cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
User navigation in computer applications

An abstract model of keyboard navigation that is based on real-world requirements is described. The importance of keyboard navigation is discussed, and the current approaches to keyboard navigation are reviewed. Several requirements for a successful model of keyboard navigation, including that keyboard navigation and direct manipulation must coexist in the same application, are described. Examples of successful use of the proposed approach to keyboard navigation in application development are presented. >
A brief overview of ATM: protocol layers, LAN emulation, and traffic management

Asnychronous Transfer Mode (ATM) has emerged as the most promising technology in supporting future broadband multimedia communication services. To accelerate the deployment of ATM technology, the ATM Forum, which is a consortium of service providers and equipment vendors in the communication industries, has been created to develop implementation and specification agreements. In this article, we present a brief overview on ATM protocol layers and current progress on LAN Emulation and Traffic Management in the ATM Forum.
Low-energy sensor network time synchronization as an emergent property

The primary contribution of this work is to examine the energy efficiency of pulse coupled oscillation for time synchronization in a realistic wireless network environment and to explore the impact of mobility on convergence rate. Energy coupled oscillation is susceptible to interference; this approach uses reception and decoding of short packet bursts to eliminate this problem. The energy efficiency of a commonly used timestamp broadcast algorithm is compared and contrasted with pulse-coupled oscillation. The emergent pulse coupled oscillation technique shows greater energy efficiency as well as robustness with mobility. The algorithm specifically includes the likelihood that some proportion of the sensors may include GPS receivers in order to obtain and propagate a master clock time.
Accounting Restatements and the Timeliness of Disclosures

SYNOPSIS: Regulators are concerned that during the process of restating financial statements, firms fail to provide timely progress updates, and delay earnings announcements and regulatory filings. To reduce these perceived lags in disclosure, an advisory group to the Securities and Exchange Commission recommends more use of catch-up adjustments rather than restatements to correct accounting errors. Some investor groups oppose the recommendations because they fear that preparers will begin to correct important errors through catch-up adjustments, which are less transparent than restatements. We inform this debate by examining (1) the length of disclosure lags around restatements to understand the extent of the problem, and (2) the causes of disclosure lags to evaluate whether the reforms would address the root causes of the lags. We find that lengthy lags are uncommon and appear to be largely unavoidable consequences of fraud investigations. When fraud is a factor, the firm typically takes weeks or month...
The mechanism and an improved asymmetric allylboration of ketones catalyzed by chiral biphenols.

A mechanistic study of the enantioselective asymmetric allylboration of ketones with allyldiisopropoxyborane catalyzed by chiral biphenols resulted in the development of improved reaction process. In a ligand exchange process involving the chiral biphenol and the boronate to liberate isopropanol as the key step, addition of isopropanol to the reaction was found to increase the overall rate and enantioselectivity. In the design of an improved reaction, a boronate possessing a tethered alcohol would more readily liberate catalyst at the end of a reaction. The use of allyldioxaborinane with 2 mol% (S)-3,3′-Br2-BINOL and 2 equivalents t-BuOH relative to ketone at room temperature results in high yields and enantioselectivities. Insight gathered from the mechanistic investigation resulted in the development of a reaction process that uses less catalyst (from 15 mol% to 2 mol%) at warmer temperatures (from -35 °C to room temperature).
Deep transfer via second-order Markov logic

Standard inductive learning requires that training and test instances come from the same distribution. Transfer learning seeks to remove this restriction. In shallow transfer, test instances are from the same domain, but have a different distribution. In deep transfer, test instances are from a different domain entirely (i.e., described by different predicates). Humans routinely perform deep transfer, but few learning systems, if any, are capable of it. In this paper we propose an approach based on a form of second-order Markov logic. Our algorithm discovers structural regularities in the source domain in the form of Markov logic formulas with predicate variables, and instantiates these formulas with predicates from the target domain. Using this approach, we have successfully transferred learned knowledge among molecular biology, social network and Web domains. The discovered patterns include broadly useful properties of predicates, like symmetry and transitivity, and relations among predicates, such as various forms of homophily.
ISSUES IN COUNSELING: ELUSIVE AND ILLUSIONAL

Two sets of issues in counseling are discussed in this paper. The first set of issues are termed false or illusional. They are: (1) Should counseling be ‘“directive” or “non-directive?” (2) Should counselors “diagnose?,” and (3) Should counseling be personal-emotional or informational-didactic? These issues are explored and the position taken is that they are not vital in the sense that they present important alternative consequences to counselors. The second set of issues discussed are termed elusive in that they are difficult to frame clearly, but are held to be highly important in terms of their consequences. These issues are: (1) Is counseling developmental-educative and preventive in nature or is it remediating-adjustive-therapeutic? (2) Is counseling liberating or conditioning in nature? These issues are briefly explored and some of the alternative consequences entailed by them are suggested.
TIME‐INCONSISTENCY AND WELFARE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE NLSY*

