cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Storing Quantum Correlations in Different Rare Earth Ion-doped Solids. A Tale of Two Memories.
Creators: name: Davidson, Jacob H.
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Physics--Atomic
subject: Optics

description: Quantum networks of the future will be required to span the globe and interconnect many different real world systems employed by different commercial, academic, and government users. Thus, an important measure of such a network's capacity will be its ability to interact with and distribute entanglement among different mediums and devices with potentially disparate properties. Few experiments have to date shown this sort of interconnectivity between different systems with different atomic species. Here I will present our demonstration of a system in which we store two correlated photons in solid state quantum memories implemented in different rare earth ion-doped materials using the atomic frequency comb protocol. The photon pairs are generated through a spontaneous parametric down-conversion process with their wavelengths chosen to be compatible with quantum repeater implementations. One member, with a wavelength at 795 nm, is stored in an Tm:LiNbO3 crystal while, simultaneously, the other member, generated at 1535 nm wavelength, is stored in an amorphous erbium doped optical fiber. The measured cross-correlation function between the recalled photons is g(2) = 16 +/- 2, which verifies that the non-classical correlations are preserved and were present during the storage of both photons. The two storage mediums are diverse not only in terms of their different photon acceptance wavelengths, but also with regards to the material properties as hosts for the dopant rare-earth ions. Our results show that quantum nodes and networks based on fundamentally different systems can be interfaced to distribute entanglement.
title: Informationstheorie und Drucktechnik : Ein informationstheoretisches Gütemaß für Druckprodukte
Creators: name: Scheuter, Karl R.
name: Hradezky, Roland
Publisher: name: UNSPECIFIED
Year: 1977

description: Auf der Basis informationstheoretischer Überlegungen wurde in Relation zu einer Druckvorlage eine objektive Druckqualitätsaussage abgeleitet und in psychophysikalischen Experimenten erprobt.
2D-4D Correspondence: Towers of Kinks versus Towers of Monopoles in N=2 Theories
Creators: name: Bolokhov, Pavel A.
name: Shifman, Mikhail
name: Yung, Alexei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We continue to study the BPS spectrum of the N=(2,2) CP(N-1) model with the Z_N-symmetric twisted mass terms. We focus on analysis of the "extra" towers found previously in [1], and compare them to the states that can be identified in the quasiclassical domain. Exact analysis of the strong-coupling states shows that not all of them survive when passing to the weak-coupling domain. Some of the states decay on the curves of the marginal stability (CMS). Thus, not all strong-coupling states can be analytically continued to weak coupling to match the observable bound states. At weak coupling, we confirm the existence of bound states of topologically-charged kinks and elementary quanta. Quantization of the U(1) kink modulus leads to formation of towers of such states. For the Z_N-symmetric twisted masses their number is by far less than N-1 as was conjectured previously. We investigate the quasiclassical limit and show that out of N possible towers only two survive in the spectrum for odd N, and a single tower for even N. In the case of CP^2 theory the related CMS are discussed in detail. In these points we overlap and completely agree with the results of Dorey and Petunin. We also comment on 2D-4D correspondence.
description: 44 pages, 10 figures
A New Operational Snow Retrieval Algorithm Applied to Historical AMSR-E Brightness Temperatures
Creators: name: Tedesco, Marco
name: Jeyaratnam, Jeyavinoth
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2016
Subjects: Remote sensing
Snow
Snow surveys

