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This article examines the impact of market restructuring on retail prices, using the restructuring of the electricity industry as a case study. Utilizing synthetic control as an estimation strategy, this paper finds full restructuring reduced retail prices across all sectors by an average of $1.5/MWh, relative to their counterfactual outcome. On average, prices fell for residential and commercial users and rose for industrial users. The price differential is consistent with the successful enactment of price ceilings and increased pass-through of changes in the price of natural gas. (JEL L51, L94, Q41, Q48)

This review essay examines the nature, extent, and significance of the Soviet military commitment to Angola from 1975 onwards and at the same time surveys the highlights of the Russian-language lit...

BACKGROUND: Prostate-specific antigen screening has profoundly affected the epidemiology of prostate cancer in the United States. Persistent racial disparities in outcomes for Black men warrant re-examination of the harms of screening relative to its cancer-specific mortality benefits in this population. METHODS: We estimated overdiagnoses and overtreatment of prostate cancer for men of all races and for Black men 50 to 84 years of age until 2016, the most recent year with treatment data available, using excess incidence relative to 1986 based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry and U.S. Census data as well as an established microsimulation model of prostate cancer natural history. Combining estimates with plausible mortality benefit, we calculated numbers needed to diagnose (NND) and treat (NNT) to prevent one prostate cancer death. RESULTS: For men of all races, we estimated 1.5 to 1.9 million (range between estimation approaches) overdiagnosed and 0.9 to 1.5 million overtreated prostate cancers by 2016. Assuming that half of the 270,000 prostate cancer deaths avoided by 2016 were attributable to screening, the NND and the NNT would be 11 to 14 and 7 to 11 for men of all races and 8 to 12 and 5 to 9 for Black men, respectively. Alternative estimates incorporating a lag between incidence and mortality resulted in a NND and a NNT for Black men that reached well into the low single digits. CONCLUSIONS: Complementary approaches to quantifying overdiagnosis indicate a harm-benefit tradeoff of prostate-specific antigen screening that is more favorable for Black men than for men of all races considered together. Our findings highlight the need to account for the increased value of screening in Black men in clinical guidelines. (Funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.)

Since the Paris Agreement in 2016, the goals of limiting climate change and moving toward climate resilience stand. With a share of about 80% of global CO2 emissions, the energy sector is an essential driver for these goals. A shift to low-carbon energy production and a decentralized system for more efficient energy transmission distribution is necessary. In this paper, we present our work on Modelling of Power Exchanges, Algorithms for Local Energy Market (LEM), Competitiveness of Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) and Energy Feedback Devices. The study was conducted considering technical, economic, social and regulatory framework. For easy integration into energy simulations or a district energy management system (DEMS), a model for power exchanges was created that allows flexible input or deterministic price patterns. The algorithm handles the clearing of an LEM by a district aggregator using limit orders with the goal of increasing the share of locally consumed electricity using economic incentives. An investigation was conducted into the operation of flexible CHPs in low-carbon power systems to balance the volatility of renewable energy. An Energy Signal Light (ESL) was developed as an energy feedback device, which is integrated into the DEMS in a living lab and allows individual configuration. In summary, the results presented should be compared with those of other research approaches in the future and require qualitative and quantitative evaluation.

Three positional isomers of hydroxybenzoic acid, as well as phenol and benzoic acid, were studied using core-level photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopies, supported by quantum chemical calculations. While 2-hydroxybenzoic (salicylic) acid exists as a single conformer with an internal hydrogen bond, 3- and 4-hydroxybenzoic acids are mixtures of multiple conformers. The effects due to isomerism are clearly seen in the C 1s and O 1s photoelectron spectra, whereas the conformational effects on the binding energies are less pronounced. The O 1s photoelectron spectrum of salicylic acid is significantly different from that of the other two isomers, providing a signature of the hydrogen bond. In contrast, the oxygen K edge X-ray absorption spectra of the three hydroxybenzoic acids show only minor differences. The salicylic acid absorption spectrum at the carbon K edge shows a more resolved vibrational structure than the spectra of the other molecules, which can be explained in part by the existence of a single conformer. Our theoretical study of vibrational excitations in the lowest C 1s absorption bands of salicylic and 4-hydroxybenzoic acids indicates that the observed structure can be assigned to 0-0 lines of various electronic transitions since most of the totally symmetric vibrational modes with sufficiently large frequencies to be resolved are predicted to be inactive. Significant sensitivity of the C 1s excitations in 3-hydroxybenzoic acid to rotational conformerism was predicted but not observed due to spectral crowding.