We empirically implement a dynamic structural model of labor supply and welfare program participation for agents with potentially time-inconsistent preferences. Using panel data on the choices of single women with children from the NLSY 1979, we provide estimates of the degree of time-inconsistency, and of its influence on the welfare take-up decision. With these estimates, we conduct counterfactual experiments to quantify the utility loss stemming from the inability to commit to future decisions, and the potential utility gains from commitment mechanisms such as welfare time limits and work requirements.
A Mass Function Constraint on Extrasolar Giant Planet Evaporation Rates

The observed mass function for all known extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) varies approximately as M-1 for mass M between ~0.2 Jupiter masses (MJ) and ~5 MJ. In order to study evaporation effects for highly irradiated EGPs in this mass range, we have constructed an observational mass function for a subset of EGPs in the same mass range but with orbital radii <0.07 AU. Surprisingly, the mass function for such highly irradiated EGPs agrees quantitatively with the M-1 law, implying that the mass function for EGPs is preserved despite migration to small orbital radii. Unless there is a remarkable compensation of mass-dependent orbital migration for mass-dependent evaporation, this result places a constraint on orbital migration models and rules out the most extreme mass-loss rates in the literature. A theory that predicts more moderate mass loss gives a mass function that is closer to observed statistics but still disagrees for M < 1 MJ.
Optimality of large MIMO detection via approximate message passing

Optimal data detection in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems with a large number of antennas at both ends of the wireless link entails prohibitive computational complexity. In order to reduce the computational complexity, a variety of sub-optimal detection algorithms have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we analyze the optimality of a novel data-detection method for large MIMO systems that relies on approximate message passing (AMP). We show that our algorithm, referred to as individually-optimal (IO) large-MIMO AMP (short IO-LAMA), is able to perform IO data detection given certain conditions on the MIMO system and the constellation set (e.g., QAM or PSK) are met.
Direct investigation of subsurface interface electronic structure by ballistic-electron-emission microscopy

A new technique for spectroscopic investigation of subsurface interface electronic structure has been developed. The method, ballistic-electron-emission microscopy (BEEM), is based on scanning tunneling microscopy. BEEM makes possible, for the first time, direct imaging of subsurface interface properties with nanometer spatial resolution. We report on the first application of BEEM to subsurface Schottky- barrier interfaces.
Optimality of static control policies in some discrete event systems

We consider a class of discrete event systems (DES) that involves the control of resources allocated to tasks under real-time constraints. This is motivated by power-limited wireless environments such as sensor networks, where the objective is to minimize energy consumption while guaranteeing that task deadlines are always met. In obtaining optimal off-line controllers for such systems, we prove that simple static control gives the unique optimal solution. The result is of interest because it asserts the optimality of a simple controller that does not require any data collection or processing in environments where the cost of such actions is high.
The phases of 2D NCOS

We study the phases of the (1+1)-dimensional Non-Commutative Open String theory on a circle. We find that the length scale of non-commutativity increases at strong coupling, the coupling in turn being dressed by a power of D-string charge. The system is stringy at around this length scale, with dynamics involving an interplay between the open and wrapped closed strings sectors. Above this energy scale and at strong coupling, and below it at weak coupling, the system acquires a less stringy character. The near horizon geometry of the configuration exhibits several intriguing features, such as a flip in the dilaton field and the curvature scale, reflecting UV-IR mixing in non-commutative dynamics. Two special points in the parameter measuring the size of the circle are also identified.
The Cube Recurrence

We construct a combinatorial model that is described by the cube recurrence, a quadratic recurrence relation introduced by Propp, which generates families of Laurent polynomials indexed by points in ${\Bbb Z}^3$. In the process, we prove several conjectures of Propp and of Fomin and Zelevinsky about the structure of these polynomials, and we obtain a combinatorial interpretation for the terms of Gale-Robinson sequences, including the Somos-6 and Somos-7 sequences. We also indicate how the model might be used to obtain some interesting results about perfect matchings of certain bipartite planar graphs.
Underwater acoustic sensor networks: Target size detection and performance analysis

Underwater acoustic sensor network consists of a variable number of sensors and vehicles that are deployed to perform collaborative monitoring tasks over a given area. Scalability concern suggests a hierarchical organization of underwater sensor networks with the lowest level in the hierarchy being a cluster. In this paper, we show that an ultra-wide band (UWB) channel can be used for underwater channel modeling and propose a maximum-likelihood (ML) estimation algorithm for underwater target size detection using collaborative signal processing within a cluster in underwater acoustic sensor networks. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that our underwater sensor network can tremendously reduce the variance of target size estimation. We show that our ML estimator is unbiased and the variance of parameter estimation matches the Cramer-Rao lower bound. Simulations further validate these theoretical results.
Oxygen nucleophiles as reaction partners in photoinduced, copper-catalyzed cross-couplings: O-arylations of phenols at room temperature

