the Paris–Harrington Theorem is surprisingly consequential, concerning computationally hairy combinatorial problems with unfeasible bounds; but the former's unfeasible bounds are readily intelligible, while the latter's are not. The relation between Kruskal's Theorem and ordinals is fairly close. In fact, Kruskal's Theorem is most memorably stated, if not in terms of ordinals and well-ordering, at least in terms of well-quasi-ordering.
What Makes an Orc? Racial Cosmos and Emergent Narrative in World of Warcraft

This article offers a new method of reading racial narrative in massive multiplayer online games. Rather than looking to the game text or the behaviors of individual players, it focuses on collective emergent behavior and demographics. From this perspective, the various racial group in World of Warcraft (WoW) take on their on unique characteristics that inform the broader WoW narrative. These differences result from the collective playing decisions of millions of gamers, influenced by the text, and also popular culture, game mechanics, and innumerable other factors.
An Analytical Treatment of Resonance Effects on Satellite Orbits

A first order analytical approximation of the tesseral harmonic resonance perturbations of the Keplerian elements is presented, and the mean elements (the Keplerian elements with the long period portions averaged out) will also be given in closed form. Finally the results of a numerical test, which compares the analytical solution against a numerical integration of the Lagrange equations of motion, will be summarized.
Regulating transcription: a chemical perspective

Many human diseases are characterized by altered gene expression patterns caused by malfunctioning transcriptional regulators. This has spurred new efforts in the development of artificial transcription factors that regulate the expression of specific genes either positively or negatively. Despite impressive advances in the last decade, artificial transcription factors that reconstitute all of the functions of natural regulators are not yet a reality. Such factors will be powerful chemical tools for unraveling the mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated and in the long term offer considerable therapeutic potential.
Exit Barriers and Vertical Integration

When exit barriers trap firms in an industry, the result is destructive competition and reduced profits (Harrigan, 1981; Porter, 1976). Mobility barriers often prevent firms from changing their str...
SUPERIOR CAPSULOTOMY: THE IDEAL APPROACH FOR THA – AFFIRMS

Several design principles were considered paramount when the surgical technique of performing total hip arthroplasty through an incision in the superior capsule without dislocation of the hip joint was developed. These design principles include: Preservation of the abductors; Preservation of the posterior capsule and short external rotators; Preparation of the femur in situ without dislocation of the hip; In-line access to the femoral shaft axis; Ability to perform a trial reduction; Independence from intraoperative imaging; Independence from a traction table; Applicable to at least 99% of THA procedures Personal experience with more than 1950 THA using the superior capsulotomy technique over a 12-year period has demonstrated several observations: Dislocation rate of 0.15% (3 in 1950); Acute deep infection rate of 0% (0 in 1950); Universal applicability: used in 99.7% of primary THA; Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve palsy incidence: 0/1950; Femoral nerve palsy incidence: 0/1950; Transient peroneal palsy incidence: 2/1950; Length of stay (since 2010): 1.55 days; Discharge to home: 98%; 90-day cost (2/13 to 2/14) compared to other exposures in CMS patients in the same institution: $24,200 vs $30,100; Readmission costs (CMS 2/13 to 2/14) at 90 days: $0. Conclusion: Performing total hip arthroplasty without dislocation and with preservation of the abductors, posterior capsule and short external rotations has proven to have a low dislocation rate, a low infection rate, and wide applicability. CMS 12-month expenditure data documenting ZERO dollars spent on readmission for any reason within 90 days of surgery demonstrates the potential for simultaneously improving incomes and reducing cost, with particular benefit within the CMS BPCI and private bundled payment programs.
Varying the effective mass of geophones

Traditionally, acquiring seismic data has rested on the assumption that geophone mass should be as small as possible. When Steeples and coworkers in 1999 planted 72 geophones automatically and simultaneously with a farm tillage implement, the effective mass of each of the geophones was significantly increased. We examined how the mass of a geophone affects changes in traveltime, amplitude, frequency, and overall data quality by placing various external masses on top of 100-Hz vertical geophones. Circular barbell weights of 1.1-, 11.3-, and 22.7 kg; an 8.2-kg bag of lead shot; and a 136-kg stack of barbell weights were placed on top of geophones during data acquisition. In addition, a very large mass in the form of a truck was parked on top of two of the geophones. Four seismic sources supplying a broad range of energies were tested: a sledgehammer, a .22-caliber rifle, a 30.06 rifle, and an 8-gauge Betsy Seisgun. Spectral analysis revealed that the smaller weights had the greatest effects on the capacities of the geophones to replicate the earth’s motion. Consequently, using geophones with a large effective mass as part of an automatic geophoneplanting device would not necessarily be detrimental to the collection of high-quality near-surface seismic data.
Facile Formation of β-Hydroxyboronate Esters by a Cu-Catalyzed Diboration/Matteson Homologation Sequence