BACKGROUND: Concern that insecticide resistant mosquitoes are threatening malaria control has driven the development of new types of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticide. Malaria control programmes have a choice of vector control interventions although it is unclear which controls should be used to combat the disease. The study aimed at producing a framework to easily compare the public health impact and cost-effectiveness of different malaria prevention measures currently in widespread use. METHODS: We used published data from experimental hut trials conducted across Africa to characterise the entomological effect of pyrethroid-only ITNs versus ITNs combining a pyrethroid insecticide with the synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO). We use these estimates to parameterise a dynamic mathematical model of Plasmodium falciparum malaria which is validated for two sites by comparing simulated results to empirical data from randomised control trials (RCTs) in Tanzania and Uganda. We extrapolated model simulations for a series of potential scenarios likely across the sub-Saharan African region and include results in an online tool (Malaria INtervention Tool [MINT]) that aims to identify optimum vector control intervention packages for scenarios with varying budget, price, entomological and epidemiological factors. FINDINGS: Our model indicates that switching from pyrethroid-only to pyrethroid-PBO ITNs could averted up to twice as many cases, although the additional benefit is highly variable and depends on the setting conditions. We project that annual delivery of long-lasting, non-pyrethroid IRS would prevent substantially more cases over 3-years, while pyrethroid-PBO ITNs tend to be the most cost-effective intervention per case averted. The model was able to predict prevalence and efficacy against prevalence in both RCTs for the intervention types tested. MINT is applicable to regions of sub-Saharan Africa with endemic malaria and provides users with a method of designing intervention packages given their setting and budget. INTERPRETATION: The most cost-effective vector control package will vary locally. Models able to recreate results of RCTs can be used to extrapolate outcomes elsewhere to support evidence-based decision making for investment in vector control. FUNDING: Medical Research Council, IVCC, Wellcome Trust. TRANSLATION: For the French translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Stabilizing high dispersions of catalytically active metals is integral to improving the lifetime, activity, and material utilization of catalysts that are periodically exposed to high temperatures during operation or maintenance. We have found that annealing palladium-based core@shell catalysts in air at elevated temperature (800°C) promotes the redispersion of active metal into highly dispersed sites, which we refer to as halo sites. Here, we examine the restructuring of Pd@SiO2 and Pd@CeO2 core@shell catalysts over successive 800°C aging cycles to understand the formation, activity, nanoscale structure and stability of these palladium halo sites. While encapsulation generally improves metal utilization by providing a physical barrier that promotes redispersion over agglomeration, our cycled aging experiments demonstrate that halo sites are not stable in all catalysts. Halo sites continue to migrate in Pd@SiO2 due to poor metal-support bonding, which leads to palladium agglomeration. In contrast, halo sites formed in Pd@CeO2 remain stable. The dispersed palladium also synergistically stabilizes the ceria from agglomerating. We attribute this stability, in addition to an observed improvement in catalytic activity, to the coordination between palladium and reducible ceria that arises during the formation of halo sites. We probe the importance of ceria oxidation state on the stability of halo sites by aging Pd@CeO2 after it has been reduced. While some halo sites agglomerate, we find that returning to air aging mitigates the loss of these sites and catalytic activity. Our findings illustrate how nanoscale catalyst structures can be designed to promote the formation of highly stable and dispersed metal sites.

Writing a military history of the Cold War suitable for student use — or as frequently ends up being the case, a military history of the period of the Cold War — is no doubt a challenging undertaki...

From debate over Hitler’s motivation for war against the Soviet Union to questions regarding the extent to which Stalin and the Soviet military leadership were aware of the impending German onslaug...

C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is associated with diverse outcomes in patients with, or suspected to have, genitourinary malignancies. CRP levels have been shown to be associated with the probability of a prostate cancer diagnosis in patients with elevated PSA, the probability of biochemical recurrence following definitive treatment for localized prostate cancer, and decreased overall survival for patients with advanced disease. In patients with bladder and kidney cancers, CRP levels have been associated with disease progression, stage, and cancer-specific survival. Despite the abundance of correlative studies, the relationship between CRP levels and genitourinary cancer pathogenesis is not clearly understood. Here, we review the evidence for CRP as a biomarker in genitourinary (GU) cancers, with specific focus on potential clinical applications.