Most copper-catalyzed cross-couplings require an elevated reaction temperature. Recently, a photoinduced variant has been developed that enables C–X bond-forming reactions of certain nitrogen and sulfur nucleophiles to proceed under unusually mild conditions (−40 °C to room temperature). In view of the importance of carbon–oxygen bond construction in organic chemistry, the expansion of this photochemical approach to oxygen nucleophiles is an important objective. In this report, we establish that, in the presence of light and an inexpensive copper pre-catalyst (CuI), a wide array of phenols and aryl iodides can be coupled to generate diaryl ethers under mild conditions (room temperature) in the presence of a variety of functional groups. Our studies indicate that a Cu(I)–phenoxide complex is a viable intermediate in photoinduced C–O bond-formation.
A method of automatic fault-detection test generation for four-phase MOS LSI circuits

To Determine Whether an integrated digital circuit is working properly, one may apply to the circuit a set of well-devised test sequences and compare the resultant outputs with the corresponding correct outputs. Any discrepancies indicate the presence of a fault. The main task here is to find a set of test sequences which can detect the presence of any prescribed fault in the circuit. This test generation problem will become formidable for large scale integrated arrays, since large number of logic circuits may be contained in an array with a limited number of exterior terminals.
A new proof of the Bott periodicity theorem

We give a simplification of the proof of the Bott periodicity theorem presented by Aguilar and Prieto. These methods are extended to provide a new proof of the real Bott periodicity theorem. The loop spaces of the groups O and U are identified by considering the fibers of explicit quasifibrations with contractible total spaces.  2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. AMS classification:Primary 55R45, Secondary 55R65
DOES EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION CREATE ITS OWN POLITICAL SUPPORT

This paper investigates the ability of employment protection to generate its own political support. A version of the Mortensen–Pissarides model is used for this purpose. If wages are set through Nash bargaining, workers value employment protection because it strengthens their hand in wage negotiations. Workers in high productivity matches benefit most from higher wages as they expect to stay employed for longer. By reducing turnover employment protection shifts the distribution of match-specific productivity toward lower values. Thus stringent protection in the past actually reduces support for employment protection today. Introducing involuntary separations reverses this conclusion. Now workers value employment protection because it delays involuntary dismissals. Workers in low productivity matches gain most since they face the highest risk of dismissal. The downward shift in the productivity distribution is now a shift towards supporters.
Metathesis Reactions in Total Synthesis

With the exception of palladium-catalyzed cross-couplings, no other group of reactions has had such a profound impact on the formation of carbon-carbon bonds and the art of total synthesis in the last quarter of a century than the metathesis reactions of olefins, enynes, and alkynes. Herein, we highlight a number of selected examples of total syntheses in which such processes played a crucial role and which imparted to these endeavors certain elements of novelty, elegance, and efficiency. Judging from their short but impressive history, the influence of these reactions in chemical synthesis is destined to increase.
Hodge Integrals and Hurwitz Numbers via Virtual Localization

We give another proof of Ekedahl, Lando, Shapiro, and Vainshtein's remarkable formula expressing Hurwitz numbers (counting covers of P1 with specified simple branch points, and specified branching over one other point) in terms of Hodge integrals. Our proof uses virtual localization on the moduli space of stable maps. We describe how the proof could be simplified by the proper algebro-geometric definition of a 'relative space'. Such a space has recently been defined by J. Li.
A Study of the Scope and Regioselectivity of the Ruthenium-Catalyzed [3 + 2]-Cycloaddition of Azides with Internal Alkynes

[3 + 2]-Cycloadditions of alkyl azides with various unsymmetrical internal alkynes in the presence of Cp*RuCl(PPh3)2 as catalyst in refluxing benzene have been examined, leading to 1,4,5-trisubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles. Whereas alkyl phenyl and dialkyl acetylenes undergo cycloadditions to afford mixtures of regioisomeric 1,2,3-triazoles, acyl-substituted internal alkynes react with complete regioselectivity. In addition, propargyl alcohols and propargyl amines were found to react with azides to afford single regioisomeric products.
Considerations in the design of a boundary scan runtime library

Boundary scan, often called Joint Test Action Group or JTAG, is a technique in which special standardized circuitry is included in an IC to facilitate testing and data transfer. It was standardized in the 1990s as IEEE Standard 1149.1 - 2001 [1]. To meet the standard, an IC must provide a test access port (TAP) for data communication and registers that allow driving and capturing digital signals at the pins or boundary of the IC. The TAP has only four (optionally five) wires, transmits data serially, and is designed so that this serial data transmission can be daisy chained through all of the boundary scan ICs on a board. Thus, all of these ICs can be accessed from a single board-level TAP using only four or five wires.
An improved synthesis of psammaplin A

