cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Economic Contribution Potential of Local Foods Production in Kane County, Illinois

This project was a partnership with the American Farmland Trust, the Kane County, Il, planning department, and the author to demonstrate the regional economic gains that could be anticipated were the county able to expand local fresh fruits and vegetable production for both local and regional sales. The report is important in that it takes into consideration the density of regional demand for local foods in light of regional production and establishes realistic thresholds of production gains for area producers.
Real Activity Forecasts Using Loan Portfolio Information

To extend and monitor loans, banks collect detailed and proprietary information about the financial prospects of their customers, many of whom are local businesses and households. Therefore, banks’ loan portfolios contain potentially useful information about local economic conditions. We investigate the association between information in loan portfolios and local economic conditions. Using a sample of U.S. commercial banks from 1990:Q1 to 2013:Q4, we document that information in loan portfolios aggregated to the state level is associated with current and future changes in statewide economic conditions. Furthermore, the provision for loan and lease losses contains information incremental to leading indicators of state-level economic activity and recessions. Loan portfolio information also helps to improve predictions of economic conditions at more granular levels, such as at the commuting zone level. We discuss the relevance of these findings for economic analysis and forecasting, and the relation of our study to prior work on the informativeness of accounting information about the macroeconomy.
Interdisciplinary problem-solving: Next steps in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a 7.6-million-hectare region in the Central Rocky Mountains of the United States, is used to illustrate both the challenges and means to improve problem solving in the natural resources arena. The challenges in this world-famous region are contextual (rapid change, growth, pluralism, complexity, state/federal conflicts, and lack of a common perspective), institutional (multiple organizations with overlapping authority and control and disparate mandates, uneven leadership, lack of creativity in problem solving, and resistance to change), and human (diverse perspectives and values and epistemological limitations). To overcome these challenges, an interdisciplinary method that integrates knowledge to improve policy making is briefly described. It provides a framework with a comprehensive set of categories to use in investigating and analyzing problems and inventing alternatives for substantive, process, and structural improvements. Five programs or interventions, all of which are based on this method, are suggested to address the challenges facing Greater Yellowstone: (1) workshops for ‘capacity building,’ (2) leadership, staff development, and student internships, (3) case analyses and appraisals for policy learning, (4) problem-solving exercises and decision seminars, and (5) prototyping exercises to improve interdisciplinary and interagency coordination. These are described, examples given, and benefits outlined.
Li ion conductors based on laponite/poly(ethylene oxide) composites

Abstract Synthesis and characterization of single-ion conducting poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/Li-laponite nanocomposites are reported. The amount of PEO that can be intercalated into laponite, a synthetic hectorite with high surface area, ranges from about 0.7 g/g Li-laponite when the polymer average molecular weight is 1000 or above, to about 1 g/g for oligomers of average molecular weight 500. The interlayer spacing increases from about 10 A in the dry clay to 20–24 A in the nanocomposites, depending upon polymer molecular weight, and the average particle size increases proportionally, but is still in the sub-micron range. AC impedance measurements on the clear, slightly brittle, self-supporting films indicate that the nanocomposite conductivity is greatly enhanced over that of the dry clay. A maximum of about 10−6 S/cm at 80°C is obtained for materials containing a slight excess of polymer, and conductivities of nanocomposites containing PEO were generally higher than that of those containing oxymethylene-linked polyethylene glycols (amorphous PEOs). Suggestions for further improving conductivity and mechanical properties of these novel materials are presented.
The Role of Autonomy, Self-Realization, and Psychological Empowerment in Predicting Outcomes for Youth With Disabilities

This study examined the degree to which the three of the four essential characteristics of self-determination (autonomy, self-realization, and psychological empowerment) predicted quality of life–related adult outcome constructs using secondary analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2. The pattern of predictive relationship was complex. Most findings were concentrated in a high-incidence disability group, with autonomy predicting higher financial independence, employment, social relationships, independent living, and postsecondary education. For those with intellectual disability, there was also a positive relationship between autonomy and inclusive residential opportunities. Implications of the complex pattern of findings for research and practice are discussed.
Neuroendocrine aspects of suicidal behavior

Studies have found evidence for cortisol hypersecretion in individuals who subsequently attempt suicide; abnormal dexamethasone suppression test results have also been observed in retrospective studies of suicide attemptors. There is also evidence from studies of CSF metabolite concentrations, and platelet and postmortem brain receptors of chronic serotonin dysregulation in suicidal individuals. Changes in thyroid and catecholamine regulation have also been reported in preliminary studies. This review explores how these variables might interact in the pathophysiology of suicide.
Rh(I)–Bisphosphine-Catalyzed Asymmetric, Intermolecular Hydroheteroarylation of α-Substituted Acrylate Derivatives

