cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
War and Women’s Work Evidence from the Conflict in Nepal

This paper examines how Nepal's 1996-2006 civil conflict affected women's decisions to engage in employment. Using three waves of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, the authors employ a difference-in-difference approach to identify the impact of war on women's employment decisions. The results indicate that as a result of the Maoist-led insurgency, women's employment probabilities were substantially higher in 2001 and 2006 relative to the outbreak of war in 1996. These employment results also hold for self-employment decisions, and they hold for smaller sub-samples that condition on husband's migration status and women's status as widows or household heads. Numerous robustness checks of the difference-in-difference estimates based on alternative empirical methods provide compelling evidence that women's likelihood of employment increased as a consequence of the conflict.
Objective image quality evaluation for JPEG, JPEG 2000, and vidware vision™

In this paper, three compression methods, JPEG, JPEG 2000, and Vidware VisionTM are evaluated by different full- and no-reference objective image quality measures including Peak-Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (PSNR), structural similarity (SSIM), and Tenengrad. In the meantime, we also propose an image sharpness measure, non-separable rational function based Tenengrad(NSRT2), to address whether the compression method is appropriate to be used in a machine recognition application. Based on our experimental results Vidware VisionTM is more robust to changes in compression ratio and presents gradually degraded performance at a considerably slower speed thus outperforming JPEG and JPEG 2000 when the compression ratio is smaller than 0.7%. Furthermore, the effectiveness of our proposed measurement, NSRT2, is also validated via experiments and performance comparisons with other objective image quality measures.
Tree-Guided Group Lasso for Multi-Task Regression with Structured Sparsity

We consider the problem of learning a sparse multi-task regression, where the structure in the outputs can be represented as a tree with leaf nodes as outputs and internal nodes as clusters of the outputs at multiple granularity. Our goal is to recover the common set of relevant inputs for each output cluster. Assuming that the tree structure is available as prior knowledge, we formulate this problem as a new multi-task regularized regression called tree-guided group lasso. Our structured regularization is based on a group-lasso penalty, where groups are defined with respect to the tree structure. We describe a systematic weighting scheme for the groups in the penalty such that each output variable is penalized in a balanced manner even if the groups overlap. We present an efficient optimization method that can handle a large-scale problem. Using simulated and yeast datasets, we demonstrate that our method shows a superior performance in terms of both prediction errors and recovery of true sparsity patterns compared to other methods for multi-task learning.
UNBALANCED NESTED COMPONENT ERROR MODEL FOR ESTIMATING PEST DAMAGE FUNCTIONS

A recently developed nested error component model for unbalanced panel data is used to estimate insect damage functions. The model estimates the separate random effects for location and year on the variability of yield loss and has smaller standard errors for the regression coefficient than the comparable OLS model.
A combined parallel-tangents/penalty-function approach to solving trajectory optimization problems

A combined parallel-tangents/penalty-function approach to solving trajectory-optimization problems with terminal state constraints is discussed. The procedure has been designed to give accelerated convergence when using penalty-functions to handle terminal constraints. An attractive feature of the procedure is that its implementation is only slightly more complicated than the standard steepest-descent procedure. An example is presented illustrating the improved convergence properties afforded by this procedure.
How do hospitals respond to market entry? Evidence from a deregulated market for cardiac revascularization

Regulatory entry barriers to hospital service markets, namely Certificate of Need (CON) regulations, are enforced in many US states. Policy makers in other states are considering reinstating CON policies in tandem with service expansions mandated under the Affordable Care Act. Although previous studies examined the volume effects of CON, demand responses to actual entry into local hospital markets are not well understood. In this paper, we empirically examine the demand-augmenting, demand-redistribution, and risk-allocation effects of hospital entry by studying the cardiac revascularization markets in Pennsylvania, a state in which dynamic market entry occurred after repeal of CON in 1996. Results from interrupted time-series analyses indicate demand-augmenting effects for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and business-stealing effects for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures: high entrant market share mitigated the declining incidence of CABG, but it had no significant effect on the rising trend in PCI use, among patients with coronary artery disease. We further find evidence that entry by new cardiac surgery centers tended to sort high-severity patients into the more invasive CABG procedure and low-severity patients into the less invasive PCI procedures. These findings underscore the importance of considering market-level strategic responses by hospitals when regulatory barriers are rescinded. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
WEIGH-IN-MOTION SYSTEM USING INSTRUMENTED BRIDGES