Intra-host evolved tumor virus variants have provided insights into the risk, pathogenesis and treatment responses of associated cancers. However, the intra-host variability of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the etiologic agent of Kaposi sarcoma (KS), has not been explored at the whole viral genome level. An accurate and detailed description of KSHV intra-host diversity in whole KSHV genomes from matching tumors and oral swabs from Ugandan adults with HIV-associated KS was obtained by deep, short read sequencing, using duplex unique molecular identifiers (dUMI) – random double-stranded oligonucleotides that barcode individual DNA molecules before library amplification. This allowed suppression of PCR and sequencing errors down to ∼10−9/base. KSHV genomes were assembled de novo, and identified rearrangements were confirmed by PCR. 131-kb KSHV genome sequences, excluding major repeat regions and averaging 2.3 × 104 reads/base, were successfully obtained from 23 specimens from 9 individuals, including 7 tumor-oral pairs. Sampling more than 100 viral genomes in at least one specimen per individual showed that KSHV genomes were virtually homogeneous within samples and within individuals at the point mutational level. Heterogeneity, if present, was due to point mutations and genomic rearrangements in tumors. In 2 individuals, the same mutations were found in distinct KS tumors. The K8.1 gene was inactivated in tumors from 3 individuals, and all KSHV genomic aberrations retained the region surrounding the first major internal repeat (IR1). These findings suggest that lytic gene alterations may contribute to KS tumorigenesis or persistence.Author summaryKaposi sarcoma (KS) is a leading cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and in those with HIV co-infection. Infection by Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is necessary for KS, yet why only few KSHV infections develop into KS is largely unknown. While strain differences or mutations in other tumor viruses are known to affect the risk and progression of their associated cancers, whether KSHV genetic variation is important to the natural history of KS is unclear. Most studies of KSHV diversity have characterized only ∼4% of its 165-kb genome and may have been impacted by PCR or cloning artifacts. Here, we performed highly sensitive, single-molecule sequencing of whole KSHV genomes in paired KS tumors and oral swabs from 9 individuals with KS. We found that KSHV genomes were virtually identical within individuals, with no evidence of quasispecies formation nor multistrain infection. However, KSHV genome aberrations and inactivating mutations appeared to be a common, tumor-associated phenomenon, with some mutations shared by distinct tumors within an individual. Certain regions of the KSHV genome featured prominently among tumor-associated mutations, suggesting that they are important contributors to the pathogenesis or persistence of KS.

The staggered and partial restructuring of state electricity markets beginning in 1996 is leveraged to identify the effect of entry deregulation on investment in generation capacity during the U.S. Gas Boom. Using synthetic control to construct the counterfactual outcome, this paper finds restructuring led to a 17 percent increase in capacity beyond the counterfactual in the seven years following restructuring. The overinvestment of the electricity industry is consistent with market coordination failure, contagion and low real interest rates, leading to an environmental welfare gain of $27.6 billion but overall net welfare loss of $18.85 billion.

Current quantum cryptography implementations focus on fiber-based or fixed free-space point-to-point channels. We seek to expand this to quantum communication from mobile platforms. Here, we report progress towards tracking system stabilization and air-to-air signal coupling.

The chronic exposure of human populations to toxic metals remains a global public health concern. Although chronic Cd exposure is linked to kidney damage, osteoporosis and cancer, the underlying biomolecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Since other diseases could also be causally linked to chronic Cd exposure, a systems toxicology-based approach is needed to gain new insight into the underlying exposure-disease relationship. This approach requires one to integrate the cascade of dynamic bioinorganic chemistry events that unfold in the bloodstream after Cd enters with toxicological events that unfold in target organs over time. To this end, we have conducted a systematic literature search to identify all molecular targets of Cd in plasma and in red blood cells (RBCs). Based on this information it is impossible to describe the metabolism of Cd and the toxicological relevance of it binding to molecular targets in/on RBCs is elusive. Perhaps most importantly, the role that peptides, amino acids and inorganic ions, including HCO3-, Cl- and HSeO3- play in terms of mediating the translocation of Cd to target organs and its detoxification is poorly understood. Causally linking human exposure to this metal with diseases requires a much better integration of the bioinorganic chemistry of Cd that unfolds in the bloodstream with target organs. This from a public health point of view important goal will require collaborations between scientists from different disciplines to untangle the complex mechanisms which causally link Cd exposure to disease.

