cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Meaningful Deaths: Home Health Workers’ Mediation of Deaths at Home

After several generations in the United States in which medicalized deaths have become normal, more people are seeking to die at home. However, home deaths lead to emotional uncertainty and practic...
Alternative Methods for Estimating Seasonal Factors and Accuracy of Daily Volumes They Yield

AbstractThe Federal Highway Administration requires each state department of transportation to have a traffic monitoring program for estimation of among others annual average daily traffic (AADT), ...
EasyYard: An IoT-Based Smart Controller for a Connected Backyard

With many identified applications that can be automated in the smart city paradigm, the number of devices that are connected for each of these applications is increasing multi-fold. It is predicted that the number of connected devices would be in the orders of billions in the next few years. In order to address this scalability issue in the connected smart home, we propose, EasyYard, which allows the user to control lighting, read temperature, access video, and control audio within their home at their convenience using a single controller. The structure of the product is designed with scalability in mind for future expansion, from the communication protocols that are being used to the choice of microcontrollers, the whole set-up is meant to be used extensively and heavily by the users knowing the product will run all of this and more without interruption. The system was designed with a hub structure in mind. This means that the processing of individual components is distributed between sub processing structures, with all of the data then being sent to a central processing hub. The individual sub-controllers, Arduinos, communicate back and forth with the central communication system via Bluetooth sending and receiving data and commands to the central processing unit, a Raspberry Pi 3. With this structure set up, the dependency on cloud support is removed as is typical with smart and connected systems. Instead, these architectures allow for robust usability in remote locations that may not have continuous access to the internet, while still allowing the user to control the subsystems through their computer.
An Erwinia amylovora uracil transporter mutant retains virulence on immature apple and pear fruit.

Abstract Erwinia amylovora is the causal agent of fire blight, a devastating disease of apples and pears. A previous study revealed that an E. amylovora uracil auxotroph was still virulent and can cause disease, suggesting that uracil can be obtained from the host environment. The E. amylovora genome contains a locus encoding for a uracil transporter belonging to the nucleobase cation symporter 2 family, displaying a high level of amino acid sequence similarity to the Escherichia coli UraA. Expression of E. amylovora UraA in nucleobase transporter-deficient E. coli strains, coupled with radiolabeled uptake studies reveal that E. amylovora UraA is a high affinity uracil transporter with a Km of 0.57 μM. Both E. coli and E. amylovora carrying extra copies of E. amylovora UraA are sensitive to growth on the toxic analog 5-fluorouracil. An E. amylovora ΔuraA::Camr mutant is still able to grow and cause disease symptoms on immature pears and apples.
Compatibility of Terrestrial Reference Frames used in GNSS broadcast messages during an 8 week period of 2019

Abstract The operational Terrestrial Reference Frames (TRFs) realized through the evaluation of broadcast ephemerides for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou-2 and BeiDou-3 have been compared to IGS14, the TRF realized by the International GNSS Service (IGS). The TRFs realized by the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou-2 and BeiDou-3 broadcast ephemerides are the orbital realizations of WGS 84 (G1762′), PZ90.11, GTRF19v01, and BDCS respectively. These TRFs are compared using up to 56 days of data (21 July-14 Sept 2019) at a 5 or 15-min rate. The operational TRFs are compared to IGS14 in a 7-parameter similarity (Helmert) transformation. Numerical results show that the operational GNSS TRFs differ from IGS14 at a level no greater than 4 cm for Galileo, 6 cm for GPS and BeiDou-3, 13 cm for GLONASS, and 48 cm for a limited set of BeiDou-2 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) vehicles.
A Liminal Press: Situating News App Designers within a Field of Networked News Production

In this project we use interview data from the US and Europe to map field dynamics within an emerging techno-journalistic space of news app design. We describe this space in terms of institutional theory and field-level studies of news production and report on a series of interviews we conducted with senior news app designers and lead programmers. Part of a larger empirical study on mobile news app design, we focus here on analyzing how designers understand their work in relation to journalism as a profession and process, and how they see themselves as like or unlike others in their field. We conclude with reflections on how these designers are helping to constitute the organizational field of news app design by creating and sustaining boundary infrastructures that constitute an emerging “liminal press”.
Molecular beacons allow specific RT-LAMP detection of B.1.1.7 variant SARS-CoV-2

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, several SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants of concern have appeared and spread throughout the world. Detection and identification of these variants is important to understanding and controlling their rapid spread. Current detection methods for a particularly concerning variant, B.1.1.7, require expensive qPCR machines and depend on the absence of a signal rather than a positive indicator of variant presence. Here we report an assay using a pair of molecular beacons paired with reverse transcription loop mediated amplification to allow isothermal amplification from saliva to specifically detect B.1.1.7 and other variants which contain a characteristic deletion in the gene encoding the viral spike protein. This assay is specific, affordable and allows multiplexing with other SARS-CoV-2 LAMP primer sets.
The Role of Chronic Infection in Alzheimer’s Disease: Instigators, Co-conspirators, or Bystanders?

