cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What drives long-term capital flows? A theoretical and empirical investigation

Abstract What drives capital inflows in the long run? This paper illustrates how capital movements conform surprisingly well to the predictions of a neoclassical model with credit constraints. The most intriguing prediction of this class of models is that, contrary to a pure neoclassical model, domestic saving should act as a complement rather than a substitute to capital inflows. Nevertheless, this class of models keeps the neoclassical prediction that capital should flow to countries where it is most scarce. Using foreign debt data from 1970 to 1998, I find qualitative and quantitative evidence that supports these predictions.
Recent Advances in Transition Metal–Catalyzed O-Glycosylations

This review summarizes recent accomplishments involving transition metal catalysis in efficient and stereoselective O-glycosylation reactions. In addition, proposed mechanisms of each catalytic O-glycosylation are discussed respectively.
Physics potential of a few hundred GeV μ + μ - collider

There is growing evidence that both a Standard Model and a SUSY Model Higgs should exhibit one resonance at a mass less than 2MZ. This is precisely in the mass range that is very difficult (but not impossible) to detect at the LHC and possibly beyond the reach of LEP II. At a μμ collider the direct channel μ+μ− → h0 → bb can be used to search for the Higgs. We discuss the collider requirements for this search on the μμ collider luminosity and the detector. These results arose from a μ+μ− Collider Workshop held in Napa Valley, California, November 1992.
Catecholamines and the secretion of renin, acth and growth hormone

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the catecholamines and the secretion of renin, ACTH, and growth hormone. The effects of sympathetic stimulation on renin secretion could be mediated through the baroreceptor or macula densa mechanisms, because injected catecholamines and renal nerve stimulation can lower the pressure in the renal arterioles and reduce sodium delivery to the distal tubule, with a resultant decrease in sodium transport across the macula densa. α-Adrenergic blocking drugs do not inhibit the rise in renin produced by sympathetic stimulation, and most if not all of the hemodynamic effects of catecholamines on the kidney are mediated through αadrenergic receptors. Indeed, in a number of situations, a-adrenergic blockade potentiates renin secretion. The secretion of the anterior pituitary gland is also affected by catecholamines. Anterior pituitary secretion is regulated by a family of approximately eight releasing and inhibiting factors secreted by cells in the hypothalamus and the secretion of these releasing and inhibiting factors is in turn regulated to a large degree by norepinephrine and dopamine-secreting neurons in the diencephalon.
Analysis of infiltration through a two-layer soil profile.

Most soils in nature exhibit some degree of layering, while infiltration theory is largely confined to homogeneous profiles. This study was conducted to describe general infiltration features of a two-layer system, including the often-studied crust case as a limit. The general analytic theory for infiltration models leads to several related robust relations for homogeneous soils. The resulting analytic expressions relate infiltrability, f, to infiltrated water, I. This type of expression is uniquely general in describing the decay of f with I for either saturation or flux boundary conditions, and in describing the onset of ponding for flux boundary conditions. This study explores the applicability of this theory when the soil profile is composed of two layers. A numerical solution of Richards' equation is used as an experimental tool, applied to a general set of possible soil changes that may occur at the layer interface. The special case of layers with “absorption matched” infiltrability parameters exhibits complex behavior when the interface is encountered at large I. The behavior of the layered system exhibits the same unifying f(I) response to flux boundary conditions as does a homogeneous profile, which lends unexpected generality to the I-based analytical infiltration model.
Implicitly heterogeneous multi-stage programming

Previous work on semantics-based multi-stage programming (MSP) language design focused on homogeneous designs, where the generating and the generated languages are the same. Homogeneous designs simply add a hygienic quasi-quotation and evaluation mechanism to a base language. An apparent disadvantage of this approach is that the programmer is bound to both the expressivity and performance characteristics of the base language. This paper proposes a practical means to avoid this by providing specialized translations from subsets of the base language to different target languages. This approach preserves the homogeneous "look" of multi-stage programs, and, more importantly, the static guarantees about the generated code. In addition, compared to an explicitly heterogeneous approach, it promotes reuse of generator source code and systematic exploration of the performance characteristics of the target languages. To illustrate the proposed approach, we design and implement a translation to a subset of C suitable for numerical computation, and show that it preserves static typing. The translation is implemented, and evaluated with several benchmarks. The implementation is available in the online distribution of MetaOCaml.
Art, computers and mathematics

the computer is having an implosive effect upon the way we deal with a variety of problems. As an extension of man's senses, computer technology can provide an exciting new potential for the creation of art. The frontiers of knowledge in computer research suggest a new approach to problem solving in the arts. With a computer the artist can now deal with different variables in his decision making process than with conventional methods. For example, it is possible to put into the memory of the computer a color representation of a landscape. This landscape can be simulated on a graphic console. Then with computer programs which implement mathematical functions, the artist can watch the effects of wind velocity, temperature and factors which involve the amount of daylight upon his landscape. He can also observe data which are generally unavailable such as the effects of molecular structure, weight, mass and time upon the landscape. In his decision making process, the artist can rely on non-visual cues as well as visual cues. He can modify many more parameters in the total landscape environment to create a work of art than by conventional methods.
International ultraviolet explorer (IUE) spacecraft battery performance update