Acquisition of truck axle and gross weight information is necessary for structural and maintenance requirements of bridges and pavements. A system is described combining traffic sensors and strain gages on highway bridge girders to obtain axle and gross weights. A weight prediction algorithm is derived herein that filters out the dynamic components of bridge response and obtains the equivalent static axle weights by a least-square error minimization. It utilizes self-balancing signal conditioners, magnetic tape switches, analog-digital converters, and a minicomputer to record field data on magnetic tape. Output is subsequently obtained on a digital computer. The system showed predictions of gross truck weight and tandem axles consistent with calibration trucks and random traffic. The paper also describes modifications of the system that would allow its routine use in obtaining weigh-in-motion truck data and would also permit weight processing in the field.
The role of multi-method linear solvers in PDE-based simulations

The solution of large-scale, nonlinear PDE-based simulations typically depends on the performance of sparse linear solvers, which may be invoked at each nonlinear iteration. We present a framework for using multi-method solvers in such simulations to potentially improve the execution time and reliability of linear system solution. We consider composite solvers, which provide reliable linear solution by using a sequence of preconditioned iterative methods on a given system until convergence is achieved. We also consider adaptive solvers, where the solution method is selected dynamically to match the attributes of linear systems as they change during the course of the nonlinear iterations. We demonstrate how such multi-method composite and adaptive solvers can be developed using advanced software architectures such as PETSc, and we report on their performance in a computational fluid dynamics application.
Inter-industry wage differentials revisited: Wage volatility and the option value of mobility

Analysis of data from the PSID reveals that idiosyncratic wage volatility varies inversely with inter-industry wage differentials and is positively correlated with both returns to industry tenure and rates of inter-industry mobility. An incomplete markets life cycle model in which inter-industry mobility decisions and wage differentials are endogenously determined in equilibrium is then developed and shown to be capable of rationalizing these features of the data. In the model, the ability of worker to switch industries generates option value that is large enough to offset the standard risk premium that workers demand for exposure to excess wage volatility.
Biology and nonequilibrium: Remarks on a paper by J.L. England

This note analyzes the physical basis of J.R. England’s paper “Statistical physics of self-replication.” [J. Chem. Phys. 139, 121923 (2013)]. We follow England’s use of time-reversal symmetry but replace stochastic by deterministic dynamics, and introduce a definition of metastable states based on equilibrium statistical mechanics. We rederive England’s detailed balance relation and obtain another similar relation which appears more natural and remains valid for quantum systems. The detailed balance relations are based on serious physical ideas, and either of them can be used for England’s biological discussion. This biological discussion does of course deserve further scrutiny. This article is supplemented with comments by P. Gaspard.
STARS IN THE GALACTIC HALO

The field star halo is comprised of those field stars that are like the stars found in the halo globular clusters. We discuss the halo properties — in particular whether V rot is a function of z. An analysis of recent surveys for blue horizontal branch stars is described; the halo that is defined by these stars is composite and contains both a spherical and flat component.
The Observer in the Quantum Experiment

A goal of most interpretations of quantum mechanics is to avoid the apparent intrusion of the observer into the measurement process. Such intrusion is usually seen to arise because observation somehow selects a single actuality from among the many possibilities represented by the wavefunction. The issue is typically treated in terms of the mathematical formulation of the quantum theory. We attempt to address a different manifestation of the quantum measurement problem in a theory-neutral manner. With a version of the two-slit experiment, we demonstrate that an enigma arises directly from the results of experiments. Assuming that no observable physical phenomena exist beyond those predicted by the theory, we argue that no interpretation of the quantum theory can avoid a measurement problem involving the observer.
INPUT CHOICES IN AGRICULTURE: IS THERE A GENDER BIAS?

Summary This paper examines evidence of gender biases in the decisions of agricultural households, utilizing data from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics’s village level studies in India (1975–85). The main empirical finding is that households with a high proportion of boys tend to use some agricultural inputs, including fertilizers and irrigation services more intensively than households with girls. This pattern is more pronounced among wealthier households but does not appear to be driven solely by bequest motives or male child labor productivity.
Instrumental Variables in Health Services Research

Instrumental variable (IV) estimators provide consistent estimates of regression coefficients if an explanatory variable or variables are correlated with the error term. They require a variable or variables that do not explain variation in the dependent variable directly but are correlated with those explanatory variables that are correlated with the error term. Although developed for applications in economics, they have recently become popular in health services research. Keywords: instrumental variables; estimation; estimators; regression analysis; endogeneity
Thompson's group and public key cryptography

Recently, several public key exchange protocols based on symbolic computation in non-commutative (semi)groups were proposed as a more efficient alternative to well established protocols based on numeric computation. Notably, the protocols due to Anshel-Anshel-Goldfeld and Ko-Lee et al. exploited the conjugacy search problem in groups, which is a ramification of the discrete logarithm problem. However, it is a prevalent opinion now that the conjugacy search problem alone is unlikely to provide sufficient level of security no matter what particular group is chosen as a platform. In this paper we employ another problem (we call it the decomposition problem), which is more general than the conjugacy search problem, and we suggest to use R. Thompson's group as a platform. This group is well known in many areas of mathematics, including algebra, geometry, and analysis. It also has several properties that make it fit for cryptographic purposes. In particular, we show here that the word problem in Thompson's group is solvable in almost linear time.
Observations of the Crab Nebula with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