Herein, we provide a critical review of the clinical and translational research examining the relationship between viral and bacterial pathogens and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, we provide an overview of the biological pathways through which chronic infection may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease is a leading cause of disability among older adults in developed countries, yet knowledge of the causative factors that promote Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis remains incomplete. Over the past several decades, numerous studies have demonstrated an association of chronic viral and bacterial infection with Alzheimer’s disease. Implicated infectious agents include numerous herpesviruses (HSV-1, HHV-6, HHV-7) and various gastric, enteric, and oral bacterial species, as well as Chlamydia pneumonia and multiple spirochetes. Evidence supports the association between multiple pathogens and Alzheimer’s disease risk. Whether these pathogens play a causal role in Alzheimer’s pathophysiology remains an open question. We propose that the host immune response to active or latent infection in the periphery or in the brain triggers or accelerates the Alzheimer’s disease processes, including the accumulation of amyloid-s and pathogenic tau, and neuroinflammation. While recent research suggests that such theories are plausible, additional longitudinal studies linking microorganisms to As and phospho-tau development, neuroinflammation, and clinically defined Alzheimer’s dementia are needed.
The Road to Decriminalization: Litigating India's Anti-Sodomy Law

This paper charts an account of the battle against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code alongside a personal account of a life lived with this law.
Subliminal-free authentication and signature

Simmons [17] introduced the notion of subliminal channel in 1983, by demonstrating how to "hide" secret information inside an authenticated message. In this paper we propose a practical subliminal-free authentication system and extend our results to subliminal-free signatures. The subliminal-freeness of our systems can be proven. We discuss applications in the context of verification of treaty and international bank communications.
Prepubertal Testicular Tumor Registry

The Prepubertal Testicular Tumor Registry has been in existence for 12 years. Information on 327 patients was collected and registered in the database. Demographic data have been analyzed, leading to a better understanding of these rare tumors. Information regarding the natural history and behavior of the tumors has also evolved from a retrospective review of the tumors. The registry will continue in an effort to collect centrally information on these unusual tumors and to attempt to aid in developing a better understanding of the natural history and behavior of the tumors to provide early detection, consistent treatment and improved survival.
Creating and using fiscal space for accelerated development in Liberia

This paper presents simulations for the period 2013-2030 of measures that permit increased spending on infrastructure and human development, the priority areas in Liberia's 2013-2017 "Agenda for Transformation" and for its national vision, Liberia Rising 2030. The simulations are carried out with a Liberian version of MAMS (Maquette for Millennium Development Goals Simulations), a Computable General Equilibrium model. According to the results, among the key sources of fiscal space, foreign grants generate the best outcomes followed by improved government allocative efficiency. Taxes tend to involve trade-offs since they reduce resources for private consumption and investment, both of which tend to contribute to stronger macro and Millennium Development Goals performance. Increased foreign borrowing is less attractive since, in order to make a substantial difference, it would quickly add to the foreign debt, making the economy more crisis-prone and less flexible. The preferred balance between different uses of fiscal space depends on payoffs from different government functions, typically unknown or only appearing with a lag. Under the parameters used in the simulations, determined in light of fragmentary evidence, the outcomes were marginally stronger under a balanced approach with scaling up of both infrastructure and human development services. Balanced expansion may also contribute to efficiency and be easier for political reasons. A final finding is that it is possible to consider fiscal space issues in isolation from the mining sector: simulations suggest that the marginal effects of creating additional fiscal space are very similar irrespective of the level of mining export prices.
There but for the Grace of God Go I: The Right of Cross-Examination in Social Security Disability Hearings

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj Part of the Administrative Law Commons, Civil Procedure Commons, Disability Law Commons, Elder Law Commons, Evidence Commons, Fourth Amendment Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal History, Theory and Process Commons, President/Executive Department Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Rule of Law Commons, and the Social Welfare Law Commons
Relativistic effects in the global positioning system

The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides a superb opportunity to introduce relativity concepts to undergraduate students, including non-physics majors. Familiarity with the numerous applications of GPS motivates students to understand relativity. A few fundamental principles need to be introduced, including the postulates of special relativity and the universality of free fall. Then a series of thought experiments leads to the breakdown of simultaneity, the Sagnac effect, the first-order Doppler effect, gravitational frequency shifts, and time dilation. This article presents this chain of thought and explains the essential role of special and general relativity in the GPS.
Tax Fairness and Folk Justice