description: Snow is a key element of the water and energy cycles and the knowledge of spatio-temporal distribution of snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) is fundamental for hydrological and climatological applications. SWE and snow depth estimates can be obtained from spaceborne microwave brightness temperatures at global scale and high temporal resolution (daily). In this regard, the data recorded by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer—Earth Orbiting System (EOS) (AMSR-E) onboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) AQUA spacecraft have been used to generate operational estimates of SWE and snow depth, complementing estimates generated with other microwave sensors flying on other platforms. In this study, we report the results concerning the development and assessment of a new operational algorithm applied to historical AMSR-E data. The new algorithm here proposed makes use of climatological data, electromagnetic modeling and artificial neural networks for estimating snow depth as well as a spatio-temporal dynamic density scheme to convert snow depth to SWE. The outputs of the new algorithm are compared with those of the current AMSR-E operational algorithm as well as in-situ measurements and other operational snow products, specifically the Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC) and GlobSnow datasets. Our results show that the AMSR-E algorithm here proposed generally performs better than the operational one and addresses some major issues identified in the spatial distribution of snow depth fields associated with the evolution of effective grain size.
The contexts of adult literacy policy in New Zealand/Aotearoa
Creators: name: Walker, Judith Marianne
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: This dissertation investigates the nature, scope and characteristics of recent adult literacy policy in New Zealand, and explores the reasons and mechanisms by which such reform took place. In this analysis of adult literacy policy, the author considers the context in which adult literacy rose to ascendancy in New Zealand government policy during the first decade of the millennium. In addition, she examines the relationship between adult literacy policy and changes in political ideology and government leadership, assessing the impact of both neoliberalism and inclusive liberalism (Craig & Porter, 2006) and Third Way thought (Giddens, 1999) on policy. Analysis was undertaken of government documents published from 1999-2008, as well as policies released during the previous political era, 1984-1999, to situate later policy. Additionally, interviews were conducted with 20 adult literacy policy actors in the country, including government bureaucrats, literacy researchers, and other experts who worked in and for unions, interest groups, and community and workplace literacy organizations. In drawing from Bowe, Ball and Gold (1992) and Ball (1994), the findings focus on three contexts of policy: the context of text production; the context of influence; and, the context of interpreted practices and outcomes. To address these contexts, the author drew on an array of methodological and theoretical tools. The findings from this study provide four keen insights: First, adult literacy policy formed a legitimate part of economic and social policy; in other words, adult literacy policy was developed for both economic and social purposes and constituted actual policy response beyond rhetoric. Second, adult literacy policy, while developed between 1999-2008, was a continuation of previous government policies set in motion during New Zealand’s so-called neoliberal era (1984-1999). Third, policy was characterized by paradoxical discourses of “control” and “freedom.” And, fourth, government prioritized practices of economically related workplace literacy and of targeted social support. This dissertation contributes to both the understanding of inclusive liberal/Third Way government education policy as well as to the emergent field of policy studies on adult literacy in developed countries.
Productivity challenges in Singapore Part 3
Creators: name: Hawyee Auyong,
Publisher: name: National University of Singapore
Year: 2014
Subjects: Singapore
asian financial crisis
wage reductions
foreign labour
labour productivity

description: The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis severely impacted regional economies. Although Singapore emerged relatively unscathed compared to other Southeast Asian economies, it adopted wide cost cutting measures including wage reductions to restore export competitiveness because the Singapore Dollar remained relatively strong. Singapore recovered strongly from the crisis, but continued to face economic volatility in the following decade. This volatility justified a strategy of “go for growth in the good years”, supported by growth in the foreign labour force that helped to grow the workforce by up to 5% per year during this period. But largely due to the changing attitudes of the population towards the increasing proportion of foreign labour in the economy, labour productivity once again became a priority after 2009 and the government set an ambitious target of 2-3 per cent annual productivity growth for the decade from 2010 to 2020. Meeting this target has proved challenging because of a number of structural issues in the economy including an entrenched dependence on foreign labour. Nevertheless, the government has so far seemed determined to press on with industrial restructuring.
Exploring brain cancer pathogenesis in a novel mouse model of glioblastoma (GBM)
Creators: name: Bohm, Alexandra Katerina
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Glioblastoma
subject: PDGFA
subject: p53
subject: Biology--Cell
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biology--Molecular
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Oncology

description: The molecular architecture of glioblastoma (GBM) has been well documented, but the cause of the disease, especially the primary adult form, remains elusive. Although it has been hypothesized that amplification of platelet-derived growth factor A (PDGFA) and p53 mutations are early alterations, how these orchestrate tumour initiation has yet to be discerned. Considering the poor prognosis and minimal benefit received from current treatment, understanding the early events of tumour initiation may be the only way to find more effective or preventative treatment strategies. It is well known that p53 has multiple functions as a tumour suppressor, but the outcome of its loss and the role this aberration plays in GBM remains unknown. Similarly, as a growth factor, PDGFA is hypothesized to promote rapid proliferation leading to cellular transformation, but this has yet to be demonstrated or modelled in GBM. Using a mouse model of GBM developed in the Cairncross lab, I show that, unlike most growth factors, subventricular zone (SVZ) cells struggle to proliferate in PDGFA. When p53 is present, PDGFA-cultured SVZ cells undergo apoptosis, eventually resulting in a total loss of cell culture viability. When p53 is absent, cells undergo a crisis-like period, and eventually transform. Detailed characterization of the crisis period in PDGFA demonstrates the cells undergo abnormal mitosis, likely due to abnormal centrosome numbers, and sustain gross chromosomal alterations that lead to alterations in pathways similar to those observed in human GBM. These analyses clarify how PDGFA and the absence of p53 promote gliomagenesis: PDGFA supports attenuated proliferation concurrent to inducing chromosomal instability, while the absence of p53 enables cells to evade apoptosis and continue through the crisis period until transformation is achieved.
Complaint to the European Ombudsman about Elsevier and the Open Science Monitor
Creators: name: Tennant, Jonathan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Open Science
Elsevier
European Commission

description: A formal complaint to the European Commission Ombudsman regarding the relationship between Elsevier and the Open Science Monitor. Submitted to them on July 05, 2018.

