cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Learning an Adversary’s Actions for Secret Communication

Secure communication over a wiretap channel is investigated, in which an active adversary modifies the state of the channel and the legitimate transmitter has the opportunity to sense and learn the adversary’s actions. The adversary has the ability to switch the channel state and observe the corresponding output at every channel use while the encoder has causal access to observations that depend on the adversary’s actions. A joint learning/transmission scheme is developed in which the legitimate users learn and adapt to the adversary’s actions. For some channel models, it is shown that the achievable rates, defined precisely for the problem, are arbitrarily close to those obtained with hindsight , had the transmitter known the actions ahead of time. This initial study suggests that there is much to exploit and gain in physical-layer security by learning the adversary, e.g., monitoring the environment.
Some projective distance inequalities for simplices in complex projective space

We prove inequalities relating the absolute value of the determinant of n + 1 linearly independent unit vectors in ℂn+1 and the projective distances from the vertices to the hyperplanes containing the opposite faces of the simplices in complex projective n-space whose vertices or faces are determined by the given vectors.
Three family type IIB orientifold string vacua with non-abelian Wilson lines

We address the implementation of non-abelian Wilson lines in D = 4 N = 1 type IIB orientifold constructions. We present an explicit three-family example with the gauge group (U(4) × U(2) × SU(2) × SU(2))2 × (U(6) × Spp(4))2 and give the particle spectrum and the trilinear superpotential. Emphasizing the new subtleties associated with the introduction of non-abelian Wilson lines, we show that the abelian gauge anomalies are cancelled by the Green-Schwarz-type mechanism, and calculate the Fayet-Iliopoulos terms and gauge coupling corrections. The analysis thus sets a stage for further investigations of the phenomenological implications of this model.
Inflationary magnetogenesis and non-local actions: the conformal anomaly

We discuss the possibility of successful magnetogenesis during inflation by employing the one-loop effective action of massless QED. The action is strictly non-local and results from the long distance fluctuations of massless charged particles present at the inflationary scale. Most importantly, it encodes the conformal anomaly of QED which is crucial to avoid the vacuum preservation in classical electromagnetism. In particular, we find a blue spectrum for the magnetic field with spectral index nB 2 − αe where αe depends on both the number of e-folds during inflation as well as the coefficient of the one-loop beta function. In particular, the sign of the beta function has important bearing on the final result. A low reheating temperature is required for the present day magnetic field to be consistent with the lower bound inferred on the field in the intergalactic medium.
Spherically symmetric wormholes of embedding class one

This paper generalises an earlier result by the author based on the well-established embedding theorems that connect the classical theory of relativity to higher-dimensional space–times. In particular, an n-dimensional Riemannian space is said to be of class m if $$m+n$$ is the lowest dimension of the flat space in which the given space can be embedded. To study traversable wormholes, we concentrate on spacetimes that can be reduced to embedding class one by a suitable transformation. It is subsequently shown that the extra degrees of freedom from the embedding theory provide the basis for a complete wormhole solution in the sense of obtaining both the redshift and shape functions.
ON COMMON DIVISORS OF MULTINOMIAL COEFFICIENTS

Erdős and Szekeres showed in 1978 that for any four positive integers satisfying m1 + m2 = n1 +n2, the two binomial coefficients (m1 +m2)!/m1!m2! and (n1 +n2)!/n1!n2! have a common divisor > 1. The analogous statement for families of k k-nomial coefficients (k > 1) was conjectured in 1997 by David Wasserman. Erdős and Szekeres remark that if m1, m2, n1, n2 as above are all > 1, there is probably a lower bound on the common divisor in question which goes to infinity as a function of m1 + m2. Such a bound is obtained in §2. The remainder of this note is devoted to proving results that narrow the class of possible counterexamples to Wasserman’s conjecture. Above, I have worded Erdős and Szekeres’s result so as to make clear the intended generalization to k k-nomial coefficients. In the next two sections, however, I formulate it essentially as they do in [2]. I have “trimmed the fat” from an earlier, lengthier version of this note. The material removed can be found in [1]. I am indebted to Pace Nielsen for a number of valuable corrections and comments. 1. Background: the result of Erdős and Szekeres. We begin with two quick proofs of Erdős and Szekeres’s result, one roughly as in [2], the other grouptheoretic. Theorem 1 (Erdős and Szekeres [2]). Suppose i, j, N are integers with 0 1. Proof following [2]. Note that (1) ( N i ) ( N−i j−i ) = ( N j ) ( j i ) . Now if the first factors on the two sides of the above equation were relatively prime, the second factor on each side would have to be divisible by, and hence at least as large as, the first factor on the other side. In particular, we would have ( j i ) ≥ ( N i ) . Multiplying both sides by i !, this would say j (j−1) . . . (j−i+1) ≥ N(N−1) . . . (N−i+1), which is clearly false. Group-theoretic proof. Let X denote the set of decompositions (A,B) of {1, . . . , N} into a set A of i elements and a complementary set B of N−i elements, and Y the set of decompositions (C,D) of the same set into complementary sets of j and N−j elements. The permutation group SN acts transitively on each of these sets, which have cardinalities ( N i ) and ( N j ) respectively. Consider the product action of SN on X×Y. Each orbit must have cardinality divisible by both card(X) and card(Y ), hence if these were relatively prime, every orbit would have cardinality at least card(X × Y ), so there could be only one orbit. But in fact, the orbits correspond to the possible choices of cardinalities for A ∩C, B ∩C, A ∩D and B ∩D, and these can be chosen in different ways; e.g., so that A ⊆ C or so that A ⊆ D, so there are at least two orbits. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary: 11B65. Secondary: 11A41, 11A63, 20B30.
Asteroid-comet continuum objects in the solar system.