The marine natural product, psammaplin A, was first isolated from the Psammaplinaplysilla sponge in 1987. Since that time, psammaplin A has shown a wide spectrum of biological activities that include enzyme inhibitory activities resulting in antibacterial and antitumor effects. An improved synthesis of psammaplin A has been developed, making the compound more easily accessible for further biological evaluations. In this context, we find that psammaplin A is an effective DNA methyltransferase inhibitor in vitro but fails to alter genomic DNA methylation levels in treated human cancer cells.
A simplified green chemistry approach to the Biginelli reaction using ‘Grindstone Chemistry’

Abstract Grindstone Chemistry––a greatly evolved version of Toda’s method of grinding solids together for solvent-free chemical reactions––has been described and its usefulness illustrated by the successful application of this technique to a simplified process for conducting the multi-component Biginelli reaction for the synthesis of physiologically active tetrahydropyrimidinones.
Partial state feedback control of induction motors with magnetic saturation: elimination of flux measurements

In this paper, we present a singularity-free, rotor position tracking controller for the full order, nonlinear dynamic model of the induction motor that includes the effects of magnetic saturation. Specifically, by utilizing the @p-equivalent saturation model, we design an observer/controller strategy that achieves semi-global exponential rotor position tracking and only requires stator current, rotor velocity, and rotor position measurements. Simulation and experimental results are included to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.
On Line Instruction: An Opportunity To Re-Examine And Re-Invent Pedagogy

Author recounts ten discoveries she made about on-line instruction that were beyond her field of vision when she was still viewing it though the lens of traditional classroom instruction. The discoveries include what she learned by reviewing the research in effective course design and a discourse analysis she conducted of the number and types of ideas exchanged during two asynchronous discussions.
“Plastic” Solar Cells: Self-Assembly of Bulk Heterojunction Nanomaterials by Spontaneous Phase Separation

As the global demand for low-cost renewable energy sources intensifies, interest in new routes for converting solar energy to electricity is rapidly increasing. Although photovoltaic cells have been commercially available for more than 50 years, only 0.1% of the total electricity generated in the United States comes directly from sunlight. The earliest commercial solar technology remains the basis for the most prevalent devices in current use, namely, highly-ordered crystalline, inorganic solar cells, commonly referred to as silicon cells. Another class of solar cells that has recently inspired significant academic and industrial excitement is the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) “plastic” solar cell. Research by a rapidly growing community of scientists across the globe is generating a steady stream of new insights into the fundamental physics, the materials design and synthesis, the film processing and morphology, and the device science and architecture of BHJ technology. Future progress in the fabrication of ...
A Technique for Documenting the Framework of an Object-Oriented System.

The paper presents techniques for documenting the design of frameworks for object-oriented systems and applies the approach to the design of a configurable message passing system. The technique decomposes a framework into six concerns: the class hierarchy, protocols, control flow, synchronization, entity relationships and configurations of the system. An abstract description of each concern is specified using standard notations. Subtyping is used to ensure that the abstract specifications apply to the abstract classes, concrete classes, and instances of the system. The message passing framework documented with these techniques is general, portable, and efficient. It supports parallel message based applications on both tightly coupled shared memory architectures and loosely coupled distributed memory architectures. The message passing system framework has been coded in C++, runs on the Choices operating system, and has been benchmarked on a system of Encore Multimax 320 tightly-coupled multiprocessors. The system is being implemented on a network of SUN SPARCstation 2s. >
A Facile Synthetic Method for 3′-α-Fluoro- 2′,3′-dideoxyadenosine

Abstract A facile method for the synthesis of 3′-α-fluoro-2′,3′-dideoxyadenosine (5) has been developed using a novel rearrangement of 3′-β-bromine to the 2′-β position during 3′-α fluorination.
ENDOMETRIOSIS OF THE SMALL AND LARGE INTESTINE

Summary A group of 12 cases of pelvic endometriosis involving the small intestine and bowel are presented. As pelvic endometriosis is most common between 25 and 40 years of age and is usually associated with infertility, it is of interest that the average age in this group was 40 years—the youngest patient being 23 years old and the oldest 52 years; also, that of the 9 married women, 6 had children. It is probable that many young women have unrecognized pelvic endometriosis that is a cause of various so-called functional or reflex disorders of the intestinal tract. The disease often escapes recognition and a positive diagnosis is infrequently made before operation. It may simulate appendicitis and terminal ileitis in its acute manifestation, and chronic diverticulitis and cancer of the rectosigmoid in its more chronic form, especially in older individuals. It commonly invades the serosal surfaces and the deeper layers of the bowel, the mucosa invariably escaping. Endometriosis may be more often suspected as a cause of obscure functional and organic lesions in the intestinal tract if it is kept in mind that the symptoms and physical signs frequently are associated with dysmenorrhea and menstrual disturbances and that pelvic examination will in most cases reveal evidence of the disease in the pelvis. The treatment of endometriosis, which has been well summarized by Payne,l' consists of routine observation, surgical intervention or irradiation depending upon the severity of symptoms, patient's age, and the removability of the major lesions. In the absence of complications conservative treatment is desirable, particularly in women of the child-bearing age with the preservation of ovarian and, if possible, menstrual and procreative functions. In recent years androgen therapy 18 has appeared to be efficacious in some cases. One of the cases reported (case 12) illustrates, as far as we can determine, what may well be a syndrome hitherto unrecognized in the literature of disordered motor function of the small intestine due to peritoneal imitation, the latter being the result of free endometrial fluid in the peritoneal cavity arising from pelvic endometriosis.
Fast Domino Tileability