Why have Americans severely limited the estate and gift tax - ostensibly targeted at only the very wealthy - but greatly expanded the subsidies to low-wage workers through the Earned Income Tax Credit, now the single largest poverty program in the country? Why do people hate the property tax so much, yet seemingly revolt against it only during periods of economic change? Why are some groups of taxpayers more obedient to the tax authorities than others, even when they face the same enforcement regime? These puzzling questions all revolve around perceptions of tax fairness. Is the public simply inconsistent? A sympathetic and unified explanation for these attitudes is based on understanding the everyday psychology of fairness and how it comes to be applied in taxation. This book demonstrates how a serious consideration of 'folk justice' can deepen our understanding of how tax systems actually function and how they can perhaps be reformed.
SCHOOL-BASED PEER EFFECTS AND JUVENILE BEHAVIOR

We use a sample of tenth-graders to test for peer-group influences on the propensity to engage in five activities: drug use, alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, church going, and the likelihood of dropping out of high school. We find strong evidence of peer-group effects at the school level for all activities. Tests for bias due to endogenous school choice yield mixed results. We find evidence of endogeneity bias for two of the five activities analyzed (drug use and alcohol drinking). On the whole, these results confirm the findings of previous research concerning interaction effects at the neighborhood level.
The arrowsmith project: 2005 status report

In the 1980s, Don Swanson proposed the concept of “undiscovered public knowledge,” and published several examples in which two disparate literatures (i.e., sets of articles having no papers in common, no authors in common, and few cross-citations) nevertheless held complementary pieces of knowledge that, when brought together, made compelling and testable predictions about potential therapies for human disorders. In the 1990s, Don and I published more predictions together and created a computer-assisted search strategy (“Arrowsmith”). At first, the so-called one-node search was emphasized, in which one begins with a single literature (e.g., that dealing with a disease) and searches for a second unknown literature having complementary knowledge (e.g. that dealing with potential therapies). However, we soon realized that the two-node search is better aligned to the information practices of most biomedical investigators: in this case, the user chooses two literatures and then seeks to identify meaningful links between them. Could typical biomedical investigators learn to carry out Arrowsmith analyses? Would they find routine occasions for using such a sophisticated tool? Would they uncover significant links that affect their experiments? Four years ago, we initiated a project to answer these questions, working with several neuroscience field testers. Initially we expected that investigators would spend several days learning how to carry out searches, and would spend several days analyzing each search. Instead, we completely re-designed the user interface, the back-end databases, and the methods of processing linking terms, so that investigators could use Arrowsmith without any tutorial at all, and requiring only minutes to carry out a search. The Arrowsmith Project now hosts a suite of free, public tools. It has launched new research spanning medical informatics, genomics and social informatics, and has, indeed, assisted investigators in formulating new experiments, with direct impact on basic science and neurological diseases.
Knowledge and Coordination: A Liberal Interpretation

Acknowledgments/A Note about Citation Practice Preface Some Smith-Hayek Homiletics 1. Rinkonomics: A Window on Spontaneous Order 2. Discovery Factors of Economic Freedom About This Book 3. From a Raft in the Currents of Liberal Economics The Two Coordinations 4. Concatenate Coordination and Mutual Coordination 5. Joy and the Matrix of Concatenate and Mutual 6. Light Shed by the Two Coordinations Asymmetric Interpretation 7. Discovery and the Deepself 8. Experiment on Entrepreneurial Discovery 9. Let's Be Pluralist on Entrepreneurship 10. Knowledge Flat-talk: A Conceit of Supposed Experts and a Seduction to All Studies in Spontaneous Order 11. Urban Transit: Planning and the Two Coordinations 12. The Integrity of You and Your Trading Partners: The Demand for and Supply of Assurance 13. Outstripped by Unknowns: Intervention and the Pace of Technology Rethinking Our Way 14. Unfolding the Allegory of Market Communication and Social Error and Correction 15. Conclusion: Liberalism These Past 250 Years Appendix Chapters 16. Owning Up to and Properly Locating Our Looseness: A Critique of Israel Kirzner on Coordination and Discovery 17. Some Fragments 18. In Defense of Dwelling in Great Minds: A Few Quotations from Michael Polanyi's The Study of Man Glossary References Index
Towards a statistical geometrodynamics

Can the spatial distance between two identical particles be explained in terms of the extent that one can be distinguished from the other? Is the geometry of space a macroscopic manifestation of an underlying microscopic statistical structure? Is geometrodynamics derivable from general principles of inductive inference? Tentative answers are suggested by a model of geometrodynamics based on the statistical concepts of entropy, information geometry, and entropic dynamics.
An XMM-Newton Observation of 4U1755-33 in Quiescence: Evidence for a Fossil X-Ray Jet