In this review presented at the Royal Society meeting, Cometary science after Rosetta, I present an overview of studies of small solar system objects that exhibit properties of both asteroids and c...
Current noise enhancement: channel mixing and possible nonequilibrium phonon backaction in atomic-scale Au junctions

We report measurements of the bias dependence of the Fano factor in ensembles of atomic-scale Au junctions at 77 K. Previous measurements of shot noise at room temperature and low biases have found good agreement of the Fano factor with the expectations of the Landauer–Buttiker formalism, while enhanced Fano factors have been observed at biases of hundreds of mV (Chen et al 2014 Sci. Rep. 4 4221). We find even stronger enhancement of shot noise at 77 K with an 'excess' Fano factor up to ten times the low bias value. We discuss the observed ensemble Fano factor bias dependence in terms of candidate models. The results are most consistent with either a bias-dependent channel mixing picture or a model incorporating noise enhancement due to current-driven, nonequilibrium phonon populations, though a complete theoretical treatment of the latter in the ensemble average limit is needed.
Detection and clearing of trapped ions in the high current Cornell photoinjector

We have recently performed experiments to test the effectiveness of three ion-clearing strategies in the Cornell high intensity photoinjector: DC clearing electrodes, bunch gaps, and beam shaking. The photoinjector reaches a new regime of linac beam parameters where high continuous wave beam currents lead to ion trapping. Therefore ion mitigation strategies must be evaluated for this machine and other similar future high current linacs. We have developed several techniques to directly measure the residual trapped ions. Our two primary indicators of successful clearing are the amount of ion current removed by a DC clearing electrode, and the absence of bremsstrahlung radiation generated by beam-ion interactions. Measurements were taken for an electron beam with an energy of 5 MeV and continuous wave beam currents in the range of 1--20 mA. Several theoretical models have been developed to explain our data. Using them, we are able to estimate the clearing electrode voltage required for maximum ion clearing, the creation and clearing rates of the ions while employing bunch gaps, and the sinusoidal shaking frequency necessary for clearing via beam shaking. In all cases, we achieve a maximum ion clearing of at least 70% or higher, and in some cases our data is consistent with full ion clearing.
All-electron density functional calculations for electron and nuclear spin interactions in molecules and solids

The interaction between electronic and nuclear spins in the presence of external magnetic fields can be described by a spin Hamiltonian, with parameters obtained from first principles, electronic structure calculations. We describe an approach to compute these parameters, applicable to both molecules and solids, which is based on density functional theory (DFT) and real-space, all-electron calculations using finite elements (FE). We report results for hyperfine tensors, zero field splitting tensors (spin-spin component), and nuclear quadrupole tensors of a series of molecules and of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We compare our results with calculations using Gaussian orbitals and plane-wave basis sets, and we discuss their numerical accuracy. We show that calculations based on FE can be systematically converged with respect to the basis set, thus allowing one to establish reference values for the spin Hamiltonian parameters, at a given level of DFT.
Modeling and verifying a broad array of network properties

Motivated by widely observed examples in nature, society and software, where groups of related nodes arrive together and attach to existing networks, we consider network growth via sequential attachment of linked node groups or graphlets. We analyze the simplest case, attachment of the three node -graphlet, where, with probability α, we attach a peripheral node of the graphlet, and with probability (1-α), we attach the central node. Our analytical results and simulations show that tuning α produces a wide range in degree distribution and degree assortativity, achieving assortativity values that capture a diverse set of many real-world systems. We introduce a fifteen-dimensional attribute vector derived from seven well-known network properties, which enables comprehensive comparison between any two networks. Principal Component Analysis of this attribute vector space shows a significantly larger coverage potential of real-world network properties by a simple extension of the above model when compared against a classic model of network growth.
THE FREQUENCY OF GIANT IMPACTS ON EARTH-LIKE WORLDS