The Crab Nebula and its pulsar has been the subject of a number of detailed observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The superb angular resolution of Chandra s high-resolution telescope has made possible numerous remarkable results. Here we describe a number of specific studies of the Crab that I and my colleagues have undertaken. We discuss the geometry of the system, which indicates that the "inner X-ray ring", typically identified with the termination shock of the pulsar s particle wind, is most likely not in the equatorial plane of the pulsar. Other topics are the northern wisps and their evolution with time; the characterization of features in the jet to the southeast; pulse-phase spectroscopy and possible correlations with the features at other wavelengths, particularly the optical polarization; and a search for correlations of the X-ray flux with the recently-discovered gamma -ray flares.
Ensuring Task Dependencies During Workflow Recovery

Workflow management systems (WFMS) coordinate execution of multiple tasks performed by different entities within an organization. In order to coordinate the execution of the various tasks in a workflow, task dependencies are specified among them. These task dependencies are enforced during the normal execution of the workflow. When a system crash occurs some tasks of the workflow may be committed, some may be partially executed and others unscheduled. In such a situation, the recovery mechanism must take appropriate actions to react to the failure. Although researchers have worked on the problem of workflow recovery, most of these work focus on restoring consistency by removing the effects of partially executed tasks. However, these work fail to address how to ensure task dependencies during workflow recovery. In this paper, we consider the workflow recovery problem and propose a recovery scheme that ensures the satisfaction of dependencies in a workflow and restores consistency as well.
TSP: Mining top-k closed sequential patterns

Sequential pattern mining has been studied extensively in the data mining community. Most previous studies require the specification of a min_support threshold for mining a complete set of sequential patterns satisfying the threshold. However, in practice, it is difficult for users to provide an appropriate min_support threshold. To overcome this difficulty, we propose an alternative mining task: mining top-k frequent closed sequential patterns of length no less than min_l, where k is the desired number of closed sequential patterns to be mined and min_l is the minimal length of each pattern. We mine the set of closed patterns because it is a compact representation of the complete set of frequent patterns. An efficient algorithm, called TSP, is developed for mining such patterns without min_support. Starting at (absolute) min_support=1, the algorithm makes use of the length constraint and the properties of top-k closed sequential patterns to perform dynamic support raising and projected database pruning. Our extensive performance study shows that TSP has high performance. In most cases, it outperforms the efficient closed sequential pattern-mining algorithm, CloSpan, even when the latter is running with the best tuned min_support threshold. Thus, we conclude that, for sequential pattern mining, mining top-k frequent closed sequential patterns without min_support is more preferable than the traditional min_support-based mining.
Sound abstraction of probabilistic actions in the constraint mass assignment framework

This paper provides a formal and practical framework for sound abstraction of probabilistic actions. We start by precisely defining the concept of sound abstraction within the context of finite-horizon planning (where each plan is a finite sequence of actions). Next we show that such abstraction cannot be performed within the traditional probabilistic action representation, which models a world with a single probability distribution over the state space. We then present the constraint mass assignment representation, which models the world with a set of probability distributions and is a generalization of mass assignment representations. Within this framework, we present sound abstraction procedures for three types of action abstraction. We end the paper with discussions and related work on sound and approximate abstraction. We give pointers to papers in which we discuss other sound abstraction-related issues, including applications, estimating loss due to abstraction, and automatically generating abstraction hierarchies.
Powering the next billion devices with wi-fi

We present the first power over Wi-Fi system that delivers power to low-power sensors and devices and works with existing Wi-Fi chipsets. Specifically, we show that a ubiquitous part of wireless communication infrastructure, the Wi-Fi router, can provide far field wireless power without significantly compromising the network's communication performance. Building on our design, we prototype battery-free temperature and camera sensors that we power with Wi-Fi at ranges of 20 and 17 feet respectively. We also demonstrate the ability to wirelessly trickle-charge nickel---metal hydride and lithium-ion coin-cell batteries at distances of up to 28 feet. We deploy our system in six homes in a metropolitan area and show that it can successfully deliver power via Wi-Fi under real-world network conditions without significantly degrading network performance.
Using randomization to break the curse of dimensionality

This paper introduces random versions of successive approximations and multigrid algorithms for computing approximate solutions to a class of finite and infinite horizon Markovian decision problems (MDPs). We prove that these algorithms succeed in breaking the curse of dimensionality for a subclass of MDPs known as discrete decision processes (DDPs).
Making Code Voting Secure Against Insider Threats Using Unconditionally Secure MIX Schemes and Human PSMT Protocols

