Learning Algorithm for a Brachiating Robot

If charity begins at home, scholarship on the charitable deduction has stayed at home. In the vast legal literature, few authors have engaged the distinction between charitable contributions that are meant to be used within the United States and charitable contributions that are meant to be used abroad. Yet these two types of contributions are treated very differently in the Code and raise very different policy issues. As Americans\u27 giving patterns and the U.S. nonprofit sector grow increasingly international, the distinction will only become more salient. This Article offers the first exploration of how theories of the charitable deduction apply to internationally targeted donations. In so doing, the Article aims to contribute not only to a methodological shift in nonprofit tax scholarship (a strategic remapping), but also to a reappraisal of the deduction literature (an analytic remapping): just as existing theories of the deduction can inform our understanding of foreign charity, considerations of foreign charity can shed light back on the existing theories. I argue that the standard rationales are underdetermined and undertheorized, and propose a new, integrated approach to the charitable deduction. Internationally targeted donations emerge from the analysis holding a strong claim to deductibility – often a stronger claim than domestically targeted donations hold – on almost every relevant dimension, which calls into question current regulations that privilege domestic giving. Oversight and foreign policy concerns, however, complicate the ideal of geographic neutrality and illuminate the charitable deduction\u27s role as an instrument of statecraft. Admitting foreign charity into the debate over the deduction thus changes the debate\u27s terms; it gives deduction theory new urgency as well as new complexity

Effect of Oxygen Impurities on Positronium Formation in Voids of Vanadium

To clarify the effect of oxygen impurities on positronium (Ps) formed in irradiation-induced voids, measurements of the angular correlation of two photon annihilation radiation (ACAR) have been done on vanadium samples doped with oxygen impurities and subsequently irradiated with fast neutrons of doses up to 5.5x10^cm^ at about 400℃ in the Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR). It has been shown that slight contamination of voids with oxygen impurity atoms, presumably submonolayer adsorption on the void surface, causes Ps formation. On the other hand, the considerable contamination leads suppression of Ps formation. Energy loss process of Ps in voids is found to be also influenced by the surface contamination

Efficacy Of A Combination Of Transarterial Chemoembolization And Radiation Therapty For Patients With Hepatochellular Carcinoma Ineligible For Resection Or Radiofrequency Ablation.

Purpose: The local control rate of trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was unsatisfactory compared to resection or radiofrequency ablation (RFA). To increase the local control rate for tumors, we performed radiation therapy followed by TACE in our institution. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the TACE and radiotherapy combination in HCC patients ineligible for resection or RFA. Material and Methods: Between January 2017 and April 2020, 33 patients with HCC ineligible for resection or RFA were treated with a combination of TACE and radiation therapy. Eight patients were initial cases, and 25 were recurrent or residual cases. A total dose of 40-60 Gy in 5-20 fractions was delivered to the 50-90% isodose line. Results: The median follow-up period was 16 months (range, 6-47 months); the objective response rate was 66.7%; and the 1- and 2-year overall survival rates, 72.7% and 62.5%, respectively. The objective response rate for HCCs <5 em was 79.2%; the 1- and 2-year overall survival rates, 91.7% and 62.5%, respectively; median progression-free survival, 13.5 months (range, 3-47 months), and the 1- and 2-year local progression-free survival rates, 95.8% and 85.7%, respectively. There was one case each of grade 2 radiation esophagitis and ascites after three months of irradiation. Conclusion: The combination of TACE and radiation therapy shows good local control and acceptable toxicity, particularly in HCCs <5 cm and may be a good treatment option

Aluminum porphyrins with quaternary ammonium halides as catalysts for copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide and CO2: metal–ligand cooperative catalysis

Bifunctional AlIII porphyrins with quaternary ammonium halides, 2-Cl and 2-Br, worked as excellent catalysts for the copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide (CHO) and CO2 at 120 °C. Turnover frequency (TOF) and turnover number (TON) reached 10 000 h−1 and 55 000, respectively, and poly(cyclohexene carbonate) (PCHC) with molecular weight of up to 281 000 was obtained with a catalyst loading of 0.001 mol%. In contrast, bifunctional MgII and ZnII counterparts, 3-Cl and 4-Cl, as well as a binary catalyst system, 1-Cl with bis(triphenylphosphine)iminium chloride (PPNCl), showed poor catalytic performances. Kinetic studies revealed that the reaction rate was first-order in [CHO] and [2-Br] and zero-order in [CO2], and the activation parameters were determined: ΔH‡ = 12.4 kcal mol−1, ΔS‡ = −26.1 cal mol−1 K−1, and ΔG‡ = 21.6 kcal mol−1 at 80 °C. Comparative DFT calculations on two model catalysts, AlIII complex 2′ and MgII complex 3′, allowed us to extract key factors in the catalytic behavior of the bifunctional AlIII catalyst. The high polymerization activity and carbonate-linkage selectivity originate from the cooperative actions of the metal center and the quaternary ammonium cation, both of which facilitate the epoxide-ring opening by the carbonate anion to form the carbonate linkage in the key transition state such as TS3b (ΔH‡ = 13.3 kcal mol−1, ΔS‡ = −3.1 cal mol−1 K−1, and ΔG‡ = 14.4 kcal mol−1 at 80 °C)