cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
That Door You Just Kicked In was Locked for Your Protection, Not Mine: Developing and Testing Competing Theoretical Models of Crime Prevention Behavior

Objectives:This research investigates tendencies for individuals to preference adopting weaponry to protect their home over unarmed defensive measures such as installing a lock or alarm. We extend the subculture of violence perspective to account for specific choices and test this approach against hypotheses related to situational reactions to threat.Methods:To explore differential preferences in crime prevention choices for protecting the home, we use data from 1,961 Seattle adults, collected during 2002 to 2003. We employ Osgood and Schreck’s multilevel item response theory–based method as our statistical approach.Results:The results indicate that those who endorse the values of the subculture of violence are more likely to have defensive weaponry among their countermeasures against crime, although the results also show that those who believe the police act justly are more likely to procure weapons. Situational reactions to threat also influenced choices, though not always in the predicted direction.Con...
The Introduction of Tasers and Police Use of Force: Evidence from the Chicago Police Department

Many police jurisdictions have recently expanded their Taser arsenals with a goal of reducing officer-involved shootings. We analyze substitution between Tasers and firearms by means of an event study made possible by a policy change at the Chicago Police Department. Before March 2010, only sergeants and field training officers had access to Tasers; after that date, they were made available to patrol officers. We find that the change in Taser policy led to a large increase in Taser use, but not to a decrease in the use of firearms.
Using response ratios for meta-analyzing single-case designs with behavioral outcomes.

Abstract Methods for meta-analyzing single-case designs (SCDs) are needed to inform evidence-based practice in clinical and school settings and to draw broader and more defensible generalizations in areas where SCDs comprise a large part of the research base. The most widely used outcomes in single-case research are measures of behavior collected using systematic direct observation, which typically take the form of rates or proportions. For studies that use such measures, one simple and intuitive way to quantify effect sizes is in terms of proportionate change from baseline, using an effect size known as the log response ratio. This paper describes methods for estimating log response ratios and combining the estimates using meta-analysis. The methods are based on a simple model for comparing two phases, where the level of the outcome is stable within each phase and the repeated outcome measurements are independent. Although auto-correlation will lead to biased estimates of the sampling variance of the effect size, meta-analysis of response ratios can be conducted with robust variance estimation procedures that remain valid even when sampling variance estimates are biased. The methods are demonstrated using data from a recent meta-analysis on group contingency interventions for student problem behavior.
Ovarian cancer screening with the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm (ROCA): Good, bad, or just expensive?

Abstract Objectives To measure the effectiveness of ovarian cancer screening using the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm (ROCA). Methods A Markov model was constructed based on the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS). This model was used to predict the outcome of ovarian cancer screening with ROCA. Results The model predicted the ovarian cancer mortality from age 50 to age 85 to be 0.954% with a decrease in life expectancy of 0.178years (yrs) per person. Using data from the UKCTOCS the model predicted a similar reduction in mortality (11% vs. 10%), and similar curves for ovarian cancer mortality. Screening at age 50 for 20yrs reduced ovarian cancer mortality from 0.953% to 0.898%, an absolute decrease of 6%, yielding an increase in life expectancy of 0.0101yrs, preventing 55 deaths per 100,000 screened at a cost of $585,946 per life-yr. Screening for 30yrs reduced mortality from 0.954% to 0.872%, an absolute decrease of 9%, preventing 82 deaths at a cost of $763,970 per life-yr. Conclusion The ROCA test can improve the detection of early ovarian cancer but is not practical for screening in an average-risk population. We predict the ROCA test will reduce overall ovarian cancer mortality by 6% to 9% but at a substantial cost. For ROCA to be practical, the cost would need to be reduced ten-fold and would have only a marginal impact on mortality from ovarian cancer. This model supports the FDA's criticism of the ROCA test. Ovarian cancer screening may reduce mortality from ovarian cancer but is not cost effective.
Snooze or lose: High school start times and academic achievement

Abstract Many U.S. high schools start classes before 8:00 a.m., yet sleep science suggests that students’ circadian rhythms shift to later in the day as they enter adolescence. Some school districts have moved to later start times for high schools based on the prospect that this would increase students’ sleep and academic achievement. This paper examines the effect of high school start time on student learning using a nationally-representative sample of students. We also use time diaries to examine the effects of start time on students’ time allocation in order to explore the mechanisms through which changing start time affects learning. Results indicate that female students who attend schools with later start times get more sleep and score higher on reading tests. Male students get more nighttime sleep when schools start later, but their daily sleep is unchanged due to a decrease in napping; their test scores do not change.
Estimating causal log-odds ratio using the case-control sample and its application in the pharmaco-epidemiology study.

One important goal in pharmaco-epidemiology studies is to understand the causal relationship between drug exposures and their clinical outcomes, including adverse drug events. In order to achieve this goal, however, we need to resolve several challenges. Most of pharmaco-epidemiology data are observational and confounding is largely present due to many co-medications. The pharmaco-epidemiology study data set is often sampled from large medical record databases using a matched case-control design, and it may not be representative of the original patient population in the medical record databases. Data analysis method needs to handle a large sample size that cannot be handled using existing statistical analysis packages. In this paper, we tackle these challenges both methodologically and computationally. We propose a conditional causal log-odds ratio (OR) definition to characterize causal effects of drug exposures on a binary adverse drug event adjusting for individual level confounders. Using a case-contro...
The Relationship Between Health Insurance and Early Retirement: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act

This paper investigates the effect of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion on the retirement decision of low-educated adults aged 55–64. I employ a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits the timing and expansion decisions of states for adults without dependent children. I find that the expansions increase Medicaid enrollment for both men and women. The estimates also suggest that the expansions result in women retiring early, whereas there is no significant change in the retirement behavior of men. These findings imply that the effect of health insurance on women’s retirement decisions may depend on men’s labor market responses to health insurance.
Donation without Domination: Private Charity and Republican Liberty

Contemporary republicans have adopted a less-than-charitable attitude toward private beneficence, especially when it is directed to the poor, worrying that rich patrons may be in a position to exercise arbitrary power over their impoverished clients. These concerns have led them to support impartial public provision by way of state welfare programs, including an unconditional basic income (UBI). In contrast to this administrative model of public welfare, I will propose a competitive model in which the state regulates and subsidizes a decentralized and nonstatist provision of support for the poor. This model will fix the historically objectionable features of private provision by having the state prevent collusion among private charities, deliver information to recipients about alternative sources of assistance, and give substantial grants to charities as well as tax incentives and vouchers to donors. I will contend that such an approach would do a better job of minimizing domination of the poor than traditional welfare states and may prove more politically feasible than a UBI, at least in the near term in certain national contexts.
On the strange quark content in nucleons

We show in many ways that little strange quark axial-vector spin Δs or quark density $$(\bar ss)_N $$ can occur in nucleons.
Immune Modulation as a Treatment for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms.

In the United States, >200 000 new patients are diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) each year. Consequently, >40 000 highly morbid aortic reconstructions are performed each year to prevent aneurysm rupture, a catastrophic event associated with near-certain mortality. No pharmaceutical currently exists to slow aneurysm growth, but a 50% reduction in diameter growth per annum could halve the number of aortic reconstructions required. Therefore, successful use of cell therapy to modulate chronic inflammation hallmark to AAA to slow diameter expansion represents a potentially paradigm-altering treatment. There continues to be no US Food and Drug–approved medication to slow or stop AAA growth. This deficit is certainly not because of a lack of effort over the previous decades. Initial investigations focused on the reduction of mechanical stress through decreasing blood pressure and sac pressurization cycles; however, clinical trials investigating drugs, such as, angiotensin II–converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and β-blockers, all failed to demonstrate a therapeutic reduction of diameter growth compared with placebo. Next, the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases was trialed with doxycycline, an antibiotic inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9. Doxycycline also treats species of Chlamydia , which were isolated from the aortic walls of a minority of aneurysmal arteries. Although initial uncontrolled results were promising, therapeutic response was not replicated in large randomized studies. Last, aortic wall inflammation was targeted using statins, a ubiquitous anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering drug to limited success. The discovery of a nonsurgical treatment for AAA is contingent on the robust understanding of disease pathogenesis, which continues to be nebulous at best. AAA risk factors, such as, tobacco abuse, advancing age, uncontrolled hypertension, male sex, and white ethnicity, have all been well described but fail to provide evidence elucidating pathogenesis. Regardless, existing evidence implicates that disease initiation is multifactorial with a strong genetic element. There has been …
High-order encoding schemes for floodlight quantum key distribution

Floodlight quantum key distribution (FL-QKD) has realized a 1.3 Gbit/s secret-key rate (SKR) over a 10-dB-loss channel against a frequency-domain collective attack [Quantum Sci. Technol. 3, 025007 (2018)]. It achieved this remarkable SKR by means of binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) of multiple optical modes. Moreover, it did so with available technology, and without space-division or wavelength-division multiplexing. In this paper we explore whether replacing FL-QKD's BPSK modulation with a high-order encoding can further increase that protocol's SKR. First, we show that going to $K$-ary phase-shift keying with $K=32$ doubles---from 2.0 to 4.5 Gbit/s---the theoretical prediction from [Phys. Rev. A 94, 012322 (2016)] for FL-QKD's BPSK SKR on a 50-km-long fiber link. Second, we show that $2d\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2d$ quadrature amplitude modulation does not offer any SKR improvement beyond what its $d=1$ case---which is equivalent to quadrature phase-shift keying---provides.
Entity Set Search of Scientific Literature: An Unsupervised Ranking Approach

Literature search is critical for any scientific research. Different from Web or general domain search, a large portion of queries in scientific literature search are entity-set queries, that is, multiple entities of possibly different types. Entity-set queries reflect user's need for finding documents that contain multiple entities and reveal inter-entity relationships and thus pose non-trivial challenges to existing search algorithms that model each entity separately. However, entity-set queries are usually sparse (i.e., not so repetitive), which makes ineffective many supervised ranking models that rely heavily on associated click history. To address these challenges, we introduce SetRank, an unsupervised ranking framework that models inter-entity relationships and captures entity type information. Furthermore, we develop a novel unsupervised model selection algorithm, based on the technique of weighted rank aggregation, to automatically choose the parameter settings in SetRank without resorting to a labeled validation set. We evaluate our proposed unsupervised approach using datasets from TREC Genomics Tracks and Semantic Scholar's query log. The experiments demonstrate that SetRank significantly outperforms the baseline unsupervised models, especially on entity-set queries, and our model selection algorithm effectively chooses suitable parameter settings.
Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea With Calvarial and Skull Base Thinning

Importance Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leaks (sCSF-L) of the temporal bone are associated with obesity, calvarial thinning, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and the incidence has doubled in the past decade. It is currently unknown if OSA is independently associated with skull thinning. Objective To determine if patients with OSA have thinner skulls than patients without OSA. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent a level 1 polysomnogram (PSG) and also had high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) imaging of the head from January 2010 to March 2017 at Indiana University was carried out. Patients with moderate to severe OSA (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI]≥25/h) and without OSA (AHI Interventions Measurement of calvarial thickness, extracranial zygoma thickness, skull base height and tegmen dehiscence (>4 mm) when blinded to OSA status. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcomes were calvarial, skull base, and zygoma thickness differences between patients with OSA vs those without OSA. Results A total of 22 933 patients had a PSG and 1012 also had head CT imaging. Of the 1012 patients with both PSG and CT, the mean (SD) age was 50.8 (16.2) years and 624 (61.7%) were women. Those patients with moderate to severe OSA (56) and without OSA (58) were matched for mean (SD) age (50.3 [6.5] vs 49.8 [6.1] years]) and BMI (37.4 [8.1] vs 38.6 [6.8]). Patients with OSA had thinner mean (SD) calvaria (2.73 [0.67] vs 2.47 [0.52] mm; difference, −0.26 mm; 95% CI, −0.49 to −0.04; Cohend, 0.44) and thinner skull bases (5.03 [1.40] vs 4.32 [1.28] mm; difference, −0.71; 95% CI, −1.23 to −0.19; Cohend, 0.53). The mean (SD) extracranial zygoma thickness was the same (4.92 [0.87] vs 4.84 [0.84] mm; difference, −0.07 mm; 95% CI, −0.39 to 0.24). The tegmen mastoideum was dehiscent in nearly twice as many patients with OSA as those without (37% vs 20%; difference, 17%; 95% CI, 0.4-32). Conclusions and Relevance Obstructive sleep apnea was independently associated with intracranial bone (calvaria and skull base) thinning and not with extracranial (zygoma) thinning. These findings support a possible role of OSA in the pathophysiologic development of sCSF-L.
Adding one neuron can eliminate all bad local minima

One of the main difficulties in analyzing neural networks is the non-convexity of the loss function which may have many bad local minima. In this paper, we study the landscape of neural networks for binary classification tasks. Under mild assumptions, we prove that after adding one special neuron with a skip connection to the output, or one special neuron per layer, every local minimum is a global minimum.
Cdk9 regulates a promoter-proximal checkpoint to modulate RNA polymerase II elongation rate in fission yeast.

Post-translational modifications of the transcription elongation complex provide mechanisms to fine-tune gene expression, yet their specific impacts on RNA polymerase II regulation remain difficult to ascertain. Here, in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we examine the role of Cdk9, and related Mcs6/Cdk7 and Lsk1/Cdk12 kinases, on transcription at base-pair resolution with Precision Run-On sequencing (PRO-seq). Within a minute of Cdk9 inhibition, phosphorylation of Pol II-associated factor, Spt5 is undetectable. The effects of Cdk9 inhibition are more severe than inhibition of Cdk7 and Cdk12, resulting in a shift of Pol II toward the transcription start site (TSS). A time course of Cdk9 inhibition reveals that early transcribing Pol II can escape promoter-proximal regions, but with a severely reduced elongation rate of only ~400 bp/min. Our results in fission yeast suggest the existence of a conserved global regulatory checkpoint that requires Cdk9 kinase activity. While post-translational modifications of the RNA polymerase II complex regulate gene expression, the exact mechanism remains unknown. Here, the authors use altered-specificity kinase mutations to examine the role of Cdk9, Mcs6/Cdk7, and Lsk1/Cdk12 on transcription at base-pair resolution in yeast.
Ethical Implications and Accountability of Algorithms

Algorithms silently structure our lives. Algorithms can determine whether someone is hired, promoted, offered a loan, or provided housing as well as determine which political ads and news articles consumers see. Yet, the responsibility for algorithms in these important decisions is not clear. This article identifies whether developers have a responsibility for their algorithms later in use, what those firms are responsible for, and the normative grounding for that responsibility. I conceptualize algorithms as value-laden, rather than neutral, in that algorithms create moral consequences, reinforce or undercut ethical principles, and enable or diminish stakeholder rights and dignity. In addition, algorithms are an important actor in ethical decisions and influence the delegation of roles and responsibilities within these decisions. As such, firms should be responsible not only for the value-laden-ness of an algorithm but also for designing who-does-what within the algorithmic decision. As such, firms developing algorithms are accountable for designing how large a role individual will be permitted to take in the subsequent algorithmic decision. Counter to current arguments, I find that if an algorithm is designed to preclude individuals from taking responsibility within a decision, then the designer of the algorithm should be held accountable for the ethical implications of the algorithm in use.
PHASE RETRIEVAL FOR SIGNALS IN UNION OF SUBSPACES

We consider the phase retrieval problem for signals that belong to a union of subspaces. We assume that amplitude measurements of the signal of length n are observed after passing it through a random m × n supports M matrix 1 We also assume that the signal belongs to the span of a single d-dimensional subspace out of R subspaces, where d ⩽ n. We assume the knowledge of all possible subspace, but the true subspace of the signal is unknown. We present an algorithm that jointly estimates the phase of the measurements and the subspace support of the signal. We discuss theoretical guarantees on the recovery of signals and present simulation results to demonstrate the empirical performance of our proposed algorithm. Our main result suggests that if properly initialized, then O(d + log R) random measurements are sufficient for phase retrieval if the unknown signal belongs to the union of R low-dimensional subspaces.
Striatal activity correlates with stimulant-like effects of alcohol in healthy volunteers

Individuals who experience greater stimulation and less sedation from alcohol are at increased risk for alcohol-related problems. However, little is known regarding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying subjective response to alcohol. The current study examined the degree to which alcohol-induced brain activation correlates with ratings of stimulation and sedation, using a within-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Participants (N = 34 healthy adults with no history of alcohol use disorder) completed three sessions: a calibration session to determine the duration of infusion needed to bring the breath alcohol to 80 mg/dl for each subject, and two counterbalanced fMRI sessions with placebo and alcohol administration. During the fMRI sessions, participants underwent 50 min scans, which included a 10 min baseline period, the IV infusion period needed to bring breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) to a peak 80 mg/dl (on the alcohol session), followed by a post-peak decline period. Participants rated their subjective stimulation and sedation at regular intervals throughout the scan. A priori VOI analyses showed that the time course of stimulation correlated with BOLD signal in the striatum. The time course of sedation did not correlate with BOLD signal in any VOIs. There were no correlations in primary visual cortex, which served as a control. These findings are the first to show that alcohol effects in the striatum are linked to the positive, stimulant-like effects of the drug and advance our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in subjective responses to alcohol, and more broadly, risk for alcohol use disorders.
Deep learning of dynamics and signal-noise decomposition with time-stepping constraints

Abstract A critical challenge in the data-driven modeling of dynamical systems is producing methods robust to measurement error, particularly when data is limited. Many leading methods either rely on denoising prior to learning or on access to large volumes of data to average over the effect of noise. We propose a novel paradigm for data-driven modeling that simultaneously learns the dynamics and estimates the measurement noise at each observation. By constraining our learning algorithm, our method explicitly accounts for measurement error in the map between observations, treating both the measurement error and the dynamics as unknowns to be identified, rather than assuming idealized noiseless trajectories. We model the unknown vector field using a deep neural network, imposing a Runge-Kutta integrator structure to isolate this vector field, even when the data has a non-uniform timestep, thus constraining and focusing the modeling effort. We demonstrate the ability of this framework to form predictive models on a variety of canonical test problems of increasing complexity and show that it is robust to substantial amounts of measurement error. We also discuss issues with the generalizability of neural network models for dynamical systems and provide open-source code for all examples.
Ergodicity of a Galerkin approximation of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics system forced by a degenerate noise

Magnetohydrodynamics system consists of a coupling of the Navier-Stokes and Maxwell's equations and is most useful in studying the motion of electrically conducting fluids. We prove the existence o...
Cigarette smoking is associated with cortical thinning in anterior frontal regions, insula and regions showing atrophy in early Alzheimer's Disease.

Abstract Background Magnetic resonance imaging studies of cigarette smoking-related effects on human brain structure primarily focused on cortical volumes. Much less is known about the effects of smoking on cortical thickness. Smokers and Non-smokers were compared on regional cortical thickness. We predicted smokers would demonstrate greater age-related thinning localized to anterior frontal regions that serve as nodes for the executive, salience, and emotional regulation networks (ESER regions) and those demonstrating significant atrophy in early Alzheimer’s Disease (AD regions). Methods Non-smokers (n = 41) and smokers (n = 41), 22–70 years of age, completed a 4 T MRI study. Regional cortical thickness was quantitated via FreeSurfer. In smokers, associations between smoking severity, decision-making, impulsivity, and regional cortical thickness were examined. Results Smokers demonstrated cortical thinning in the medial and lateral OFC, insula, entorhinal, fusiform, middle temporal, and Composite AD regions. In Smokers, greater pack-years were associated with thinner lateral OFC, middle temporal, inferior parietal, fusiform, precuneus, and Composite AD regions. In Smokers, poorer decision-making/greater risk taking was related to thinner cortices in caudal ACC, rostral middle frontal and superior frontal gyri, and Composite ESER. Higher self-reported impulsivity was associated with thinner rostral and caudal ACC. Conclusions This study provides additional evidence that cigarette smoking is associated with thinner cortices in regions implicated in the development and maintenance of substance use disorders and in regions demonstrating significant atrophy in early AD. The novel structure-function relationships in Smokers further our understanding of the neurobiological substrates potentially underlying the neuropsychological abnormalities documented in smokers.
Water Splits To Degrade Two-Dimensional Group-IV Monochalcogenides in Nanoseconds.

The experimental exfoliation of layered group-IV monochalcogenides—semiconductors isostructural to black phosphorus—using processes similar to those followed in the production of graphene or phosphorene has turned out unsuccessful thus far, as if the chemical degradation observed in black phosphorus was aggravated in these monochalcogenides. Here, we document a facile dissociation of water by these materials within 10 ns from room-temperature Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics calculations under standard temperature and pressure conditions. These results suggest that humidity must be fully eradicated to exfoliate monolayers successfully, for instance, by placing samples in a hydrophobic solution during mechanical exfoliation. From another materials perspective, these two-dimensional materials that create individual hydrogen ions out of water without illumination may become relevant for applications in hydrogen production and storage.
Is it the economic policy, stupid? Economic policy, political parties & the gubernatorial incumbent advantage

Abstract Incumbent politicians have a well-known advantage in seeking re-election. Using the Economic Freedom of North America dataset, we examine how changes in economic policy during an incumbent governor's tenure influence the probability of losing their re-election bid. Put simply, does economic policy matter for the incumbent advantage? The results suggest that a decrease in economic freedom increases the probability of an incumbent loss, regardless of the governor's party. A decomposition analysis indicates that these results are primarily driven by the government spending sub-index. Furthermore, a more granular analysis suggests that: (1) increases in government consumption spending and government employment are associated with a lower probability of re-election among Democratic incumbent governors, but a higher probability among Republicans; (2) increases in transfer payments relative to personal income reduce the likelihood of re-election, regardless of party; and (3) among Republican incumbents, increases of income taxation and of top marginal tax rates are associated with a higher and lower, respectively, probability of losing re-election. Finally, controlling for a variety of demographic, political and socioeconomic factors, we find that high unemployment increases the probability that an incumbent loses re-election, while increasing net population migration reduces it.
Periodic Variability of the Barium Central Star of the Planetary Nebula Abell 70

Abell 70 is a planetary nebula (PN) whose nucleus at optical wavelengths is a G8 star with enhanced carbon and s-process abundances--a "barium star." The cool star is a binary companion of the true, hot central star. In several other members of this rare class, the cool star is known to rotate with a period of only a few days. This is attributed to a spin-up that occurred due to accretion from the wind of the central star during its post-AGB PN ejection; this also accounts for the unusual chemical composition of the companion's photosphere. We obtained photometry of the central star of Abell 70 on 104 nights in 2010-11, and find a periodic 2.061-day variation, but with a variable amplitude--indicating that the variability is due to starspots on a chromospherically active star. Abell 70 thus joins other members of this class in having a rapidly rotating and chemically peculiar late-type companion of the hot central star.
Morphology Matters, but What Do Teacher Candidates Know About It?:

Skilled reading is a complex process in which many subskills are involved, including an awareness of the morphological structure of language. Morphological awareness is the ability to understand ho...
Power of Dynamic Pricing in Revenue Management with Strategic (Forward-looking) Customers

The present paper considers a canonical revenue management problem wherein a monopolist seller seeks to maximize revenue from selling a fixed inventory of a product to customers who arrive over time. We assume that customers are forward-looking and rationally strategize the timing of their purchases, an empirically confirmed aspect of modern customer behavior. We consider a broad class of customer utility models that allow customer disutility from waiting to be heterogeneous and correlated with product valuations. Chen et al. [1] show that the so-called fixed price policy is asymptotically optimal in the high-volume regime where both the seller's initial inventory and the length of the selling horizon are proportionally scaled. Specifically, the revenue loss of the fixed price policy is O( k1/2), where k is the system's scaling parameter. In the present paper, we present a novel real-time pricing policy. This policy repeatedly updates the fixed price policy in Chen et al. [1] by taking into account the volatility of the historic sales. We force the price process under this policy to be non-decreasing over time. Therefore, our policy incentivizes strategic customers to behave myopically. We show that if the seller updates the price for only a single time, then the revenue loss of our policy can be arbitrarily close to O(k1/3 ln k). If the seller updates the prices with a frequency O(lnk/ln ln k), then the revenue loss of our policy can be arbitrarily close to O((ln k)3). These results are novel and show the power of dynamic pricing in the presence of forward-looking customers, at least for the problem setting considered in this paper.
Characteristics and Temporal Stability of Recurring Bottlenecks

This study applies and updates a method which identifies and quantifies the extent of traffic congestion from recurring freeway bottlenecks. Additionally, the spatiotemporal stability of bottleneck...
Word and Sentence Embedding Tools to Measure Semantic Similarity of Gene Ontology Terms by Their Definitions

The gene ontology (GO) database contains GO terms that describe biological functions of genes. Previous methods for comparing GO terms have relied on the fact that GO terms are organized into a tree structure. Under this paradigm, the locations of two GO terms in the tree dictate their similarity score. In this article, we introduce two new solutions for this problem by focusing instead on the definitions of the GO terms. We apply neural network-based techniques from the natural language processing (NLP) domain. The first method does not rely on the GO tree, whereas the second indirectly depends on the GO tree. In our first approach, we compare two GO definitions by treating them as two unordered sets of words. The word similarity is estimated by a word embedding model that maps words into an N-dimensional space. In our second approach, we account for the word-ordering within a sentence. We use a sentence encoder to embed GO definitions into vectors and estimate how likely one definition entails another. We validate our methods in two ways. In the first experiment, we test the model's ability to differentiate a true protein-protein network from a randomly generated network. In the second experiment, we test the model in identifying orthologs from randomly matched genes in human, mouse, and fly. In both experiments, a hybrid of NLP and GO tree-based method achieves the best classification accuracy.
Creation and control of multi-phonon Fock states in a bulk acoustic-wave resonator

Quantum states of mechanical motion can be important resources for quantum information, metrology and studies of fundamental physics. Recent demonstrations of superconducting qubits coupled to acoustic resonators have opened up the possibility of performing quantum operations on macroscale motional modes1–3, which can act as long-lived quantum memories or transducers. In addition, they can potentially be used to test decoherence mechanisms in macroscale objects and other modifications to standard quantum theory4,5. Many of these applications call for the ability to create and characterize complex quantum states, such as states with a well defined phonon number, also known as phonon Fock states. Such capabilities require fast quantum operations and long coherence times of the mechanical mode. Here we demonstrate the controlled generation of multi-phonon Fock states in a macroscale bulk acoustic-wave resonator. We also perform Wigner tomography and state reconstruction to highlight the quantum nature of the prepared states6. These demonstrations are made possible by the long coherence times of our acoustic resonator and our ability to selectively couple a superconducting qubit to individual phonon modes. Our work shows that circuit quantum acoustodynamics7 enables sophisticated quantum control of macroscale mechanical objects and opens up the possibility of using acoustic modes as quantum resources. Circuit quantum acoustodynamics is used to achieve controlled generation of multi-phonon Fock states in a bulk acoustic-wave resonator, which are demonstrated to have a quantum nature.
Identifying (un)controllable dynamical behavior in complex networks

We present a technique applicable in any dynamical framework to identify control-robust subsets of an interacting system. These robust subsystems, which we call stable modules, are characterized by constraints on the variables that make up the subsystem. They are robust in the sense that if the defining constraints are satisfied at a given time, they remain satisfied for all later times, regardless of what happens in the rest of the system, and can only be broken if the constrained variables are externally manipulated. We identify stable modules as graph structures in an expanded network, which represents causal links between variable constraints. A stable module represents a system "decision point", or trap subspace. Using the expanded network, small stable modules can be composed sequentially to form larger stable modules that describe dynamics on the system level. Collections of large, mutually exclusive stable modules describe the system's repertoire of long-term behaviors. We implement this technique in a broad class of dynamical systems and illustrate its practical utility via examples and algorithmic analysis of two published biological network models. In the segment polarity gene network of Drosophila melanogaster, we obtain a state-space visualization that reproduces by novel means the four possible cell fates and predicts the outcome of cell transplant experiments. In the T-cell signaling network, we identify six signaling elements that determine the high-signal response and show that control of an element connected to them cannot disrupt this response.
A Multiple Case Study of Music Cooperating Teacher Roles in Mentoring Dialogues

While music education researchers have examined cooperating teacher and student teacher interactions via classroom observations and interviews, there is little research on extended dialogues betwee...
Squamous cell carcinoma of the rectum: Practice trends and patient survival.