Domino tileability is a classical problem in Discrete Geometry, famously solved by Thurston for simply connected regions in nearly linear time in the area. In this paper, we improve upon Thurston's height function approach to a nearly linear time in the perimeter.
RbMgCO3F: A New Beryllium-Free Deep-Ultraviolet Nonlinear Optical Material

A new deep-ultraviolet nonlinear optical material, RbMgCO3F, has been synthesized and characterized. The achiral nonpolar acentric material is second harmonic generation (SHG) active at both 1064 and 532 nm, with efficiencies of 160 × α-SiO2 and 0.6 × β-BaB2O4, respectively, and exhibits a short UV cutoff, below 190 nm. RbMgCO3F possesses a three-dimensional structure of corner-shared Mg(CO3)2F2 polyhedra. Unlike other acentric carbonate fluorides, in this example, the inclusion of Mg2+ creates pentagonal channels where the Rb+ resides. Our electronic structure calculations reveal that the denticity of the carbonate linkage, monodentate or bidendate, to the divalent cation is a useful parameter for tuning the transparency window and achieving the sizable SHG response.
Sustained fitness gains and variability in fitness trajectories in the long-term evolution experiment with Escherichia coli

Many populations live in environments subject to frequent biotic and abiotic changes. Nonetheless, it is interesting to ask whether an evolving population's mean fitness can increase indefinitely, and potentially without any limit, even in a constant environment. A recent study showed that fitness trajectories of Escherichia coli populations over 50 000 generations were better described by a power-law model than by a hyperbolic model. According to the power-law model, the rate of fitness gain declines over time but fitness has no upper limit, whereas the hyperbolic model implies a hard limit. Here, we examine whether the previously estimated power-law model predicts the fitness trajectory for an additional 10 000 generations. To that end, we conducted more than 1100 new competitive fitness assays. Consistent with the previous study, the power-law model fits the new data better than the hyperbolic model. We also analysed the variability in fitness among populations, finding subtle, but significant, heterogeneity in mean fitness. Some, but not all, of this variation reflects differences in mutation rate that evolved over time. Taken together, our results imply that both adaptation and divergence can continue indefinitely--or at least for a long time--even in a constant environment.
Pediatric Terrorism Preparedness: National Guidelines and Recommendations—Findings of an Evidenced-Based Consensus Process

A cadre of experts and stakeholders from government agencies, professional organizations, emergency medicine and response, pediatrics, mental health, and disaster preparedness were gathered to review and summarize the existing data on the needs of children in the planning, preparation, and response to disasters or terrorism. This review was followed by development of evidence-based consensus guidelines and recommendations on the needs of children in disasters, including chemical, biological, and radiological terrorism. An evidence-based consensus process was used in conjunction with a modified Delphi approach for selection of topic areas and discussion points. These recommendations and guidelines represent the first national evidence-based standards for pediatric disaster and terrorism preparedness.
Homological properties of determinantal arrangements

Abstract We explore a natural extension of braid arrangements in the context of determinantal arrangements. We show that these determinantal arrangements are free divisors. Additionally, we prove that free determinantal arrangements defined by the minors of 2 × n matrices satisfy nice combinatorial properties. We also study the topology of the complements of these determinantal arrangements, and prove that their higher homotopy groups are isomorphic to those of S 3 . Furthermore, we find that the complements of arrangements satisfying those same combinatorial properties above have Poincare polynomials that factor nicely.
Antimicrobial Activity of Gallium Protoporphyrin IX against Acinetobacter baumannii Strains Displaying Different Antibiotic Resistance Phenotypes

A paucity of effective, currently available antibiotics and a lull in antibiotic development pose significant challenges for treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii infections. Thus, novel therapeutic strategies must be evaluated to meet the demands of treatment of these often life-threatening infections. Accordingly, we examined the antibiotic activity of gallium protoporphyrin IX (Ga-PPIX) against a collection of A. baumannii strains, including nonmilitary and military strains and strains representing different clonal lineages and isolates classified as susceptible or MDR. Susceptibility testing demonstrated that Ga-PPIX inhibits the growth of all tested strains when cultured in cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth, with a MIC of 20 μg/ml. This concentration significantly reduced bacterial viability, while 40 μg/ml killed all cells of the A. baumannii ATCC 19606(T) and ACICU MDR isolate after 24-h incubation. Recovery of ATCC 19606(T) and ACICU strains from infected A549 human alveolar epithelial monolayers was also decreased when the medium was supplemented with Ga-PPIX, particularly at a 40-μg/ml concentration. Similarly, the coinjection of bacteria with Ga-PPIX increased the survival of Galleria mellonella larvae infected with ATCC 19606(T) or ACICU. Ga-PPIX was cytotoxic only when monolayers or larvae were exposed to concentrations 16-fold and 1,250-fold higher than those showing antibacterial activity, respectively. These results indicate that Ga-PPIX could be a viable therapeutic option for treatment of recalcitrant A. baumannii infections regardless of the resistance phenotype, clone lineage, time and site of isolation of strains causing these infections and their iron uptake phenotypes or the iron content of the media.
How to Build an Undervoting Machine: Lessons from an Alternative Ballot Design

Despite the importance of usability in ensuring election integrity, it remains an under-studied aspect of voting systems. Voting computers (a.k.a. DREs) offer the opportunity to present ballots to voters in novel ways, yet this space has not been systematically explored. We constructed a DRE that, unlike most commercial DREs, does not require voters to view every race, but instead starts at the “review screen” and lets voters directly navigate to races. This was compared with a more traditional, sequentially-navigated, DRE. The direct access navigation model had two effects, both of which were quite large. First, voters made omission (undervote) errors markedly more often. Second, voters who were free to choose who to vote for chose to vote in substantially fewer races. We also examined the relationship between the true error rate—which is not observable in real elections—and the residual vote rate, a measure of effectiveness commonly used for real elections. Replicating the findings of [Campbell and Byrne 2009a], the mean residual vote rate was close to the mean true error rate, but the correlation between these measures was low, suggesting a loose coupling between these two measures.
The Cost Savings of Changes to Healthier Diets in the U.S.

This paper contributes to the literature on sustainable consumption by using scenario analysis to evaluate the health costs of the U.S. diet relative to the French, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Nordic diets, identified in the literature as healthier diets. As a first step in estimating health costs, a pooled cross-section time-series dataset is used to find the association between BMI and five countries, representative of the five diets. The costs are assessed using estimates in the literature of the health costs associated with an increase in BMI. All four alternative diets result in reduced BMI and, hence, reduced health costs compared to the United States. The Mediterranean diet is the least costly when dietary compositions shifts, but total caloric consumption is held constant at the U.S. level. However, the Japanese diet is the least costly when both dietary composition and total caloric consumption are allowed to shift to the respective level in each diet.
An exploration of the relationship between police presence, crime, and business in developing countries

Economic theory predicts that a rise in police presence will reduce criminal activity. However several studies in the literature have found mixed results. This study adds to the literature by exploring the relationship between the size of the police force and crime experienced by firms. Using survey data for about 12,000 firms in a cross-section of 27 developing countries, the study finds that increasing the size of the police force is negatively associated with crime experienced by firms. The results are confirmed using a panel of firms for a subset of countries for which data are available. The study also finds that this negative relationship is stronger under certain macro-economic circumstances.
Epilepsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: links, risks, and challenges.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a prevalence rate of 7%–9% in the general population of children. However, in children with epilepsy, ADHD has been found to be present in 20%–50% of patients. This paper provides a review of ADHD prevalence in pediatric epilepsy populations and reviews data on specific symptom presentation and attention deficits in patients with epilepsy. This paper also reviews evidence-based treatments for ADHD and specifically the treatment of ADHD as a comorbid condition in children with epilepsy.
On Optimal Multi-Dimensional Mechanism Design

We eciently solve the optimal multi-dimensional mechanism design problem for independent bidders with arbitrary demand constraints when either the number of bidders is a constant or the number of items is a constant. In the rst setting, we need that each bidder’s values for the items are sampled from a possibly correlated, item-symmetric distribution, allowing dierent distributions for each bidder. In the second setting, we allow the values of each bidder for the items to be arbitrarily correlated, but assume that the distribution of bidder types is bidder-symmetric. These symmetric distributions include i.i.d. distributions, as well as many natural correlated distributions. E.g., an item-symmetric distribution can be obtained by taking an arbitrary distribution, and \forgetting" the names of items; this could arise when dierent members of a bidder population have various sorts of correlations among the items, but the items are \the same" with respect to a random bidder from the population. For all > 0, we obtain a computationally ecient additive -approximation, when the value distributions are bounded, or a multiplicative (1 )-approximation when the value distributions are unbounded, but satisfy the Monotone Hazard Rate condition, covering a widely studied class of distributions in Economics. Our running time is polynomial in maxf#items,#biddersg, and not the size of the support of the joint distribution of all bidders’ values for all items, which is typically exponential in both the number of items and the number of bidders. Our mechanisms are randomized, explicitly price bundles, and in some cases can also accommodate budget constraints. Our results are enabled by establishing several new tools and structural properties of Bayesian mechanisms. In particular, we provide a symmetrization technique that turns any truthful mechanism into one that has the same revenue and respects all symmetries in the underlying value distributions. We also prove that item-symmetric mechanisms satisfy a natural strong-monotonicity property which, unlike cyclic-monotonicity, can be harnessed algorithmically. Finally, we provide a technique that turns any given -BIC mechanism (i.e. one where incentive constraints are violated by ) into a truly-BIC mechanism at the cost of O( p ) revenue. We expect our tools to be used beyond the settings we consider here. Indeed there has already been follow-up research [8, 9] making use of our tools.
A view from the farm-gate: farmers' perspectives on water quality