Abstract January 26, 1987 marks the ninth inflight anniversary of the IUE spacecraft, launched into an eccentric, synchronous orbit on January 26, 1978. The orbital path has subjected the spacecraft to 18 solar eclipse seasons since launch. Nine years of inflight operations culminate in a major milestone for battery support to a spacecraft, which is well in excess of the initial 3-year design life.
The impact of marketing strategy creation style on the formation of a climate of trust in a retail franchise setting

Purpose – It is the purpose of this study to demonstrate theoretically and empirically how the marketing strategy creation style implemented by a channel leader in a franchise system impacts the overall climate of trust within the channel system. Specifically, this study seeks to answer two important research questions: should franchisors direct franchisees in prescribed behaviors, or should the franchisees be allowed to play a more fundamental role in the strategy‐making process? How does this decision affect the overall level of trust within the franchise system relationship?Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates the impact of four common strategy‐making styles in a study of 244 fast food franchise businesses and compares the findings with those previously obtained in other settings.Findings – Support was found for the hypotheses, which stated that the channel climate of franchise systems implementing the symbolic, generative, or transactive modes of strategy‐making would be characterized ...
Mechanism by which avenanthramide-c, a polyphenol of oats, blocks cell cycle progression in vascular smooth muscle cells

Abstract Previously, we reported that avenanthramide-c (Avn-c), one of the major avenanthramides, polyphenols of oats, inhibited the serum-induced proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC), which is an important process in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we further investigated its cell cycle inhibitory mechanism. Rat embryonic aortic smooth muscle cell line A10 was used in this study. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that treatment of A10 cells with 80 μM Avn-c arrested the cell cycle in G1 phase as indicated by an increase in the number of cells in G1 phase and a decrease in the number of cells in S phase. This cell cycle arrest was associated with a decrease in the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRb), whose hyperphosphorylation is a hallmark of the G1 to S transition in the cell cycle. The inhibition of pRb phosphorylation with Avn-c was accompanied by a decrease in cyclin D1 expression and an increase in cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21cip1 expression, without significant changes in p27kip1 expression. Furthermore, Avn-c treatment increased the expression level and stability of p53 protein, which could account for the increase of p21cip1 expression. Our results demonstrate for the first time that Avn-c, which is a unique polyphenol found in oats, arrests SMC proliferation at G1 phase by upregulating the p53-p21cip1 pathway and inhibiting pRB phosphorylation. This inhibitory effect of Avn-c on SMC proliferation is an additional indication for the potential health benefit of oat consumption in the prevention of coronary heart disease beyond its known effect through lowering blood cholesterol.
A PRACTICAL, STEREOSELECTIVE SYNTHESIS OF (E)- AND (Z)-2-BROMO-2-PENTENES

Abstract A short, stereoselective preparation of (E)-2-bromo-2-pentene and (Z)-2-bromo-2-pentene is described starting from trans-2-methyl-2-pentenoic acid.
In Situ Remote H‐Plasma Cleaning of Patterned Si ‐ SiO2 Surfaces

A RF H‐plasma exposure was used to clean the surface of patterned wafers. The areal coverage of to bare Si was 4 to 1, and the patterns were long strips, small squares, and large open regions. The plasma‐surface etching was monitored by residual gas analysis (RGA). The RGA spectra indicated etching of the Si surface at temperatures below 400°C and no detectable by‐products due to interactions with the regions for temperatures <450°C. The patterned surfaces were characterized with low energy electron diffraction (LEED) (from the bare Si regions) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The LEED patterns indicate and surface symmetries at 300 and 450°C, respectively. The sharpness of the LEED patterns as well as the reconstruction indicated that the H‐plasma cleaned the bare Si regions. In addition, AFM measurements indicated that the Si and surface rms roughnesses do not vary significantly due to the H‐plasma exposure. It can be concluded from the RGA and AFM data that the remote H‐plasma process at 450°C cleaned the surface and did not significantly react with either the Si or regions.
Pd-catalyzed cascade carbopalladation-annulation reaction of 3-(2-iodobenzyl)-indoles into fused 6/5/7/6- and 6/5/5/6- heterocyclic systems.