The copper-catalyzed diboration of aldehydes was used in conjunction with the Matteson homologation, providing the efficient synthesis of β-hydroxyboronate esters. The oxygen-bound boronate ester was found to play a key role in mediating the homologation reaction, which was compared to the α-hydroxyboronate ester (isolated hydrolysis product). The synthetic utility of the diboration/homologation sequence was demonstrated through the oxidation of one product to provide a 1,2-diol.
Low -Thrust Autonomous Control for Maintaining Formation and Constellation Orbits

Control strategies to maintain spacecraft formation flying and constellation station keeping orbits are presented in this paper. For small or nanosatellites, the potential control thruster used in orbital control could be of the low-thrust type. The control methods that can adapt to different thrust levels without compromising the system performance and the mission task are investigated. Autonomous algorithms (analytic solutions that can be easily executed in real-time) that can be easily implemented on board are considered at the same time to reduce the overall cost of the mission.
Warm-Mix Asphalt Trials in New York State: Laboratory and Field Performance

Warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technologies have been studied by many researchers over the past 10 years with a majority of the research pertaining to laboratory-prepared materials or sampled asphalt mixtures that are reheated in the laboratory before sample preparation. Unfortunately, the laboratory preparation of WMA, especially foamed systems, does not do a very good job at simulating the plant production processes. Meanwhile, reheating loose mix that had been sampled during production has shown to stiffen the asphalt mixture owing to additional oxidation aging, thus altering the initial asphalt mixture properties. In addition, the majority of the WMA research studies published contain little to no field performance, making it difficult to know whether or not the differences in material performance observed in the laboratory translate to actual field performance. Research is presented in regard to the laboratory performance of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and companion WMA mixtures using various WMA technologies. All...
Modeling of the 2011 Tohoku Near-Field Tsunami from Finite-Fault Inversion of Seismic Waves

The great 2011 Tohoku earthquake with M w 9.0 generated strong shaking and a destructive tsunami along the northeastern Japan coasts. We utilize a finite‐fault model obtained from seismic P ‐wave inversion to characterize the time‐dependent fault displacements and seafloor motions. A nonhydrostatic long‐wave model describes the resulting tsunami for investigation of the generation mechanism in terms of the rupture process and the ocean wave dynamics over the continental margin. The computed near‐field tsunami, which evolves from two dominant wave components generated by seafloor uplift near the epicenter and trench, is consistent with the recorded water‐level data around the source. Spectral analysis of the computed ocean surface elevation reveals energetic, standing edge waves with periods 32–115 min along the continental margin from Chiba to Hokkaido. While superposition of the two dominant wave components exacerbates the impact along the coasts fronting the rupture, constructive interference of standing edge waves accounts for the belated arrivals of the largest waves on the adjacent coasts and persistent wave activities in the aftermath.
A Catalytic Enantiotopic-Group-Selective Suzuki Reaction for the Construction of Chiral Organoboronates

Catalytic enantiotopic-group-selective cross-couplings of achiral geminal bis(pinacolboronates) provide a route for the construction of nonracemic chiral organoboronates. In the presence of a chiral monodentate taddol-derived phosphoramidite ligand, these reactions occur with high levels of asymmetric induction. Mechanistic experiments with chiral 10B-enriched geminal bis(boronates) suggest that the reaction occurs by a stereochemistry-determining transmetalation that occurs with inversion of configuration at carbon.
Labor Market Segmentation in Urumqi, Xinjiang: Exposing Labor Market Segments and Testing the Relationship between Migration and Segmentation

Labor market segmentation and migration are two phenomena that are dramatically reshaping the spatial, economic, and social relationships of many urban cities in both developed and developing countries. To this point, the bulk of Chinese literature falls within the context of area studies, without much effort to link Chinese migration and emerging labor market outcomes to larger global trends and discourse. This research attempts to link the body of internal Chinese migration and emerging labor markets to labor market segmentation theory, primarily developed by urban economists and sociologists. My findings provide evidence that applying labor market segmentation theory to examine emerging markets in China offers fruitful results that help to identify the new urban stratification that exists in China. I employ a set of quantitative methods using employee-level field data that I collected in Urumqi in 2008 to identify distinct segments within Urumqi's labor market and argue that migration is a major driver of labor market segmentation. Cluster analysis shows Uyghur minorities and women are found to be overwhelmingly concentrated in the lower sector, composed mostly of “bad” jobs. Discriminant analysis reveals that migrant status and ethnicity are the most important variables that deepen the gap among the labor market segments. The social inequality created as a result of market segmentation can partially explain Uyghur discontent in the region and the July 2009 riots, one of the worst riots in Xinjiang's modern history.
CDM Tester Properties as Deduced From Waveforms

Two-pole resistance-inductance-capacitance (RLC) models, matching peak current and charge under the first current peak, are shown to fit charged device model (CDM) waveforms well, as they target features that cause device failure. The effect of oscilloscope filtering on the waveform can also be assessed. RLC properties of ferrites, air sparks, varying dielectric, and other tester elements become clear and point us to a revised CDM test standard.