It is clear to the public that when it comes to privacy, computers and "secure" communication over the Internet cannot fully be trusted. Chaum introduced code voting as a solution for using a possibly infected-by-malware device to cast a vote in an electronic voting application. He trusted the mail system. However, a conspiracy between the mail system and the recipient of the cast ballots breaks privacy. Considering a t-bounded passive adversary, we remove the trust in the mail. We propose both single and multi-seat elections, using PSMT protocols SCN 2012 where with the help of visual aids, humans can carry out mod10 addition correctly with a 99i¾?% degree of accuracy. We introduce an unconditionally secure MIX based on the combinatorics of set systems.
Zero Sound Attenuation near the Quantum Limit in Normal Liquid 3He close to the Superfluid Transition

The zero sound attenuation of normal liquid 3He has been studied over a range of temperatures from slightly above the superfluid transition temperature, T c, to approximately 10 mK at the constant pressures of 1 and 5 bar. Using longitudinal LiNbO3 transducers, operating both on and off resonance, the experiment was performed at 15 discrete frequencies located in several broadband frequency windows, including 16–25, 60–70, and 105–111 MHz. The results are compared to Landau's prediction for the attenuation of zero sound in the quantum limit, (k B T≪ħω≪k B T F), where α 0(P,T, ω)= α′(P) T 2{1+(ħω/2πk B T)2}. Calibration of the received zero sound signals was performed by measuring the temperature dependence of the first sound attenuation from 30 to 800 mK at those same frequencies and pressures. The data are compared to previous results.
Roles of the N domain of the AAA+ Lon protease in substrate recognition, allosteric regulation and chaperone activity

Summary Degron binding regulates the activities of the AAA+ Lon protease in addition to targeting proteins for degradation. The sul20 degron from the cell-division inhibitor SulA is shown here to bind to the N domain of Escherichia coli Lon, and the recognition site is identified by cross-linking and scanning for mutations that prevent sul20-peptide binding. These N-domain mutations limit the rates of proteolysis of model sul20-tagged substrates and ATP hydrolysis by an allosteric mechanism. Lon inactivation of SulA in vivo requires binding to the N domain and robust ATP hydrolysis but does not require degradation or translocation into the proteolytic chamber. Lon-mediated relief of proteotoxic stress and protein aggregation in vivo can also occur without degradation but is not dependent on robust ATP hydrolysis. In combination, these results demonstrate that Lon can function as a protease or a chaperone and reveal that some of its ATP-dependent biological activities do not require translocation.
Querying XML documents from a relational database in the presence of DTDs

Many researchers have investigated the problem of storing and querying XML documents using an RDBMS Two situations are considered in this approach based on whether or not an XML schema is available In a schema-oblivious relational approach, an XML schema is not available, or it is available but is not used The advantage of schema-oblivious relational approach is that no XML schema is required, and the fixed generic schema can be used to store XML documents with arbitrary structure However, since XML schema is not exploited, this approach usually implies a query engine where join operations dominate the query time and performance might suffer significantly On the other hand, rare work on the problem of schema-based XML-to-SQL query mapping has been published in the literature In this paper, we present an algorithm to address this problem.
Free Vibrations of Fluid-Filled Cylindrical Shells

Kinetic energy of fluid filling in each mode of vibration is evaluated and frequency determinants are presented for computation of both frequencies and mode shapes of partially filled shells; results may be applied to problems such as response of fuel storage tanks to earthquake or blast loadings.
Bayesian out-trees

A Bayesian treatment of latent directed graph structure for non-iid data is provided where each child datum is sampled with a directed conditional dependence on a single unknown parent datum. The latent graph structure is assumed to lie in the family of directed out-tree graphs which leads to efficient Bayesian inference. The latent likelihood of the data and its gradients are computable in closed form via Tutte's directed matrix tree theorem using determinants and inverses of the out-Laplacian. This novel likelihood subsumes iid likelihood, is exchangeable and yields efficient unsupervised and semi-supervised learning algorithms. In addition to handling taxonomy and phylogenetic datasets the out-tree assumption performs surprisingly well as a semi-parametric density estimator on standard iid datasets. Experiments with unsupervised and semi-supervised learning are shown on various UCI and taxonomy datasets.
Surgery in the uterine fibroid, a plea for myomectomy.