The latest version now includes a full response from the European Commission, as well as an email response to this requestion additional information. See the Annex file, which can be annotated/commented on using THIS LINK and Hypothes.is. It also includes the original evaluation report as part of the contracting procedure.

The full signatory list can be found here, and can still be signed if wished.

For more information, please check this website.
Practically linear analogs of the Born-Infeld and other nonlinear theories
Creators: name: Milgrom, Mordehai
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: I discuss theories that describe fully nonlinear physics, while being practically linear (PL), in that they require solving only linear differential equations. These theories may be interesting in themselves as manageable nonlinear theories. But, they can also be chosen to emulate genuinely nonlinear theories of special interest, for which they can serve as approximations. The idea can be applied to a large class of nonlinear theories, exemplified here with a PL analogs of scalar theories, and of Born-Infeld (BI) electrodynamics. The general class of such PL theories of electromagnetism are governed by a Lagrangian L=-(1/2)F_mnQ^mn+ S(Q_mn), where the electromagnetic field couples to currents in the standard way, while Qmn is an auxiliary field, derived from a vector potential that does not couple directly to currents. By picking a special form of S(Q_mn), we can make such a theory similar in some regards to a given fully nonlinear theory, governed by the Lagrangian -U(F_mn). A particularly felicitous choice is to take S as the Legendre transform of U. For the BI theory, this Legendre transform has the same form as the BI Lagrangian itself. Various matter-of-principle questions remain to be answered regarding such theories. As a specific example, I discuss BI electrostatics in more detail. As an aside, for BI, I derive an exact expression for the short-distance force between two arbitrary point charges of the same sign, in any dimension.
description: 20 pages, Version published in Phys. Rev. D
"I screamed internally for a long time" : traumatized urban indigenous children in Canadian child protection and education systems
Creators: name: Johnson, Shelly Lee
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: This Indigenist study is the first to enter the contested space that is the unique educational site of traumatized Urban Indigenous children in Canadian child protection systems. It identifies the historic, political, socio-legal, legislative, financial and jurisdictional wrangling and impediments to their academic and traditional Indigenous educational success. Specifically, this study explores the intersectionality of educational and child protection issues identified in the literature and personal experiences of twenty-nine Urban Indigenous former children in Canada’s child protection system and representatives of two Urban Indigenous delegated child protection agencies. The research participants claim Indigenous membership or ancestry in fifty-two First Nations and Métis communities and either grew up on, or are currently living on, traditional Coast Salish territories in the Urban communities of Victoria and Vancouver, BC. Saulteaux star blanket theoretical and methodological approaches inform the development of a holistic Saulteaux Star Blanket Urban Indigenous Educational Organizational Model (SBEOM). This SBEOM requires Indigenous advocacy and legislation; governance and staff; cultures, languages, traditions and ceremonies; mentoring by former Indigenous children in care; child in care education and support; specific targeted funding; assessment, planning, implementation and review; service delivery protocols, political collaboration and coordination. The twenty-nine Urban Indigenous “voices of experience” offer audible, and strategically critical guidance to Indigenous and non-Indigenous politicians, policy-makers, social workers, educators and advocates about one model that may help to address the educational abyss between Urban Indigenous children in provincial child protection systems and every other Canadian student population. The results of this study link the educational outcomes of traumatized Urban Indigenous children to a strategic intersectional approach that accounts for social determinants such as a violent gendered and racist child protection, educational and colonial history. The enforced relocation of many Urban Indigenous peoples, and enforced constructions of Urban Indigenous children’s socio-cultural and political identities must also be considered. Recommendations asserted by the Urban Indigenous participants, who are rights-based representatives of larger Indigenous nations, are synthesized from the data as necessary components of culturally competent social work and educational legislation, policies and services for the burgeoning Urban Indigenous population in Canada.
The complexity of indefinite elliptic problems with noisy data
Creators: name: Werschulz, Arthur G.
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 1997
Subjects: Computer science