The late stages of terrestrial planet formation are dominated by giant impacts that collectively influence the growth, composition, and habitability of any planets that form. Hitherto, numerical models designed to explore these late stage collisions have been limited by assuming that all collisions lead to perfect accretion, and many of these studies lack the large number of realizations needed to account for the chaotic nature of N-body systems. We improve on these limitations by performing 280 simulations of planet formation around a Sun-like star, half of which used an N-body algorithm that has recently been modified to include fragmentation and hit-and-run (bouncing) collisions. We find that when fragmentation is included, the final planets formed are comparable in terms of mass and number; however, their collision histories differ significantly and the accretion time approximately doubles. We explored impacts onto Earth-like planets, which we parameterized in terms of their specific impact energies. Only 15 of our 164 Earth-analogs experienced an impact that was energetic enough to strip an entire atmosphere. To strip about half of an atmosphere requires energies comparable to recent models of the Moon-forming giant impact. Almost all Earth-analogs received at least one impact that met this criteria during the 2 Gyr simulations and the median was three giant impacts. The median time of the final giant impact was 43 Myr after the start of the simulations, leading us to conclude that the time-frame of the Moon-forming impact is typical among planetary systems around Sun-like stars.
Zeeman splitting and nonlinear field-dependence in superfluid 3He

We have studied the acoustic Faraday effect in superfluid 3He up to significantly larger magnetic fields than in previous experiments achieving rotations of the polarization of transverse sound as large as 1710°. We report nonlinear field effects, and use the linear results to determine the Zeeman splitting of the imaginary squashing mode (ISQ) frequency in 3He-B.
The Conformal Hyperplet

We introduce a finite off-shell hypermultiplet with no off-shell central charge. This requires 192+192 degrees of freedom, all but 8+8 of which are auxiliary or gauge. In the absence of supergravity, the model has a saddle-point vacuum instability implying ghost-like propagators. These are cured by realizing the model superconformally, such that the erstwhile ghosts are realized as compensators. Gauge fixing these links the physical hypermultiplets to supergravity. This evokes the prospect of realizing &#x1d4a9; = 4 super-Yang–Mills theory off-shell.
On the Levi graph of point-line configurations

From Involve, Vol. 8(5), pp. 893-900, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.2140/involve.2015.8.893. Copyright © 2015 by Mathematical Sciences Publishers.
Kronecker Attention Networks

Attention operators have been applied on both 1-D data like texts and higher-order data such as images and videos. Use of attention operators on high-order data requires flattening of the spatial or spatial-temporal dimensions into a vector, which is assumed to follow a multivariate normal distribution. This not only incurs excessive requirements on computational resources, but also fails to preserve structures in data. In this work, we propose to avoid flattening by assuming the data follow matrix-variate normal distributions. Based on this new view, we develop Kronecker attention operators (KAOs) that operate on high-order tensor data directly. More importantly, the proposed KAOs lead to dramatic reductions in computational resources. Experimental results show that our methods reduce the amount of required computational resources by a factor of hundreds, with larger factors for higher-dimensional and higher-order data. Results also show that networks with KAOs outperform models without attention, while achieving competitive performance as those with original attention operators.
Protective measurement and quantum reality

It is shown that from the expectation values of obervables, which can be measured for a single system using protective measurements, the linear structure, inner product, and observables in the Hilbert space can be reconstructed. A universal method of measuring the wave function of a single particle using its gravitational field is given. Protective measurement is generalized to the measurement of a degenerate state and to many particle systems. The question of whether the wave function is real is examined, and an argument of Einstein in favor of the ensemble interpretation of quantum theory is refuted.
Discrete chain graph models

The statistical literature discusses different types of Markov properties for chain graphs that lead to four possible classes of chain graph Markov models. The different models are rather well understood when the observations are continuous and multivariate normal, and it is also known that one model class, referred to as models of LWF (Lauritzen-Wermuth-Frydenberg) or block concentration type, yields discrete models for categorical data that are smooth. This paper considers the structural properties of the discrete models based on the three alternative Markov properties. It is shown by example that two of the alternative Markov properties can lead to non-smooth models. The remaining model class, which can be viewed as a discrete version of multivariate regressions, is proven to comprise only smooth models. The proof employs a sim ple change of coordinates that also reveals that the model's likelihood function is unimodal if the chain components of the graph are complete sets.
Risk-Aware Motion Planning for a Limbed Robot with Stochastic Gripping Forces Using Nonlinear Programming

We present a motion planning algorithm with probabilistic guarantees for limbed robots with stochastic gripping forces. Planners based on deterministic models with a worst-case uncertainty can be conservative and inflexible to consider the stochastic behavior of the contact, especially when a gripper is installed. Our proposed planner enables the robot to simultaneously plan its pose and contact force trajectories while considering the risk associated with the gripping forces. Our planner is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem with chance constraints, which allows the robot to generate a variety of motions based on different risk bounds. To model the gripping forces as random variables, we employ Gaussian Process regression. We validate our proposed motion planning algorithm on an 11.5 kg six-limbed robot for two-wall climbing. Our results show that our proposed planner generates various trajectories (e.g., avoiding low friction terrain under the low risk bound, choosing an unstable but faster gait under the high risk bound) by changing the probability of risk based on various specifications.
Characteristic Cohomology I: Singularities of Given Type

For a germ of a variety $\mathcal{V}, 0 \subset \mathbb C^N, 0$, a singularity $\mathcal{V}_0$ of type $\mathcal{V}$, is given by a germ $f_0 : \mathbb C^n, 0 \to \mathbb C^N, 0$ which is transverse to $\mathcal{V}$ in an appropriate sense so that $\mathcal{V}_0 = f_0^{-1}(\mathcal{V})$. For these singularities, we introduce "characteristic cohomology" to capture the contribution of the topology of $\mathcal{V}$ to that of $\mathcal{V}_0$, for the Milnor fiber (for $\mathcal{V}, 0$ a hypersurface), and complement and link of $\mathcal{V}_0$ (in the general case). The characteristic cohomology of both the Milnor fiber and complement are subalgebras of the cohomology of the Milnor fibers, respectively the complement. For a fixed $\mathcal{V}$, they are functorial over the category of singularities of type $\mathcal{V}$. In addition, for the link of $\mathcal{V}_0$ there is a characteristic cohomology subgroup of the cohomology of the link over a field of characteristic 0. The characteristic cohomologies for Milnor fiber and complement are shown to be invariant under the $\mathcal K_{\mathcal{V}}$-equivalence of defining germs $f_0$, resp. for the link invariant under the $\mathcal K_{H}$-equivalence of $f_0$ for $H$ the defining equation of $\mathcal V, 0$. We give a geometric criteria involving "vanishing compact models", which detect nonvanishing subalgebras of the characteristic cohomologies, resp. subgroups for the link. In part II of this paper we specialize to the case of square matrix singularities, which may be general, symmetric or skew-symmetric.
Super-rigidity of certain skeleta using relative symplectic cohomology

This paper uses relative symplectic cohomology, recently studied by Varolgunes, to understand rigidity phenomena for compact subsets of symplectic manifolds. As an application, we consider a symple...
Behavioral spillovers in coordination games

Motivated by problems of coordination failure observed in weak-link games, we experimentally investigate behavioral spillovers for minimum- and median-effort coordination games. Subjects play these coordination games simultaneously and sequentially. The results show that successful coordination on the Pareto optimal equilibrium in the median game influences behavior in the minimum game when the games are played sequentially. Moreover, this positive, Pareto-improving spillover is present even when group composition changes across games, although the effect is not as strong. We also find that the precedent for uncooperative behavior in the minimum game does not influence play in the median game. These findings suggest guidelines for increasing cooperative behavior within organizations.
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE AND THE BCS THEORY

The author describes the inspiration for the experiment by Hebel and Slichter to measure the nuclear spin–lattice relaxation time in superconductors, the design considerations for the experiment, the surprising experimental results, their theoretical treatment using the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory, and how comparing the nuclear relaxation results with those for ultrasound absorption confirmed the central idea of the BCS theory, the BCS pair wave function.
Uncertainty-aware Energy Management of Extended Range Electric Delivery Vehicles with Bayesian Ensemble

In recent years, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms have been widely studied and utilized in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). DRL agents are mostly trained with transition pairs and interaction trajectories generated from simulation, and they can achieve satisfying or near optimal performances under familiar input states. However, for relative rare visited or even unvisited regions in the state space, there is no guarantee that the agent could perform well. Unfortunately, novel conditions are inevitable in real-world problems and there is always a gap between the real data and simulated data. Therefore, to implement DRL algorithms in real-world transportation systems, we should not only train the agent learn a policy that maps states to actions, but also the model uncertainty associated with each action. In this study, we adapt the method of Bayesian ensemble to train a group of agents with imposed diversity for an energy management system of a delivery vehicle. The agents in the ensemble agree well on familiar states but show diverse results on unfamiliar or novel states. This uncertainty estimation facilitates the implementation of interpretable postprocessing modules which can ensure robust and safe operations under high uncertainty conditions.
An Ergodic Measure for Active Learning From Equilibrium

This article develops KL-ergodic exploration from equilibrium (KL-E3), a method for robotic systems to integrate stability into actively generating informative measurements through ergodic exploration. Ergodic exploration enables robotic systems to indirectly sample from informative spatial distributions globally, avoiding local optima, and without the need to evaluate the derivatives of the distribution against the robot dynamics. Using a hybrid systems theory, we derive a controller that allows a robot to exploit equilibrium policies (i.e., policies that solve a task) while allowing the robot to explore and generate informative data using an ergodic measure that can extend to high-dimensional states. We show that our method is able to maintain Lyapunov attractiveness with respect to the equilibrium task while actively generating data for learning tasks such, as Bayesian optimization, model learning, and off-policy reinforcement learning. In each example, we show that our proposed method is capable of generating an informative distribution of data while synthesizing smooth control signals. We illustrate these examples using simulated systems and provide simplification of our method for real-time online learning in robotic systems. Note to Practitioners —Robotic systems need to adapt to sensor measurements and learn to exploit an understanding of the world around them such that they can truly begin to experiment in the real world. Standard learning methods do not have any restrictions on how the robot can explore and learn, making the robot dynamically volatile. Those that do are often too restrictive in terms of the stability of the robot, resulting in a lack of improved learning due to poor data collection. Applying our method would allow robotic systems to be able to adapt online without the need for human intervention. We show that considering both the dynamics of the robot and the statistics of where the robot has been, we are able to naturally encode where the robot needs to explore and collect measurements for efficient learning that is dynamically safe. With our method, we are able to effectively learn while being energetically efficient compared with state-of-the-art active learning methods. Our approach accomplishes such tasks in a single execution of the robotic system, i.e., the robot does not need human intervention to reset it. Future work will consider multiagent robotic systems that actively learn and explore in a team of collaborative robots.
Religion and Perceptions of Candidates' Ideologies in U.S. House Elections

Using data from the American National Election Studies, PooleRosenthal DW-Nominate scores, and data on the religious affiliations of members of the United States House of Representatives, I show that religion has important independent effects on the evaluation of candidates’ ideologies. The results suggest that candidates affiliated with evangelical Christianity will tend to be seen as more conservative than ideologically similar candidates from mainline Protestant denominations. Jewish candidates, in contrast, will tend to be seen as more liberal than ideologically similar mainline Protestants. Additionally, the use of religion-based stereotypes varies with frequency of church attendance. These findings attest to the external validity of recent experiment-based research on religion-based political stereotypes. The approach employed here also allows for the estimation of the magnitude of the effects of such stereotypes. The results shed light on both the importance of religion in election campaigns and the factors that influence perceptions of candidates’ ideologies more generally.
Fixing Phantom Stockouts: Optimal Data-Driven Shelf Inspection Policies

A “phantom stockout” is a retail stockout phenomenon caused either by inventory shrinkage or by shelf execution failure. Unlike the conventional stockout which can be corrected by inventory replenishment, a phantom stockout persists and requires human interventions. In this paper, we propose two partially-observable Markov decision models: one for the shrinkage problem and the other for the shelf execution failure problem. In the shrinkage model, the actual inventory level is not known unless an inspection is performed. We derive a probabilistic belief about the actual inventory level based on the system inventory records and historical sales data. We then formulate a joint inspection and replenishment problem and partially characterize the optimal policy. To simplify computation, we further consider a decoupled problem in which the inspection and replenishment decisions can be determined separately by the state-dependent thresholds based on the number of consecutive zero-sales periods. Our simulation study reveals that the joint and decoupled policies outperform the existing policies in the literature in most cases. For the shelf execution failure problem, we model the shelf execution process as a deteriorating process that requires occasional inspection. We show that there exists a closed-form condition to determine the optimal inspection threshold based on the number of consecutive zero-sales periods. Interestingly, we find that the inspection frequency in this problem is not always increasing in the deterioration probability.
Spillover Effects of Welfare Reforms in State Labor Markets

This paper estimates the effects of welfare reforms on a state’s employment and wage rates. Welfare reforms include: pushing welfare recipients into the labor force, financial incentives to recipients for working, wage subsidies to employers of recipients, and community service jobs for recipients. The effects of these policies are analyzed using a newly estimated model of state labor markets. Simulations show that jobs found by welfare reform participants cause sizable displacement effects for nonparticipants. Displacement effects of labor supply policies are highest when a state’s unemployment is high, whereas displacement effects of labor demand policies are highest when a state’s unemployment is low.
Industrial de-diversification and its consequences for productivity

Abstract Using plant-level Census Bureau data, we show that total factor productivity is inversely related to the degree of diversification: The greater the number of industries in which a parent firm operates, the lower the productivity of its plants (holding constant the number of parent-firm plants). We also show that the extent of American firms' industrial diversification declined significantly during the second half of the 1980s: The mean number of industries in which firms operated declined 14%, and the fraction of single-industry firms increased 54%. Firms that were ‘born’ during the period were much less diversified than those that ‘died’, and ‘continuing’ firms reduced the number of industries in which they operated. This decline in diversification, due in large part to intense takeover activity during the 1980s, contributed to U.S. productivity growth.
Business Outsourcing and the Agency Cost Problem