We report an XMM-Newton observation of the Low mass X-ray Binary (LMXB) and black hole candidate 4U1755-33. This source had been a bright persistent source for at least 25 yrs, but in 1995 entered an extended quiescent phase. 4U1755-33 was not detected with an upper limit to the 2-10 keV luminosity of 5 x 10(exp 31) d(sup 2) (sub 4kpc) ergs per second (where d(sub 4kpc) is the distance in units of 4 kpc) - consistent with the luminosity of other black hole candidates in a quiescent state. An unexpected result is the discovery of a narrow 7 arc min long X-ray jet centered on the position of 4Ul755-33. The spectrum of the jet is similar to that of jets observed from other galactic and extragalactic sources, and may have been ejected from 4Ul755-33 when it was bright. Jets are a feature of accreting black holes, and the detection of a fossil jet provides additional evidence supporting the black hole candidacy of 4U1755-33. The spectral properties of three bright serendipitous sources in the field are reported and it is suggested these are background active galactic nuclei sources.
TESTING AGGREGATION WITHOUT SEPARABILITY IN MEAT DEMAND: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE GENERALIZED COMPOSITE COMMODITY THEOREM

In the estimation of aggregate meat demand systems, weak separability is often a maintained assumption. However, only a few studies have tested and failed to reject this assumption. Recently, Lewbel (1996) developed a generalized composite commodity theorem (GCCT) that is less restrictive than weak separability. In this study, a data set in which the weak separability conditions for aggregation have been rejected is reconsidered to determine if aggregation can be based on the GCCT. Some subtleties of Lewbel's testing procedure that are not discussed by Lewbel are considered, and the fundamental problem of formulating aggregates prior to conducting tests for aggregation is addressed.
Compound Semiconductor Device Processing

The sections in this article are Introduction Doping Processes Ion Implantation Diffusion Methods Epitaxial Methods Isolation Methods Mesa Etching Ion Implantation Isolation Sidegating and Backgating Diffusion Etching Techniques Wet Etching Dry Etching Ohmic Contacts Schottky Barriers and Gates Annealing Dielectrics and Interlayer Isolation Resistors Metallization and Liftoff Processes Metallization Liftoff Processes Backside Processing and Die Separation Backside Processing Die Separation
Overlapping coverage and channel rearrangement in microcellular communication systems

Overlapping coverage areas of nearby base stations arise naturally in cellular communication systems, especially in small-cell high-capacity microcellular configurations. With overlap, some users may have access to channels at more than one base station. This enhanced access can be used to improve teletraffic performance characteristics. We consider this issue for cellular systems in which hand-off is important. Channel rearrangements are used to benefit users who are in range of only one base station. An analytical model is developed to determine blocking probability, forced termination probability, hand-off activity and carried traffic for systems with overlapping coverage and channel rearrangement. Example performance characteristics are displayed. These quantify the potential improvement provided by these schemes in comparison with the fixed channel assignment.
Querying Semistructured Data Efficiently

In this paper, we address the issue of fast query processing of semistructured data. To this end, we propose a new index scheme, called the HQ-Index. The HQ-Index consists of two indexes, the H-Index and Q-Index. The H-Index is basically a hash table built upon the path expressions. It serves as a path index. The Q-Index facilitates fast traversal to the ancestor nodes in the graph and the retrieval of requested information. Not only the H-Index and Q-Index have very simple index structures, but also the combined use of them can effectively speed up the evaluation of ordinary path queries. The results of our experiments further confirm the advantage of our approach when compared with the Dataguide, one of the most referenced index schemes for XML and semistructured data.
Using architectural properties to model and measure graceful degradation

System-wide graceful degradation may be a viable approach to improving dependability in computer systems. In order to evaluate and improve system-wide graceful degradation we present a system model that will explicitly define graceful degradation as a system property, and measure how well a system gracefully degrades in the presence of multiple combinations of component failures. The system's software architecture plays a major role in this model, because the interface and component specifications embody the architecture's abstraction principle. We use the architecture to group components into subsystems that enable reasoning about overall system utility. We apply this model to an extensive example of a distributed embedded control system architecture to specify the relative utility of all valid system configurations. We then simulate working system configurations and compare their abihty to provide functionality to the utility measures predicted by our model.
Three Very Young HgMn Stars in the Orion OB1 Association

We report the detection of three mercury-manganese stars in the Orion OB1 association. HD 37886 and BD -0°984 are in the approximately 1.7 million year old Orion OB1b. HD 37492 is in the approximately 4.6 million year old Orion OB1c. Orion OB1b is now the youngest cluster with known HgMn star members. This places an observational upper limit on the timescale needed to produce the chemical peculiarities seen in mercury-manganese stars, which should help in the search for the cause or causes of the peculiar abundances in HgMn and other chemically peculiar upper main-sequence stars.
El sector externo y su incidencia en la ocupación en Colombia 1985-2006