Abstract 1. 1. The uterine fibroid is a benign neoplasm, and its mere presence should be no cause for surgery. 2. 2. Only incontrovertible reasons, such as hemorrhage, pain, pressure symptoms, signs of tumor degeneration, rapid growth, interference with the pregnant states, cosmetic, and marital purposes should indicate surgical intervention. 3. 3. Myomectomy, even multiple, whereby endocrine balance, menstruation, and reproductive possibility are preserved, should be preferable to hysterectomy. 4. 4. The preoperative, operative, and postoperative preparation, technique, and care, respectively, as herein outlined, have enabled us to perform successfully 900 consecutive myomectomies for the interstitial and submucous types of fibroids with complete control and/or prevention of infection. 5. 5. The objections by opponents of myomectomy such as hemorrhage, infection, adhesions, and tumor recurrence have been effectively overcome in our procedures. 6. 6. This paper is presented with the hope that the widespread use of myomectomy, as described, will merit its recognition as the procedure of choice in the surgical treatment of uterine fibroids.
An expansion in the model space in the context of utility maximization

In the framework of an incomplete financial market where the stock price dynamics are modeled by a continuous semimartingale (not necessarily Markovian), an explicit second-order expansion formula for the power investor’s value function—seen as a function of the underlying market price of risk process—is provided. This allows us to provide first-order approximations of the optimal primal and dual controls. Two specific calibrated numerical examples illustrating the accuracy of the method are also given.
Information-Sharing Over Adaptive Networks With Self-Interested Agents

We examine the behavior of multiagent networks where information-sharing is subject to a positive communications cost over the edges linking the agents. We consider a general mean-square-error formulation, where all agents are interested in estimating the same target vector. We first show that in the absence of any incentives to cooperate, the optimal strategy for the agents is to behave in a selfish manner with each agent seeking the optimal solution independently of the other agents. Pareto inefficiency arises as a result of the fact that agents are not using historical data to predict the behavior of their neighbors and to know whether they will reciprocate and participate in sharing information. Motivated by this observation, we develop a reputation protocol to summarize the opponent’s past actions into a reputation score, which can then be used to form a belief about the opponent’s subsequent actions. The reputation protocol entices agents to cooperate and turns their optimal strategy into an action-choosing strategy that enhances the overall social benefit of the network. In particular, we show that when the communications cost becomes large, the expected social benefit of the proposed protocol outperforms the social benefit that is obtained by cooperative agents that always share data. We perform a detailed mean-square-error analysis of the evolution of the network over three domains: 1) far field; 2) near-field; and 3) middle-field, and show that the network behavior is stable for sufficiently small step-sizes. The various theoretical results are illustrated by numerical simulations.
Telling Stories in School: Using Case Studies and Stories to Teach Legal Ethics

The Foreword to this Symposium issue reviews the law and literature movement in law and suggests ways of using cases, stories and narratives (real, simulated and imagined) to teach about legal ethics, lawyering and decision-making. The essay reviews some of the "classics" in legal ethics fiction and introduces the articles in the issue which discuss real cases, simulations, fictionalized real cases and literary treatments of lawyering ethics issues and moral dilemmas.
Keck Spectroscopy of Moderate Redshift Galaxies Imaged by HST

Combining the results from Keck spectral and HST imaging data (Forbes et al. 1994), we have derived various quantitative parameters for 17 faint (I ~ 21), distant (z ~ 0.5) galaxies. Such redshifts correspond to a lookback time that is about half the age of the Universe and for which some scenarios predict significant galaxy evolution. We have measured disk scale lengths (with sizes ranging from 1–5 kpc) from fits to the surface brightness profiles and internal velocities with a rest frame resolution of σ = 55 to 80 km s-1 by fitting to the emission lines. The luminosity-disk size and luminosity-internal velocity relations for our moderate redshift galaxies are similar to the scaling relations seen for local galaxies, albeit with modest Δ M B ~ 1m brightening. We do not see evidence for a dominant population of starbursting dwarf galaxies, that have disappeared by the present epoch. Further details of this study can be found in Forbes et al. (1995). When large samples of kinematic data on distant galaxies are available, we will be able to trace galaxy evolution by mass as distinct from light.
Anytime heuristic search

We describe how to convert the heuristic search algorithm A* into an anytime algorithm that finds a sequence of improved solutions and eventually converges to an optimal solution. The approach we adopt uses weighted heuristic search to find an approximate solution quickly, and then continues the weighted search to find improved solutions as well as to improve a bound on the suboptimality of the current solution. When the time available to solve a search problem is limited or uncertain, this creates an anytime heuristic search algorithm that allows a flexible tradeoff between search time and solution quality. We analyze the properties of the resulting Anytime A* algorithm, and consider its performance in three domains; sliding-tile puzzles, STRIPS planning, and multiple sequence alignment. To illustrate the generality of this approach, we also describe how to transform the memory-efficient search algorithm Recursive Best-First Search (RBFS) into an anytime algorithm.
SPACE AND ENERGY

Potential contributions of space to energy-related activities are discussed. Advanced concepts presented include worldwide energy distribution to substation-sized users using low-altitude space reflectors; powering large numbers of large aircraft worldwide using laser beams reflected from space mirror complexes; providing night illumination via sunlight-reflecting space mirrors; fine-scale power programming and monitoring in transmission networks by monitoring millions of network points from space; prevention of undetected hijacking of nuclear reactor fuels by space tracking of signals from tagging transmitters on all such materials; and disposal of nuclear power plant radioactive wastes in space.
Intense electron beams

This paper is concerned with intense electron beams, typically of the order of a few kA in current and up to tens of MeV in beam energy. A beam of this kind can be produced from induction machines, examples of which are the ERA (4 MeV, 1 kA) at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and the ASTRON (5 MeV, 500A), ETA (5 MeV, 10 kA), and ATA (50 MeV, 10 kA) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The emphasis of the paper is on the characteristics of these beams and some applications. 13 refs., 2 figs. (LSP)
PU Learning for Matrix Completion

In this paper, we consider the matrix completion problem when the observations are one-bit measurements of some underlying matrix M, and in particular the observed samples consist only of ones and no zeros. This problem is motivated by modern applications such as recommender systems and social networks where only "likes" or "friendships" are observed. The problem is an instance of PU (positive-unlabeled) learning, i.e. learning from only positive and unlabeled examples that has been studied in the context of binary classification. Under the assumption that M has bounded nuclear norm, we provide recovery guarantees for two different observation models: 1) M parameterizes a distribution that generates a binary matrix, 2) M is thresholded to obtain a binary matrix. For the first case, we propose a "shifted matrix completion" method that recovers M using only a subset of indices corresponding to ones; for the second case, we propose a "biased matrix completion" method that recovers the (thresholded) binary matrix. Both methods yield strong error bounds -- if M e Rn×n the error is bounded as O( 1/(1-ρ)n), where 1 -- ρ denotes the fraction of ones observed. This implies a sample complexity of O(n log n) ones to achieve a small error, when M is dense and n is large. We extend our analysis to the inductive matrix completion problem, where rows and columns of M have associated features. We develop efficient and scalable optimization procedures for both the proposed methods and demonstrate their effectiveness for link prediction (on real-world networks consisting of over 2 million nodes and 90 million links) and semi-supervised clustering tasks.
The low-energy quadrupole mode of nuclei

The phenomenological classification of collective quadrupole excitations by means of the Bohr–Hamiltonian (BH) is reviewed with focus on signatures for triaxility. The variants of the microscopic BH derived by means of the Adiabatic Time-Dependent Mean Field theory from the Pairing-plus-quadrupole–quadrupole interaction, the Shell Correction Method, the Skyrme Energy Density Functional, the Relativistic Mean Field Theory and the Gogny interaction are discussed and applications to concrete nuclides reviewed. The Generator Coordinate Method for the five-dimensional quadrupole deformation space and first applications to triaxial nuclei are presented. The phenomenological classification in the framework of the Interacting Boson Model is discussed with a critical view on the boson number counting rule. The recent success in calculating the model parameters by mapping the mean field deformation energy surface on the bosonic one is discussed and the applications listed. A critical assessment of the models is given with focus on the limitations due to the adiabatic approximation. The Tidal Wave approach and the Triaxial Projected Shell Model are presented as practical approaches to calculate spectral properties outside the adiabatic region.
Reachability analysis of large-scale affine systems using low-dimensional polytopes

This paper presents a method for computing the reach set of affine systems for sets of initial states given as low-dimensional polytopes. An affine representation for polytopes is introduced to improve the efficiency of set representations. Using the affine representation, we present a procedure to compute conservative over-approximations of the reach set, which uses the Krylov subspace approximation method to handle large-scale affine systems (systems of order over 100).
A Realization of Measurable Sets as Limit Points

(2010). A Realization of Measurable Sets as Limit Points. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 117, No. 3, pp. 261-266.
Stringy effects in scrambling

In [1] we gave a precise holographic calculation of chaos at the scrambling time scale. We studied the influence of a small perturbation, long in the past, on a two-sided correlation function in the thermofield double state. A similar analysis applies to squared commutators and other out-of-time-order one-sided correlators [2-6]. The essential bulk physics is a high energy scattering problem near the horizon of an AdS black hole. The above papers used Einstein gravity to study this problem; in the present paper we consider stringy and Planckian corrections. Elastic stringy corrections play an important role, effectively weakening and smearing out the development of chaos. We discuss their signature in the boundary field theory, commenting on the extension to weak coupling. Inelastic effects, although important for the evolution of the state, leave a parametrically small imprint on the correlators that we study. We briefly discuss ways to diagnose these small corrections, and we propose another correlator where inelastic effects are order one.
Integrating gravity: the role of scale invariance in gravity models of spatial interactions and trade

This paper revisits the ubiquitous bi-proportional gravity model and investigates the reasons why different theoretical frameworks may lead to the same empirical formula. The generic gravity equation possesses scale invariance symmetries that constrain possible theoretical explanations based on optimal allocation principles, such as neoclassical or probabilistic frameworks. These constraints imply that a representative consumer's utilities must be separable, and that an entropy model is the only consistent maximum likelihood allocation of a matrix of flows between origin and destination. The paper explores the feasibility of wider classes of non-scale invariant gravity equations, where gravity is no longer bi-proportional by including nonlinear interactions between trade costs and fundamental country factors such as economic size. It shows that such extensions are feasible but that they do not result in a significant improvement in the explanatory power of the empirical analysis.
Psychological assessment in school settings.

Psychological assessment in school settings is distinguished from psychological assessment in other settings according to populations (e.g., students, teachers), problems (e.g., academic, social), procedures (e.g., consultation, instruction), and the setting in which assessment and intervention occurs. This chapter reviews the purposes driving psychological assessment in schools (i.e., screening, diagnosis, intervention, evaluation, selection, and certification). Following this review, the chapter describes current status and practice of psychological assessment in schools (i.e., interviews and records reviews, observational systems, checklists and self-report techniques, projective techniques, standardized tests, and response-to-intervention approaches). The chapter gives special attention to assessment of academic achievement in relation to psychoeducational diagnosis and in relation to the increasing use of academic achievement assessments in educational accountability movements. The chapter concludes with a prognostication about the future of psychological assessment in schools related to four key themes: (a) aligning assessment to scientific and technical advances, (b) accountability and value-added assessment, (c) accommodating diverse learners in assessment, and (d) the utility of assessment for intervening with students. Keywords: academic achievement; educational diagnosis; psychoeducation; psychological assessment; school psychology; schools; special education
AdS5 solutions from M5-branes on Riemann surface and D6-branes sources

We describe the gravity duals of four-dimensional $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ superconformal field theories obtained by wrapping M5-branes on a punctured Riemann surface. The internal geometry, normal to the AdS 5 factor, generically preserves two U(1)s, with generators (J +, J −), that are fibered over the Riemann surface. The metric is governed by a single potential that satisfies a version of the Monge-Ampere equation. The spectrum of $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ punctures is given by the set of supersymmetric sources of the potential that are localized on the Riemann surface and lead to regular metrics near a puncture. We use this system to study a class of punctures where the geometry near the sources corresponds to M-theory description of D6-branes. These carry a natural (p, q) label associated to the circle dual to the killing vector pJ + + qJ − which shrinks near the source. In the generic case the world volume of the D6-branes is AdS 5 × S 2 and they locally preserve $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ supersymmetry. When p = −q, the shrinking circle is dual to a flavor U(1). The metric in this case is non-degenerate only when there are co-dimension one sources obtained by smearing M5-branes that wrap the AdS 5 factor and the circle dual the superconformal R-symmetry. The D6-branes are extended along the AdS 5 and on cups that end on the co-dimension one branes. In the special case when the shrinking circle is dual to the R-symmetry, the D6-branes are extended along the AdS 5 and wrap an auxiliary Riemann surface with an arbitrary genus. When the Riemann surface is compact with constant curvature, the system is governed by a Monge-Ampere equation.
Sun's retrograde motion and violation of even-odd cycle rule in sunspot activity

The sum of sunspot numbers over an odd-numbered 11-yr sunspot cycle exceeds that of its preceding even-numbered cycle, and it is well known as Gnevyshev and Oh1 rule (or G-O rule) after the names of the authors who discovered it in 1948. The G-O rule can be used to predict the sum of sunspot numbers of a forthcoming odd cycle from that of its preceding even cycle. However, this is not always possible because occasionally the G-O rule is violated. So far, no plausible reason is known either for the G-O rule or for the violation of this rule. Here, we show the epochs of the violation of the G-O rule are close to the epochs of the Sun's retrograde orbital motion about the centre of mass of the Solar system (i.e. the epochs at which the orbital angular momentum of the Sun is weakly negative). Using this result, it is easy to predict the epochs of violation of the G-O rule well in advance. We also show that the solar equatorial rotation rate determined from sunspot group data during the period 1879-2004 is con-elated/anticorrelated to the Sun's orbital torque before/after 1945. We have found the existence of a statistically significant ∼ 17-yr periodicity in the solar equatorial rotation rate. The implications of these findings for understanding the mechanism behind the solar cycle and the solar-terrestrial relationship are discussed.
Public Enforcement/Private Monitoring: Evaluating a New Approach to Regulating the Minimum Wage:

This paper examines compliance with federal minimum wage laws in the U.S. apparel industry and analyzes the impact of new methods of intervention designed to improve regulatory performance. Drawing...
Implications of the Sample Rate on Large Space Telescopes

The frequency at which a large space telescope's (e.g. JWST's) detector chips are read, or the sample rate, is tightly coupled to many hardware and operational aspects of the telescope's instrument and data handling elements. In this paper we discuss many of the drivers and important implications of the sample rate: the data rate to the ground; onboard computer storage, bandwidth, and speed; the number of A→D chips, and therefore the overall size and power requirements of the analog electronics; cryocabling requirements; and detector noise and power. We discuss and parametrize these and other elements related to sample rate. Finally, we discuss the implications of sample rate in the context of achieving the most important science goals under the constraint of limited cost.
Verification of synchronous circuits by symbolic logic simulation

A logic simulator can prove the correctness of a digital circuit when it can be shown that only circuits implementing the system specification will produce a particular response to a sequence of simulation commands. By simulating a circuit symbolically, verification can avoid the combinatorial explosion that would normally occur when evaluating circuit operation over many combinations of input and initial state. In this paper, we describe our methodology for verifying synchronous circuits using the stack circuit of Mead and Conway as an illustrative example.
Topological isomorphism for rank-1 systems

We define the Polish space R of non-degenerate rank-1 systems. Each non-degenerate rank-1 system can be viewed as a measure-preserving transformation of an atomless, σ-finite measure space and as a homeomorphism of a Cantor space. We completely characterize when two non-degenerate rank-1 systems are topologically isomorphic. We also analyze the complexity of the topological isomorphism relation on R, showing that it is $${F_\sigma }$$ as a subset of R× R and bi-reducible to E 0. We also explicitly describe when a non-degenerate rank-1 system is topologically isomorphic to its inverse.
Piecewise training for undirected models

For many large undirected models that arise in real-world applications, exact maximum-likelihood training is intractable, because it requires computing marginal distributions of the model. Conditional training is even more difficult, because the partition function depends not only on the parameters, but also on the observed input, requiring repeated inference over each training example. An appealing idea for such models is to independently train a local undirected classifier over each clique, afterwards combining the learned weights into a single global model. In this paper, we show that this piecewise method can be justified as minimizing a new family of upper bounds on the log partition function. On three natural-language data sets, piecewise training is more accurate than pseudolikelihood, and often performs comparably to global training using belief propagation.
Magnetodynamo lifetimes for rocky, Earth-mass exoplanets with contrasting mantle convection regimes

[1] We used a thermal model of an iron core to calculate magnetodynamo evolution in Earth-mass rocky planets to determine the sensitivity of dynamo lifetime and intensity to planets with different mantle tectonic regimes, surface temperatures, and core properties. The heat flow at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) is derived from numerical models of mantle convection with a viscous/pseudoplastic rheology that captures the phenomenology of plate-like tectonics. Our thermal evolution models predict a long-lived (~8 Gyr) field for Earth and similar dynamo evolution for Earth-mass exoplanets with plate tectonics. Both elevated surface temperature and pressure-dependent mantle viscosity reduce the CMB heat flow but produce only slightly longer-lived dynamos (~8–9.5 Gyr). Single-plate (“stagnant lid”) planets with relatively low CMB heat flow produce long-lived (~10.5 Gyr) dynamos. These weaker dynamos can cease for several billions of years and subsequently reactivate due to the additional entropy production associated with inner core growth, a possible explanation for the absence of a magnetic field on present-day Venus. We also show that dynamo operation is sensitive to the initial temperature, size, and solidus of a planet's core. These dependencies would severely challenge any attempt to distinguish exoplanets with plate tectonics and stagnant lids based on the presence or absence of a magnetic field.
The Impact of Social Security Income on Cognitive Function at Older Ages

Prior literature has documented a positive association between income and cognitive function at older ages; however, the extent to which this association represents causal effects is unknown. In th...
Lifshitz tails for Anderson models with sign‐indefinite single‐site potentials

We study the spectral minimum and Lifshitz tails for continuum random Schrodinger operators of the form where V0 is the periodic potential, are i.i.d random variables and u is the sign-indefinite impurity potential. Recently, this model has been proven to exhibit Lifshitz tails near the bottom of the spectrum under the small support assumption of u and the reflection symmetry assumption of V0 and u. We here drop the reflection symmetry assumption of V0 and u. We first give characterizations of the bottom of the spectrum. Then, we show the existence of Lifshitz tails in the regime where the characterization of the bottom of the spectrum is explicit. In particular, this regime covers the reflection symmetry case.