Intra-host tumor virus variants may influence the pathogenesis and treatment responses of some virally-associated cancers. However, the intra-host variability of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the etiologic agent of Kaposi sarcoma (KS), has to date been explored with sequencing technologies that possibly introduce more errors than that which occurs in the viral population, and these studies have only studied variable regions. Here, full-length KSHV genomes in tumors and/or oral swabs from 9 Ugandan adults with HIV-associated KS were characterized. Furthermore, we used deep, short-read sequencing using duplex unique molecular identifiers (dUMI)–random double-stranded oligonucleotides that barcode individual DNA molecules before library amplification. This allowed suppression of PCR and sequencing errors to ~10−9/base as well as afforded accurate determination of KSHV genome numbers sequenced in each sample. KSHV genomes were assembled de novo, and rearrangements observed were confirmed by PCR and Sanger sequencing. 131-kb KSHV genome sequences, excluding major repeat regions, were successfully obtained from 23 clinical specimens, averaging 2.3x104 reads/base. Strikingly, KSHV genomes were virtually identical within individuals at the point mutational level. The intra-host heterogeneity that was observed was confined to tumor-associated KSHV mutations and genome rearrangements, all impacting protein-coding sequences. Although it is unclear whether these changes were important to tumorigenesis or occurred as a result of genomic instability in tumors, similar changes were observed across individuals. These included inactivation of the K8.1 gene in tumors of 3 individuals and retention of a region around the first major internal repeat (IR1) in all instances of genomic deletions and rearrangements. Notably, the same breakpoint junctions were found in distinct tumors within single individuals, suggesting metastatic spread of rearranged KSHV genomes. These findings define KSHV intra-host heterogeneity in vivo with greater precision than has been possible in the past and suggest the possibility that aberrant KSHV genomes may contribute to aspects of KS tumorigenesis. Furthermore, study of KSHV with use of dUMI provides a proof of concept for utilizing this technique for detailed study of other virus populations in vivo., Author summary Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a leading cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and in persons with HIV co-infection. Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, also referred to as human herpesvirus-8, or HHV-8) is the etiologic agent of KS, but the factors that contribute to the development of KS, which occurs in only a small subset of infected individuals, remain largely unknown. While strain differences or mutations in other tumor viruses are known to affect the risk and progression of their associated cancers, whether genetic variation in KSHV is important to the natural history of KS is unclear. Most studies of KSHV diversity have only characterized ~4% of its 165-kb genome, and the observed variation in some studies is likely to have been impacted by PCR or cloning artifacts. To precisely define genomic diversity of KSHV in vivo, we evaluated full-length viral genomes (except the internal repeat regions) using a technique that greatly lowers sequencing error rates and thus measures genomic diversity much more accurately than previous studies. In addition, we extended our analyses to look for potential tumor-specific changes in the KSHV genomes by examining viruses in both tumor and non-tumor tissues. To these ends, we performed highly sensitive, single-molecule sequencing of whole KSHV genomes in paired KS tumors and oral swabs from 9 individuals with KS. We found that KSHV genomes were virtually identical within the 9 individuals, with no evidence of quasispecies formation or multi-strain infection. However, KSHV genome aberrations and gene-inactivating mutations were found to be common in KS tumors, often impacting the same genes and genomic regions across individuals. Whether theses mutations influence KS tumorigenesis or result from genomic instability commonly found in tumors warrants further study. Lastly, aberrant KSHV genomes were found to be shared by distinct tumors within individuals, suggesting the capacity of KS tumor cells to metastasize and seed new lesions.