625Background: Leverage the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to evaluate trends in management of squamous cell cancer (SCC) of the rectum and their effect on survival for this uncommon tumor. Method...
Vertical precedents in formal models of precedential constraint

The standard model of precedential constraint holds that a court is equally free to modify a precedent of its own and a precedent of a superior court—overruling aside, it does not differentiate horizontal and vertical precedents. This paper shows that no model can capture the U.S. doctrine of precedent without making that distinction. A precise model is then developed that does just that. This requires situating precedent cases in a formal representation of a hierarchical legal structure, and adjusting the constraint that a precedent imposes based on the relationship of the precedent court and the instant court. The paper closes with suggestions for further improvements of the model.
Lichenoid Characteristics in Premalignant Verrucous Lesions and Verrucous Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity

Verrucous hyperkeratosis (VH), verrucous carcinoma (VC) and the relentless, truly pre-malignant variant proliferative verrucous leukoplakia often exhibit lichenoid histologic features that may create a diagnostic dilemma for pathologists. This study aims to evaluate and categorize the frequency and the histopathologic patterns of lichenoid features seen in these lesions. Following IRB approval, cases of VH and VC from 1994 to 2014 were retrieved from the archives of UF Oral Pathology Biopsy Service. A panel of 4 board-certified oral and maxillofacial pathologists reviewed and scored the presence or absence of 5 lichenoid features: band-like infiltrate (BLI), saw tooth rete ridges (STRR), interface stomatitis (IS), civatte bodies (CB), and basement membrane degeneration (BMD). Cases not fulfilling the stringent selection criteria were excluded. A total of 70 cases of VH and 56 cases of VC were included. Approximately 25% of both VH and VC cases exhibited 3 or more lichenoid features. By Chi square testing, BLI (p = 0.000), IS (p = 0.005), and CB (p = 0.026) were significantly more common in VC than VH. Gingival lesions had significantly less frequent BLI (p = 0.004) and IS (p = 0.024) versus other sites. However, STRR was significantly more common in VH than VC (p = 0.000) in the gingiva. (p = 0.002). Statistical analysis revealed that the only significant valid association was the increased presence of band-like infiltrate in VC over VH (p = 0.001). Lichenoid features are common in both VH and VC and may represent a nonspecific inflammatory response to the dysplasia or malignancy rather than concomitant lichenoid disease. This could lead to significant under diagnoses of these premalignant or potentially malignant lesions by pathologists.
Evaluating Unexpectedly Short Non-covalent Distances in X-ray Crystal Structures of Proteins with Electronic Structure Analysis.

We investigate unexpectedly short non-covalent distances (<85% of the sum of van der Waals radii) in X-ray crystal structures of proteins. We curate over 11 000 high-quality protein crystal structu...
Regional Recurrence Rates With or Without Complete Axillary Dissection for Breast Cancer Patients with Node-Positive Disease on Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Abstract Purpose Current standard of care for patients with breast cancer with a positive node on sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is axillary dissection with irradiation of the regional nodes, but it is unknown whether axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) can be safely omitted if complete axillary radiation is delivered instead. Methods and Materials We identified 161 patients found to have a positive sentinel lymph node on SLNB after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer between December 2006 and October 2017, who were treated with or without completion ALND. Local, regional, and distant recurrence and overall survival were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patient, disease, and treatment factors potentially predictive of each outcome were entered into Cox regression analysis. Results Median follow-up was 28.8 months (range, 2.5-137.0). The 3-year regional control rate did not differ according to extent of axillary surgery (92.6% for SLNB alone vs 96.4% for SLNB with ALND, P = .616). Regional recurrence occurred as part of first recurrence in 9 patients (5.6%). Five patients failed in axillary levels 1 or 2, 6 failed in axillary level 3 or supraclavicular nodes, and 2 failed in internal mammary nodes, with some patients failing in multiple regional nodal areas. Extent of axillary dissection (SLNB only vs SLNB plus ALND) did not predict for disease control or survival. Patients who underwent ALND were significantly more likely to have lymphedema (25.0% vs 9.4%, P = .021). Conclusions Careful selection of patients with a positive sentinel node on SLNB after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for omission of completion ALND in favor of irradiation of the undissected axilla does not compromise local, regional, or distant control or overall survival and results in lower rates of lymphedema.
Cognitive Network Management and Control With Significantly Reduced State Sensing