Polycyclic indole structures, possessing fused seven-membered rings were efficiently synthesized via the Pd-catalyzed intramolecular carbopalladation-annulation of 3-(2-iodobenzyl)-indoles and alkynes. A remarkable base effect on the chemoselectivity of this transformation has been found: switching from Et3N to CsOAc completely reverses the reaction path to intramolecular cyclization forming fused five-membered rings.
Spaces having a small diagonal

Abstract We obtain several results and examples concerning the general question “When must a space with a small diagonal have a G δ -diagonal?”. In particular, we show (1) every compact metrizably fibered space with a small diagonal is metrizable; (2) there are consistent examples of regular Lindelof (even hereditarily Lindelof) spaces with a small diagonal but no G δ -diagonal; (3) every first-countable hereditarily Lindelof space with a small diagonal has a G δ -diagonal; (4) assuming CH, every Lindelof Σ -space with a small diagonal has a countable network; (5) the statement “countably compact spaces with a small diagonal are metrizable” is consistent with and independent of ZFC; (6) there is in ZFC a locally compact space with a small diagonal but no G δ -diagonal.
Simple Mechanisms for a Subadditive Buyer and Applications to Revenue Monotonicity

We study the revenue maximization problem of a seller with n heterogeneous items for sale to a single buyer whose valuation function for sets of items is unknown and drawn from some distribution D. We show that if D is a distribution over subadditive valuations with independent items, then the better of pricing each item separately or pricing only the grand bundle achieves a constant-factor approximation to the revenue of the optimal mechanism. This includes buyers who are k-demand, additive up to a matroid constraint, or additive up to constraints of any downwards-closed set system (and whose values for the individual items are sampled independently), as well as buyers who are fractionally subadditive with item multipliers drawn independently. Our proof makes use of the core-tail decomposition framework developed in prior work showing similar results for the significantly simpler class of additive buyers [Li and Yao 2013; Babaioff et al.2014]. In the second part of the paper, we develop a connection between approximately optimal simple mechanisms and approximate revenue monotonicity with respect to buyers' valuations. Revenue non-monotonicity is the phenomenon that sometimes strictly increasing buyers' values for every set can strictly decrease the revenue of the optimal mechanism [Hart and Reny 2012]. Using our main result, we derive a bound on how bad this degradation can be (and dub such a bound a proof of approximate revenue monotonicity); we further show that better bounds on approximate monotonicity imply a better analysis of our simple mechanisms.
Fecal Marker Variability in Colorectal Cancer: Calprotectin versus Hemoglobin

Background: Blood products like hemoglobin are problematic as markers for colorectal neoplasia because bleeding is intermittent. Levels of calprotectin, a leukocyte-derived protein, are increased in stools from colorectal cancer patients. However, this blood constituent may gain luminal access via interstitial leukocyte migration, which could be a less variable mechanism of entry than bleeding. Methods: To correlate the levels of and to compare the variability of fecal calprotectin and hemoglobin, quantitative assays were performed independently on multiple serially collected stools from 14 patients with colorectal cancer. Marker level association was estimated with Pearson's correlation coefficient, and variation estimated with an analysis of variance model. Results: Fecal calprotectin and hemoglobin levels were discordant in 55 (50%) of 110 matched aliquots, and marker levels failed to correlate. The estimated between-subject correlation was –0.10 (95% CI, –0.60 to 0.46), and mean within-subject correla...
Generating multiple new designs from a sketch

Abstract We describe a program called Sketch IT that transforms a single sketch of a mechanical device into multiple families of new designs. It represents each of these families with a “BEP-Model”, a parametric model augmented with constraints that ensure the device produces the desired behavior. The program is based on qualitative configuration space (qc-space), a novel representation that captures mechanical behavior while abstracting away its implementation. The program employs a paradigm of abstraction and resynthesis: it abstracts the initial sketch into qc-space, then uses a library of primitive mechanical interactions to map from qc-space to new implementations.
Three new aflavinines from the sclerotia of aspergillus tubingensis

Abstract Three new metabolites with the aflavinine ring system (2–4) have been isolated from the sclerotia (key survival structures) of the fungus Aspergillus tubingensis (NRRL 4700), and their structures were assigned primarily through NMR studies. Carbon and proton NMR assignments for these compounds are presented, and the antiinsectan activity of one of the compounds (4) is described.
Spiro Fused Diterpene–Indole Alkaloids from a Creek-Bottom-Derived Aspergillus terreus

Four metabolites, teraspiridoles A-D (2-5), formed from the merger of a diterpene and modified indole scaffold were obtained from an Aspergillus terreus isolate. The structures and absolute configurations of these natural products were established using NMR, mass spectrometry, Marfey's method, VCD, and ECD data. Teraspiridole B (3) exhibited weak inhibition of planaria regeneration/survival.
Loop corrections to heavy-to-light form factors and evanescent operators in SCET

One-loop matching corrections are calculated for Soft-Collinear Effective Theory (SCET) operators relevant to the analysis of heavy-to-light meson form factors at large recoil. The numerical impact of radiative corrections on form factor predictions is assessed. Evanescent operators in the effective theory are studied and it is shown that even in problems of the Sudakov type, these operators can be renormalized to have vanishing matrix elements.
A novel pulse-based modulation technique for wideband low power communication with neuroprosthetic devices