La autora emprendio una investigacion que se fijo como objetivo realizar, mediante un modelo econometrico de regresion, la validacion empirica del impacto que sobre la ocupacion nacional han tenido las siguientes actividades relacionadas con el sector externo: exportaciones (X), importaciones (M), exportaciones netas (XN) e inversion extranjera directa (IED). Los resultados indican que existe una alta asociacion entre la ocupacion y las exportaciones. No obstante, este efecto practicamente se anula con el incremento de las importaciones. En cuanto a la IED que tiene una baja participacion en el PIB, su correlacion con el empleo no es significativa.
Top Ten Myths and Fallacies Regarding Immigration

This paper analyzes what the author views as the current top ten myths and fallacies regarding immigration and immigration policy in the United States.
Virtual Worlds as Petri Dishes for the Social and Behavioral Sciences

The next tool for social science experimentation should allow for macro level, generalizable, scientific research. In the past devices such as rat mazes, Petri dishes and supercolliders have been developed when scientists needed new tools to do research. We believe that Virtual Worlds are the modern equivalent to supercolliders for social scientists, and feel they should be the next area to receive significant attention and funding. The advantages provided by virtual worlds research outweigh the costs. Virtual worlds allow for societal level research with no harm to humans, large numbers of experiments and participants, and make long term and panel studies possible. Virtual worlds do have some drawbacks, in that they are expensive and time consuming to build. These obstacles can be overcome, however, by adopting the models of revenue and maintenance practiced by the current game industry. The returns from virtual worlds being used as scientific tools could reach levels that would self fund future research for decades to come. However, at the beginning an investment of funding agencies seems to be necessary.
Evidence for age-dependent changes in Sertoli cell androgen receptor concentration.

Cytosol and nuclear receptor concentrations in Sertoli cells isolated from the testes of 15-, 25-, and 35-day-old rats were measured using hydroxylapatite separation procedures. In these cells the mean Kd of the cytosol receptor for methyltrienolone (3H-R1881) ranged between 2.3 and 2.9 nM, and the concentration of cytosol androgen receptor per mg Sertoli cell DNA increased over the 15- to 35-day age interval. However, when the data were expressed per mg cytosol protein, no increase was observed. The increase in receptor concentration per mg DNA paralleled the increase in cytosol protein/DNA ratio. The concentration of androgen receptor per mg DNA in nuclear extracts also increased with age. Consequently, total Sertoli cell androgen receptor increases over the time interval in which meiosis is first completed in the testis.
Risk: Traditional Finance versus Behavioral Finance

The notion of risk encompasses a wide range of meanings across different disciplines, notably the social sciences and business administration fields. Within academic finance, the focal point of traditional (or standard) finance researchers involves the objective nature of risk. This traditional finance viewpoint encompasses a quantitative measure of risk (e.g., beta, standard deviation) which is based on a macro-level assessment of risk incorporating all the participants in the financial markets. A fundamental assumption in traditional finance is the linear (positive) relationship between risk and return. In contrast, behavioral finance academics provide an extensive examination in which risk is based on a combination of both subjective and objective factors. The behavioral finance perspective incorporates a qualitative aspect of risk (e.g., the influence of cognitive issues and emotional factors) that is highly significant if on a micro level it is acknowledged that the decision maker is an essential aspect of defining and understanding risk. An emerging topic of interest and exploration by researchers in the behavioral finance camp has been the assessment of an inverse (negative) relationship between perceived risk and expected return (perceived gain). Ultimately, financial and investment risk is a situational, multidimensional judgment process that is dependent on the specific characteristics of the investment product or financial service. Keywords: risk; uncertainty; objective risk; subjective risk; risk perception; perceived risk; risk-taking behavior; behavioral accounting; traditional finance; standard finance; behavioral finance; experimental finance; behavioral economics; psychology; financial psychology; social sciences; modern portfolio theory; standard deviation; variance; semivariance; beta; capital asset pricing model
Pursuing Problems in Growth

This paper explores the theoretical implications of Schmookler’s (1966) argument that a key determinant of technological change is the usefulness of new technologies. There is both historical and empirical support for his argument. The analysis implies that on-going growth depends delicately on a tension between uses for solutions to technological problems and the allocation of resources toward pursuing those solutions. Even alongside an endogenously increasing number of problems pursued, increasing research labor need not increase technology growth or per capita income growth. The results provide reconciliation of stylized facts regarding technological change and growth in the United States and Western Europe.
Statistical comparison of isolated and non‐isolated auroral substorms

[1] The present study compares isolated and non-isolated substorms in terms of their global morphology and energy deposition. The analysis is based on a list of geomagnetic substorm onsets identified with magnetometer data from SuperMAG and published previously by Newell and Gjerlove (2011a). Isolated substorms are defined as those with separation of two consecutive onsets no less than 3 h. The auroral data are obtained from the global ultraviolet imager (GUVI) on board the TIMED satellite and are rebinned into typical magnetic latitude-magnetic local time maps. The auroral maps are then averaged in 1 min intervals to show the dynamic change of the aurora. The three phases of the substorm are clearly demonstrated in both isolated and non-isolated substorms. However, there are noticeable differences between the two types of substorms: (1) While the nighttime auroral power for both types of substorms slightly increases in the growth phase, isolated (non-isolated) substorms are associated with smaller (greater) nighttime auroral power. (2) In the expansion phase, isolated substorms are associated with greater and more explosive energy release than non-isolated substorms. (3) The time for the recovery phase is ~2 times longer for isolated than for non-isolated substorms. (4) The winter-to-summer auroral power ratio is approximately constant throughout the three substorm phases and the ratio is larger for isolated (~30%) than that for non-isolated (~10%) substorms. It is also found that the polar cap area increases during the growth phase until ~10 min prior to the magnetic substorm onset and decreases rapidly thereafter. The decrease is found to result from the closure of the nightside polar cap associated with substorm expansion. It is found that the observed differences between the two types of substorms simply reflect the differences in the solar wind and EUV drivers. Thus, we conclude that there is no intrinsic difference between isolated and non-isolated substorms in terms of auroral energy release and subsequent auroral power decay.
Modal Kleene Algebra and partial correctness

Modal Kleene algebra is Kleene algebra enriched by forward and backward box and diamond operators. We formalize the symmetries of these operators as Galois connections and dualities. We study their properties in the associated semirings of operators. Modal Kleene algebra provides a unifying semantics for various program calculi and enhances efficient cross-theory reasoning in this class, often in a very concise state-free style. This claim is supported by novel algebraic soundness and completeness proofs for Hoare logic.
Governance structures and the durability of economic reforms; evidence from inflation stabilizations

Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between a country's political-economic and institutional environment, and its ability to implement sustainable economic reform programs. The policy issue on which the study focuses is inflation stabilization. It consists principally of econometric estimations of the relationship between the success of stabilizations in a large sample of countries and several political and economic explanatory variables. The hypotheses tested are drawn both from the recent macroeconomic literature on policy credibility and from political science. The major findings include the following: 1. (a) despite the “conventional wisdom” to the contrary, political repression does not appear to be an effective means for implementing sustainable stabilization policies. Durable economic reforms and political freedoms appear to be complementary. 2. (b) As has been previously argued theoretically and demonstrated empirically, political instability is detrimental to policy reform. 3. (c) The political will and popular consensus for stabilization policies are enhanced during a severe economic crisis. 4. (d) There is weak evidence that intervention by the International Monetary Fund, rather than supporting reform programs, can undermine their credibility.
The willingness to pay for education in developing countries

In recent years, citing the low price elasticity of demand for schooling, some economists have advocated increasing school fees to raise revenue for educational improvements in developing countries. But elasticities alone are not enough - one must estimate the willingness to pay for schooling improvements to see whether higher fees are in fact desirable. Using a rigorous theoretical model of the demand for schooling and the principle of compensating variations, the authors calculate the willingness to pay for new secondary schools in rural Peru. They find that rural Peruvian households are indeed willing to pay fees high enough to more than cover the operating costs of opening new secondary schools in their villages. This is even true of the poorest quarter of the income distribution.
An implementation of a method for computing the uncertainty in inferred probabilities in belief networks

In recent years the belief network has been used increasingly to model systems in AI that must perform uncertain inference. The development of efficient algorithms for probabilistic inference in belief networks has been a focus of much research in AI. Efficient algorithms for certain classes of belief networks have been developed, but the problem of reporting the uncertainty in inferred probabilities has received little attention. A system should not only be capable of reporting the values of inferred probabilities and/or the favorable choices of a decision; it should report the range of possible error in the inferred probabilities and/or choices. Two methods have been developed and implemented for determining the variance in inferred probabilities in belief networks. These methods, the Approximate Propagation Method and the Monte Carlo Integration Method are discussed and compared in this paper.
Quality of Service for Rapidly Deployable Radio Networks

In this paper, we present an end-to-end QoS provisioning mechanism for a Rapidly Deployable Radio Network (RDRN). A flow specification tailored for a highly dynamic mobile networking environment has been proposed. The instability of wireless links and the mobility of the nodes influence the flow specification. A flow establishment scheme that uses in-band signaling to establish the flows has been described. This approach is designed to make efficient use of the features of IP at the network level and ATM at the link level. In the event of non-availability of the requested QoS, the flow establishment scheme constantly attempts to scale up to the maximum requirements of the application, and establishes the flow when the resources become available. A QoS architecture for an RDRN system has also been proposed, which provides the framework for the configuration, prediction and maintenance of the end-to-end QoS.
CONSUMER PREFERENCE AND DEMAND FOR ORGANIC FOOD: EVIDENCE FROM A VERMONT SURVEY