Why has business outsourcing increased so rapidly over the past decade? The question is important for corporate law scholars because it raises foundational issues underlying the theory of the firm. Indeed, the decision to pool resources under centralized control presents a fundamental tension between the benefits of scale and the dangers of unchecked managerial discretion. The location of a firm's borders - and thus the extent of outsourcing - can be viewed as an equilibrium of these competing effects. The conventional explanation for the rise in business outsourcing is that falling interaction costs have changed this balance by opening new markets where firms can source economic inputs for less. This Article offers a second account, however, for the outsourcing phenomenon - one that is rooted in agency theory. Like many other economic relationships, outsourcing projects generate agency risk because a vendor makes decisions that affect the wealth of the outsourcing firm. This Article argues that business outsourcing has thrived in recent years not only because globalization has unlocked inexpensive production markets, but also because it is becoming easier for firms to monitor and prevent the agency costs of outsourcing. Drawing upon a detailed analysis of outsourcing contracts, it explores several strategies to minimize agency costs - shedding new light on the structure and terms of a typical outsourcing project. It then contends that the same forces that are opening new markets are also making it economical for firms to mitigate outsourcing agency risk. Taken together, this work adds another important, but previously neglected, context for understanding the essential tradeoffs that arise when economic ownership is divorced from control.
Unique contributions of sensory discrimination and gamma synchronization deficits to cognitive, clinical, and psychosocial functional impairments in schizophrenia

Abstract Background Schizophrenia patients show widespread deficits in neurocognitive, clinical, and psychosocial functioning. Mismatch negativity (MMN) and gamma-band auditory steady-state response (ASSR) are robust translational biomarkers associated with schizophrenia and associated with cognitive dysfunction, negative symptom severity, and psychosocial disability. Although these biomarkers are conceptually linked as measures of early auditory information processing, it is unclear whether MMN and gamma-band ASSR account for shared vs. non-shared variance in cognitive, clinical, and psychosocial functioning. Methods Multiple regression analyses with MMN, gamma-band ASSR, and clinical measures were performed in large cohorts of schizophrenia outpatients (N = 428) and healthy comparison subjects (N = 283). Results Reduced MMN (d = 0.67), gamma-band ASSR (d = −0.40), and lower cognitive function were confirmed in schizophrenia patients. Regression analyses revealed that reduced MMN amplitude showed unique associations with lower verbal learning and negative symptoms, reduced gamma-band ASSR showed a unique association with working memory deficits, and both reduced MMN amplitude and reduced gamma-band ASSR showed an association with daily functioning impairment in schizophrenia patients. Conclusion MMN and ASSR measures are non-redundant and complementary measures of early auditory information processing that are associated with important domains of functioning. Studies are needed to clarify the neural substrates of MMN and gamma-band ASSR to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and accelerate their use in the development of novel therapeutic interventions.
Testing the minimum variance method for estimating large‐scale velocity moments

The estimation and analysis of large-scale bulk flow moments of peculiar velocity surveys is complicated by non-spherical survey geometry, the non-uniform sampling of the matter velocity field by the survey objects and the typically large measurement errors of the measured line-of-sight velocities. Previously, we have developed an optimal ‘minimum variance’ (MV) weighting scheme for using peculiar velocity data to estimate bulk flow moments for idealized, dense and isotropic surveys with Gaussian radial distributions, that avoids many of these complications. These moments are designed to be easy to interpret and are comparable between surveys. In this paper, we test the robustness of our MV estimators using numerical simulations. Using MV weights, we estimate the bulk flow moments for various mock catalogues extracted from the LasDamas and the Horizon Run numerical simulations and compare these estimates to the moments calculated directly from the simulation boxes. We show that the MV estimators are unbiased and negligibly affected by non-linear flows.
International Prospective Student-Athletes and NCAA Division I amateurism

This paper summarises a research stream dealing with the US system of amateur intercollegiate sport and its relation to International Prospective Student-Athletes (IPSAs). Crucial differences exist between the US 'clear demarcation' of commercial pro sport and amateurism as applied by National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (NCAA DI) on one hand, and the International club-based federalised structure, with more connections between professional and amateur clubs on the other. Thus, IPSAs, NCAA staff, and member institutions experience problems. As litigation has not resolved these challenges, regulatory evolution and policy recommendations are in order to achieve greater balance among NCAA DI membership.
Age Restriction and Property Values

This study finds evidence of an age restriction premium that is maintained over time and across varying market conditions. Prior research has demonstrated that the reduced uncertainty associated wi...
Intrajurisdictional Segmentation of Property Tax Burdens: Neighborhood Inequities Across an Urban Sphere

The results from this study extend the academic literature on vertical inequities in real property taxation by analyzing within jurisdictional variations in the property tax burden on residents of ...
Microstructural biases in empirical tests of option pricing models

This paper examines how noise in observed option prices arising from discrete prices and other microstructural frictions affects empirical tests of option pricing models and risk-neutral density estimation. The discrete tick size alone introduces enough noise to make model comparisons difficult, especially for lower-priced stocks. We demonstrate that microstructural noise can lead to incorrect inferences in the univariate diffusion test of Bakshi et al. (Rev Financ Stud 13:549–584, 2000), the transition density diffusion test of Ait-Sahalia (J Financ 57:2075–2112, 2002), and the speed-of-convergence test of Carr and Wu (J Financ 58:2581–2610, 2003). We also show that microstructural noise induces a bias into the implied risk-neutral moment estimators of Bakshi et al. (Rev Financ Stud 16:101–143, 2003). Even in active, liquid option markets, observation error is likely to reduce significantly the power of tests, and in some cases represents an important source of bias.
Allocation of Decision-making Authority

This paper addresses the question of what determines where in a firm's hierarchy invest- ment decisions are made. We present a simple model of a CEO and a division manager to analyze when the CEO will choose to allocate decision-making authority over an investment decision to a division manager. Both the CEO and the division manager have private information regarding the profit maximizing investment level. Because the division manager is assumed to have a preference for "empire", neither manager will communicate her information fully to the other. We show that the probability of delegation increases with the importance of the division manager's information and decreases with the importance of the CEO's information. A somewhat counterintuitive result is that, in some circumstances, increases in agency problems result in increased willingness of the CEO to delegate the decision. We also characterize situations in which the CEO prefers to commit to an allocation of authority ex ante, instead of deciding based on her private information. Finally, even though the division manager is biased toward larger investments, we show that under certain conditions, the average investment will be smaller when the decision is delegated. These results help explain some findings in the empirical literature. A number of other empirical implications are developed.
Public Debt in Advanced Economies and Its Spillover Effects on Long-Term Yields

Several models establish a positive association between public debt ratios and long-term real yields, but the empirical evidence is not always conclusive. We reconsider this issue, focusing in particular on possible spillover effects of large advanced economies’ debt levels to other economies’ borrowing yields, especially in emerging markets. We extend the existing literature by using real time expectations of fiscal and other macroeconomic variables for a large sample of advanced and emerging economies. We show that an increase in the public debt levels of large advanced economies—especially the United States—spills over to both emerging markets and other advanced economies’ long-term real yields and that this effect is significant at the current levels of advanced economies’ debt ratios. JEL Classification Numbers: C41, H30
Torts and Torah

The question of the relationship between law and religion, especially as to the influence of the norms of one on the other, is highly problematic, or so it is as to the relationship between Jewish law and the common law of the United States. Despite a great deal of research on the subject, the claimed connections and influences strike me as exaggerated, in excess of what actually has been or can be proven. There appears to be an enthusiasm for finding connections, for what Professor Menacham Elon of Hebrew University in Jerusalem has called the “adoption of an apologetic approach” in which influence is over-emphasized. After all, such influences are difficult to prove, to trace, if for no other reason than explicit attribution to antecedents is rare. Much of the work in this area, at least as it bears on Jewish common law, rests largely on claims of a remarkable similarity between the respective norms of the systems of law. One needs only observe that similar institutions and rules may have developed, not so much due to reciprocal influences, but because of similar circumstances in the respective histories of each system or similar if not identical predicate values and presumptions, be they divinely revealed or rationally derived. Counter examples exist, however, and in the area of torts and Jewish law, the most notable would be Jacob Finkelstein's essay on “The Goring Ox,” in which a direct connection is demonstrated between the biblical text pertaining to the required killing of the goring ox and deodandum decedens in English law.
Intentional Action and Side Effects in Ordinary Language

There has been a long-standing dispute in the philosophical literature about the conditions under which a behavior counts as 'intentional.' Much of the debate turns on questions about the use of certain words and phrases in ordinary language. The present paper investigates these questions empirically, using experimental techniques to investigate people's use of the relevant words and phrases. g
Frequently Asked Questions About AALL's First Hundred Years

To kick off the yearlong celebration of the centennial of the American Association of Law Libraries in 2006, Professor Houdek answers some basic questions about the history of AALL
Is Planning Good for You? The Differential Impact of Planning on Self-Regulation