Asymmetric hydroheteroarylation of alkenes represents a convenient entry to elaborated heterocyclic motifs. While chiral acids are known to mediate asymmetric addition of electron-rich heteroarenes to Michael acceptors, very few methods exploit transition metals to catalyze alkylation of heterocycles with olefins via a C-H activation, migratory insertion sequence. Herein, we describe the development of an asymmetric, intermolecular hydroheteroarylation reaction of α-substituted acrylates with benzoxazoles. The reaction provides 2-substitued benzoxazoles in moderate to excellent yields and good to excellent enantioselectivities. Notably, a series of mechanistic studies appears to contradict a pathway involving enantioselective protonation of a Rh(I)-enolate, despite the fact that such a mechanism is invoked almost unanimously in the related addition of aryl boronic acids to methacrylate derivatives. Evidence suggests instead that migratory insertion or beta-hydride elimination is enantiodetermining and that isomerization of a Rh(I)-enolate to a Rh(I)-heterobenzyl species insulates the resultant α-stereocenter from epimerization. A bulky ligand, CTH-(R)-Xylyl-P-Phos, is crucial for reactivity and enantioselectivity, as it likely discourages undesired ligation of benzoxazole substrates or intermediates to on- or off-cycle rhodium complexes and attenuates coordination-promoted product epimerization.
Venture Capitalists’ Experience and Foreign IPOs: Evidence from China

Integrating signaling theory with social network theory, we investigate the influence of venture capitalists’ (VCs’) IPO experience on the likelihood of foreign IPO successes. Using data from VC–ba...
The Offshore Floating Nuclear Plant Concept

A new offshore floating nuclear plant (OFNP) concept with high potential for attractive economics and an unprecedented level of safety is presented. OFNP creatively combines state-of-the-art light ...
Single- and few-layer WTe2 and their suspended nanostructures: Raman signatures and nanomechanical resonances

Single crystal tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) has recently been discovered to exhibit non-saturating extreme magnetoresistance in bulk; it has also emerged as a new layered material from which atomic layer crystals can be extracted. While atomically thin WTe2 is attractive for its unique properties, little research has been conducted on single- and few-layer WTe2. Here we report the isolation of single- and few-layer WTe2, as well as the fabrication and characterization of the first WTe2 suspended nanostructures. We have observed new Raman signatures of single- and few-layer WTe2 that have been theoretically predicted but have not been reported to date, in both on-substrate and suspended WTe2 flakes. We have further probed the nanomechanical properties of suspended WTe2 structures by measuring their flexural resonances, and obtain a Young's modulus of EY ≈ 80 GPa for the suspended WTe2 flakes. This study paves the way for future investigations and utilizations of the multiple new Raman fingerprints of single- and few-layer WTe2, and for explorations of mechanical control of WTe2 atomic layers.
Simulating the distance distribution between spin-labels attached to proteins.

EPR/DEER spectroscopy is playing an increasingly important role in the characterization of the conformational states of proteins. In this study, force field parameters for the bifunctional spin-label (RX) used in EPR/DEER are parametrized and tested with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The dihedral angles connecting the Cα atom of the backbone to the nitroxide ring moiety of the RX spin-label attached to i and i + 4 positions in a polyalanine α-helix agree very well with those observed in the X-ray crystallography. Both RXi,i+4 and RXi,i+3 are more rigid than the monofunctional spin-label (R1) commonly used in EPR/DEER, while RXi,i+4 is more rigid and causes less distortion in a protein backbone than RXi,i+3. Simplified dummy spin-label models with a single effective particle representing the RXi,i+3 and RXi,i+4 are also developed and parametrized from the all-atom simulations. MD simulations with dummy spin-labels (MDDS) provide distance distributions that can be directly compared to distance distri...
Soap-based detergent formulations: XV. Amino esters of α-sulfo fatty acids

Amphoteric surfactants were prepared either by direct esterification of α-sulfo fatty acids with various alkanolamines or by rearrangement of the corresponding alkanolamides of the α-sulfo fatty acids to the amino esters with the aid of aqueous hydrochloric acid. The α-sulfo fatty acid monoesters of diethanolamine could be prepared only via the rearrangement method. The amino esters in the C16−C18 range possessed limited water solubility whereas α-sulfolaurate esters were soluble at room temperature. The amino esters were found to be stable to acid hydrolysis; however, they were generally not stable to alkali, by which they were either hydrolyzed or rearranged to the corresponding amide. Only the esters of isopropanolamine and diglycolamine were stable to alkali. Surface active properties of the esters were determined. The lime soap dispersant requirements of the compounds were slightly poorer than those of the corresponding amides. The compounds were good cotton detergents by themselves as well as in combination with soap and a silicate builder. The overall surface active properties of the amino esters were greatly inferior to those of the sulfobetaines previously reported. This indicates that an effective amphoteric lime soap dispersant should have its anionic group located at the very end of the molecule and the cationic group somewhat farther away, instead of the reverse.
Constituency Congruency and Candidate Competition in U.S. House Elections