While organic farming has been identified as an effective way to improve food safety and environment quality, the adoption of organic production and processing is highly determined by the market demand for organic food products. To assess the market potential for organic apples and milk, a conjoint analysis is conducted in the state of Vermont to examine consumer evaluation of major product attributes and their tradeoffs. Results suggest that there is likely a significant niche market for organic apples and milk and many consumers, especially people who have purchased organic food products, are willing to pay more for organic apples and milk produced locally and certified by NOFA.
Toward general analysis of recursive probability models

There is increasing interest within the research community in the design and use of recursive probability models. There remains concern about computational complexity costs and the fact that computing exact solutions can be intractable for many nonrecursive models. Although inference is undecidable in the general case for recursive problems, several research groups are actively developing computational techniques for recursive stochastic languages. We have developed an extension to the traditional λ calculus as a framework for families of Turing complete stochastic languages. We have also developed a class of exact inference algorithms based on the traditional reductions of the λ calculus. We further propose that using the deBruijn notation (a λ-calculus notation with nameless dummies) supports effective caching in such systems, as the reuse of partial solutions is an essential component of efficient computation. Finally, our extension to the λ-calculus offers a foundation and general theory for the construction of recursive stochastic modeling languages as well as promise for effective caching and efficient approximation algorithms for inference.
Spoken Versus Typed Human and Computer Dialogue Tutoring

While human tutors typically interact with students using spoken dialogue, most computer dialogue tutors are text-based. We have conducted two experiments comparing typed and spoken tutoring dialogues, one in a human-human scenario, and another in a human-computer scenario. In both experiments, we compared spoken versus typed tutoring for learning gains and time on task, and also measured the correlations of learning gains with dialogue features. Our main results are that changing the modality from text to speech caused changes in the learning gains, time and superficial dialogue characteristics of human tutoring, but for computer tutoring it made less difference.
Children without Borders: A Mapping of the Literature on Unaccompanied Migrant Children to the United States

In this article, we seek to map out what we know concerning unaccompanied migrant minors, with a focus on unaccompanied migrant children coming to the United States. We base our review on research and reports that document the migration of Mexican and Central American children. In contrast to reports that focus on only the receiving end, we take a broader approach to shedding light on the different facets of the unaccompanied children’s migration. Thus, we include the following areas: the migration processes (initiation, transit, arrival, and integration in both Mexico and the United States); the institutions (shelters and detention centers) involved in unaccompanied minors’ migration; and the glocal polity (local, national, and international laws) that have a profound impact on this migration. Ninos sin fronteras: Un diagnostico de la literatura sobre ninos migrantes a Estados Unidos Resumen Este articulo presenta un mapeo de la informacion que hasta ahora tenemos sobre menores migrantes no acompanados. Se enfoca en las experiencias de menores no acompanados que migran de Centroamerica y Mexico a Estados Unidos, y esta basado en una revision de los estudios e informes que documentan esta migracion. En vez de centrarse solo en informacion desde el punto de vista del pais receptor, este articulo parte de un enfoque amplio para arrojar luz en diferentes facetas de la migracion de los ninos no acompanados. Asi, las areas que incluimos son: los procesos de migracion (iniciacion, transito, llegada e integracion), las instituciones a cargo de estos menores (los centros de refugio y detencion en el transcurso del transito), y el sistema de gobierno glocal (local, nacional y los derechos internacionales) que moldea profundamente esta migracion.
Bilateral Trade, Relative Prices, and Trade Costs

Poor countries import a larger volume of goods from rich countries, than rich countries import from poor countries. Furthermore, there is little difference in comparable price indices for tradable goods between rich and poor countries. Standard empirical implementation of structural gravity models with distance and other symmetric relationships for trade costs cannot account for both of these facts. To account for these facts, I argue that trade costs must be systematically asymmetric with poor countries facing higher costs to export relative to rich countries. I then demonstrate that asymmetry is quantitatively important accounting for at least a third of the variation in bilateral trade --- on par or more important than distance and other symmetric relationships. Given these observations, I propose a trade cost function and demonstrate how it can reconcile the discrepancy between the results of Eaton and Kortum (2001) and Hsieh and Klenow's (2007) observations regarding cross-country differences in the price of investment goods.
FDI and the Investment Climate in the CIS Countries