Pulse Harmonic Modulation (PHM) is a novel pulse-based (carrierless) modulation method for wideband, low power data transmission across inductive telemetry links that operate in the near-field domain. PHM utilizes two or more unidentical pulses during each bit period to minimize inter-symbol interference (ISI). In this paper, we describe the PHM concept and demonstrate its operation with a proof-of-concept prototype, which achieves a data rate of 5.2 Mbps at 1 cm coil separation with a bit error rate (BER) of 10−6.
Measuring Extinction Curves of Lensing Galaxies

We critique the method of constructing extinction curves of lensing galaxies, using multiply imaged QSOs. If one of the two QSO images is lightly reddened, or if the dust along both sight lines has the same properties, then the method works well and produces an extinction curve for the lensing galaxy. These cases are likely rare and hard to confirm. However, if the dust along each sight line has different properties, then the resulting curve is no longer a measurement of extinction. Instead, it is a measurement of the difference between two extinction curves. This "lens difference curve" does contain information about the dust properties, but extracting a meaningful extinction curve is not possible without additional, currently unknown information. As a quantitative example, we show that the combination of two Cardelli, Clayton, and Mathis (CCM)-type extinction curves with different values of RV produces a CCM extinction curve with a value of RV that is dependent on the individual RV values and the ratio of V-band extinctions. The resulting lens difference curve is not an average of the dust along the two sight lines. We find that lens difference curves with any value of RV, even negative values, can be produced by a combination of two reddened sight lines with different CCM extinction curves with RV values consistent with Milky Way dust (2.1 ≤ RV ≤ 5.6). This may explain extreme values of RV inferred by this method in previous studies. However, lens difference curves with more normal values of RV are just as likely to be composed of two dust-extinction curves with RV values different from that of the lens difference curve. While it is not possible to determine the individual extinction curves making up a lens difference curve, there is information about a galaxy's dust contained in the lens difference curves. If the lens difference curve can be fit with the CCM relationship (regardless of the fitted RV value), this implies that the dust along the two sight lines can be described by CCM. In addition, the presence of the 2175 A feature in the lens difference curve means that this feature is present along at least one of the two lensed sight lines.
Plate tectonics on Venus

The high surface temperature of Venus implies a permanently buoyant lithosphere and a thick basaltic crust. Terrestrial style tectonics with deep subduction and crustal recycling is not possible. Overthickened basaltic crust partially melts instead of converting to eclogite. Because mantle magmas do not have convenient access to the surface the ^(40)Ar abundance in the atmosphere should be low. Venus may provide an analog to Archean tectonics on the Earth.
Piezoviscous effects in nonconformal contacts lubricated hydrodynamically

The analysis is concerned with the piezoviscous-rigid regime of lubrication for the general case of elliptical contacts. In this regime several formulas of the lubricant film thickness have been proposed by Hamrock and Dowson, by Dowson et al., and more recently by Houpert. However, either they do not include the load parameter W, which has a strong effect on film thickness, or they overestimate the film thickness by using the Barus formula for pressure-viscosity characteristics. The Roelands formula was used for the pressure-viscosity relationship. The effects of the dimensionless load, speed, and materials parameters, the radius ratio, and the lubricant entrainment direction were investigated. The dimensionless load parameter was varied over a range of one order of magnitude. The dimensionless speed parameter was varied by 5.6 times the lowest value. Conditions corresponding to the use of solid materials of steel, bronze, and silicon nitride and lubricants of paraffinic and naphthenic mineral oil were considered in obtaining the exponent in the dimensionless materials parameter. The radius ratio was varied from 0.2 to 64 (a configuration approaching a line contact). Forty-one cases were used in obtaining a minimum film thickness formula. Contour plots indicate in detail the pressure developed between the contacting solids.
Evolution of the thermal cap in two wells from the salton sea geothermal system, California

Abstract The Salton Sea geothermal system is located near the center of the sediment-filled Salton Trough where temperatures locally reach 365°C at depths of 2 km. The geothermal reservoir is overlain by a thermal cap of low-permeability rocks that restricts the upward movement of the high-temperature brines. Petrographic and fluid-inclusion studies in two wells drilled in the southern part of the field indicate that the thermal cap consists of an upper layer of lacustrine and evaporite deposits with low initial permeabilities and a lower layer of deltaic sandstones. The sandstones were incorporated into the thermal cap as downward percolating fluids deposited anhydrite and calcite in the pore space of the rocks, reducing their permeabilities. During development of the thermal cap, base-metal sulfides, potassium feldspar and quartz were deposited by brines from higher-temperature portions of the system.
Making markets for structured mortgage derivatives