description: We study the complexity of second-order indefinite elliptic problems - div (a 𝛁 u) + bu=ƒ (with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions) over a d-dimensional domain Ω, the error being measured in the H^1 (Ω)-norm.The problem elements ƒ belong to the unit ball of W^{r,p}(Ω) ,where p ∈ [2, ∞] and r > d/p. Information consists of(possibly-adaptive) noisy evaluations of ƒ, a, or b (or their derivatives). The absolute error in each noisy evaluation is at most δ. We find that the nth minimal radius for this problem is proportional to n^{-r/d}+δ, and that a noisy finite element method with quadrature (FEMQ), which uses only function values, and not derivatives, is a minimal error algorithm. This noisy FEMQ can be efficiently implemented using multigrid techniques. Using these results, we find tight bounds on the ε-complexity (minimal cost of calculating an ε-approximation) for this problem, said bounds depending on the cost c(δ) of calculating a δ-noisy information value. As an example, if the cost of a δ -noisy evaluation is c(δ)=δ^{-s} (for s > 0), then the complexity is proportional to (1/ε)^{d/r+s}.
Capitalism and Keynes: From the Treatise on Probability to The General Theory
Creators: name: Phelps, Edmund S.
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2007
Subjects: Economics
Keynesian economics
Capitalism

description: Of the main controversies in 20th century political economy, none were more heated than the debate over Marxism and, relatedly, the debate over capitalism. John Maynard Keynes was a major figure in both controversies. In this paper I will first touch on Keynes’s contribution to the debate with Marxism. I will then go on to take up the criticism of capitalism with which he is lastingly associated. Both these strains in Keynes’s thinking lead us ineluctably (to use a favorite word of his) to his work of great genius, his theory of economic activity. The latter topic will give me a chance to propose a non-monetary model of employment that, contrary to my previous non-monetary models, preserves the main driver in Keynes’s theory and, at the same time, avoids any presuppositions, plausible or implausible, about “money-wage behavior.”
Diverse Structures and Strategies of 5′ Exon Recognition in Group II Introns
Creators: name: Jarding, Ashley Marie
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: group II introns
subject: structure
subject: diversity
subject: RNA
subject: Bioinformatics
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Biochemistry

description: Group II introns are a family of mobile elements found in bacteria and bacteria-derived organelles, which are thought to have a direct evolutionary link to spliceosomal introns. These introns can self-splice in vitro thanks to their highly organized ribozyme structure. Studying the diverse structural features of group II introns illuminates the breadth of their structural diversity and resultant unique splicing and mobility capabilities. In the first of three projects presented in this dissertation, bioinformatic approaches were used to identify over 800 new introns in a large scale, systematic collection and analysis of group II introns. This allowed inference of class-specific mobility properties and the description of novel intron arrangements in genomes. Additionally, one new class and 15 unique, previously unclassified introns with novel structural features have been identified. The newly collected introns revealed a conserved structural feature for Class A introns: they appear to have two 5′ exon recognition motifs, whereas all other group II introns are reported to have one. The second project investigates the binary splicing hypothesis, which states that either of these two motifs can be used to recognize the exon. This was investigated and confirmed through both experimental and bioinformatic approaches. This strategy appears to expand the set of homing sites available to an intron by permitting splicing from one sequence and reverse-splicing into another. In the third project, the 5′ exon recognition mechanism for a IIC intron was investigated. IIC introns lack the canonical IBS2-EBS2 interactions found for other group II introns, but have a conserved transcriptional terminator in place of EBS2. In B.h.I1 a 5S rRNA upstream of this motif was shown to have an unexpected effect on the splicing reaction in vitro. Mutagenesis of 5S rRNA showed that the A-loop is critical for splicing. RNA protection experiments to characterize the interactions with the 5′ exon support the terminator stem interacting with Domain I while 5S has an auxiliary effect on exon ligation. In summary, this work has increased our understanding of the structural diversity of group II introns and corresponding specialized strategies used to recognize the 5′ exon during splicing.
Affect in response to stressors and coping strategies: an ecological momentary assessment study of borderline personality disorder
Creators: name: Chaudhury, Sadia R.
name: Galfalvy, Hanga C.
name: Biggs, Emily
name: Choo, Tse-Hwei
name: Mann, J. John
name: Stanley, Barbara
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Borderline personality disorder
Affect (Psychology)
Stress management
Life skills
Psychiatry