The views expressed in this Policy Discussion Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Policy Discussion Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. In view of disappointing levels of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), this paper examines capital flows into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and investigates the main impediments to a more favorable investment climate. Direct investment inflows have generally been related to natural resource extraction or energy transportation infrastructure projects, large privatization transactions, and debt/equity swaps to pay for energy supplies. Low FDI inflows despite strengthening macroeconomic performance has reflected a weak investment climate particularly owing to incomplete structural reforms. IMF staff working on the countries concerned cited burdensome tax systems, widespread corruption, extensive state intervention coupled with weak legal and regulatory frameworks, and incomplete structural reforms as the main impediments. JEL Classification Numbers: F21, F23, O16
Spectrally Encoded Confocal Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy

We present in vivo human fundus imaging using a fiber-based confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO). Spectrally encoded confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SECSLO) utilizes a spectral encoding technique in one dimension, combined with single-axis lateral scanning, to create video-rate reflectivity maps of the fundus. This implementation of the SLO allows for high-contrast high-resolution in vivo human retinal imaging through a single-mode optical fiber. We experimentally quantify the full confocality of SECSLO in both the spectrally encoded and laterally scanned dimensions, and demonstrate 50 Hz frame rate fundus imaging.
The effect of informal employment and corruption on income levels in Brazil

Abstract This paper exploits a unique dataset on corruption and informal sector employment in 476 Brazilian municipalities to estimate whether corruption impacts GDP or income levels once variation in informal economic activity is taken into account. Overall, I find that higher levels of corruption and a large informal economy are generally associated with poor economic outcomes. However, only the size of the informal economy has a statistically significant effect. This effect is robust to the inclusion of a variety of controls and fixed effects, as well as an instrumental variable analysis. Further, these effects are large in magnitude. For example, a one standard deviation increase in the share of total employees that are informally employed explains a decrease in GDP per-capita of about 18%.
ENTROPY BASED MEASUREMENT OF GEOGRAPHIC CONCENTRATION IN U.S. HOG PRODUCTION

Geographic concentration in the U.S. hog industry from 1982 to 1995 is investigated using an entropy based measure. Results indicate that geographic concentration is occurring to the greatest degree in Kansas, Missouri, and North Carolina. Hog production is also increasing in North Carolina, indicating the potential for increased environmental problems.
Tetrathiafulvalene-Based Conductors Containing Organometallic Components

Hundreds of cation radical salts containing tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and its derivatives have been prepared and characterized over the past 50 years. After superconductivity was discovered in salts containing bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF), a tremendous international effort was undertaken to prepare cation radical salts containing nearly every imaginable type of anion in a search for new superconducting materials. Surprisingly, only a relatively small number of these salts contained organometallic anions. The use of tetrakis(trifluoromethyl)metallate anions as charge compensating components in BEDT-TTF salts resulted in the discovery of a diverse family of molecular superconductors. More recently, organometallic anions have been utilized as a means to introduce multiple properties into a single material. Halophenylene, metallocarborane and metallocene-type anions have been utilized as components of cation radical salts. Several covalent derivatives of the TTF molecule have also been reported that incorporate organometallic moieties. Due to the diverse nature of organometallic anions and contemporary interest in coupling redox active species to the TTF moiety, it is likely that this field will exhibit significant growth in the years ahead.
The Decline and Fall of the Case against Same-Sex Marriage

Negative empirical claims about same-sex couples, such as the notion that gay people cannot sustain lasting relationships, have been refuted. In response, contemporary arguments against same-sex marriage deftly avoid making any empirical claims at all. This paper examines these arguments and shows the costs of this growing insulation from reality.
A polynomial algorithm for computing the optimal repair strategy in a system with independent component failures

The goal of diagnosis is to compute good repair strategies in response to anomalous system behavior. In a decision theoretic framework, a good repair strategy has low expected cost. In a general formulation of the problem, the computation of the optimal (lowest expected cost) repair strategy for a system with multiple faults is intractable. In this paper, we consider an interesting and natural restriction on the behavior of the system being diagnosed: (a) the system exhibits faulty behavior if and only if one or more components is malfunctioning. (b) The failures of the system components are independent. Given this restriction on system behavior, we develop a polynomial time algorithm for computing the optimal repair strategy. We then go on to introduce a system hierarchy and the notion of inspecting (testing) components before repair. We develop a linear time algorithm for computing an optimal repair strategy for the hierarchical system which includes both repair and inspection.
Organizational Fluidity and Sustainable Cooperation

We show that fluid organizations display higher levels of cooperation than attainable by groups with either a fixed social structure or lacking one altogether. By moving within the organization, individuals cause restructurings that facilitate cooperation. Computer experiments simulating fluid organizations faced with a social dilemma reveal a myriad of complex cooperative behaviors that result from the interplay between individual strategies and structural changes. Significantly, fluid organizations can display long cycles of sustained cooperation interrupted by short bursts of defection.