Research on candidate competition has focused on how much context matters in emergence decisions and election outcomes. If a candidate has previously held elected office, one additional consideration that may influence entry decisions is the relative degree of overlap between the candidate's current constituency and the “new” set of voters she is seeking to represent. Using GIS software, we derive a measure of the challenger's personal vote by focusing on constituency congruency between state legislative and congressional districts. Results suggest state legislators are more likely to run for a seat in the U.S. House if constituency congruency is relatively high.
Lewis base catalyzed trialkylsilylcyanide additions to cyclic 2-fluoroketones: nucleophile directed access to both cis- and trans-stereoisomers

An efficient method for the Lewis base-catalyzed addition of trialkylorganosilanes (TMSCN & TBSCN) to cyclic 2-fluoroketones has been developed producing the TMS- or TBS-protected cyanohydrins in good yields and diastereoselectivity. The Lewis base, solvent, and trialkylorganosilane have a dramatic effect on the reaction time and stereoselectivity for these reactions. TMSCN reacted the fastest using DIPEA as the Lewis base, and favored the cis product (up to 22:1), whereas methoxide-catalyzed reactions with TBSCN yielded the trans stereoisomer (up to 18:1).
An integrated approach to product family redesign using commonality and variety metrics

Redesigning a product family entails carefully balancing the trade-offs between commonality and differentiation that are governed by the underlying platform architecture. Numerous metrics for commonality and variety exist to support product family and product platform design; however, rarely are they used in concert to help redesign platforms and families of products effectively. In this paper, we introduce an integrated approach that uses multiple product family metrics to establish an effective platform redesign strategy. Specifically, we present a detailed procedure to integrate the generational variety index, product line commonality index, and design structure matrix to prioritize components for redesign based on variety and commonality needs in a family of products. While all three of these tools exist in the literature and have been used extensively to support product family design, the novelty in our work lies in their integration to establish a redesign strategy for platform architectures that achieves a better balance between the commonality and variety within a product family. To demonstrate the proposed approach, case studies involving two generations of wireless computer mice and two families of dishwashers are presented. Ongoing and future work is also discussed.
Behavioral Diversities of Morphogenetic Collective Systems

We conducted comparative analyses of self-organized behaviors generated by morphogenetic collective systems of four distinct classes: homogeneous collectives (Class A); heterogeneous collectives (Class B); heterogeneous collectives with dynamic differentiation/re-differentiation (Class C); and heterogeneous collectives with dynamic differentiation/redifferentiation and local information sharing (Class D) (Sayama 2014). In previous work, behaviors of morphogenetic swarm chemistry were sampled by Monte Carlo simulations and characterized in 24 kinetic, topological and dynamical features, although statistical analyses remained simple mean difference tests analyzing each feature independently. To elucidate potential differences in behavioral diversity between the four classes, here we measured class-level properties of sampled behavior distributions in the 24-dimensional behavioral feature space. The entire sample set (including samples from all four classes) was first standardized and transformed into uncorrelated components by principal component analysis (Fig. 1). Then the following three measurements were calculated in the feature space for each class to characterize its behavioral diversity: (a) approximated volume of behavior coverage (i.e., product of ranges [max – min] of all 24 components), (b) average pairwise distance of behaviors between two randomly selected samples, and (c) differential entropy (Cover & Thomas 1991) of the smoothed probability density function constructed for the first four principal components (which corresponded to 65% of total variance). Figure 2 summarizes the results. All the measurements showed that classes C and D produced greater behavioral diversities than A and B (counter to the previous observation that properties of C and D were generally between A and B). This suggests that dynamic differentiation/re-differentiation present in C and D contributed to the production of more diverse behaviors in morphogenetic collective systems.
Which CSR-Related Headings Do Fortune 500 Companies Use on Their Websites?:

This article examines website headings used by Fortune 500 companies in their efforts to inform stakeholders about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Instead of using “Corporate Social Responsi...
Planning for Cars That Drive Themselves Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Regional Transportation Plans, and Autonomous Vehicles

Through a review of long-range transportation plans and interviews with planners, this article examines how large metropolitan planning organizations are preparing for autonomous vehicles. In just a few years, the prospect of commercially available self-driving cars and trucks has gone from a futurist fantasy to a likely near-term reality. However, uncertainties about the new technology and its relationship to daily investment decisions have kept mention of self-driving cars out of nearly all long-range transportation plans. Nevertheless, interviewees are keeping a close watch on the new technology and actively looking to understand and plan for future impacts.
Verification of Time–Temperature Superposition Principle for Shear Bond Failure of Interlayers in Asphalt Pavements

Asphalt pavement structures are composed of different asphalt concrete layers with surface layers that are bonded together with a tack coat. Thus, interlayer bonding between pavement layers is a key factor that affects the performance of any pavement structure. However, relatively little attention has been given to the characterization and modeling of interlayer bonding or to associated test methods that can be used in the laboratory to evaluate the bond strength between asphalt concrete layers. This paper presents a test method for evaluating interface bonding between asphalt concrete layers in shear mode. Moreover, the time–temperature superposition (t-TS) principle with growing damage in shear failure mode is examined to characterize the shear bond strength of asphalt concrete pavements for a wide range of temperatures. The subsequent validation of the t-TS principle allows the shear bond strength between asphalt layers at various temperatures and loading rates to be determined with only three or four ...
Event-Driven Holding Control for High-Frequency Transit

Transit operations are subject to disruptions caused by events. Some events cause unpredictable disruptions (e.g., signal failures in rail transit and traffic accidents along a bus route operating in mixed traffic). Other events, such as concerts or sport contests, cause foreseen disruptions. In some cases, dynamic functions of running times and demand can be used to predict and model disruptions. Past research has explored the use of operations control to respond to disruptions after service deteriorates, assuming constant running times and demand. The proposed framework enables anticipatory control strategies by dynamically modeling expected changes in running times and demand during events. A holding optimization model formulated to capture dynamics is applied to a simulated transit system experiencing disruptions induced by an unforeseen event and a foreseen event. Controlling operations with an awareness of events has little effect in the unforeseen event case but significantly improves performance i...
A Compression Based Distance Measure for Texture.

The analysis of texture is an important subroutine in application areas as diverse as biology, medicine, robotics, and forensic science. While the last three decades have seen extensive research in algorithms to measure texture similarity, almost all existing methods require the careful setting of many parameters. There are many problems associated with a lot of parameters, the most obvious of which is that with many parameters to fit, it is very difficult to avoid overfitting. In this work, we propose to extend recent advances in Kolmogorov complexity‐based similarity measures to texture matching problems. These Kolmogorov‐based methods have been shown to be very useful in intrinsically discrete domains such as DNA, protein sequences, MIDI music, and natural languages; however, they are not well defined for real‐valued data. To address this, we introduce a very simple idea, the Campana‐Keogh (CK) video compression‐based method for texture measures. These measures utilize video compressors to approximate the Kolmogorov complexity. Using the parameter‐free CK method, we novely utilize lossy compression to create an efficient and robust parameter‐lite texture similarity measure: the CK‐1 distance measure. We demonstrate the utility of our measure with extensive empirical evaluations on real‐world case studies drawn from nematology, arachnology, entomology, medicine, forensics, texture analysis benchmarks, and many other domains. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 3: 381‐398, 2010 © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Approximate euclidean ramsey theorems.

According to a classical result of Szemeredi, every dense subset of $1,2,...,N$ contains an arbitrary long arithmetic progression, if $N$ is large enough. Its analogue in higher dimensions due to Furstenberg and Katznelson says that every dense subset of $\{1,2,...,N\}^d$ contains an arbitrary large grid, if $N$ is large enough. Here we generalize these results for separated point sets on the line and respectively in the Euclidean space: (i) every dense separated set of points in some interval $[0,L]$ on the line contains an arbitrary long approximate arithmetic progression, if $L$ is large enough. (ii) every dense separated set of points in the $d$-dimensional cube $[0,L]^d$ in $\RR^d$ contains an arbitrary large approximate grid, if $L$ is large enough. A further generalization for any finite pattern in $\RR^d$ is also established. The separation condition is shown to be necessary for such results to hold. In the end we show that every sufficiently large point set in $\RR^d$ contains an arbitrarily large subset of almost collinear points. No separation condition is needed in this case.
Oxidative esterification of primary alcohols with TEMPO/CaCl2/Oxone under hydrous conditions

Abstract Symmetric esters are important compounds in the chemical industry, which creates demand for simple and efficient synthetic routes. Oxidative esterification is a promising method to achieve these aims. Here, we show that TEMPO/CaCl2/Oxone forms a convenient catalytic system for the synthesis of the aforementioned symmetric esters from primary alcohols in a biphasic dichloromethane–water solvent mixture. The substrate scope of the reaction method is complementary to those previously published and the terminal oxidant appears to play an important role. In addition, the method is shown to oxidize thiols preferentially over alcohol functional groups to give disulfide-bridged compounds.
Preoperative autonomic function abnormalities in patients with diabetes mellitus and patients with hypertension.

BACKGROUND This study was done to assess whether or not autonomic function abnormalities identified patients with diabetes mellitus as being at risk for postoperative cardiac arrest or death. STUDY DESIGN We prospectively studied 74 patients with diabetes mellitus and 118 patients with hypertension without diabetes mellitus undergoing elective noncardiac operation. The study was done at an academic medical center between 1982 and 1985. Patients were evaluated preoperatively, monitored intraoperatively by an independent observer and had daily follow-up evaluation for seven days postoperatively, according to a standard surveillance protocol. Outcomes were judged by assessors unaware of the preoperative status and intraoperative course. Patients were interviewed at three and five years postoperatively. RESULTS Patients with diabetes mellitus with two or more abnormal autonomic function test results did not experience more intraoperative hypotension, nor did they require more intraoperative pressor agents than patients with diabetes mellitus with one or no abnormalities. Seven percent of the patients with diabetes mellitus experienced postoperative cardiorespiratory arrest or death. All of these patients had more than two abnormal autonomic function test results as well as a previous history of either myocardial infarction or cardiomegaly. CONCLUSIONS While this study obviously requires confirmation in a larger population, the data are sufficiently strong to warrant close postoperative monitoring of all patients with diabetes mellitus who have two or more autonomic abnormalities.
Bad "bad baby" bills.

Is access to obstetric care actually being compromised by the malpractice system? Are victims of birth-related injuries dissatisfied with the compensation provided under the tort system? More importantly, to the extent that the malpractice system might be improved, are bad baby bills the answer? The discussion that follows will address each of these issues in turn.
Copper-regulatory domain involved in gene expression.

Cells in the natural world experience a changing environment. Physiological responses to such changes enable cells to survive variation in nutrient concentrations or environmental factors. Sensory systems are required to detect nutrient or environmental changes and transduce signals into physiological responses. A common primary response is the transcriptional regulation of genes whose products have protective functions or participate in nutrient metabolism.
Bundled Payment vs. Fee-for-Service: Impact of Payment Scheme on Performance

Healthcare reimbursements in the United States have been traditionally based on a fee-for-service FFS scheme, providing incentives for high volume of care, rather than efficient care. The new healthcare legislation tests new payment models that remove such incentives, such as the bundled payment BP system. We consider a population of patients beneficiaries. The provider may reject patients based on the patient's cost profile and selects the treatment intensity based on a risk-averse utility function. Treatment may result in success or failure, where failure means that unforeseen complications require further care. Our interest is in analyzing the effect of different payment schemes on outcomes such as the presence and extent of patient selection, the treatment intensity, the provider's utility and financial risk, and the total system payoff. Our results confirm that FFS provides incentives for excessive treatment intensity and results in suboptimal system payoff. We show that BP could lead to suboptimal patient selection and treatment levels that may be lower or higher than desirable for the system, with a high level of financial risk for the provider. We also find that the performance of BP is extremely sensitive to the bundled payment value and to the provider's risk aversion. The performance of both BP and FFS degrades when the provider becomes more risk averse. We design two payment systems, hybrid payment and stop-loss mechanisms, that alleviate the shortcomings of FFS and BP and may induce system optimum decisions in a complementary manner. This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management.
Cycloaddition Chemistry of Tetrafluorothiophene S,S-Dioxide

Tetrafluorothiophene S,S-dioxide has been found to be a powerful and versatile cycloaddend that undergoes a wide range of reactions as a Diels–Alder diene, dienophile, and [2 + 2] addend. Because it dimerizes only slowly at high temperatures, a broad range of conditions are available for these transformations. Reactions with terminal alkynes yield products of both Diels–Alder and [2 + 2] cycloaddition. Remarkably, the orbital topology-forbidden [2 + 2] process sometimes dominates over the allowed Diels–Alder reaction.
Gene identification in prokaryotic genomes, phages, metagenomes, and EST sequences with GeneMarkS suite.

This unit describes how to use several gene-finding programs from the GeneMark line developed for finding protein-coding ORFs in genomic DNA of prokaryotic species, in genomic DNA of eukaryotic species with intronless genes, in genomes of viruses and phages, and in prokaryotic metagenomic sequences, as well as in EST sequences with spliced-out introns. These bioinformatics tools were demonstrated to have state-of-the-art accuracy, and have been frequently used for gene annotation in novel nucleotide sequences. An additional advantage of these sequence-analysis tools is that the problem of algorithm parameterization is solved automatically, with parameters estimated by iterative self-training (unsupervised training). Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 32:1E.7.1-1E.7.17. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: gene finding; hidden Markov model; metagenome
Beyond Grantmaking An Investigation of Program-Related Investments by U.S. Foundations