Future networks have to accommodate an increase of 3 and 4 orders of magnitude in data rates with heterogeneous session sizes and potentially stricter time deadline requirements. The dynamic nature of scheduling of large transactions and the need for rapid actions by the network management and control (NMC) system, require timely collection of network state information. Rough estimates of the size of detailed network states suggest a huge burden for network transport and computation resources. Thus, judicious sampling of network states is necessary for a cost-effective network management system. In this paper, we consider an NMC system where sensing and routing decisions are made with cognitive understanding of network states and short-term behavior of exogenous offered traffic. We study a small but realistic example of adaptive monitoring based on significant sampling techniques. This technique balances the need for updated state information against the updating cost and provides an algorithm that yields near optimum performance with significantly reduced burden of sampling, transport, and computation. We show that our adaptive monitoring system can reduce the NMC overhead by a factor of 100 in one example. The spirit of cognitive NMC is to collect network states ONLY when they can improve the network performance.
Sovereign Debt Ratchets and Welfare Destruction

An impatient and risk-neutral government can sell bonds at any time to a more patient group of competitive lenders. The key problem: the government cannot commit to either a particular financing strategy, or a default strategy. Despite risk-neutrality, in equilibrium debt adjusts slowly towards a target debt-to-income level, exacerbating booms and busts. Most strikingly, for any debt maturity structure, the gains from trade are entirely dissipated when trading opportunities are continuous, as lenders compete with each other and the government competes with itself. Moreover, citizens who are more patient than their government are strictly harmed by the unrestricted borrowing. We fully characterize debt dynamics, ergodics, and comparative statics when income follows a geometric Brownian motion, and analyze several commitment devices that allow the sovereign to recapture some gains from trade: self-imposed restrictions on debt issuances and levels, as well as “market-imposed” discipline.
Jet Noise Prediction Comparisons with Scale Model Tests and Learjet Flyover Data

Recent interest in commercial supersonic flight has highlighted the need to accurately predict Effective Perceived Noise Levels (EPNL) for aircraft and, since the dominant noise source at takeoff will likely be jet noise, specifically jet noise contributions. The current study compares predictions from historical jet-noise models within NASA’s Aircraft Noise Prediction Program and scale-model data to measurements made in a Learjet 25 flight test. The noise levels from the predictions and scale-model data were below those for the flight data by 2.5 – 3.5, 1 – 2, and 3 – 5 EPNdB for the SAE model, the Stone Jet model, and the scale-model data, respectively. Tones and broadband haystacks were identified in the flight spectra that are not associated with jet noise which increased the flight EPNL by at least 0.5 EPNdB over that computed from spectra with the tones and haystacks removed. The study highlights the need for accurate exhaust temperature measurements, aircraft flight position information, and averaging data across a line of microphones in flight tests. For example, a 100° F to 200° F difference in jet exhaust temperature is enough to explain the differences between flight, model scale, and prediction comparisons.
Broadcast Congested Clique: Planted Cliques and Pseudorandom Generators

We develop techniques to prove lower bounds for the BCAST(log n) Broadcast Congested Clique model (a distributed message passing model where in each round, each processor can broadcast an O(log n)-sized message to all other processors). Our techniques are built to prove bounds for natural input distributions. So far, all lower bounds for problems in the model relied on constructing specifically tailored graph families for the specific problem at hand, resulting in lower bounds for artificially constructed inputs, instead of natural input distributions.One of our results is a lower bound for the directed planted clique problem. In this problem, an input graph is either a random directed graph (each directed edge is included with probability 1/2), or a random graph with a planted clique of size k. That is, k randomly chosen vertices have all of the edges between them included, and all other edges in the graph appear with probability 1/2. The goal is to determine whether a clique exists. We show that when k = n(1/4 - e), this problem requires a number of rounds polynomial in n.Additionally, we construct a pseudo-random generator which fools the Broadcast Congested Clique. This allows us to show that every k round randomized algorithm in which each processor uses up to n random bits can be efficiently transformed into an O(k)-round randomized algorithm in which each processor uses only up to O(k log n) random bits, while maintaining a high success probability. The pseudo-random generator is simple to describe, computationally very cheap, and its seed size is optimal up to constant factors. However, the analysis is quite involved, and is based on the new technique for proving lower bounds in the model.The technique also allows us to prove the first average case lower bound for the Broadcast Congested Clique, as well as an average-case time hierarchy. We hope our technique will lead to more lower bounds for problems such as triangle counting, APSP, MST, diameter, and more, for natural input distributions.
Total synthesis of (±)-heliannuol D, an allelochemical from Helianthus annuus

Abstract The total synthesis of (±)-heliannuol D and its epimer has been completed in 9 steps and 12% overall yield from 2-methylanisole. The benzoxepane moiety of the title compound, a common structural feature in the heliannuol family of natural products, is prepared by a biomimetic opening of an epoxide by a phenol.