Abstract This paper distinguishes between securitization, in which simple pass-through instruments are created, and structuring, in which mortgages derivative claims are created. The point is to explain how structuring a transaction brings value to a deal's underwriter. Briefly, an underwriter must defeat arbitrage between pass-throughs and derivatives. The potential for market segmentation and price discrimination by the underwriter is used to analyze the structuring process. In the course of the analysis, the legal rules for trusts, the algebraic rules for structuring, and the limits on permissible price discrimination are discussed. Results for an actual transaction illustrate the important features of the analysis.
Generalized Optimal Hedge Ratio Estimation

A generalized approach to estimating optimal hedge ratios on futures markets is developed. The generalized approach is not difficult to apply and provides a framework for evaluating the appropriateness of conventional simple regression approaches to optimal hedge ratio estimation. In an application to storage hedging of corn, soybeans, and wheat, it is found that simple regression using price levels or returns leads to errors in optimal hedge ratio estimation but that simple regression using price changes provides reasonably accurate estimates.
Atomic-resolution spectroscopic imaging of ensembles of nanocatalyst particles across the life of a fuel cell.

The thousand-fold increase in data-collection speed enabled by aberration-corrected optics allows us to overcome an electron microscopy paradox: how to obtain atomic-resolution chemical structure in individual nanoparticles yet record a statistically significant sample from an inhomogeneous population. This allowed us to map hundreds of Pt–Co nanoparticles to show atomic-scale elemental distributions across different stages of the catalyst aging in a proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell, and relate Pt–shell thickness to treatment, particle size, surface orientation, and ordering.
Comparative stability of fluoroketone hemi-thio acetals, ketals and hydrates

Abstract The relative thermodynamic stability of hemi-thio acetals, ketals and hydrates of fluoroketones have been determined by AM1 and NMDO calculations of isodesmic reactions.
Seeing Galaxies through Thick and Thin. II. Direct Measures of Extinction in Spiral Disks through Spectroscopy of Overlapping Galaxies

We use slit spectroscopy of overlapping pairs of galaxies to directly determine the extinction in disks of foreground spiral galaxies. The Doppler shifts of pair members are determined via cross-correlation, and their relative correlation amplitudes are used to separate their contributions to the combined spectra in regions of overlap. This spectroscopic approach is less subject to stringent symmetry constraints than our previous, purely photometric analyses. Extinctions of foreground members were obtained for six of the candidates in our sample of 18 mostly spiral/spiral pairs, when the signal-to-noise-ratio and velocity differences were suitable. In agreement with our previous imaging results, we find that the extinction in interarm regions is very modest, typically AB ~ 0.1 mag (corrected to face-on), while spiral arms exhibit higher extinctions of ~0.3 mag.
Transition probabilities for general birth-death processes with applications in ecology, genetics, and evolution

A birth-death process is a continuous-time Markov chain that counts the number of particles in a system over time. In the general process with n current particles, a new particle is born with instantaneous rate λ(n) and a particle dies with instantaneous rate μ(n). Currently no robust and efficient method exists to evaluate the finite-time transition probabilities in a general birth-death process with arbitrary birth and death rates. In this paper, we first revisit the theory of continued fractions to obtain expressions for the Laplace transforms of these transition probabilities and make explicit an important derivation connecting transition probabilities and continued fractions. We then develop an efficient algorithm for computing these probabilities that analyzes the error associated with approximations in the method. We demonstrate that this error-controlled method agrees with known solutions and outperforms previous approaches to computing these probabilities. Finally, we apply our novel method to several important problems in ecology, evolution, and genetics.
South Sudan and the nation-building project: Lessons and challenges

On January 9, 2005, the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) 1 brought an end to the brutal civil war that engulfed Sudan before its independence in 1956. The CPA established the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), in the southern part of the Republic of Sudan. This was effectively transformed into the Government of the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011. The root causes of the war included political, social, and economic marginalization of the peripheries, the role of religion in the state, self-determination, the distribution of power, forced Arabization and Islamization, mismanagement of diversity, national crisis of identity, and the institutional legacy of colonialism. The ensuing conflict devastated a significant part of Africa’s largest country and deprived Southern, Western, and Eastern Sudan of stability, growth, and development. Consistent with the mandate of the CPA, in January 2011, South Sudan exercised its right to self-determination and effectively voted to secede from North Sudan. More than two million people died and four million were uprooted due to the civil war.
Needs Assessments: Internal and External.

There are two possible overarching referents for needs assessment: one which looks at needs from the point of view outside of the organization doing the study, and one which looks at needs from within that organization. The external view is here called, unsurprisingly, “external needs assessment” and the other is termed “internal needs assessment”. Most current activities in needs assessment are of the internal variety.
Chandra Observations and Monte Carlo Simulations of the Grain-scattered Halo of the Binary X-Ray Pulsar 4U 1538–52

Properties of the grain-scattered X-ray halo of the eclipsing X-ray binary pulsar 4U 1538-52 are derived from a 25 ks observation by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory extending from just before its eclipse immersion to near mideclipse. Profiles of the observed halo compiled in two energy ranges, 2-4 and 4-6 keV, and three time intervals before and after the eclipse exhibit a three-peak shape indicative of a concentration of the interstellar dust grains in three discrete clouds along the line of sight. The observed profiles are fitted by the profiles of a simulated halo generated by a Monte Carlo ray-tracing code operating on a model of three discrete clouds and a spectrum of the photons emitted by the source over a period of time extending from 270 ks before the observation began until it ended. In the model, the spectrum before the observation began is expressed as a function of the orbital phase of the pulsar and is derived as an average over 6.3 yr of data accumulated by the All-Sky Monitor of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. The distances of the two nearer dust clouds are fixed at the distances of the peaks of atomic hydrogen derived from the 21 cm spectrum in the direction of the X-ray source, namely at 1.30 and 2.56 kpc. With these constraints, a good fit is achieved with the source at a distance 4.5 kpc, the distance of the third cloud at 4.05 kpc, the total scattering optical depth of the three clouds equal to 0.159 at 3 keV, and the column density of hydrogen set to 4.6 × 1022 cm-2. With AV = 6.5 ± 0.3 mag for the binary companion star QV Nor, the ratio of the scattering optical depth at 3 keV to the visual extinction is 0.0234 ± 0.0010 mag-1. The column density of hydrogen in the model is much greater than the column density of atomic hydrogen derived from the 21 cm spectrum, which indicates that most of the hydrogen is in molecules, probably concentrated in the three dust clouds.
The three faces of corporate renewal: institution, revolution, and evolution

In this paper we explore corporate change and renewal in large, established organizations by examining how different types of innovation strategies affect organizational outcomes. We start from one of the hallmarks of the management literature: a concern with the trade-off between the flexibility and efficiency of large bureaucratic organizations (March and Simon, 1958; March, 1991). In a classic discussion of this trade-off, Thompson (1967: 148–150) termed its management the paradox of administration. In almost all discussions of this paradox, there is virtual agreement that at least some innovation, change, and corporate renewal is vital; Kanter (1983: 23) argues that organizations cannot survive without innovating. Despite this often espoused critical need for innovation, analysts from March and Simon (1958) to the present (e.g., Tushman and Nelson, 1990; March, 1991) have observed that executing rapid, radical change in large organizations is more difficult and less frequent than executing routine, incremental change.
Direct conversion of synthesis gas to light hydrocarbons on heterogeneous catalysts

Six catalysts consisting of mixtures of catalysts for methanol synthesis and its conversion to hydrocarbons were prepared by mechanical mixing, impregnation, and coprecipitation, followed by extrusion. Phase changes occurring during various stages of preparation and after use were followed by x-ray diffraction. The catalysts were found to be nontrivial bifunctional catalysts which selectively convert synthesis gas directly to low molecular weight hydrocarbons in the range of C1 to C4. Methanol and dimethylether were detected as intermediates. Olefins were formed, and their further hydrogenation yielded products with high paraffinic content. Carbon dioxide retards the conversion of synthesis gas to hydrocarbons, whereas steam retards the hydrogenation of olefins. On heating the commercial zinc chromite catalyst, dehydration, reduction, and solid-state reactions occur with the formation of ZnO-ZnCr2O4 solid solution. Exchanging cations within the zeolite component did not affect the space lattice, but these ions tend to occupy special sites, and during service more order was detected. Copper ions tend to diffuse in ZnO, forming a solid solution, and during service metallic copper was produced.
Crustal deformation in great California earthquake cycles

Periodic crustal deformation associated with repeated strike slip earthquakes is computed for the following model: A depth L (less than or similiar to H) extending downward from the Earth's surface at a transform boundary between uniform elastic lithospheric plates of thickness H is locked between earthquakes. It slips an amount consistent with remote plate velocity V sub pl after each lapse of earthquake cycle time T sub cy. Lower portions of the fault zone at the boundary slip continuously so as to maintain constant resistive shear stress. The plates are coupled at their base to a Maxwellian viscoelastic asthenosphere through which steady deep seated mantle motions, compatible with plate velocity, are transmitted to the surface plates. The coupling is described approximately through a generalized Elsasser model. It is argued that the model gives a more realistic physical description of tectonic loading, including the time dependence of deep slip and crustal stress build up throughout the earthquake cycle, than do simpler kinematic models in which loading is represented as imposed uniform dislocation slip on the fault below the locked zone.
Mahler measure, links and homology growth

Abstract Let l be an oriented link of d components with nonzero Alexander polynomial Δ(u1,…,ud). Let Λ be a finite-index subgroup of H 1 (S 3 −l)≅ Z d , and let MΛ be the corresponding abelian cover of S3 branched along l. The growth rate of the order of the torsion subgroup of H1(MΛ), as a suitable measure of Λ approaches infinity, is equal to the Mahler measure of Δ.
Lewis Acid Catalyzed Inverse-Electron-Demand Diels−Alder Reaction of Tropones

Lewis acid catalyzed inverse-electron-demand Diels−Alder reaction of tropone derivatives was developed. Up to 97% ee was obtained for the chiral dinucleus BINOL−aluminum complex catalyzed reaction between tropones and ketene diethyl acetal to give bicyclo[3.2.2] ring structures, which opens up a unique way of making chiral seven-membered rings.
Race, ethnicity, and the gender poverty gap

Abstract We use data from the Current Population Survey (CPS 1994–2001) to document the relationship between gender-specific demographic variations and the gender poverty gap among seven racial/ethnic groups. We find that black and Puerto Rican women experience extreme economic hardship owing to being both women and members of a minority group. As compared with whites, however, gender inequality among other minority groups is relatively small. By utilizing a standardization technique, we are able to estimate the extent to which gender variation in demographic and socioeconomic composition determines gender differences in poverty rates both within and across racial and ethnic lines. The findings highlight the importance of considering gender-specific differences in human capital, employment, family structure, and immigration characteristics in an analysis of gender inequality in poverty. However, the form and magnitude of these factors vary substantially across racial and ethnic lines. Contrary to our expectations, the results suggest that immigration status may have an equalizing effect on the gender gap in poverty. The social and economic implications of the findings for the study of gender inequality are discussed in the final section of the paper.
Finite element analysis of large-amplitude panel flutter of thin laminates

Large-amplitude panel flutter of thin rectangular composite laminates is studied using finite elements. The principle of virtual work is used to develop the equations of motion of a fluttering rectangular panel. The large deflections are represented hy von Karman strain-displacement relations and the aerodynamic load is represented by the use of the quasisteady first-order piston theory. The equations of motion are solved by implementing the lineared updated-mode with a nonlinear time function (LUM/NTF) approximation. Critical flutter values and limit-cycle amplitudes for graphite-epoxy and boron-epoxy laminates at various boundary conditions, lamination orientations, and numbers of layers are investigated.
The Bell Theorem as a Special Case of a Theorem of Bass

The theorem of Bell states that certain results of quantum mechanics violate inequalities that are valid for objective local random variables. We show that the inequalities of Bell are special cases of theorems found 10 years earlier by Bass and stated in full generality by Vorob’ev. This fact implies precise necessary and sufficient mathematical conditions for the validity of the Bell inequalities. We show that these precise conditions differ significantly from the definition of objective local variable spaces and as an application that the Bell inequalities may be violated even for objective local random variables.
Medical plan-analysis by computer

The traditional approach to computer-assisted medical decision-making involves designing a computer system which simulates a physician's decision-making process. This paper describes a different approach: Medical Plan-Analysis (MPA). Instead of trying to tell a physician how best to manage a patient, an MPA system critiques a physician's management plan. It is anticipated that this approach may have a number of potential social, medical, and medicolegal advantages. The MPA approach has been implemented in ATTENDING, a system designed using Artificial Intelligence techniques to critique a physician's plan for anesthetic management.
Partidos Políticos y Coaliciones de Gobierno en las Américas

This paper focuses on the coalition formation process in presidential systems. It shows that institutions and party positions influence the formation of government coalitions. It argues that presidents will tend to include in their cabinets parties that are politically close to their own policy positions, and will be more inclined to do so when Congress is relatively strong and made up of legislators with significant oversight authority. We corroborate our arguments with data from 13 countries with presidential systems in the Americas.
Real-time dynamics of particle-hole excitations in Mott insulator-metal junctions

Charge excitations in Mott insulators MIs are distinct from their band-insulator counterparts and they can provide a mechanism for energy harvesting in solar cells based on strongly correlated electronic materials. In this paper, we study the real-time dynamics of holon-doublon pairs in an MI connected to metallic leads using the time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group method. The transfer of charge across the MI-metal interface is controlled by both the electron-electron interaction strength within the MI and the voltage difference between the leads. We find an overall enhancement of the charge transfer as compared to the case of a noninteracting band insulator-metal interface with a similar band gap. Moreover, the propagation of holondoublon excitations within the MI dynamically changes the spin-spin correlations, introducing time-dependent phase shifts in the spin-structure factor.
Air Sea Battle: A Case Study in Structural Inattention and Subterranean Forces