This dissertation analyzes one of the most recurrent--and troubling--motifs in modern German literature: death by drowning. Ultimately, it suggests that these scenes of drowning function as narrative “knots” in which two concepts fundamental to the epistemology of realist literature intertwine: law and sacrifice. More specifically, it argues that the narrative logic of drowning stages a conflict between the “surface” domain of law, on the one hand, and the hidden “depths” of the subjective interior, on the other. In each of my chosen texts, the resolution of this conflict takes the form of an act of sacrifice that either relinquishes some portion of the self for the sake of the law or immolates some form of law for the sake of the self. Chapter 1 examines Adalbert Stifter’s early work, first tracing how he presents self-sacrifice as a midpoint of universal law that bridges the cosmic sphere of nature and the human sphere of ethics. Stifter’s changing vision of lawfulness shapes his novella "Kalkstein" (1853), which tells the story of a country parson’s selfless efforts to protect the parish children from drowning in the nearby river’s regular floods. These themes are echoed in Gottfried Keller’s novella "Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe" (1856/1876), which Chapter 2 argues to be structured around transgressive acts that consist not so much in overt contradictions of legal tenets, but rather in the protagonists’ mimicry of the lawful state of marriage, whereby they tragically imitate the very fulfillment from which this act of imitation occludes them. The tale ends with their suicide by drowning, which I read as a sacrifice of their wish for a publicly recognized, married life together in exchange for a momentary, private simulation of it on the banks of the river. The narratives that occupy the second half of the dissertation develop this thematic framework, gradually moving from the “external laws” of nature and social custom to the “inward laws” of ethical and moral obligation. Chapter 3 analyzes the late novellas of Theodor Storm (1876-1888), all of which brim with issues of guilt, memory, and contrition. In his last creative period, Storm portrays various categories of law as “inheritances” of the past, while sacrifice serves as a means of atonement—a means, that is, of relating to one’s future by looking back to one’s past. Invariably, the moment of sacrifice culminates in drowning. Finally, Chapter 4 considers Theodor Fontane’s novel "Unwiederbringlich" (1892), whose protagonist devotes her life to fulfilling Lutheran precepts of spiritual and moral duty, only to drown herself at the end. I read this final act as a sacrificial exchange of ethical paradigms, suggesting that by transgressing against a private system of duty, she ultimately secures a collective sense of duty rooted in the communal rites of mourning. The dissertation bookends its inquiry with glances backward to Goethe’s 1809 novel "Die Wahlverwandtschaften" (in the Introduction) as well as forward to the Expressionist obsession with the figure of Ophelia (in the Epilogue) in order to sketch a broader contextualization of the German Realist program.

We can envision an eventual global multi-node quantum network, with hubs located around the planet. This, however, is still a far reach from current state of the art. Here we discuss some of our approaches to bridge the gap. Specifically, we are pursuing airborne and satellite-based free-space quantum communication. Free-space platforms naturally lend themselves to reconfiguration - likely required by a future quantum-secure network -- as nodes may be easily moved/reoriented to target new nodes. We are implementing a multi-copter drone-based quantum cryptography link, including fast, high-resolution optical stabilization; compact, independent sources; and lightweight single-photon detection. Having access to an agile, reconfigurable QKD networking system will enable quantum cryptography to reach applications prohibited by current approaches, such as temporary networks in seaborne, urban, or even battlefield situations. By using transmitters and receivers at higher altitudes, deleterious effects weather events like fog and turbulence can be mitigated. At longer scale, we are pursuing a quantum link from the International Space Station to earth, which will use hyperentanglement to enable a variety of advanced quantum communication protocols, including multi-bit-per-photon key distribution and "superdense" teleportation. With our table-top experiment we have investigated the effects of loss and turbulence, and demonstrated a system to compensate for the otherwise devastating effect of the Doppler effect from the rapidly moving ISS platform.

Afghanistan 1979 is a documentary film by Tadjik-French director Gulya Mirzoeva, who between living in Tadjikistan and France, also studied in Moscow. Given Mirzoeva’s past, it is unsurprising and ...

The Soviet invasion of Poland of 17 September 1939 may not have met widespread Polish resistance, but a number of significant engagements saw the Red Army take far from insignificant losses in a rushed operation characterized by overconfidence, poor planning, and cooperation between arms and inadequate logistical support. Materials published in Russian and English since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Soviet academic hegemony over Eastern Europe now allow us to examine the Soviet conduct of the invasion in much more detail than had previously been the case. Much of the material presented here on the topic is to be included in a chapter of a monograph concerned with Soviet military effectiveness during the period of the Second World War, and comments are welcome.

We demonstrate relative time multiplexing of heralded single-photon sources, using a low-loss photon storage technique. Our scheme can realize efficient two-photon quantum communication protocols, e.g., measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution.