cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reproducing a Fit Citizenry: Dependency, Eugenics, and the Law of Marriage in the United States, 1860‐1920

Between the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, American state legislatures enacted a series of new laws that delineated a class of citizens who were deemed ineligible to participate in the institution of marriage. Scholars have characterized this development as evidence that lawmakers had lost faith in a laissez-faire approach to nuptial governance, and thus transformed marriage into an object of public regulation. This essay argues that behind the ostensible nuptial privatism of the mid-nineteenth century lay a self-conscious policy of judicial governance. Judges invoked the language of nuptial privacy and the common law of contract strategically to advance their vision of moral and economic discipline. The new marital prohibitions thus represented, the essay argues, not the expansion of the state's police power into the previously private realm of domestic relations, but rather a critical transformation in how nuptial reformers and lawmakers understood the relationship between marriage and the well-being of the polity. Fueled by growing concerns about pauperism, the racial character of the urban proletariat, and the collapse of the economically independent single-male-breadwinner household, the changing form of nuptial governance signaled a thoroughgoing intellectual and strategic reorientation from an understanding of marriage as forming economically and morally viable households—the fundamental units of society—to an understanding of marriage as a largely procreative institution, as the literal source of the citizenry. This reconceptualization of marriage underwrote a strategy of nuptial governance that mobilized marriage as a strategy in the state's regulation of social reproduction.
Metathetical Conversion of Nd2O3 Nanoparticles into NdS2 Polysulfide Nanoparticles at Low Temperatures Using Boron Sulfides

A new simple metathetical sulfidation method using boron sulfides has been developed to prepare nanoparticles of NdS2 via conversion of ca. 50-nm-sized nanoparticles of Nd2O3 at 450 °C, in which boron and sulfur powders form boron sulfides in situ and evaporate to sulfidize the oxide. The X-ray powder diffraction analysis revealed that the products were purely NdS2, and the atomic absorption spectrometric analysis confirmed nonexistence of boron in the products after washing with water. The detailed TEM studies showed that the NdS2 nanoparticles maintained the original size of the oxide particles without fusion during the low-temperature sulfidation process.
The Fourth Virial Coefficient of a Fluid of Hard Spheres in Odd Dimensions

The fourth virial coefficient is calculated exactly for a fluid of hard spheres in odd dimensions up to 11.
Bifunctional Titanocene Catalysis in Multicomponent Couplings: A Convergent Assembly of β-Alkynyl Ketones

Herein is described a titanium-catalyzed three-component coupling to assemble β-alkynyl ketones in a single operation. Treatment of an aryl aldehyde with an acetylide and silyl enol ether in the presence of a bifunctional titanocene catalyst enables the highly convergent assembly of β-alkynyl ketones in good to excellent yields.
Efficient Computation of the Characteristic Polynomial of a Tree and Related Tasks

An O(n log2 n) algorithm is presented to compute the characteristic polynomial of a tree on n vertices improving on the previously best quadratic time. With the same running time, the algorithm can be generalized in two directions. The algoritm is a counting algorithm, and the same ideas can be used to count other objects. For example, one can count the number of independent sets of all possible sizes simultaneously with the same running time. These counting algorithms not only work for trees, but can be extended to arbitrary graphs of bounded tree-width.
Is it random or impulsive responding? The effect of working memory load on decision-making

Research has suggested individuals with limited working memory (WM) capacity make more impulsive choices than individuals without such limited capacity; however, the specificity of increased impulsivity has been challenged on the grounds that limited WM may lead to an increase in random responding rather than a true increase in impulsivity. Furthermore, whereas some previous research have demonstrated sex differences in decision-making, with males tending to make a higher proportion of impulsive decisions than females, the overall results in this area have been mixed. Thus, the current study specifically controlled for the impact of sex, a potential key issue within this area. In this study, 120 subjects (60 males) were randomly assigned to a WM load or control group and completed a decision-making task requiring rapid decisions. The task utilised three probability of loss conditions. The main findings centred on an interaction between sex and WM load, with males showing increased impulsive decision-makin...
Potential measurement of the weak mixing angle with neutrino-electron scattering at low energy

We study the possibility to measure sin2 θ W by neutrino-electron scattering at a value of the momentum transfer Q ≃ 30 MeV with a precision of 0.24%, which is only a factor three below the one obtained by LEP-I at the Z-pole. The neutrino source is a proton beam dump providing a clean beam from muon decay at rest and the detector is a 100 kt scale water Cerenkov detector, which results in about 20 million signal events.
Management of Patient-Controlled Analgesia: A Comparison of Primary Surgeons and a Dedicated Pain Service

Although Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA) is routinely available in most hospitals in the United States, there appears to be little standardization regarding who provides this valuable service to postoperative patients. This study evaluates the differences in PCA management practices and patient outcomes between primary service (PS) physicians and acute pain service (APS) physicians. Over a 3-mo period, 40 patients prescribed PCA by PS physicians were prospectively studied without the knowledge of the physicians or nurses involved in PCA management. After collecting PS data, a proportionate stratified random sampling procedure was used to select 40 APS patients matched for gender, age, and type of surgery. Data regarding patient demographics, PCA prescription, changes in PCA orders, opioid consumption, reason for discontinuation of PCA, verbal analog scale pain scores, side effects, and post-PCA pain management were analyzed. Although pain scores were not different between groups, APS patients had fewer side effects, were more likely to receive a loading dose, had their PCA settings adjusted more often (P < 0.05), and used more opioid. PS patients were more likely to receive intramuscular medications after PCA discontinuation (P < 0.05). This study demonstrates potentially important PCA management differences between APS and PS physicians.
Reputation and impermanent types

I consider a version of the chain store game where the incumbent firm’s type evolves according to a Markov process with two states: a “tough” type who always fights entry, and a “weak” type who prefers to accommodate. There exists a minimal level of persistence necessary for the incumbent to be able to sustain any reputation for being tough. Above that level, as the number of markets T increases, in equilibrium play alternates between intervals of entry by competitors and intervals of deterrence. When T is infinite, then regardless of the discount factor there exists a sequential equilibrium in which the incumbent’s payoff is bounded below her Stackelberg payoff. Both results are in contrast to the outcome when the incumbent’s type is fixed. One interpretation is that reputation is not permanent, but must be renewed occasionally.
Plant Scale, Industry Agglomeration, and the Outlook for Regional Employment in Central European Economies

A common outcome among Central European transition economies is the significant variation in regional unemployment rates, a condition symptomatic of allocative inefficiency in the labor market. Several studies attribute such variation, at least in part, to large vertically integrated industrial complexes erected during the period of central planning, and in turn to subsequent employment adjustment that operates to the disadvantage of local workers during transition. In this study I provide a test of this hypothesis by examining the correlates of local employment change at the outset of reforms, and specifically adjustment triggered by extreme variation in local plant size and scale externalities.
Identification of Rotordynamic Forces in a Flexible Rotor System Using Magnetic Bearings

A method is presented for parameter identification of an annular gas seal on a flexible-rotor test rig. Dynamic loads are applied by magnetic bearings (MBs) that support the rotor. MB forces are measured using fiber-optic strain gauges that are bonded to the poles of the MBs. In addition to force and position measurements, a finite element rotor model is required for the identification algorithm. The FE rotor model matches free-free characteristics of the test rotor. The addition of smooth air sealed to the system introduces stiffness and damping terms for identification that are representative of reaction forces in turbomachines. Tests are performed to experimentally determine seal stiffness and damping coefficients for different running speeds and preswirl conditions. Stiffness and damping coefficients are determined using a frequency domain identification method. This method uses an iterative approach to minimize error between theoretical and experimental transfer functions. Test results produce seal coefficients with low uncertainties.
Chirality in Liquid Crystals: From Microscopic Origins to Macroscopic Structure

Abstract Molecular chirality leads to a wonderful variety of equilibrium structures, from the simple cholesteric phase to the twist-grain-boundary phases, and it is responsible for interesting and technologically important materials like ferroelectric liquid crystals. This paper will review some recent advances in our understanding of the connection between the chiral geometry of individual molecules and the important phenomenological parameters that determine macroscopic chiral structure. It will then consider chiral structure in columnar systems and propose a new equilibrium phase consisting of a regular lattice of twisted ropes.
Aerobic Amide Bond Formation with N‐hydroxysuccinimide

Breathe easy: Molecular oxygen is one of the most abundant, atom-efficient, and economical oxidants. An aerobic oxidative amide formation from aldehydes and amines is reported. The method uses a catalytic amount of Co(OAc)(2) and N-hydroxysuccinimide as reaction promoters. It is applicable to chiral substrates without loss of their optical purity.
Maximum-Entropy Density Estimation for MRI Stochastic Surrogate Models

Stochastic spectral methods can generate accurate compact stochastic models for electromagnetic problems with material and geometric uncertainties. This letter presents an improved implementation of the maximum-entropy algorithm to compute the density function of an obtained generalized polynomial chaos expansion in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. Instead of using statistical moments, we show that the expectations of some orthonormal polynomials can be better constraints for the optimization flow. The proposed algorithm is coupled with a finite element-boundary element method (FEM-BEM) domain decomposition field solver to obtain a robust computational prototyping for MRI problems with low- and high-dimensional uncertainties.
Teaching the Coase Theorem: Are We Getting It Right?

The authors examine current textbook representations of Coase's analysis of negative externalities [Coase, 1960]. Standard treatments identify Coase's ideas with Stigler's Coase Theorem: a zero transaction cost world in which efficient solutions emerge automatically, regardless of legal rules and the initial allocation of rights. Yet Coase's seminal paper breaks from this mode of analysis. The authors use this intellectual history to distinguish two approaches to negative externalities: blackboard (Pigou, Stigler, Samuelson) and Coasean. They survey 45 microeconomics textbooks and find that 80 percent misrepresent Coase's arguments. They argue that a Coasean approach increases students' critical thinking skills by challenging them to move beyond simple laissez faire or interventionist solutions.
Recovering the Primordial Density Fluctuations : A comparison of methods

We present a comparative study of different methods for reversing the gravitational evolution of a cosmological density field to recover the primordial fluctuations. We test six different approximate schemes in all: linear theory, the Gaussianization technique of Weinberg, two different quasi-linear dynamical schemes, a hybrid dynamical-Gaussianization method, and the path interchange Zeldovich approximation (PIZA) of Croft & Gaztanaga. The final evolved density field from an N-body simulation constitutes our test case. We use a variety of statistical measures to compare the initial density field recovered from it to the true initial density field, using each of the six different schemes. These include point-by-point comparisons of the density fields in real space, and the individual modes in Fourier space, as well as global statistical properties such as the genus, the probability distribution function (PDF) of the density, and the distribution of peak heights and their shapes. We find linear theory to be substantially less accurate than the other schemes, all of which reverse at least some of the nonlinear effects of gravitational evolution even on scales as small as 3 h−1 Mpc. The Gaussianization scheme, while being robust and easy to apply, is the least accurate after linear theory. The two quasi-linear dynamical schemes, which are based on Eulerian formulations of the Zeldovich approximation, give similar results to each other and are more accurate than Gaussianization, although they break down quite drastically when used outside their range of validity, the quasi-linear regime. The complementary beneficial aspects of the dynamical and the Gaussianization schemes are combined in the hybrid method, which uses a dynamical scheme to account for the bulk displacements of mass elements and corrects for any systematic errors using Gaussianization. We find this reconstruction scheme to be more accurate and robust than either the Gaussianization or dynamical method alone. The final scheme, the PIZA, performs substantially better than the others in all point-by-point comparisons. The PIZA does produce an oversmoothed initial density field, with a smaller number of peaks than expected, but it recovers the PDF of the initial density with impressive accuracy on scales as small as 3 h−1 Mpc.
The sufficiency principle for decentralized data reduction

This paper develops the sufficiency principle suitable for data reduction in decentralized inference systems. Both parallel and tandem networks are studied and we focus on the cases where observations at decentralized nodes are conditionally dependent. For a parallel network, through the introduction of a hidden variable that induces conditional independence among the observations, the locally sufficient statistics, defined with respect to the hidden variable, are shown to be globally sufficient for the parameter of inference interest. For a tandem network, the notion of conditional sufficiency is introduced and the related theories and tools are developed. Finally, connections between the sufficiency principle and some distributed source coding problems are explored.
The Holographic principle

There is strong evidence that the area of any surface limits the information content of adjacent spacetime regions, at $1.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{69}$ bits per square meter. This article reviews the developments that have led to the recognition of this entropy bound, placing special emphasis on the quantum properties of black holes. The construction of light sheets, which associate relevant spacetime regions to any given surface, is discussed in detail. This article explains how the bound is tested, and its validity is demonstrated in a wide range of examples. A universal relation between geometry and information is thus uncovered. It has yet to be explained. The holographic principle asserts that its origin must lie in the number of fundamental degrees of freedom involved in a unified description of spacetime and matter. It must be manifest in an underlying quantum theory of gravity. This article surveys some successes and challenges in implementing the holographic principle.
The effects of language concordant care on patient satisfaction and clinical understanding for Hispanic pediatric surgery patients.

Abstract Background Hispanics account for over 60% of the U.S. population growth and 25% speak little-to-no English. This language barrier adversely affects both access to and quality of care. Surgical specialties trail other medical fields in assessing the effects of language barriers to surgical clinical care and patient satisfaction. This study was designed to assess the effects of patient–provider language concordance on a pediatric surgery practice. Methods A surgery-specific, 7-point Likert scale questionnaire was designed with 14 questions modeled after validated patient satisfaction surveys from the literature. Questions concerning provider–patient language concordance, quality of understanding, and general satisfaction were included. Surveys were administered to families of patients in the General Pediatric Surgery Clinic at our institution. Families were categorized into three groups: English-speaking, regardless of race/ethnicity; Spanish-speaking using interpreter services with an English-speaking medical team; and Spanish-speaking communicating directly with a Spanish-speaking medical team (Hispanic Center for Pediatric Surgery, HCPS). One-way analysis of variance was used to test for group differences. Results We administered 226 surveys; 49 were removed due to lack literacy proficiency. Families in the HCPS group reported a higher level of satisfaction than the interpreter and English groups (p Conclusions In a pediatric surgery clinic, language concordant care improves patient satisfaction and understanding for Hispanic families in comparison to language discordant care. Other clinics in other surgery sub-specialties may consider using this model to eliminate language barriers and improve patient satisfaction and understanding of surgical care.
The Quality of the Fossil Record: Populations, Species, and Communities

▪ Abstract Paleontologists have always been concerned about the documentary quality of the fossil record, and this has also become an important issue for biologists, who increasingly look to accumulations of bones, shells, and plant material as possible ways to extend the time-frame of observation on species and community behaviors. Quantitative data on the postmortem behavior of organic remains in modern environments are providing new insights into death and fossil assemblages as sources of biological information. Important findings include: 1. With the exception of a few circumstances, usually recognizable by independent criteria, transport out of the original life habitat affects few individuals. 2. Most species with preservable hardparts are in fact represented in the local death assemblage, commonly in correct rank importance. Molluscs are the most durable of modern aquatic groups studied so far, and they show highest fidelity to the original community. 3. Time-averaging of remains from successive ge...
The option value of patent litigation: Theory and evidence

Abstract In this paper, I use a real options approach to investigate patent litigation when enforcement is costly, winning is uncertain, and beliefs about validity are stochastic. I consider both finite horizon and infinite horizon models. The theoretical results demonstrate that patent value depends not only upon the underlying technology but also upon the degree of uncertainty over the property right. Additionally, imperfect enforceability creates an effective patent term that is less than the statutory term. Using simulation methods and patent data, I estimate the hazard rate of patent litigation. Contrary to previous studies, I find that the rate of forward citations is negatively associated with the litigation rate. The difference arises because (1) I use a dynamic model that exploits the information contained in the timing of litigation and citations, and (2) I control for truncation using a duration model. Using random effects models, I find that heterogeneity in patent litigation is embedded primarily in the heterogeneity in receiving patent citations. Because of this, the patent litigation decision can be modeled as a unilateral decision.
Excision of Uranium Oxide Chains and Ribbons in the Novel One-Dimensional Uranyl Iodates K2[(UO2)3(IO3)4O2] and Ba[(UO2)2(IO3)2O2](H2O)

The alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal uranyl iodates K2[(UO2)3(IO3)4O2] and Ba[(UO2)2(IO3)2O2](H2O) have been prepared from the hydrothermal reactions of KCl or BaCl2 with UO3 and I2O5 at 425 and 180 °C, respectively. While K2[(UO2)3(IO3)4O2] can be synthesized under both mild and supercritical conditions, the yield increases from <5% to 73% as the temperature is raised from 180 to 425 °C. Ba[(UO2)2(IO3)2O2](H2O), however, has only been isolated from reactions performed in the mild temperature regime. Thermal measurements (DSC) indicate that K2[(UO2)3(IO3)4O2] is more stable than Ba[(UO2)2(IO3)2O2](H2O) and that both compounds decompose through thermal disproportionation at 579 and 575 °C, respectively. The difference in the thermal behavior of these compounds provides a basis for the divergence of their preparation temperatures. The structure of K2[(UO2)3(IO3)4O2] is composed of [(UO2)3(IO3)4O2]2- chains built from the edge-sharing UO7 pentagonal bipyramids and UO6 octahedra. Ba[(UO2)2(IO3)2O2](H2O) ...
Stellar and molecular radii of a mira star : First observations with the keck interferometer grism

Using a new grism at the Keck Interferometer, we obtained spectrally dispersed (R ~ 230) interferometric measurements of the Mira star R Vir. These data show that the measured radius of the emission varies substantially from 2.0 to 2.4 μm. Simple models can reproduce these wavelength-dependent variations using extended molecular layers, which absorb stellar radiation and reemit it at longer wavelengths. Because we observe spectral regions with and without substantial molecular opacity, we determine the stellar photospheric radius, uncontaminated by molecular emission. We infer that most of the molecular opacity arises at approximately twice the radius of the stellar photosphere.
SALES TAXES AND THE DECISION TO PURCHASE ONLINE

Current tax treatment of online business-to-consumer transactions may be one of the factors behind rapidly growing e-commerce. In this article, the authors examine the impact of state sales taxes on the consumer decision to conduct shopping online, using comprehensive data representative of the U.S. population. The estimation results demonstrate that there exists a direct relationship between the state sales tax rate and consumer participation in e-commerce. However, although statistically significant, this effect is relatively small. The estimates indicate that a 1 percent increase in the tax price leads to only a 0.5 percent decline in the probability of participation in online commerce.
Homogeneous Organic Reactions as Mechanistic Probes in Supercritical Fluids.

An interesting and intriguing aspect of supercritical fluid solutions is their microscopic inhomogeneities. The most well-known of these are the long-range densities fluctuations that occur in a pure fluid at conditions close to the critical point. However, there are also short-range inhomogeneities around dissolved solutes in supercritical fluids, which are frequently referred to as local density augmentation and local composition enhancements. Many questions have arisen about the potential influences that short-range solvation and long-range density fluctuations might have on complex chemical reaction schemes. In attempts to answer these questions, researchers have sought to study the effect of supercritical fluid solvents on simple unimolecular and bimolecular reactions. In doing so, the reactions themselves have become probes of the molecular structure and the influence of solvation on reactivity in supercritical fluids (SCFs). In this paper, the authors attempt to review those studies that involve simple reactions as probes of molecular structure and its effect on reactivity in SCFs. The paper discusses (1) the potential ways for solvation in supercritical fluids to affect reactivity and (2) the reactions that probe solvation in supercritical fluids, including diffusion-controlled reactions, kinetically-controlled reactions, equilibrium reactions, SCF solvent cage effects, and other important reactions and directions.
The Evolution of the Global Star Formation History as Measured from the Hubble Deep Field

The Hubble Deep Field (HDF) is the deepest set of multicolor optical photometric observations ever undertaken, and it offers a valuable data set with which to study galaxy evolution. Combining the optical WFPC2 data with ground-based near-infrared photometry, we derive photometrically estimated redshifts for HDF galaxies with J 2, and they bridge the redshift gap between those two samples. The overall star formation or metal enrichment rate history is consistent with the theoretical models of White and Frenk and the predictions of Pei and Fall based on the evolving H I content of Lyα QSO absorption line systems.
Analytical Models for the Energetics of Cosmic Accretion Shocks, their Cosmological Evolution, and the Effect of Environment

We present an analytical description of the energetics of the population of cosmic accretion shocks, for a concordance cosmology (Ωm + ΩΛ = 1). We calculate how the shock-processed accretion power and mass current are distributed among different shock Mach numbers and how they evolve with cosmic time. We calculate the cumulative energy input of cosmic accretion shocks of any Mach number to the intergalactic medium as a function of redshift and compare it with the energy output of supernova explosions, as well as with the energy input required to reionize the universe. In addition, we investigate and quantify the effect of environmental factors, such as local clustering properties and filament preheating, on the statistical properties of these shocks. We find that the energy processed by accretion shocks is higher than the supernova energy output for all z < 3 and that it becomes more than an order of magnitude higher in the local universe. The energy processed by accretion shocks alone becomes comparable to the energy required to reionize the universe by z ~ 3.5. Finally, we establish both qualitatively and quantitatively that local clustering, as well as filament compression and preheating, are important factors in determining the statistical properties of the cosmic accretion shock population.
Passively Q-switched microchip lasers and applications

Passively Q-switched microchip lasers are compact, robust, high-performance devices that produce subnanosecond, multikilowatt optical pulses. They are enabling new classes of fieldable instruments to perform ranging and imaging, micromachining, material characterization, and environmental monitoring.
A model for fault-tolerant networked control system using TTP/C communication

Safety-critical aerospace functions are generally required to have failure rates less than 10/sup -9/ per hour (FAA, 1988) and an architecture that supports several such functions is required to have failure rates less than 10/sup -10/ per hour. Although the requirement for an individual automobile may be more relaxed, similar requirements apply for automobiles in general (Rushby, 2001), because of their large number as compared to aircraft. Consumer-grade electronics have failure rates that are orders of magnitude worse than this. Hence, redundancy to improve failure rates and fault tolerance to prevent faults from propagating both are essential elements of a safety critical networked control system (NCS). TTP/C is a member of the time-triggered protocol (TTP) family that satisfies Society of Automotive Engineers Class C requirements for hard real-time fault-tolerant communication. A model is presented for a fault-tolerant NCS using TTP/C communication. Appropriate features of TTP/C are incorporated in the model. A simulation is presented for the electric power steering node with switching controller, which makes the node tolerant to the parameter faults column.
Quark confinement in a random background Gross-Neveu model

Abstract We study an extended Gross-Neveu model with Nf quark flavors and with an additional SU(2) (global color) degree of freedom of the quarks. The four-fermion interaction in the color channel is mediated by a random color matrix with fixed strength. The effective potential for the quark condensate and the scalar correlation function is investigated in the large Nf limit. Quark-antiquark thresholds are absent in the scalar correlation function implying that the decay of the scalar meson in free quarks is avoided. The transition from the low-energy to the high-energy perturbative regime is found to be smooth. Perturbation theory provides a good description of Green functions at high energies, although there is no quark liberation.
The Star Formation Histories of Four Fields Spanning the Minor Axis of NGC 6822

The star formation histories of four fields within the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 are presented. Each of the fields was imaged by the WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope and were used to obtain VI color-magnitude diagrams for each field reaching V 26. The magnitude of the tip of the red giant branch and the red clump were used to determine distances to NGC 6822 that are consistent with previous ground-based measurements. The distance, extinction, and star formation history were also determined by fitting the entire color-magnitude diagram in each field. The distances from these fits are consistent with the other determinations within the estimated errors once the systematic effects of uncertainties in the age-metallicity relation are taken into account. The extinction varies among the four fields, from approximately the foreground Galactic value to ≈0.4 mag higher in V, and roughly correlates with the 60 μm surface brightness. The star formation histories in the four fields are similar for ages 1 Gyr and are relatively constant or somewhat increasing with time. These old star formation rates are comparable to that expected from the typical gas surface densities at these galactocentric radii and suggest that no large-scale redistribution of gas or stars is required to account for the inferred star formation rates. Three of the fields show a drop of a factor of ~2–4 in the star formation rate about 600 Myr ago, while the remaining field centered on the bar shows an increase.
Two examples concerning almost continuous functions

Abstract In this note we will construct, under the assumption that union of less than continuum many meager subsets of R is meager in R , an additive connectivity function f : R → R with Cantor intermediate value property which is not almost continuous. This gives a partial answer to a question of Banaszewski (1997). (See also Question 5.5 of Gibson and Natkaniec (1996–97).) We will also show that every extendable function g : R → R with a dense graph satisfies the following stronger version of the SCIVP property: for every a and every perfect set K between g(a) and g(b) there is a perfect set C⊂(a,b) such that g[C]⊂K and g↾C is continuous strictly increasing . This property is used to construct a ZFC example of an additive almost continuous function f : R → R which has the strong Cantor intermediate value property but is not extendable. This answers a question of Rosen (1997–98). This also generalizes Rosen's result (1997–98) that a similar (but not additive) function exists under the assumption of the Continuum Hypothesis, and gives a full answer to Question 3.11 of Gibson and Natkaniec (1996–1997).
The O + NH3 reaction: A review

Experimental data for the reaction of O atoms with NH3 have been reviewed with particular attention to the possible effects of secondary reactions on the deduced rate coefficient. A reaction mechanism was assembled and computer calculations carried out to simulate several sets of experiments. The sensitivity of the calculations to uncertainties in the various rate coefficients was assessed. Transition-state theory calculations were carried out on the rate coefficient k1 for the O + NH3 → OH + NH2 reaction. These studies suggest that the reaction stoichiometry is dependent on temperature, initial reagent ratios, and extent of reaction; that available data are not sufficient to determine whether the initial step is H-atom abstraction (producing OH and NH2 radicals) or O-atom addition (producing an NH3O* complex): and that the low temperature values of k1 (T ⩽ 400 K) are not consistent with values deduced at higher temperatures if the reaction proceeds by H-atom abstraction. Taking all the evidence into account, it is recommended that the expression 1.1 × 103 T2.1 exp(−2620/T) L mol−1 s−1 be used for k1 until more definitive experimental measurements are made at low temperatures.
Europium isotopic abundances in very metal poor stars

Europium isotopic abundance fractions are reported for the very metal poor, neutron-capture-rich giant stars CS 22892-052, HD 115444, and BD +17°3248. The abundance fractions, derived from the analysis of several strong Eu II lines appearing in high-resolution spectra of these stars, are in excellent agreement with each other and with their values in the solar system: fr(151Eu) fr(153Eu) 0.5. Detailed abundance studies of very metal poor stars have previously shown that the total elemental abundances of stable atoms with atomic numbers z ≥ 56 typically match very closely those of a scaled solar-system r-process abundance distribution. The present results for the first time extend this agreement to the isotopic level.
On the degree two entry of a Gorenstein h-vector and a conjecture of Stanley

In this short paper we establish a (non-trivial) lower bound on the degree two entry h 2 of a Gorenstein h-vector of any given socle degree e and any codimension r. In particular, when e = 4, that is, for Gorenstein h-vectors of the form h = (1, r, h 2 , r, 1), our lower bound allows us to prove a conjecture of Stanley on the order of magnitude of the minimum value, say f(r), that h 2 may assume. In fact, we show that limr→∞ f(r) r 2/3 =6 2/3 . In general, we wonder whether our lower bound is sharp for all integers e > 4 and r > 2.
Isomerization−Cyclization Approach to the Synthesis of 2-Hydroxy-5-alkylidene-cyclopent-2-enones

Propargyl vinyl ketones that are derived from the addition of 1-lithio-1-methoxymethoxy-2-ynes to morpholino enamides undergo isomerization followed by cyclization to α-methylene cyclopentenones upon exposure to silica gel.
On the Equivalence of Recursive and Nonrecursive Datalog Programs

We study the problem of determining whether a given recursive Datalog program is equivalent to a given nonrecursive Datalog program. Since nonrecursive Datalog programs are equivalent to unions of conjunctive queries, we study also the problem of determining whether a given recursive Datalog program is contained in a union of conjunctive queries. For this problem, we prove doubly exponential upper and lower time bounds. For the equivalence problem, we prove triply exponential upper and lower time bounds.
Wrinkling of Orthotropic Viscoelastic Membranes

This paper presents a simplified simulation technique for orthotropic viscoelastic films. Wrinkling is detected by a combined stress-strain criterion and an iterative scheme searches for the wrinkle angle using a pseudo-elastic material stiffness matrix based on a nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model. This simplified model has been implemented in ABAQUS/Explicit and is able to compute the behavior of a membrane structure by superposition of a small number of response increments. The model has been tested against a published solution for a time-independent isotropic membrane under simple shear and also against experimental results on StratoFilm 420 under simple shear.
Two-stage benchmarking as applied to small area estimation

There has been recent growth in small area estimation due to the need for more precise estimation of small geographic areas, which has led to groups such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Google, and the RAND corporation utilizing small area-estimation procedures. We develop a novel two-stage benchmarking methodology using a single weighted squared error loss function that combines the loss at the unit level and the area level without any specific distributional assumptions. This loss is considered while benchmarking the weighted means at each level or both the weighted means and weighted variability at the unit level. Furthermore, we provide multivariate extensions for benchmarking weighted means at both levels. The behavior of our methods is analyzed using a complex study from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2000, which estimates the proportion of people that do not have health insurance for many domains of an Asian subpopulation. Finally, the methodology is explored via simulated data under the proposed model. Ultimately, three proposed benchmarked Bayes estimators do not dominate each other, leaving much exploration for further understanding of such complex studies such as the choice of weights, optimal algorithms for efficiency, as well as extensions to multi-stage benchmarking methods.
Twisted homogeneous coordinate rings of abelian surfaces via mirror symmetry

In this paper we study Seidel's mirror map for abelian and Kummer surfaces. We find that mirror symmetry leads in a very natural way to the classical parametrization of Kummer surfaces in P 3 . Moreover, we describe a family of embeddings of a given abelian surface into noncommutative projective spaces.
Acoustic loading effects on oscillating rod bundles

An analytical study of the interaction between an infinite acoustic medium and a cluster of circular rods is described. The acoustic field due to oscillating rods and the acoustic loading on the rods are first solved in a closed form. The acoustic loading is then used as a forcing function for rod responses, and the acousto-elastic couplings are solved simultaneously. Numerical examples are presented for several cases to illustrate the effects of various system parameters on the acoustic reaction force coefficients. The effect of the acoustic loading on the coupled eigenfrequencies are discussed.
Symptoms and sources of Yersinia enterocolitica-infection: a case-control study

Background Yersinia enterocolitica (YE) is the causative agent of yersiniosis. YE encompass strains of diverse pathogenicity: YE biotypes 1B and 2-5 are considered pathogenic, whereas biotype 1A is in general considered nonvirulent. Also YE-like species, which can sometimes be misidentified as YE, are considered nonvirulent.
Borrelia burgdorferi DNA is undetectable by polymerase chain reaction in skin lesions of morphea, scleroderma, or lichen sclerosus et atrophicus of patients from North America

Abstract Background: , Borrelia burgdorferi has been linked to the pathogenesis of morphea and lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA). However, considerable controversy still exists as to the actual role, if any, that this spirochete plays in the development of these diseases. Antibody titer determinations have been inconclusive and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) studies have yielded conflicting results. Objective: We sought to show whether PCR analysis detected B. burgdorferi in archival tissue specimens from the involved skin of 20 North American patients with morphea, 10 patients with LSA, and four patients with scleroderma. Methods: We used two different sets of PCR primers for the B. burgdoferi flagellin gene, one specific for European strains of B. burgdorferi , and another common to both European and American strains. A subset of these samples were further amplified with nested PCR primers. Results: None of the samples showed PCR products with either primer sets, whereas purified B. burgdorferi DNA and lesional erythema chronicum migrans tissues, which were used as positive controls, yielded easily detectable products with all primer sets. Conclusion: These data suggest that B. burgdorferi infection plays no role in the development of morphea, LSA, or scleroderma in North American patients; these findings further support the recent observations that B. burgdorferi strain variability is associated with differential spectra of disease in North America compared with that found in various parts of Europe.
Exclusion processes with multiple interactions

We introduce the mathematical theory of the particle systems that interact via permutations, where transition rates are assigned not to the jumps from a site to a site, but to the permutations themselves. These permutation processes can be viewed as the natural generalization of symmetric exclusion processes, where particles interact via transpositions. We develop a number of innovative coupling techniques for the permutation processes and establish the needed conditions for them to apply. We use duality, couplings and other tools to explore the stationary distributions of the permutation processes with translation invariant rates.
Allylic Selenosulfide Rearrangement: A Method for Chemical Ligation to Cysteine and Other Thiols

Alkylation of potassium selenosulfate with allylic halides gives Se-allyl seleno Bunte salts. On reaction with thiols at room temperature, these afford mixed dialkyl selenosulfides, which undergo 2,3-sigmatropic rearrangement with loss of selenium, either spontaneously or with assistance by triphenylphosphine, thereby providing mixed dialkyl sulfides and a new permanent chemical ligation method. The process is illustrated through the lipidation of cysteine-containing tripeptides and by the allylation of 1-thioglucose tetraacetate.
A small molecule antagonist of ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT)

Using our recently disclosed fluorescence-based assay to monitor acyltransferase activity, the first non-peptidic, small molecule antagonists of ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT), a potential anti-obesity and anti-diabetes target, have been discovered. Each exhibits micromolar inhibition of the enzyme, and may be useful probes for future study of the ghrelin-GOAT system.
Decentralized disturbance attenuation for large-scale nonlinear systems with delayed state interconnections

The problem of decentralized disturbance attenuation is considered for a new class of large-scale nonlinear systems with delayed state interconnections. This class of large-scale time-delay systems broadens most existing classes of large-scale time-delay systems in that the uncertain interconnections are bounded by general nonlinear functions instead of linear or polynomial-type functions. It is shown that by decentralized memoryless state feedback control, the closed-loop system achieves internal global asymptotical stability in the sense of Lyapunov and external stability in the sense of L2 gain. Nonlinear Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals are constructed that render the linear and polynomial-type growth conditions on the interconnections as special cases.
Differential Cross Section and Related Integrals for the Moliere Potential.

Abstract The Moliere potential is widely used in radiation damage simulation studies. It is not much used in analytical transport theory calculations because of the awkward expression for the differential cross section corresponding to the potential. We follow a two step process to obtain a useful cross section: adopting the Lindhard, Nielsen and Scharff (LNS) approximations in order to generate a simpler form of the Moliere cross section and then creating a simple, easy-to-use, fit to that approximate form. Within the framework of the LNS treatment of atomic cross sections, our fit is accurate to 6%. Simple forms for the total cross section and several related quantities are presented.
Excited-state proton transfer: from constrained systems to "super" photoacids to superfast proton transfer.

We have used knowledge of the electronic structure of excited states of acids to design molecules that exhibit enhanced excited-state acidity. Such “super” photoacids are the strongest reversible photoacids known and allow the time evolution of proton transfer to be examined in a wide array of organic solvents. This includes breaking/formation of the hydrogen bonds in hundreds of femtoseconds, solvent reorientation and relaxation in picoseconds, proton dissociation, and, finally, diffusion and geminate recombination of the dissociated proton, observed in nanoseconds.
The incidence of artery puncture with central venous cannulation using a modified technique for detection and prevention of arterial cannulation

Abstract Background: Cannulation of the central circulation is essential for management of patients who require major surgery, and for patients who are critically ill. Arterial puncture is the most frequent complication associated with central venous cannulation, and is potentially fatal. Detection of arterial puncture can be problematic, especially in patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease. Methods: One thousand eleven consecutive cardiothoracic and vascular surgical patients who required central venous cannulation were studied using a new technique for detection of arterial puncture and prevention of arterial cannulation. This technique involves continuous pressure transduction of the steel introducer needle. Central venous cannulation was attempted in all patients. The sites of attempted catheterizations, number of arterial punctures and cannulations, and the number of successful catheterizations were noted. All patients were treated in accordance with standard anesthetic and surgical techniques in the institution. Results: One thousand one hundred seventy-two central venous catheters were placed. The overall success rate was 99.6%. The incidence of arterial puncture was 9.3% for central venous cannulation attempts of the internal jugular, subclavian, and femoral veins. No arterial cannulation occurred, and none of the patients had significant complications. Congenital heart disease patients had a higher incidence of arterial puncture (14.1%) and a lower rate (96.8%) of successful cannulation. Conclusion: Pressure transduction of the steel needle is a useful technique for detecting arterial puncture and preventing arterial cannulation during attempts to achieve central venous cannulation.