Previous research suggests making plans is generally beneficial for self-control activities such as saving money or dieting. Yet the results of five experiments reveal that planning does not always benefit everyone. Although planning tends to aid subsequent self-control for those who are in good standing with respect to their long-term goal, those who perceive themselves to be in poor goal standing are found to exert less self-control after planning than in the absence of planning. This occurs because considering a concrete plan for goal implementation creates emotional distress for those in poor goal standing, thereby undermining their motivation for self-regulation. Findings of the fifth study suggest that engaging positive self-related thoughts in the relevant domain after planning can prevent any negative consequences of planning on subsequent behavior.
Parenting styles and value creation: a management control approach

Abstract At the end of the 1980s, Goold and Campbell (1987) helped to generate new interest in the subject of management's ability to create value. According to Goold et al. (1994) this ability is manifested in different so-called parenting styles in which the corporate strategic planning and follow-up processes play an important part. While strategic planning and follow-up are emphasized, other parts of the corporate management control system are treated in less detail. Nor do Goold et al. discuss in any detail how management needs, in regard to the systems of control, may be different at the business-unit level than at the corporate level. These divergent requirements can make co-ordinated planning and follow-up more difficult for the corporate group as a whole and thus limit the chances of establishing a distinct parenting style. To improve our knowledge and understanding of the relationships between parenting style, the design and use of management control systems, and value creation, four Swedish corporate groups have been studied. These case studies show that a successful parenting style is characterized by established principles for balancing corporate management's need for co-ordinated control systems against the needs of the business units for situation-specific control systems. The study shows that these principles vary with the type of parenting style.
Government policy and ownership of equity securities.

Since World War II, direct stock ownership by households across the globe has largely been replaced by indirect stock ownership by financial institutions. We argue that tax and retirement policies are among the factors behind these changes. We develop empirical measures of two tax incentives of holding stocks inside tax-deferred plans, tax-free investment income and the smoothing benefit. Using long time-series from eight countries, we show that the fraction of household ownership decreases with these measures of the tax benefits. This finding contributes to policy debates on effective taxation and to financial economics research on the long-term effects of taxation on corporate finance and asset prices.
Negative Special Items and Future Earnings: Expense Transfer or Real Improvements?

ABSTRACT: Burgstahler et al. (2002) investigate the implications of special items for future earnings and report that firms use negative special items to accelerate the recognition of future expenses into the current period. That is, negative special items serve as an “inter-period transfer” device. We extend their analysis and find that earnings increase in post-special item quarters beyond the four quarters considered in Burgstahler et al. (2002). In particular, we find that future earnings increase over the subsequent 16 quarters by more than 130 percent of the reported negative special item. The earnings increases are greater for restructuring charges than for asset write-downs or goodwill impairment charges. Such patterns suggest that negative special items also signal real future performance improvements (i.e., performance improvement hypothesis) in addition to inter-period expense transfer (i.e., inter-period transfer hypothesis). Moreover, the real improvement effect appears to be driven by restru...
Bank Lending in Turkey: Effects of Monetary and Fiscal Policies

We study the impact of monetary and fiscal policies on credit growth in Turkey using bank-level data from the last quarter of 2002 to the first quarter of 2008. We find evidence that the liquidity-constrained banks have a sharper decline in lending during contractionary monetary policies and that the crowding-out effect diminishes more for banks with a retail banking focus when the government adopts fiscal discipline. However, the results are statistically weak. Hence, the evidence is not strong enough to irrefutably document the bank lending channel and the impact of government finances on loan supply in Turkey even though these effects may be operational.
Coauthorship networks: A directed network approach considering the order and number of coauthors

In many scientific fields, the order of coauthors on a paper conveys information about each individual's contribution to a piece of joint work. We argue that in prior network analyses of coauthorship networks, the information on ordering has been insufficiently considered because ties between authors are typically symmetrized. This is basically the same as assuming that each coauthor has contributed equally to a paper. We introduce a solution to this problem by adopting a coauthorship credit allocation model proposed by Kim and Diesner 2014, which in its core conceptualizes coauthoring as a directed, weighted, and self-looped network. We test and validate our application of the adopted framework based on a sample data of 861 authors who have published in the journal Psychometrika. The results suggest that this novel sociometric approach can complement traditional measures based on undirected networks and expand insights into coauthoring patterns such as the hierarchy of collaboration among scholars. As another form of validation, we also show how our approach accurately detects prominent scholars in the Psychometric Society affiliated with the journal.
The nonlinear price dynamics of U.S. equity ETFs

Abstract We investigate the price dynamics of large market-capitalization U.S. equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in order to uncover trader motivations and strategy. We show that prices of highly liquid ETFs can deviate significantly from their daily net asset values. By adjusting for changes in valuations, we report the impact of non-classical variables including price trend and volatility using data from 2008 to 2011. We find a cubic nonlinearity in the trend suggesting that traders are not only aware of the underreaction of others, but also self-optimize by anticipating others’ reactions, and sell when the uptrend is stronger than usual.