cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Integration of B2B logistics using Semantic Web services

In this paper, we present a case study about the integration of a new partner into a freight logistics chain using semantic web services. We do this in the context of conceptual architecture of the EU Semantic Web-enabled Web Services project [5]. The case study is based on the process of substituting one of our freight forwarders (ocean shipping) with another logistic partner. The result of substitution must be the same functionally as existed before the substitution. We present the service description requirements which we encountered during its development. We discuss our experiences in using OWL-S to describe the services.
Mechanism for recombination of radiation-induced point defects at interphase boundaries

MD studies of collision cascades in KS-type Cu-Nb interfaces are performed, revealing that Cu interstitials are preferentially loaded into the interface while on the bcc Nb side there is very little absorption of interstitials. The interstitial loading effect at two types of heterogeneous Cu-Nb interfaces, both KS-type and SPD {l_brace}112{r_brace}-type interfaces is studied: (a) The Cu interstitials are observed to spontaneously emit from both types of interfaces to annihilate vacancies in the nearby bulk, (b) MD and NEB studies are used to characterize low barrier emission processes. Our study also indicates that interstitials do not lose their identity when absorbed even at interfaces where they become significantly delocalized.
Quantum Phase Transitions

Part I. Introduction: 1. Basic concepts 2. The mapping to classical statistical mechanics: single site models 3. Overview Part II. Quantum Ising and Rotor Models: 4. The Ising chain in a transverse field 5. Quantum rotor models: large N limit 6. The d = 1, 0 (N greater than or equal to 3) rotor models 7. The d = 2 (N greater than or equal to 3) rotor models 8. Physics close to and above the upper-critical dimension 9. Transport in d = 2 Part III. Other Models: 10. Boston Hubbard model 11. Dilute Fermi and Bose gases 12. Phase transitions of Fermi liquids 13. Heisenberg spins: ferromagnets and antiferromagnets 14. Spin chains: bosonization 15. Magnetic ordering transitions of disordered systems 16. Quantum spin glasses.
Combining a Clostridial Enzyme Exhibiting Unusual Active Site Plasticity with a Remarkably Facile Sigmatropic Rearrangement: Rapid, Stereocontrolled Entry into Densely Functionalized Fluorinated Phosphonates for Chemical Biology

Described is an efficient stereocontrolled route into valuable, densely functionalized fluorinated phosphonates that takes advantage of (i) a Clostridial enzyme to set the absolute stereochemistry and (ii) a new [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the thiono-Claisen variety that is among the fastest sigmatropic rearrangements yet reported. Here, a pronounced rate enhancement is achieved by distal fluorination. This rearrangement is completely stereoretentive, parlaying the enzymatically established β-C–O stereochemistry in the substrate into the δ-C–S stereochemistry in the product. The final products are of interest to chemical biology, with a platform for Zn-aminopeptidase A inhibitors being constructed here. The enzyme, Clostridium acetobutylicum (CaADH), recently expressed by our group, reduces a spectrum of γ,δ-unsaturated β-keto-α,α-difluorophosphonate esters (93–99% ee; 10 examples). The resultant β-hydroxy-α,α-difluorophosphonates possess the “l”-stereochemistry, opposite to that previously observe...
Java Program Verification via a JVM Deep Embedding in ACL2

In this paper, we show that one can “deep-embed” the Java bytecode language, a fairly complicated language with a rich semantics, into the first order logic of ACL2 by modeling a realistic JVM. We show that with proper support from a semi-automatic theorem prover in that logic, one can reason about the correctness of Java programs. This reasoning can be done in a direct and intuitive way without incurring the extra burden that has often been associated with hand proofs, or proofs that make use of less automated proof assistance. We present proofs for two simple Java programs as a showcase.
The Role of coronal mass ejections in solar activity

Observation and theory relating to coronal mass ejections are critically reviewed. The suggestion is explored that the coronal mass ejection is the hydromagnetic process by which the corona reconfigures systematically over an eleven-year magnetic cycle to culminate in the reversal of its global magnetic field. Central to this suggestion is the idea that magnetic fields in twisted form rise bodily, over evolutionary time scales, into the corona from below to form the cavity in a helmet streamer. The magnetic field accumulated in the cavity subsequently leaves the corona with the coronal mass ejection when the helmet streamer erupts dynamically. This may be the process which removes the old magnetic flux from the corona for replacement by the flux of the opposite polarity belonging to the new magnetic cycle.
Trade effects of regional standards liberalization : a heterogeneous firms approach

This study investigates trade effects of the regional liberalization of technical barriers to trade (TBTs) in the form of harmonization and mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) for testing procedures. The theoretical part of the paper is framed in terms of a heterogeneous firms approach. This paper adds to the existing literature by formalizing the effects of MRAs and harmonization initiatives on bilateral trade flows and by applying this new theoretical framework in the empirical part of the paper. The latter consists of a two-stage gravity estimation and investigates sectoral effects of TBT liberalization on parties to the agreement as well as excluded industrial and developing countries. It finds that MRAs have a strong positive influence on both export probabilities and trade volumes for partner countries. Regarding harmonization, results seem to suggest that the impact on parties to the agreement is negligible, however that on excluded OECD countries is large and positive. Third party developing countries do not seem to benefit from the market integration effect brought about by harmonization in other regions. Overall, effects on the probability that a new firm will export are much more pronounced than effects on the trade volumes of incumbent exporters.
What Goes Up Must Come Down? Asymmetries and Persistence in Bank Deposit Rates

This paper contains a model of price setting in the presence of heterogeneous customers, explaining why bank interest rates respond sluggishly to some extended movements in market interest rates but not to others. Price (the bank interest rate) is likely to change only slightly with cost (the market interest rate) when the price-cost margin is already large and to be responsive when the price-cost margin is relatively small. The model is tested using data on interest rates offered for bank deposit instruments during 1987–2001. The results support the theoretical model, indicating that customer behavior plays a role in bank interest rate decisions.
CONCENTRATION, VULNERABILITY AND ADJUSTMENT: RURAL TEXTILE AND APPAREL EMPLOYMENT AND THE EXPIRATION OF IMPORT QUOTAS

The paper documents the degree of concentration of textile and apparel employment in rural countries, assesses the vulnerability to job loss by detailed industry in light of the expiration of import quotas, and assesses the potential for adjustment of displaced workers.
Do Rural Infrastructure Investments Benefit the Poor? Evaluating Linkages--A Global View, A Focus on Vietnam

What are linkages between rural infrastructure investments, and household welfare? In the past, most of the evaluations to assess the effectiveness of a project, focused on physical outputs, and success of project implementation. In recent years, more attention has been given to the impact of investments, particularly its effect on the poor, both in economic, and non-economic terms. The author presents findings from a survey of the existing literature on such impacts. Although evidence exists for improved household welfare from rural infrastructure investment, little evidence was found of studies that provided concrete linkages between specific investments in rural infrastructure, and increased welfare of the rural poor. This is due in part to the complexity, and oftentimes the concurrent nature of interventions, that make attributing welfare improvements, to a particular project, virtually impossible. The evidence is presented in this three-part paper. Part I gives examples of past, and current attempts to assess the impact of rural infrastructure projects, and provides suggestions for future evaluations. Part II discusses in detail some observed economic, and non-economic impacts on the poor, from different rural infrastructure interventions. Part III presents lessons learned from the literature on how to maximize the impact of rural infrastructure interventions on household welfare. Specific project, and country examples from the literature, and new data from a recent qualitative study in Vietnam, are presented as evidence for, and illustration of key ideas, and issues.
Weakly Normal Groups

Publisher Summary This chapter describes that a group G is weakly normal if and only if every definable X ⊂ G n is a Boolean combination of cosets of acl (ϕ)-definable subgroups ∀n if and only if every definable X ⊂ G n is a Boolean combination of cosets of definable subgroups (of G n ) ∀n. The chapter describes some equivalent conditions to that of weak normality and some basic results on stable groups. A locally connected definable subgroup of a weakly normal group is acl (ϕ)-definable. The chapter shows that if G is a weakly normal group, any p ∊ S(G) is determined by the definable cosets in p. The above result is enough to prove equivalence in the theorem, “an Abelian structure is an Abelian group A, together with distinguished subgroups of A n for various n's. Any Abelian structure is interpretable in a module.”
Conditional Cash Transfers, Civil Conflict and Insurgent Influence: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines

Abstract Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs are an increasingly popular tool for reducing poverty in conflict-affected areas. Despite their growing popularity, there is limited evidence on how CCT programs affect conflict and theoretical predictions are ambiguous. We estimate the effect of conditional cash transfers on civil conflict in the Philippines by exploiting an experiment that randomly assigned eligibility for a CCT program at the village level. We find that cash transfers caused a substantial decrease in conflict-related incidents in treatment villages relative to control villages in the first 9 months of the program. Using unique data on local insurgent influence, we also find that the program reduced insurgent influence in treated villages. An analysis of possible spillovers yields inconclusive results. While we find no statistical evidence of spillovers, we also cannot rule out that the village-level effect was due to displacement of insurgent activity from treatment to control villages.
Killing Civilians as an Inferior Input in a Rational Choice Model of Genocide and Mass Killing

This article presents a rational choice model of a regime’s incentive to allocate resources to fighting rebels and killing civilians when facing an internal threat to its political or territorial control. Assuming that intentional violence against civilians is an inferior input and fighting rebels is subject to increasing marginal returns, three weak state conditions – anocracy, new state status, and low income – increase civilian atrocities within the model. Also, two other risk factors for mass atrocities – discrimination and Cold War conditions – can be seen as “price reducers” for killing civilians, thus increasing the quantity demanded for civilian atrocities in the model. The modeling exercises show how intentional violence against civilians can be viewed through an economic lens of optimal choice and how rational choice theory provides a parsimonious way to theorize and generate empirically testable hypotheses about risk factors for genocide and mass killing.
Hochschild cohomology and quantum Drinfeld Hecke algebras