description: Background: Affect instability is a core symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Ecological momentary assessment allows for an understanding of real-time changes in affect in response to various daily stressors. The purpose of this study was to explore changes in affect in response to specific stressors and coping strategies in subjects with BPD utilizing ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology. Methods: Subjects (n = 50) with BPD were asked to complete real-time assessments about stressors experienced, affect felt, and coping strategies employed six times per day for a 1-week period. Mixed effect regression models were used to measure the effect of stressors and coping strategies on affect change. Results: While most stressors led to experiencing more negative affect, only being in a disagreement was independently associated with increased negative affect. Among coping strategies, only doing something good for oneself independently reduced negative affect, controlling for all other coping strategies used. Conclusions: These findings provide valuable insights into affective instability in BPD and can help inform treatment with individuals with the disorder.
Distributional Response to Biases in Deterministic Superdiffusion
Creators: name: Akimoto, Takuma
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We report on a novel response to biases in deterministic superdiffusion. For its reduced map, we show using infinite ergodic theory that the time-averaged velocity (TAV) is intrinsically random and its distribution obeys the generalized arc-sine distribution. A distributional limit theorem indicates that the TAV response to a bias appears in the distribution, which is an example of what we term a distributional response induced by a bias. Although this response in single trajectories is intrinsically random, the ensemble-averaged TAV response is linear.
description: 13 pages, 5 figures
The association between car accident fatalities and children’s fears: A study in seven EU countries
Creators: name: Kovess-Masfety, Viviane
name: Sowa, David
name: Keyes, Katherine M.
name: Husky, Mathilde
name: Fermanian, Christophe
name: Bitfoi, Adina
name: Carta, Mauro Giovanni
name: Koç, Ceren
name: Goelitz, Dietmar
name: Lesinskiene, Sigita
name: Mihova, Zlatka
name: Otten, Roy
name: Pez, Ondine
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Traffic accidents
Fear in children
Traffic fatalities
Child psychology

description: Children’s fear of a car accident occurring to parents or themselves has been used as a concrete example to illustrate one of the symptoms of anxiety disorders such as separation anxiety and generalized anxiety. However, its usage across countries may be questionable where the prevalence of this specific type of injury differs. This cross-sectional study compares samples from seven diverse European countries (Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Turkey) to see if an environmental exposure, car accident death rate per 100,000 people (country-wide from WHO data), is associated with children’s self-report of car accident fears. In this study, 6–11 year-old children were surveyed by a diagnostic instrument (Dominic Interactive) about several situations and asked if they believed they were similar to a fictional child depicted in said situations. Mothers were surveyed for additional sociodemographic information. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for covariates including mother’s age, mother’s education, single parenting, and mother’s professional inactivity. We report a monotonic relationship between higher car accident death rates and the prevalence of children reporting fear of parent’s or own accident. Relative to a reference of 3.9 deaths per 100,000 people, children’s odds of reporting fear of parent’s accident ranged from 1.99 (95% CI 1.51–2.61) times to 4.84 (95% CI 3.68–6.37) times as the risk of death by car accident increased across countries. A similar result arose from fear of child’s own accident, with significant ORs ranging from 1.91 (95% CI 1.53–2.40) to 2.68 (95% CI 2.07–3.47) alongside increased death rates. Given that reporting of these fears accompanies correspondingly high accident death rates, the pertinence of using fear of car accidents as an illustration for some diagnostic item for mental disorders cross-nationally appears to be an issue.
Solutions of the Equation of Motion with Absorption for some Common Sources
Creators: name: Sun, Ye
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: equation of motion
subject: absorption
subject: dispersion
subject: Geophysics
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences

description: Different kinds of solutions of the equation of motion (EOM) in a perfectly elastic medium have been derived and also have been widely recognized. However, in fact, we can hardly find an ideal medium without absorption. And, anelasticity of the earth causes physical dispersion of seismic waves. Dispersion resulting from absorption in the propagation medium has been included in the approximations of solutions of the equation of motion for some common sources (a directed point force, double-couple-without-moment forces and a shear-dislocation force) by replacing the velocity or slowness with the complex version. A velocity-frequency relation in the form of 1/v(w)=1/v(w_0r)[1-1/pi/Q*ln(w/w_0r)+i/2Q] has been used, where w is the angular frequency, v(w_0r) is the phase velocity at the reference frequency w_0r. These approximations match very well with the exact numerical results, and the anelastic waveforms have significant differences in amplitude and shape than the elastic ones. Therefore, developing new solutions of the EOM with absorption is a very meaningful thing.
The Laws of Others: Mandating “Rights Through Travel” Between Discrimination, Moral Hazard, and Irrationality
Creators: name: Ergas, Yasmine
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Abortion services
subject: Abortion--Law and legislation
subject: Moral hazard
subject: Law
subject: FOS: Law
subject: Travel