Regional and sub-regional policies and rules that set limits on diffuse nutrient losses from agricultural land are being put in place across New Zealand. In Canterbury, it is expected that water quality and nutrient loss limits, and irrigation expansion within those limits, will be achieved by existing irrigators (and new entrants) adopting good management practice and, where it is deemed necessary, going beyond it to best management practice. Research undertaken in North Canterbury shows that farmers’ understandings of the relationship between land and water are out-of-sync with the scientific framing of the land-water relationship embodied in the Hurunui Waiau River Regional Plan. While easily dismissed as farmers’ lack of recognition of their cumulative effects or their misunderstanding of the science, it will be argued that acknowledging and recognising how farmers frame the water quality problem is an important starting point for working with them in the implementation of these new policies and rules and the achievement of good and best management practice.
Approximation in mechanism design with interdependent values

Abstract This paper studies the revenue maximization problem in environments wherein buyers have interdependent values and correlated types. We show that (1) when the system of feasible sets is a matroid and buyer valuations satisfy a single-crossing condition, the generalized Vickrey–Clarke–Groves mechanisms with lazy reserves (VCG-L) are ex-post incentive compatible and ex-post individually rational; (2) if, in addition, the valuation distribution satisfies a generalized monotone hazard rate condition, the VCG-L mechanism with conditional monopoly reserves is approximately optimal. Then we construct an ascending auction that implements the truth-telling equilibrium of a VCG-L mechanism in ex-post equilibrium. Finally, we discuss the connection between the VCG-L mechanisms and greedy algorithms studied in Lehmann et al. (2002) and deferred-acceptance auctions studied in Milgrom and Segal (2014) , and the impact of competition by proving a Bulow and Klemperer (1996) type result.
Data locality in MapReduce: A network perspective

Abstract Data locality, a critical consideration for the performance of task scheduling in MapReduce, has been addressed in the literature by increasing the number of locally processed tasks. In this paper, we view the data locality problem from a network perspective. The key observation is that if we make appropriate use of the network to route the data chunk to the machine where it will be processed in advance, then processing a remote task is the same as processing a local task. However, to benefit from such a strategy, we must (i) balance the tasks assigned to local machines and those assigned to remote machines, and (ii) design the routing algorithm to avoid network congestion. Taking these challenges into consideration, we propose a scheduling/routing algorithm, named the Joint Scheduler, which utilizes both the computing resources and the communication network efficiently. We prove that the Joint Scheduler is throughput optimal; i.e., it supports any load that is supportable by any other algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that with popularity skew, the Joint Scheduler improves the throughput and delay performance significantly compared to the Hadoop Fair Scheduler with delay scheduling, which is the de facto industry standard.
Structural Basis of an N-Degron Adaptor with More Stringent Specificity.

The N-end rule dictates that a protein's N-terminal residue determines its half-life. In bacteria, the ClpS adaptor mediates N-end-rule degradation, by recognizing proteins bearing specific N-terminal residues and delivering them to the ClpAP AAA+ protease. Unlike most bacterial clades, many α-proteobacteria encode two ClpS paralogs, ClpS1 and ClpS2. Here, we demonstrate that both ClpS1 and ClpS2 from A. tumefaciens deliver N-end-rule substrates to ClpA, but ClpS2 has more stringent binding specificity, recognizing only a subset of the canonical bacterial N-end-rule residues. The basis of this enhanced specificity is addressed by crystal structures of ClpS2, with and without ligand, and structure-guided mutagenesis, revealing protein conformational changes and remodeling in the substrate-binding pocket. We find that ClpS1 and ClpS2 are differentially expressed during growth in A. tumefaciens and conclude that the use of multiple ClpS paralogs allows fine-tuning of N-end-rule degradation at the level of substrate recognition.
Ligand-Enabled γ-C(sp3)–H Olefination of Amines: En Route to Pyrrolidines