In response to China's military modernization and growing anti-access/area denial capabilities, the US military has adopted an ''Air Sea Battle'' (ASB) concept entailing extensive strikes on the Chinese mainland. ASB has been embraced at the Pentagon and increasingly affects procurement decisions. Critics argue that ASB creates grave escalation risks and may incite an expensive arms race. Less dis- cussed, but also of serious concern, is that ASB was adopted with little to no civilian oversight, in a case of ''structural inattention.'' This failure of civil-military relations derives from institutional factors such as the nature and composition of the White House staff, as well as from the administration's pragmatic rather than strategic approach to China. It has also been facilitated by ''subterranean factors'' including the interests of influential military contractors and the military's own inclination toward conventional warfare.
Asymptotic behavior of the Kobayashi metric in the normal direction

In this paper we construct a pseudoconvex domain in $${\mathbb{C}}^3$$ where the Kobayashi metric does not blow up at a rate of one over distance to the boundary in the normal direction.
Reducing complexity of tail-biting trellises

It is shown that a trellis realization can be locally reduced if it is not state-trim, branch-trim, proper, observable, and controllable. These conditions are not sufficient for local irreducibility. Making use of notions that amount to “almost unobservability/uncontrollability”, a necessary and sufficient criterion of local irreducibility for tail-biting trellises is presented.
A Schumpeterian model of equilibrium unemployment and labor turnover

This paper constructs a general equilibrium model of equilibrium unemployment by combining an endogenous growth model with a variant of equilibrium search theory. The analysis offers two explanations for the causes of widening wage gap between skilled and less-skilled labor, and rising unemployment rate among the less skilled: technological change in the form of an increase in the size of innovations or skilled labor saving technological change in R&D activity.
Ethics, Public Policy, and Global Warming:

There are many uncertainties concerning climate change, but a rough international consensus has emerged that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide from its pre-industrial baseline is likely to lead to a 2.5 degree centigrade increase in the earth's mean surface temperature by the middle of the next century. Such a warming would have diverse impacts on human activities and would likely be catastrophic for many plants and nonhuman animals. The author's contention is that the problems engendered by the possibility of climate change are not purely scientific but also concern how we ought to live and how humans should relate to each other and to the rest of nature; and these are problems of ethics and politics.
Resolved Magnetic Field Mapping of a Molecular Cloud Using GPIPS

We present the first resolved map of plane-of-sky magnetic field strength for a quiescent molecular cloud. GRSMC 45.60+0.30 subtends 40 × 10 pc at a distance of 1.88 kpc, masses 16,000 M ☉, and exhibits no star formation. Near-infrared background starlight polarizations were obtained for the Galactic Plane Infrared Polarization Survey using the 1.8 m Perkins telescope and the Mimir instrument. The cloud area of 0.78 deg2 contains 2684 significant starlight polarizations for Two Micron All Sky Survey matched stars brighter than 12.5 mag in the H band. Polarizations are generally aligned with the cloud's major axis, showing an average position angle dispersion of 15 ± 2° and polarization of 1.8 ± 0.6%. The polarizations were combined with Galactic Ring Survey 13CO spectroscopy and the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method to estimate plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths, with an angular resolution of 100 arcsec. The average plane-of-sky magnetic field strength across the cloud is 5.40 ± 0.04 μG. The magnetic field strength map exhibits seven enhancements or magnetic cores. These cores show an average magnetic field strength of 8.3 ± 0.9 μG, radius of 1.2 ± 0.2 pc, intercore spacing of 5.7 ± 0.9 pc, and exclusively subcritical mass-to-flux ratios, implying their magnetic fields continue to suppress star formation. The magnetic field strength shows a power-law dependence on gas volume density, with slope 0.75 ± 0.02 for ≥10 cm–3. This power-law index is identical to those in studies at higher densities, but disagrees with predictions for the densities probed here.
Discriminately decreasing discriminability with learned image filters

In machine learning and computer vision, input signals are often filtered to increase data discriminability. For example, preprocessing face images with Gabor band-pass filters is known to improve performance in expression recognition tasks [1]. Sometimes, however, one may wish to purposely decrease discriminability of one classification task (a “distractor” task), while simultaneously preserving information relevant to another task (the target task): For example, due to privacy concerns, it may be important to mask the identity of persons contained in face images before submitting them to a crowdsourcing site (e.g., Mechanical Turk) when labeling them for certain facial attributes. Suppressing discriminability in distractor tasks may also be needed to improve inter-dataset generalization: training datasets may sometimes contain spurious correlations between a target attribute (e.g., facial expression) and a distractor attribute (e.g., gender). We might improve generalization to new datasets by suppressing the signal related to the distractor task in the training dataset. This can be seen as a special form of supervised regularization. In this paper we present an approach to automatically learning preprocessing filters that suppress discriminability in distractor tasks while preserving it in target tasks. We present promising results in simulated image classification problems and in a realistic expression recognition problem.
[Student's Corner]

In the past, I used to prepare a full-length column browsing over the Annual IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference (EMBC). However, I thought it may be a good idea to try something new … a photo collage! Pictures are worth a thousand words, so why not let them speak for themselves!