Quantum Drinfeld Hecke algebras are generalizations of Drinfeld Hecke algebras in which polynomial rings are replaced by quantum polynomial rings. We identify these algebras as deformations of skew group algebras, giving an explicit connection to Hochschild cohomology. We compute the relevant part of Hochschild cohomology for actions of many reflection groups, and we exploit computations from Naidu et al. (Proc Am Math Soc 139:1553–1567, 2011) for diagonal actions. By combining our work with recent results of Levandovskyy and Shepler (Can J Math 66:874–901, 2014) we produce examples of quantum Drinfeld Hecke algebras. These algebras generalize the braided Cherednik algebras of Bazlov and Berenstein (Selecta Math 14(3–4):325–372, 2009).
Design Considerations for Fatigue in Timber Structures

Information on fatigue of wood and on adequacy of design based on present day working stresses with respect to fatigue; working stresses for timber are developed from average test values for clear wood by applying factors for normal variability, indeterminacy of stress analysis, natural strength-reducing characteristics present in structural timbers, and duration of loading.
A state queueing model of thermostatically controlled appliances

Summary form only given. This paper develops a state queueing model to analyze the price response of aggregated loads consisting of thermostatically controlled appliances (TCAs). Assuming a perfectly diversified bad before the price response, we show that TCA setpoint changes in response to the market price will result in a redistribution of TCAs in on/off states and therefore change the probabilities for a unit to reside in each state. A randomly distributed load can be partially synchronized and the aggregated diversity lost. The loss of the load diversity can then create unexpected dynamics in the aggregated load profile. Raising issues such as restoring load diversity and damping the peak loads are also addressed in the paper.
Bankruptcy Reform in Russia: The Case for Creditor Rights in Russia

Russia at the dawn of the 21st century is experiencing a collapsing economy. In a world where healthy economies create and maintain capital, it is critically important that all efforts be made to assure all creditors and especially private direct investors that in the event of debtor-insolvency their business interests are protected. The role of bankruptcy law under a regime of what I call “creditor rights” is limited. The court system can be used to avoid a “creditors's race” to grab assets. Whenever the “going concern” value of a firm is greater than the sum of the assets sold separately a case can be made for a bankruptcy procedure as a way of protecting creditor rights. This paper examines the historical origins of the “creditor rights tradition” and advocates such a regime for modern Russia. This paper holds that especially with respect to Russia, we would do well to heed John Stuart Mill's advice and support reforms that favor creditors and protect the value of their rights. Those insolvent firms owned and managed by political oligarchs should be cut down, dismembered, and the assets they command transferred to new and more imaginative and solvent groups of managers.
A characterization of span program size and improved lower bounds for monotone span programs

We give a characterization of span program size by a combinatorial-algebraic measure. The measure we consider is a generalization of a measure on covers which has been used to prove lower bounds on formula size and has also been studied with respect to communication complexity.In the monotone case our new methods yield nΩ(log n) lower bounds for the monotone span program complexity of explicit Boolean functions in n variables over arbitrary fields, improving the previous lower bounds on monotone span program size. Our characterization of span program size implies that any matrix with superpolynomial separation between its rank and cover number can be used to obtain superpolynomial lower bounds on monotone span program size. We also identify a property of bipartite graphs that is sufficient for constructing Boolean functions with large monotone span program complexity.
Three-Dimensional Stress Distribution of a Double-Cantilever Beam with a Side Notch

The effect of a side notch used as a crack guide in a double-cantilever-beam specimen is investigated. The resulting stress distribution along the section of symmetry ahead of the notch is obtained from a three-dimensional photoelastic model. The effect of the side notch through the thickness and down the side of the specimen is determined. After stress freezing, the model was sliced along principal planes. Along the x-x plane of symmetry, the principal stresses were determined by graphical integration of Filon's transformation of the Lame-Maxwell equations and by subslicing along the x-z plane. Results of the investigation are in good agreement with those of other investigators. The side notch increases the value of the maximum tensile stress at the intersection of the starter notch and the side notch by approximately 22 percent.
Agendas and consumer choice

An agenda (either implicit or imposed) is a set of constraints on the order of selecting or eliminating choice alternatives. It can be “top down,” “bottom up” (as a tournament), or more general. Th...
The IBM RT07 Evaluation Systems for Speaker Diarization on Lecture Meetings

We present the IBM systems for the Rich Transcription 2007 (RT07) speaker diarization evaluation task on lecture meeting data. We first overview our baseline system that was developed last year, as part of our speech-to-text system for the RT06s evaluation. We then present a number of simple schemes considered this year in our effort to improve speaker diarization performance, namely: (i) A better speech activity detection (SAD) system, a necessary pre-processing step to speaker diarization; (ii) Use of word information from a speaker-independent speech recognizer; (iii) Modifications to speaker cluster merging criteria and the underlying segment model; and (iv) Use of speaker models based on Gaussian mixture models, and their iterative refinement by frame-level re-labeling and smoothing of decision likelihoods. We report development experiments on the RT06s evaluation test set that demonstrate that these methods are effective, resulting in dramatic performance improvements over our baseline diarization system. For example, changes in the cluster segment models and cluster merging methodology result in a 24.2% relative reduction in speaker error rate, whereas use of the iterative model refinement process and word-level alignment produce a 36.0% and 9.2% speaker error relative reduction, respectively. The importance of the SAD subsystem is also shown, with SAD error reduction from 12.3% to 4.3% translating to a 20.3% relative reduction in speaker error rate. Unfortunately however, the developed diarization system heavily depends on appropriately tuning thresholds in the speaker cluster merging process. Possibly as a result of over-tuning such thresholds, performance on the RT07 evaluation test set degrades significantly compared to the one observed on development data. Nevertheless, our experiments show that the introduced techniques of cluster merging, speaker model refinement and alignment remain valuable in the RT07 evaluation.
Almost optimal bounds for direct product threshold theorem

We consider weakly-verifiable puzzles which are challenge-response puzzles such that the responder may not be able to verify for itself whether it answered the challenge correctly. We consider k-wise direct product of such puzzles, where now the responder has to solve k puzzles chosen independently in parallel. Canetti et al have earlier shown that such direct product puzzles have a hardness which rises exponentially with k. In the threshold case addressed in Impagliazzo et al, the responder is required to answer correctly a fraction of challenges above a threshold. The bound on hardness of this threshold parallel version was shown to be similar to Chernoff bound, but the constants in the exponent are rather weak. Namely, Impagliazzo et al show that for a puzzle for which probability of failure is δ, the probability of failing on less than (1−γ)δk out of k puzzles, for any parallel strategy, is at most $e^{-\gamma^2\delta k/40}$. In this paper, we develop new techniques to bound this probability, and show that it is arbitrarily close to Chernoff bound. To be precise, the bound is $e^{-\gamma^2(1-\gamma) \delta k/2}$. We show that given any responder that solves k parallel puzzles with a good threshold, there is a uniformized parallel solver who has the same threshold of solving k parallel puzzles, while being oblivious to the permutation of the puzzles. This enhances the analysis considerably, and may be of independent interest.
Approximation Algorithms for the Minimum Bends Traveling Salesman Problem

The problem of traversing a set of points in the order that minimizes the total distance traveled (traveling salesman problem) is one of the most famous and well-studied problems in combinatorial optimization. In this paper, we introduce the metric of minimizing the number of turns in the tour, given that the input points are in the Euclidean plane. We give approximation algorithms for several variants under this metric. For the general case we give a logarithmic approximation algorithm. For the case when the lines of the tour are restricted to being either horizontal or vertical, we give a 2-approximation algorithm. If we have the further restriction that no two points are allowed to have the same x- or y-coordinate, we give an algorithm that finds a tour which makes at most two turns more than the optimal tour. We also introduce several interesting algorithmic techniques for decomposing sets of points in the Euclidean plane that we believe to be of independent interest.
Attenuation of Oscillatory Potentials in Nob2 Mice

Purpose To examine changes in inner retinal function of nob2 mice, expressing a null mutation in Cacna1f encoding the CaV1.4 subunit of voltage-dependent calcium channels. CACNA1F mutations underlie one form of incomplete X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB2). In addition to a loss of dark-adapted (rod-driven) visual sensitivity, electroretinogram (ERG) b-waves and oscillatory potentials (OPs) are decreased in CSNB2 patients.
Consumers' Willingness-to-Pay for Perennial Grass Conversion to Renewable Energy in South-Central Minnesota

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. Major: SCience, Technology, and Environmental policy. Advisor: K. William Easter. 1 computer file (PDF); xiv, 117 pages, xiv, 117 pages, appendices A-B.
Inducing Probabilistic Grammars by Bayesian Model Merging

We describe a framework for inducing probabilistic grammars from corpora of positive samples. First, samples are incorporated by adding ad-hoc rules to a working grammar; subsequently, elements of the model (such as states or nonterminals) are merged to achieve generalization and a more compact representation. The choice of what to merge and when to stop is governed by the Bayesian posterior probability of the grammar given the data, which formalizes a trade-off between a close fit to the data and a default preference for simpler models (‘Occam's Razor’). The general scheme is illustrated using three types of probabilistic grammars: Hidden Markov models, class-based n-grams, and stochastic context-free grammars.
Constructing Quantified Invariants via Predicate Abstraction

Predicate abstraction provides a powerful tool for verifying properties of infinite-state systems using a combination of a decision procedure for a subset of first-order logic and symbolic methods originally developed for finite-state model checking. We consider models where the system state contains mutable function and predicate state variables. Such a model can describe systems containing arbitrarily large memories, buffers, and arrays of identical processes. We describe a form of predicate abstraction that constructs a formula over a set of universally quantified variables to describe invariant properties of the function state variables. We provide a formal justification of the soundness of our approach and describe how it has been used to verify several hardware and software designs, including a directory-based cache coherence protocol with unbounded FIFO channels.
Interest Rate Shock and Sustainability of Italy’s Sovereign Debt

Contagion from Greece, together with domestic political uncertainty in Italy, caused interest rates on Italian sovereign debt to spike in the second half of 2011. As shown in Fig. 1, the risk spread above German bunds for 10-year Italian government bonds rose from 200 basis points in early July 2011, to a range of 300–400 basis points after the July 21 Greek package with its new emphasis on private sector involvement. There was a second surge to the 400–500 basis point range in November through January, following the October 27 Greek package that insisted on a 50 % reduction in private sector claims.
Fast Integer Sorting in Linear Space

We present a fast deterministic algorithm for integer sorting in linear space. Our algorithm sorts n integers in linear space in O(n(log log n)1:5) time. This improves the O(n(log log n)2) time bound given in [11]. This result is obtained by combining our new technique with that of Thorup's[11]. The approach and technique we provide are totally different from previous approaches and techniques for the problem. As a consequence our technique can be extended to apply to nonconservative sorting and parallel sorting. Our nonconservative sorting algorithm sorts n integers in {0, 1,...,m-1} in time O(n(log log n)2/(log k+log log log n)) using word length k log(m + n), where k ≤ log n. Our EREW parallel algorithm sorts n integers in {0, 1, ...,m -1} in O((log n)2) time and O(n(log log n)2/log log log n) operations provided log m =Ω((log n)2).
A Combinatorial Approach to the $q,t$-Symmetry Relation in Macdonald Polynomials

Using the combinatorial formula for the transformed Macdonald polynomials of Haglund, Haiman, and Loehr, we investigate the combinatorics of the symmetry relation $\widetilde{H}_\mu(\mathbf{x};q,t)=\widetilde{H}_{\mu^\ast}(\mathbf{x};t,q)$. We provide a purely combinatorial proof of the relation in the case of Hall-Littlewood polynomials ($q=0$) when $\mu$ is a partition with at most three rows, and for the coefficients of the square-free monomials in $\mathbf{x}$ for all shapes $\mu$. We also provide a proof for the full relation in the case when $\mu$ is a hook shape, and for all shapes at the specialization $t=1$. Our work in the Hall-Littlewood case reveals a new recursive structure for the cocharge statistic on words.
Understanding order flow

This paper develops a model for understanding end-User order flow in the FX market. The model addresses several puzzling findings. First, the estimated price-impact of flow from different end-user segments is, dollar-for-dollar, quite different. Second, order flow from segments traditionally thought to be liquidity-motivated actually has power to forecast exchange rates. Third, about one-third of order flow's power to forecast exchange rates 1 month ahead comes from flow's ability to forecast future flow, whereas the remaining two-thirds applies to price components unrelated to Future flow. We show that all of these features arise naturally from end-User heterogeneity, in a setting where order flow provides timely information to market-makers about the state of the macro-economy. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On Bayesian network approximation by edge deletion

We consider the problem of deleting edges from a Bayesian network for the purpose of simplifying models in probabilistic inference. In particular, we propose a new method for deleting network edges, which is based on the evidence at hand. We provide some interesting bounds on the KL-divergence between original and approximate networks, which highlight the impact of given evidence on the quality of approximation and shed some light on good and bad candidates for edge deletion. We finally demonstrate empirically the promise of the proposed edge deletion technique as a basis for approximate inference.
On triangulating dynamic graphical models

This paper introduces improved methodology to triangulate dynamic graphical models and dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs). In this approach, a standard DBN template can be modified so the repeating and unrolled graph section may dissect the original DBN time slice and may also span (and partially intersect) many such slices. We introduce the notion of a "boundary" which divides a graph into multi-slice partitions each of which has an interface, and define the "boundary algorithm", a method to find the best boundary (and corresponding interface) between partitions in such models. We prove that, after using this algorithm, the sizes of the best forwardand backward- interface (and also the corresponding fill-ins) are identical. The boundary algorithm allows for constrained elimination orders (and therefore graph triangulations) that are impossible using standard slice-by-slice constrained elimination. We describe the above using the Graphical Model ToolKit (GMTK)'s notion of dynamic graphical model, slightly generalizing standard DBN templates. We report triangulation results on hand-concocted graphs, novel speech recognition DBNs, and random graphs, and find that the boundary algorithm can significantly improve both tree width and graph weight.
Work as a service

Improving work within and among enterprises is of pressing importance. We take a services-oriented view of both doing and coordinating work by treating work as a service. We discuss how large work engagements can be decomposed into a set of smaller interconnected service requests and conversely how larger engagements can be built up from smaller ones. Encapsulating units of work into service requests enables assignment to any organization qualified to service the work, and naturally lends itself to ongoing optimization of the overall engagement. A service request contains two distinct parts: coordination information for coordinating work and payload information for doing work. Coordination information deals with business concerns such as risk, cost, schedule, and value co-creation. On the other hand, payload information defines the deliverables and provides what is needed to do the work, such as designs or use-cases. This general two-part decomposition leads to a paradigm of work as a two-way information flow between service systems, rather than as a business process that needs to be implemented or integrated between two organizations. Treating work as information flow allows us to leverage extant understanding of information systems and facilitates information technology support for work using mainstream service-oriented architectures (SOA). Significant benefits from this approach include agility in setting up large engagements to be carried out by distributed organizations, visibility into operations without violating providers' privacy or requiring changes to internal processes, responsiveness to unpredictability and change, and ongoing optimizations over competing business objectives.
Adam Smith and the Contemporary World

In this paper that is a transcript of a lecture held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiments" the author who is a Nobel Prize winner in economics reflects on the relevance of this classic. He shows that Smith proposed a historical approach to institutional transformations as opposed to the authors who tried to advance a system of ideal institutions. The importance of Smith's views on impartiality in ethical evaluation of social conditions and in building a just society is also emphasized.
Changes in Debt Patterns and Financial Structure of Farm Businesses: A Double Hurdle Approach

J. Michael HarrisUSDA-Economic Research ServiceJharris@ers.usda.gov John Dillard USDA-Economic Research ServiceJdillard@ers.usda.govKenneth EricksonUSDA-Economic Research ServiceErickson@ers.usda.govCharles HallahanUSDA-Economic Research ServiceHallahan@ers.usda.gov Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association 2009 & ACCI Joint Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 26-29, 2009
NEW APPROACHES TO CTR: GENERAL RELATIVISTIC POWER PLANTS*

The use of small black holes (SBH) for producing controlled fusion power is described. The detection of SBH and power production from them are discussed. Energy conversion and transmission are mentioned. (MOW)
Multicommodity Flow Algorithms for Buffered Global Routing

In this paper we describe a new algorithm for buffered global routing according to a prescribed buffer site map. Specifically, we describe a provably good multi-commodity flow based algorithm that finds a global routing minimizing buffer and wire congestion subject to given constraints on routing area (wirelength and number of buffers) and sink delays. Our algorithm allows computing the tradeoff curve between routing area and wire/buffer congestion under any combination of delay and capacity constraints, and simultaneously performs buffer/wire sizing, as well as layer and pin assignment. Experimental results show that near-optimal results are obtained with a practical runtime.
High Temperature Confinement in SU(N) Gauge Theories

SU(N) gauge theories, extended with adjoint fermions having periodic boundary conditions, are confining at high temperature for sufficiently light fermion mass m. Lattice simulations indicate that this confining region is smoothly connected to the confining region of low-temperature pure SU(N) gauge theory. In the high temperature confining region, the one-loop effective potential for Polyakov loops has a Z(N)-symmetric confining minimum. String tensions associated with Polyakov loops are smooth functions of m/T . In the magnetic sector, the Polyakov loop plays a role similar to a Higgs field, leading to a breaking of SU(N) to U (1)N−1. This is turn yields an effective theory where magnetic monopoles give rise to string tensions for spatial Wilson loops. These string tensions are calculable semiclassically. There are many analytical predictions for the high-temperature region that can be tested by lattice simulations, but lattice work will be crucial for exploring the crossover from this region to the low-temperature confining behavior of pure gauge theories.
Pearl's calculus of intervention is complete

This paper is concerned with graphical criteria that can be used to solve the problem of identifying casual effects from nonexperimental data in a causal Bayesian network structure, i.e., a directed acyclic graph that represents causal relationships. We first review Pearl's work on this topic [Pearl, 1995], in which several useful graphical criteria are presented. Then we present a complete algorithm [Huang and Valtorta, 2006b] for the identifiability problem. By exploiting the completeness of this algorithm, we prove that the three basic do-calculus rules that Pearl presents are complete, in the sense that, if a causal effect is identifiable, there exists a sequence of applications of the rules of the do-calculus that transforms the causal effect formula into a formula that only includes observational quantities.
Purposeful pedaling: analyzing MS 150 participant behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore factors affecting participant awareness, attraction, and attachment to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s (NMSS) MS 150 PGA Tour Cycle to the Shore charitable bike ride utilizing the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) developed by Funk and James. In addition, the authors sought to outline variables sport organizations can use to predict donor behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Data for this project were derived from an electronic survey distributed to race participants and was analyzed in SPSS® software. Regression analysis was employed. Findings – The findings support previous research employing the PCM; wherein social situational variables have the greatest influence on the relational significance of hedonic and dispositional needs in attraction and attachment to sporting events. The work supports the inclusion of communities as an additional attachment outcome. Practical implications – In all, 92 percent of riders were informed about the ev...
Evaluation of electrolytic tilt sensors for wind tunnel model angle-of-attack (AOA) measurements

The results of a laboratory evaluation of three types of electrolytic tilt sensors as potential candidates for model attitude or angle of attack (AOA) measurements in wind tunnel tests are presented. Their performance was also compared with that from typical servo accelerometers used for AOA measurements. Model RG-37 electrolytic tilt sensors were found to have the highest overall accuracy among the three types. Compared with the servo accelerometer, their accuracies are about one order of magnitude worse and each of them cost about two-thirds less. Therefore, the sensors are unsuitable for AOA measurements although they are less expensive. However, the potential for other applications exists where the errors resulting from roll interaction, vibration, and response time are less, and sensor temperature can be controlled. >
Safe Agents in Space: Preventing and Responding to Anomalies in the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment

This paper describes the design of the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment, a software agent that has been running on-board the EO-1 spacecraft since 2003. The agent recognizes science events, retargets the spacecraft to respond to the science events, and reduces data downlink to only the highest value science data. The autonomous science agent was designed using a layered architectural approach with specific redundant safeguards to reduce the risk of an agent malfunction to the EO-1 spacecraft. The agent was designed to be "safe" by first preventing anomalies, then by automatically detecting and responding to them when possible. This paper describes elements of the design that increase the safety of the agent, several of the anomalies that occurred during the experiment, and how the agent responded to these anomalies.
Organizational analysis in computer science

Computer science in the United States is hard pressed to show broad utility to help justify billion dollar research programs and the value of educating well over 40,000 bachelor of science and mast...
Isolation of skeletal muscle nuclei.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the methods for isolation of skeletal muscle nuclei. Most of the methods for preparing muscle nuclei are unsatisfactory, either with respect to yield or degree of cytoplasmic contamination. A troublesome aspect of those methods that give a low yield is the possibility that the nuclei obtained are not really derived from muscle fibers, but rather from some other cell type. The low concentration of nuclei in skeletal muscle is partially compensated for by the fact that this tissue is present in relatively large amounts. Homogenization helps to release nuclei from plant cells that, like muscle fibers, are difficult to rupture without destroying the nuclei. Centrifugation through dense sucrose is used to separate muscle nuclei from cytoplasmic components. The nuclei may be stabilized by inclusion of 1% bovine serum albumin in the solutions to which the nuclei are exposed.
Fermions, mass-gap and Landau levels: gauge invariant Hamiltonian for QCD in D = 2+1

A gauge-invariant reformulation of QCD in three spacetime dimensions is presented within a Hamiltonian formalism, extending previous work to include fermion fields in the adjoint and fundamental representations. A priori there are several ways to define the gauge-invariant versions of the fermions; a consistent prescription for choosing the fermionic variables is presented. The fermionic contribution to the volume element of the gauge orbit space and the gluonic mass-gap is computed exactly and this contribution is shown to be closely related to the mechanism for induction of Chern–Simons terms by parity-odd fermions. The consistency of the Hamiltonian scheme with known results on index theorems, Landau levels and renormalization of Chern–Simons level numbers is shown in detail. We also comment on the fermionic contribution to the volume element in relation to issues of confinement and screening.
Economic Vulnerability Among Rural Single-Mother Families

politicians since the 1960s, perhaps primarily because of the increased risk of poverty and public dependency among single-mother families. Nearly 36% of female-headed families with children were in poverty in 1999 compared with 6.3% of married-couple families (U.S. Census Bureau). Both family types are more likely to be in poverty if they reside in a rural part of the U.S. Over the past decade, poverty rates for rural female-headed families have ranged from a high of 53.1% in 1989 to a low of 42.4% in 1999, whereas those for rural married-couple families have ranged from a high of 12.5% (1994) to a low of 9.3% (1999) (Lichter and Jensen). Despite the concerns of researchers and politicians, single-mother families as a proportion of all families with children under the age of 18 have been increasing over the past four decades, from about one in every ten families in 1959 to nearly one in every four families in 1999 (U.S. Census Bureau). Households with children headed by single mothers grew by 25% during the 1990s (Schmitt). Several policy changes were made during the 1990s in an attempt to slow the growth of single-mother families. One such policy change was the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reform Act (PRWORA) in 1996 (what is more commonly known as "welfare reform") (U.S. Congress). This article focuses on the economic well-being of single-mother families and examines changes in their financial status from a point in time just prior to the passage of the PRWORA through the first three years after implementation. Factors associated with transitions out of economic
Osteocytes and Skeletal Pathophysiology

For many years, osteocytes have been the forgotten bone cells and considered as inactive spectators buried in the bone matrix. We now know that osteocytes detect and respond to mechanical and hormonal stimuli to coordinate bone resorption and bone formation. Osteocytes are currently considered a major source of molecules that regulate the activity of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, such as RANKL and sclerostin; and genetic and pharmacological manipulations of either molecule markedly affect bone homeostasis. Besides playing a role in physiological bone homeostasis, accumulating evidence supports the notion that dysregulation of osteocyte function and alteration of osteocyte life-span underlies the pathophysiology of skeletal disorders characterized by loss bone mass and increased bone fragility, as well as the damaging effects of cancer in bone. In this review, we highlight some of these investigations and discuss novel observations that demonstrate that osteocytes, far from being passive cells entombed in the bone, are critical for bone function and maintenance.
Multiscale Gaussian network model (mGNM) and multiscale anisotropic network model (mANM)

Gaussian network model (GNM) and anisotropic network model (ANM) are some of the most popular methods for the study of protein flexibility and related functions. In this work, we propose generalized GNM (gGNM) and ANM methods and show that the GNM Kirchhoff matrix can be built from the ideal low-pass filter, which is a special case of a wide class of correlation functions underpinning the linear scaling flexibility-rigidity index (FRI) method. Based on the mathematical structure of correlation functions, we propose a unified framework to construct generalized Kirchhoff matrices whose matrix inverse leads to gGNMs, whereas, the direct inverse of its diagonal elements gives rise to FRI method. With this connection, we further introduce two multiscale elastic network models, namely, multiscale GNM (mGNM) and multiscale ANM (mANM), which are able to incorporate different scales into the generalized Kirchhoff matrices or generalized Hessian matrices. We validate our new multiscale methods with extensive numerical experiments. We illustrate that gGNMs outperform the original GNM method in the B-factor prediction of a set of 364 proteins. We demonstrate that for a given correlation function, FRI and gGNM methods provide essentially identical B-factor predictions when the scale value in the correlation function is sufficiently large. More importantly, we reveal intrinsic multiscale behavior in protein structures. The proposed mGNM and mANM are able to capture this multiscale behavior and thus give rise to a significant improvement of more than 11% in B-factor predictions over the original GNM and ANM methods. We further demonstrate the benefits of our mGNM through the B-factor predictions of many proteins that fail the original GNM method. We show that the proposed mGNM can also be used to analyze protein domain separations. Finally, we showcase the ability of our mANM for the analysis of protein collective motions.
Gravitational Settling of 22Ne in Liquid White Dwarf Interiors

The nuclear reactions that occur in the stellar progenitors of white dwarfs (WDs) lead to an internal composition of 12 C, 16 O, and a “contaminant” nucleus, 22 Ne . The 22 Ne is produced by helium captures on 14 N left from hydrogen burning via the CNO cycle. By virtue of its two excess neutrons (relative to the predominant A = 2Z nuclei), a downward force of ≈ 2mpg is exerted on 22 Ne in the WD interior. This biases its diffusive equilibrium, forcing 22 Ne to settle towards the center of the WD. We discuss the physics of the gravitational settling when the WD is in the liquid state and the luminosity generated by it. This modifies the cooling of WD’s with masses in excess of M⊙. The current uncertainties in the microphysics even allow for solutions where a 1.2M⊙ WD remains mostly liquid for a few Gyrs due to the internal heating from 22 Ne sedimentation. This highlights the need for an accurate calculation of the inter-diffusion coefficient , especially in the quantum liquid regime relevant for high mass WD’s. There is also time in old, liquid WD’s (such as thos e found in cataclysmic variables and possibly in accreting Type Ia progenitors) for partial settling. Subject headings: diffusion ‐ novae, cataclysmic variables ‐ stars: abundances, interiors ‐ supernovae: general ‐ white dwarfs
Radio Sources in Galaxy Clusters at 28.5 GHz

We present serendipitous observations of radio sources at 28.5 GHz (1 cm), which resulted from our program to image thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect in 56 galaxy clusters. In a total area of about 0.8 degrees sq., we find 64 radio sources with fluxes down to - 0.4 mJy (> 4sigma,), and within 250" from the pointing centers. The spectral indices (S varies as v(sup -alpha) of 54 sources with published low frequency flux densities range from -0.6 approximately /= 7 mJy to form an unbiased sample, we find a mean spectral index of 0.71 +/- 0.08 and a median of 0.71. We find 4 to 7 times more sources predicted from a low frequency survey in areas without galaxy clusters. This excess cannot be accounted for by gravitational lensing of a background radio population by cluster potentials, indicating most of the detected sources are associated with galaxy clusters. The differential source count slope, gamma is approximately 1.96 (dN/dS varies as S(exp -gamma)), is flatter than what is expected for a nonevolving Euclidean population (gamma = 2.5). For the cluster Abell 2218, the presence of unsubtracted radio sources with S(sub 28.5GHz) is approximately < 0.5 mJy (- 5 sigma), can only contribute to temperature fluctuations at a level of DeltaT is approximately 10 to 25 microK. The corresponding error due to radio point source contamination in the Hubble constant derived through a combined analysis of 28.5 GHz SZ images and X-ray emission observations ranges from 1% to 6%.