Pd(II)-catalyzed olefination of γ-C(sp3)–H bonds of triflyl (Tf) and 4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl (Ns) protected amines is achieved. Subsequent aza-Wacker oxidative cyclization or conjugate addition of the olefinated intermediates provides a variety of C-2 alkylated pyrrolidines. Three pyridine- and quinoline-based ligands are developed to match different classes of amine substrates, demonstrating a rare example of ligand-enabled C(sp3)–H olefination reactions. The use of Ns protecting group to direct C(sp3)–H activation of alkyl amines is also a significant step toward practical C–H functionalizations of alkyl amines.
Broadening Benefits from Natural Resource Extraction: Housing Values and Taxation of Natural Gas Wells as Property

We study the effects of the property tax base shock caused by natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale in Texas–a state that taxes oil and gas wells as property. Over the boom and bust in drilling, housing appreciation closely followed the oil and gas property tax base, which expanded the total tax base by 23 percent at its height. The expansion led to a decline in property tax rates while maintaining or increasing revenues to schools. Overall, each $1 per student increase in the oil and gas property tax base increased the value of the typical home by $0.15. Some evidence suggests that the cumulative density of wells nearby may lower housing values, indicating that drilling could reduce local welfare without policies to increase local public revenues.
Does fundraising create new giving

Abstract Despite an extensive literature on the impacts of a variety of charitable fundraising techniques, little is known about whether these activities increase overall giving or merely cause donors to substitute away from other causes. Using detailed data from Donorschoose.org , an online platform linking teachers with prospective donors, I examine the extent to which matching grants for donations to certain requests affect giving to others. Eligibility for matches is determined in entirely by observable attributes of the request, providing an exogenous source of variation in incentives to donate between charities. I find that, while matches increase giving to eligible requests, they do not appear to crowd out giving to similar ones, either contemporaneously or over time.
The effect of natural disasters on housing prices: An examination of the Fourmile Canyon fire

Abstract In September 2010, the Fourmile-Lefthand Canyon forest fire burned 6181 acres, destroyed 169 homes, and caused $217 million in property damages making it by far the most expensive fire in Colorado history at the time. This paper examines how the fire affected housing prices in vulnerable neighboring areas that were not directly impacted by the fire, controlling for the property’s level of risk. This damaging fire may have increased home owners’ perceptions about the risk of living in forested areas subject to wildfires to a significant degree adding to the total direct economic losses from the fire. Utilizing a unique fire risk data set and a difference-in-difference approach, we test whether buyers of houses in areas with different risk levels prior to the fire adjust expectations differently. We find buyers in the highest risk area are most likely to change their perceptions in response to a fire with houses in these areas experiencing a statistically significant 21.7% decline in sale price compared to houses in non-risky areas.
Characterizing investor expectations for assets with varying risk

Abstract How do financial market investors form expectations about assets with different risk characteristics? We examine this question using Euro-area yield curves for AAA-rated and AAA-with-other bonds. Investors’ conditional forecasts about the yield curves for different assets, at various forecasting horizons, are modeled using a VAR model with time-varying parameters. Two processes are assumed for the evolution of these parameters: a constant-gain learning model and a new endogenous learning technique proposed here. Both these algorithms allow investors to account for structural changes in the data. The endogenous learning mechanism also allows investors to compensate for large deviations in observed coefficients used for forecasting, relative to past data. Daily data is used to estimate the gain parameters for the learning algorithms, and we find that these gains vary across asset types, implying investors form conditional expectations differently for assets with differential risks. For 2005–2015, the investors’ conditional forecasts for the AAA-rated bonds are better described using the endogenous learning mechanism, implying that investors with lower risk preferences are more sensitive to large deviations in the data.
Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement of Water Using Brazed Copper Microporous Coatings

A novel, high-temperature, thermally-conductive, microporous coating (HTCMC) is developed by brazing copper particles onto a copper surface. This coating is more durable than many previous microporous coatings and also effectively creates reentrant cavities by optimizing brazing conditions. A parametric study of coating thicknesses of 49–283 μm with an average particle size of ∼25 μm was conducted using the HTCMC coating to understand nucleate boiling heat transfer (NBHT) enhancement on porous surfaces. It was found that there are three porous coating regimes according to their thicknesses. The first regime is “microporous” in which both NBHT and critical heat flux (CHF) enhancements gradually grow as the coating thickness increases. The second regime is “microporous-to-porous transition” where NBHT is further enhanced at lower heat fluxes but decreases at higher heat fluxes for increasing thickness. CHF in this regime continues to increase as the coating thickness increases. The last regime is named as “porous”, and both NBHT and CHF decrease as the coating thickness increases further than that of the other two regimes. The maximum nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient observed was ∼350,000 W/m2K at 96 μm thickness (“microporous” regime) and the maximum CHF observed was ∼2.1 MW/m2 at ∼225 μm thickness (“porous” regime).Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Genetic Risk of Obesity

The worldwide obesity epidemic has been largely attributed to marked changes in diet and lifestyle in the last 3 decades. Strong evidence from numerous studies supports a positive association between increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and the risk of obesity. It is unclear whether in