description: Abortion travel can constitute a locus of collective action as well as an individual response to restrictive laws and practices. Women cross borders to access services where they are legal, or less expensive, or come with other advantages such as increased privacy or medical guarantees. But today, “abortion travel” may also allow states to elide their obligations. Ensuring “rights through travel” can enable states to enforce regulations within their own territory that would not pass constitutional or political muster if there were not another state willing to provide the services they are themselves intent on denying. Recently, for instance, Texas argued that the existence of a clinic in New Mexico that would practice abortions meant that the restrictions it intended to place on providers within its own borders did not unduly burden women seeking to end their pregnancies.3 The United States Supreme Court rejected Texas’ arguments (inter alia, focusing on the distance women would have to travel to obtain legal abortions), but in the jurisprudence of the Council of Europe’s European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”), allowing states to rely on the “laws of others” may constitute a new paradigm for balancing contracting states’ latitude in interpreting their obligations against individuals’ rights. The Court has applied this paradigm with respect to abortion, as this contribution discusses, but it has also done so in other contexts—for instance, with respect to assisted reproductive technologies.4
Public Housing in Singapore - Examining Fundamental Shifts
Creators: name: Tan Shin Bin,
name: Vignesh Louis Naidu,
Publisher: name: National University of Singapore
Year: 2014
Subjects: Singapore
public housing
housing reforms
HDB
flats

description: Singapore’s public housing system, which has provided affordable and good quality housing for the majority of Singaporeans, has often been cited as a remarkable success. However, in recent years, it has become a bone of contention for many Singaporeans unhappy with rising housing prices and long waits for their new flats. To address public dissatisfaction, the government has been busy adjusting public housing policies, but are more fundamental reforms needed? This case examines this question by first tracing Singapore’s public housing programme from its inception till today and unpacking its core policy objectives and the key policy levers. The case then reviews the challenges that have cropped up in recent years, and the policy adjustments implemented in response. In the final section, different policy alternatives are laid out and their feasibility in Singapore’s context assessed.
Low-lying Scalars in an extended Linear $σ$ Model
Creators: name: Mukherjee, Tamal K.
name: Huang, Mei
name: Yan, Qi-Shu
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We formulate an extended linear $σ$ model of a quarkonia nonet and a tetraquark nonet as well as a complex iso-singlet (glueball) by virtue of chiral symmetry $SU_L(3) \times SU_R(3)$ and $U_A(1)$ symmetry. In the linear realization formalism, we study the mass spectra and components of the low-lying scalars and pseudo scalars in this model. The mass matrices for physical staes are obtained and the glueball candidates are examined. We find that the model can accommodate the mass spectra of low-lying states quite well. Our fits indicate that the most glueball like scalar should be 2 GeV or higher while the glueball pseudoscalar is $η(1756)$. We also examine the parameter region where the lightest iso-scalar $f_0(600)$ can be the glueball and quarkonia dominant but find such a parameter region may be confronted with the problem of the unbounded vacuum from below.
description: 14 pages, 2 figures
Two new amide glycosides with anti-inflammatory activity from the leaves of Streblus ilicifolius (Vidal) Corner
Creators: name: Huang, Yan
name: Huang, Xishan
name: Tian, Guobiao
name: Zhang, Wenxiu
name: Su, Shanshan
name: Xu, Xia
name: Li, Jun
name: Liu, Buming
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: Two new amide glycosides, streblusoamides A (1) and B (2), along with 11 known compounds (3–13) were isolated from the leaves of Streblus ilicifolius. The structures of the isolates were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. All of the isolates were tested for inhibition of NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells to investigate their anti-inflammatory effects. The results revealed that compounds 1, 5 and 6 moderately inhibited the release of NO production with IC50 values ranging from 50.90 μM to 64.79 μM.
Interference Modelling and Broadcast Protocols for Cognitive Radio Mesh Networks
Creators: name: Gaafar, Mohamed
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Interference model
subject: interference measurements
subject: broadcast
subject: random linear network coding
subject: propagation measurements
subject: cognitive radio
subject: Engineering
subject: Engineering--Electronics and Electrical

description: The main aim of this thesis will be the modeling and characterization of wireless interference experienced by Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) especially in industrial applications. A comparative study between two broadcasting techniques, namely flooding and Network Coding (NC) was performed, in order find which has better performance in the presence of interference. The study aimed at finding which protocol had better timing and energy efficiency for different interfering network parameters. An interference model was proposed that simultaneously models the probability density function of the interference envelope, the temporal and spatial correlation. The model also allows for the synthesis of interference signals that relate to the interfering network parameters. When simulating a network, the performance metrics of the network were shown to be similar when using synthesized interference from the model or using interference that is simulated from an interfering network. Two measurement campaigns were performed in this thesis. The first campaign was a multi-antenna measurement characterize the small-scale and large-scale channel effects in a gas refinery. The second measurement campaign measured interference statistics such as the probability density function, temporal correlation, and the spatial correlation of the interference.
Resolved Near-Infrared Stellar Populations in Nearby Galaxies
Creators: name: Dalcanton, Julianne J.
name: Williams, Benjamin F.
name: Melbourne, Jason L.
name: Girardi, Léo
name: Dolphin, Andy
name: Rosenfield, Philip A.
name: Boyer, Martha L.
name: de Jong, Roelof S.
name: Gilbert, Karoline
name: Marigo, Paola
name: Olsen, Knut
name: Seth, Anil C.
name: Skillman, Evan
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present near-infrared (NIR) color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for the resolved stellar populations within 26 fields of 23 nearby galaxies (<4 Mpc), based on F110W and F160W images from Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The CMDs sample both old dormant and young star-forming populations. We match key NIR CMD features with their counterparts in optical CMDs, and identify the red core Helium burning (RHeB) sequence as a significant contributor to the NIR flux in stellar populations younger than a few 100 Myrs old, suggesting that star formation can drive surprisingly rapid variations in the NIR mass-to-light ratio. The NIR luminosity of star forming galaxies is therefore not necessarily proportional to the stellar mass. We note that these individual bright RHeB stars may be misidentified as old stellar clusters in low resolution imaging. We also discuss the CMD location of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, and the separation of AGB sub-populations using a combination of optical and NIR colors. We empirically calibrate the NIR magnitude of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) as a function of color, allowing this widely adopted filter to be used for distance measurements. We find a clear trend between NIR RGB color and metallicity. However, it appears unlikely that the slope of the NIR RGB can be used as a metallicity indicator in extragalactic systems with comparable data. Finally, we discuss scattered light in the WFC3, which becomes significant for exposures taken close to a bright earth limb.
description: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal Supplements Series. 75 pages, including 58 pages of figures. Slightly higher figure quality available in the journal
Moving the Conceptual Framework Forward: Accounting for Uncertainty
Creators: name: Barker, Richard
name: Penman, Stephen H.
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Accounting
Financial statements
Uncertainty--Economic aspects

description: To meet the objectives of financial reporting in the IASB's Conceptual Framework, the 'balance-sheet approach' embraced by the Framework is necessary but not sufficient. Critical, but largely overlooked, is the role of uncertainty, which we argue defines the role of accrual accounting as a distinctive source of information for investors when investment outcomes are uncertain. This role is in some sense paradoxical: on the one hand, uncertainty undermines both the balance sheet (because uncertain assets are unrecognized) and the income statement (because mismatching is unavoidable). However, these inevitable accounting effects can be exploited to provide information about uncertainty, though not by a balance-sheet approach alone. Rather, criteria for balance sheet recognition and measurement, and for income statement presentation, are established by consideration of the impact of uncertainty on matching and mismatching in the income statement. This combination of balance-sheet and income-statement approaches enhances the communication of information to investors under conditions of uncertainty, thereby giving greater clarity and purpose in satisfying the objective of the Framework to provide information about "the amount, timing, and uncertainty of future cash flows".
Looking above the cloud deck of GJ 3470b
Creators: name: Dash, Spandan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: Characterisation of cooler atmospheres of super-Earths and Neptune sized objects is often thwarted by the presence of clouds, hazes and aerosols which effectively flatten the transmission spectra. High-Resolution Spectroscopy (HRS) presents an opportunity to overcome this limitation by having the ability to detect molecular species whose spectral line cores extend above the level of clouds in these atmospheres. We analyse High-Resolution infrared observations of the warm Neptune GJ 3470b taken over two transits using CARMENES (R $/sim$ 80400) and look for signatures of H$_{2}$O in these transits with a custom pipeline fully accounting for the effects of data cleaning on a potential exoplanet signal. We find that our data is able to weakly detect an injected signal equivalent to the best-fit model from previous HST WFC3+Spitzer observations. However, we do not measure any significant detection using the actual observations. Using a Bayesian retrieval tool on the two observed transits to put simultaneous constraints on the abundance of H$_{2}$O and the cloud top-deck pressure selects for a family of degenerate models, which spans from very high abundance (log$_{10}$(H$_2$O) = -0.5) and cloud-free models (highly compressed heavy atmospheres), to super-solar abundances (-2.5$<$log$_{10}$(H$_2$O)$\leq$-1) at high cloud deck models (-2.5$>$log$_{10}$(P)$\geq$-4.5), and then to slightly super-solar and sub-solar abundances (-4.5$<$log$_{10}$(H$_2$O)$\leq$-2.5) with moderately high cloud deck models (-1.5$>$log$_{10}$(P)$\geq$-2.5). This is a broader range compared to, but is also compatible with published results from low resolution at a 1$\sigma$ level.
Credit Frictions and Optimal Monetary Policy
Creators: name: Woodford, Michael
name: Cúrdia, Vasco
Publisher: name: Columbia University
Year: 2008
Subjects: Economics

description: We extend the basic (representative-household) New Keynesian (NK) model of the monetary transmission mechanism to allow for a spread between the interest rate available to savers and borrowers, that can vary for either exogenous or endogenous reasons. We find that the mere existence of a positive average spread makes little quantitative difference for the predicted effects of particular policies. Variation in spreads over time is of greater significance, with consequences both for the equilibrium relation between the policy rate and aggregate expenditure and for the relation between real activity and inflation. Nonetheless, we find that the target criterion -- a linear relation that should be maintained between the inflation rate and changes in the output gap -- that characterizes optimal policy in the basic NK model continues to provide a good approximation to optimal policy, even in the presence of variations in credit spreads. We also consider a "spread-adjusted Taylor rule," in which the intercept of the Taylor rule is adjusted in proportion to changes in credit spreads. We show that while such an adjustment can improve upon an unadjusted Taylor rule, the optimal degree of adjustment is less than 100 percent; and even with the correct size of adjustment, such a rule of thumb remains inferior to the targeting rule.
High-resolution truncated plurigaussian simulations for the characterization of heterogeneous formations
Creators: name: Mariethoz, Grégroire
name: Renard, Philippe
name: Cornaton, Fabien
name: Jaquet, Olivier
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability (physics.data-an)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: A.0

description: Integrating geological concepts, such as relative positions and proportions of the different lithofacies, is of highest importance in order to render realistic geological patterns. The truncated plurigaussian simulation method provides a way of using both local and conceptual geological information to infer the distributions of the facies and then those of hydraulic parameters. The method (Le Loc'h and Galli 1994) is based on the idea of truncating at least two underlying multi-Gaussian simulations in order to create maps of categorical variable. In this manuscript we show how this technique can be used to assess contaminant migration in highly heterogeneous media. We illustrate its application on the biggest contaminated site of Switzerland. It consists of a contaminant plume located in the lower fresh water Molasse on the western Swiss Plateau. The highly heterogeneous character of this formation calls for efficient stochastic methods in order to characterize transport processes.
description: 12 pages, 9 figures
Managing the Sin in Singapore's Casinos
Creators: name: Tan Shin Bin,
Publisher: name: National University of Singapore
Year: 2014
Subjects: Singapore
gambling
legalisation of casino gambling
tourism

description: Since Singapore’s early years of independence, the controversial proposal to boost economic growth by allowing casinos here had been repeatedly mooted. The idea had in turn been repeatedly rejected by decision makers who maintained that the social fallout from casinos would outweigh any economic benefits. In 2004 however, things took a different turn, when Singapore’s Prime Minister displayed an new openness to having casinos on local shores and called for a study on this proposal. This decision sparked off an unusually energetic public response, and generated much media coverage locally and internationally. The first half of this case examines the debate for and against the legalisation of casino gambling in Singapore, while the second half explores the decision taken, the impacts of the decision, and concludes with two simple questions for discussion: “Was the right decision taken?” and “What more should be done to curb the social costs of casino gambling?”
Novel piperidine derivatives as colchicine binding site inhibitors induce apoptosis and inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition against prostate cancer PC3 cells
Creators: name: Fu, Dong-Jun
name: Liu, Si-Meng
name: Yang, Jia-Jia
name: Li, Jun
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Cancer
subject: Hematology
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Tubulin polymerisation inhibitors that target colchicine binding site were powerful anticancer agents. Although along the years many colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs) have been reported, few piperidine derivatives were identified as CBSIs. In this regard, we focussed efforts on the piperidine as a promising chemotype to develop potent CBSIs. Herein, novel piperidine derivatives were synthesised and evaluated for their antiproliferative activities. Among them, compound 17a displayed powerful anticancer activity with the IC50 value of 0.81 µM against PC3 cells, which was significantly better than 5-fluorouracil. It could inhibit tubulin polymerisation binding at the colchicine site and inhibit the tumour growth in vitro and in vivo. Further biological studies depicted that 17a suppressed the colony formation, induced apoptosis, and inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition against PC3 cells. These results revealed that compound 17a is a promising colchicine binding site inhibitor for the treatment of cancer and it is worthy of further exploitation.