This study investigates program-related investments (PRIs), which are mechanisms that foundations can use to achieve charitable purposes while generating moderate financial returns. There is a grow...
Fabrication and Electrochemical Characteristics of LiFePO4 Powders for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Novel powder fabrication technologies provide opportunities to develop high-performance, low-cost cathode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Among various energy storage technologies, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have been considered as effective solution to the increasing need for high-energy density electrochemical power sources. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries offer energy densities 2 - 3 times and power densities 5 - 6 times higher than conventional Ni-Cd and NiMH batteries, and as a result, they weigh less and take less space for a given energy delivery. However, the use of lithium-ion batteries in many large applications such as electric vehicles and storage devices for future power grids is hindered by the poor thermal stability, relatively high toxicity, and high cost of lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) powders, which are currently used as the cathode material in commercial lithium-ion batteries. Recently, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) powders have become a favorable cathode material for lithium-ion batteries because of their low cost, high discharge potential (ar ound 3.4 V versus Li/Li + ), large specific capacity (170 mAh/g), good thermal stability, and high abundance with the environmentally benign and safe nature. As a result, there is a huge demand for the production of high-performance LiFePO4 powders. However, LiFePO4 also has its own limitation such as low conductivity (~10 －9 S/cm), which results in poor rate capability. This can be addressed by modifying the powder structure using novel fabrication technologies. This paper presents an overview of recent advances in the fabrication of high-performance LiFePO4 powders for lithium-ion batteries. The LiFePO4 powder fabrication methods covered include: solid-state synthesis, mechanochemical activation, carbothermal reduction, microwave heating, hydrothermal synthesis, sol-gel synthesis, spray pyrolysis, co-precipitation, microemulsion drying, and others. The impacts of these fabrication methods on the structure and performance of LiFePO4 powders are discussed. In addition, the improvement of the conductivity of LiFePO4 powders through novel powder technologies
Using patterns and plans in chess

The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which knowledge can replace and support search in selecting a chess move and to delineate the issues involved. This has been carried out by constructing a program, paradise (PAttern Recognition Applied to Directing SEarch), which finds the best move in tactically sharp middle game positions from the games of chess masters. It encodes a large body of knowledge in the form of production rules. The actions of the rules post concepts in the data base while the conditions match patterns in the chess position and data base. The program uses the knowledge base to discover plans during static analysis and to guide a small tree search which confirms that a particular plan is best. The search is “small” in the sense that the size of the search tree is of the same order of magnitude as a human master’s search tree (tens and hundreds of nodes, not thousands to hundreds of thousands as in many computer chess programs). Once a plan is formulated, it guides the tree search for several ply and expensive static analyses (needed to analyize a new position) are done infrequently. paradise avoids placing a depth limit on the search (or any other artificial effort limit). By using a global view of the search tree, information gathered during the search and the analysis provided by the knowledge base, the program produces enough terminations to force convergence of the search. paradise has found combinations as deep as 19 ply.
Schooling and labor market effects of temporary authorization: evidence from DACA

This paper explores the labor market and schooling effects of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which provides work authorization to eligible immigrants along with a temporary reprieve from deportation. The analysis relies on a difference-in-differences approach which exploits the discontinuity in program rules to compare eligible individuals to ineligible, likely undocumented immigrants before and after the program went into effect. To address potential endogeneity concerns, we focus on youths that likely met DACA’s schooling requirement when the program was announced. We find that DACA reduced the probability of school enrollment of eligible higher-educated individuals, as well as some evidence that it increased the employment likelihood of men, in particular. Together, these findings suggest that a lack of authorization may lead individuals to enroll in school when working is not a viable option. Thus, once employment restrictions are relaxed and the opportunity costs of higher education rise, eligible individuals may reduce investments in schooling.
Implicit Sensor-based Authentication of Smartphone Users with Smartwatch

Smartphones are now frequently used by end-users as the portals to cloud-based services, and smartphones are easily stolen or co-opted by an attacker. Beyond the initial login mechanism, it is highly desirable to re-authenticate end-users who are continuing to access security-critical services and data, whether in the cloud or in the smartphone. But attackers who have gained access to a logged-in smartphone have no incentive to re-authenticate, so this must be done in an automatic, non-bypassable way. Hence, this paper proposes a novel authentication system, iAuth, for implicit, continuous authentication of the end-user based on his or her behavioral characteristics, by leveraging the sensors already ubiquitously built into smartphones. We design a system that gives accurate authentication using machine learning and sensor data from multiple mobile devices. Our system can achieve 92.1% authentication accuracy with negligible system overhead and less than 2% battery consumption.
Level/rank duality and Chern-Simons-matter theories

We discuss in detail level/rank duality in three-dimensional Chern-Simons theories and various related dualities in three-dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories. We couple the dual Lagrangians to appropriate background fields (including gauge fields, spin c connections and the metric). The non-trivial maps between the currents and the line operators in the dual theories is accounted for by mixing of these fields. In order for the duality to be valid we must add finite counterterms depending on these background fields. This analysis allows us to resolve a number of puzzles with these dualities, to provide derivations of some of them, and to find new consistency conditions and relations between them. In addition, we find new level/rank dualities of topological Chern-Simons theories and new dualities of Chern-Simons-matter theories, including new boson/boson and fermion/fermion dualities.
Concept study for a compact planetary homodyne interferometer (PHI) for temporal global observation of methane on Mars in IR

We present a concept study to develop a new instrument to sequentially and over a long time measure methane abundance on Mars and find out its global seasonal variations, if any. The Planetary Homodyne Interferometer (PHI) can offer integrated spectra over a wide field-of-view (FOV) in high spectral resolution (R~105) in a compact design using no (or a small < 1m) primary mirror. PHI is best suited to studies of sources where temporally tracing specific spectral features sensitivity, and spectral resolution is of higher significance than spatial fidelity.
How Do Experienced Users Evaluate Hybrid Financial Instruments

ABSTRACT Hybrid financial instruments contain features of both liabilities and equity. Standard setters continue to struggle with 'getting the classification right' for these complex instruments. In this paper, we experimentally test whether the features of hybrid instruments affect the credit-related judgments of experienced finance professionals, even when the hybrid instruments are already classified as liabilities or equity. Our results suggest that getting the classification right is not of primary importance for these experienced users, as they largely rely on the underlying features of the instrument to make their judgments. A second experiment shows that experienced users' reliance on features generalizes to several features that often characterize hybrid instruments. However, we also find that experienced users vary in their beliefs about which individual features are most important in distinguishing between liabilities and equity. Together, our results highlight the importance of effective disclosure of hybrid instruments' features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Em defesa dos diálogos entre gerações para a Sustentabilidade

This article is a synopsis about an investigation in the context of critical environmental education, which proposes reflection about the importance of inter-generational educational relations in order to foster sustainable societies. Participants of the investigations had between eight and seventy years, the educational interactions took place in a public health care center, applying participatory methodology. This way it was possible to identify elements which would be able to influence the quality of these relations, contributing new types of socio-environmental inter-generational educative practices and stimulate new investigations and dialogical interactions taking into account the topics of inter-generationality and sustainability.
Evolution of the clinical presentation of men undergoing radical prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer

Study Type – Prognosis cohort series (multi-centre) Level of Evidence 4 What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Men with high-risk prostate cancer experience recurrence, metastases and death at a higher rate in the prostate cancer population. This study adds greater than 20-year data regarding the continued evolution of high-risk prostate cancer toward high-Gleason disease as the sole determinant of high-risk status prior to radical prostatectomy. It validates the accumulation of multiple-risk factors as a poor prognostic indicator in a radical prostatectomy population and demonstrates long-term cancer specific outcomes, extending the findings demonstrated by previous publications. OBJECTIVE • To investigate the outcomes and potential effect of improved longitudinal screening in men presenting with high-risk (advanced clinical stage [>T2b], Gleason score 8–10 or prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level >20 ng/mL) prostate cancer (PC). PATIENTS AND METHODS • The Institutional Review Board approved, Institutional Radical Prostatectomy Database (1992–2010) was queried for men with high-risk PC based on D'Amico criteria. • Year of surgery was divided into two cohorts: the Early PSA Era (EPE, 1992–2000) and the Contemporary PSA Era (CPE, 2001–2010). • PC features and outcomes were evaluated using appropriate comparative tests. RESULTS • In total, 667 men had high-risk PC in the EPE and 764 in the CPE. • In the EPE, 598 (89.7%) men presented with one high-risk feature; 173 (29.0%) men had a Gleason score of 8–10 on biopsy. In the CPE, 717 (93.9%) men presented with one high-risk feature (P= 0.004) and 494 (68.9%) men had a Gleason score of 8–10. • At 10 years, biochemical-free survival (BFS) was 44.1% and 36.4% in the EPE and CPE, respectively (P= 0.04); metastases-free survival (MFS) was 77.1% and 85.1% (P= 0.6); and PC-specific survival (CSS) was 83.3% and 96.2% (P= 0.5). • BFS, MFS and CSS were worse for men with more than one high-risk feature in both eras. CONCLUSIONS • Over the PSA era, an increasing percentage of men with high-risk PC were categorized by a biopsy Gleason score of 8–10. • The accumulation of multiple high-risk features increases the risk of biochemical recurrence, the development of metastases and death from PC. • BFS, MFS and CSS are stable over the PSA era for these men. The balance between a greater proportion of men having high Gleason disease and a greater proportion with small, less advanced tumours may explain the stability in MFS and CSS over time.
Megavoltage Radiation Field Matching on Uneven Surface

Large radiation fields adjacent to each other require proper field matching to avoid overdosage at their junction. Various methods of determining optimum field separation have been discussed in the literature. However, these methods consider a perfectly flat surface of incidence throughout the irradiated area. In reality, it is more common for the patient thickness to vary within large fields, thus creating an uneven surface of incidence. In this paper, we have discussed the approach to gap calculation for an uneven surface of incidence. Dose measurements were made at the junction of two fields for 60Co, and 4, 6, and 24 MV X ray beams to verify this approach. Beam profiles measured under uneven surfaces indicated that the 50 percent dose decrement line did not shift towards the central axis for frequently encountered variations in patient thickness. Thus, careful geometric considerations could provide an optimum field separation. Ignoring the surface inhomogeneity may lead to field overlap and overdose at the junction.
Development of Distortion Modeling Methods for Large Welded Structures

Two distortion modeling methods, mapping plastic strain and lump-pass modeling, were developed and validated for predicting distortion on large welded structures to reduce the computation time. The mapping plastic strain method requires two kinds of models, local models and a global model. The local models are analyzed to predict plastic strains, and the global model is analyzed by mapping the plastic strains to predict distortions. The lump-pass modeling method includes two kinds of analyses: a thermal analysis and a thermomechanical analysis. The thermal analysis is conducted to predict temperature history. The thermomechanical analysis is performed to predict distortion by inputting the predicted temperature history.
Bounds for VIX futures given S&P 500 smiles

We derive sharp bounds for the prices of VIX futures using the full information of SP more precisely, they are determined by a single concave/convex function on the line. Numerical experiments on market data and SABR smiles show that the classical lower bound can be improved dramatically, whereas the upper bound is often close to optimal.
A Transportation $$L^p$$ Distance for Signal Analysis

Transport-based distances, such as the Wasserstein distance and earth mover’s distance, have been shown to be an effective tool in signal and image analysis. The success of transport-based distances is in part due to their Lagrangian nature which allows it to capture the important variations in many signal classes. However, these distances require the signal to be non-negative and normalised. Furthermore, the signals are considered as measures and compared by redistributing (transporting) them, which does not directly take into account the signal intensity. Here, we study a transport-based distance, called the $$TL^p$$ distance, that combines Lagrangian and intensity modelling and is directly applicable to general, non-positive and multichannelled signals. The distance can be computed by existing numerical methods. We give an overview of the basic properties of this distance and applications to classification, with multichannelled non-positive one-dimensional signals and two-dimensional images, and colour transfer.
Pressure-induced phase transitions of β-type pyrochlore CsTaWO6

The β-type pyrochlore CsTaWO6 was studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman scattering methods up to pressures of 43 GPa using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). With increasing pressure, the cubic pyrochlore in space group of Fd-m transforms to an orthorhombic structure (space group: Pnma) at 5.9 GPa and then to a monoclinic structure (space group: P21/c) at ∼18 GPa. The structural evolution in CsTaWO6 is a continuous process and experimental results suggest that the initial cubic phase has a tetragonal distortion at ambient conditions. Both XRD and Raman measurements indicate that the pressure-induced phase transitions in CsTaWO6 are reversible. These results may provide a structural explanation of previous experimental resistivity measurement results for the isostructural superconductor K(Cs)Os2O6 at high pressure conditions.
Cancer of the Larynx: Current Concepts of Diagnosis and Treatment

Cancer of the larynx is a potentially fatal disease. Familiarity with current treatment, however, makes it potentially curable. This article discusses the available therapeutic options and their consequences.
Avoiding deterministic thinking [urban planning]

Efforts to reduce crime and improve urban safety frequently falter because of deterministic thinking. Environmental determinists, for example, assure us that they can design out crime with defensible spaces and lots of foot traffic, while ignoring contributory socioeconomic factors. Social determinists call for fairer public policies and doubt that better technologies and urban designs really can make a difference. Technological determinists instead assure us that innovations such as networked video surveillance are imminent and inevitable, regardless of their desirability. Yet they often gloss over unresolved analytical, data sharing, and privacy issues that would delay implementation by years. Advocates of disparate solutions talk past one another. This work presents reasons for avoiding the trap of deterministic thinking in urban safety discussions, and ways to do so. In brief, simplified explanations and specialized efforts are necessary for implementing improvements, but so is a balanced view of the big picture. Integrated and coordinated approaches to crime prevention can help bring that big picture into view. Additionally, we need to focus constructive attention on the limits to our solutions, tempering our enthusiasms without inducing paralysis. The author presents well-established literatures on determinism in social studies of science and technology, in urban planning, and in decision science for additional useful insights.
Metrizing the Chabauty topology

We describe an explicit metric that induces the Chabauty topology on the space of closed subsets of a proper metric space M.