cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Photonic MEMS vibrating at X-band rates (11 GHz)

We report on an opto-mechanical resonator with vibration excited by compressive radiation pressure via Stimulated Brillouin Scattering [SBS]. We experimentally excite an 11 GHz mechanical whispering gallery mode [WGM] from an optical WGM. The mechanical vibration is detected via the red Doppler shifted light it scatters. We numerically solve the stress-strain equation to calculate the circumferentially circulating mechanical WGM and reveal mechanical WGMs with a variety of transverse shapes. The rate of vibration can be high irrespective of the fabrication tolerances as the driving forces are applied on an optical wavelength scale.
Chemistry Surrounding Group 7 Complexes that Possess Poly(pyrazolyl)borate Ligands

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the chemistry observed with Group 7 (Mn, Tc, and Re) poly(pyrazolyl)borate complexes. The redox flexibility of these transition metals and the variability of poly(pyrazolyl) borate ligands have resulted in a wide range of chemistry. Poly(pyrazolyl)borate ligands support numerous complexes involving Group 7 transition metals. The flexibility of these ligands has allowed access to a range of oxidation states and geometries as well as provided Mn, Tc, and Re complexes with a diversity of reactivity. As a result of these attractive features, poly(pyrazolyl)borate ligands support a diversity of complexes, including coordination to all elements of groups 1 through 13 as well as some lanthanides and actinides. Transition metal complexes containing imido ligands are of interest due to their possible role in olefin aziridinations, metal-mediated metathesis of multiple bonds, ammoxidation reactions, C–H activation sequences as well as catalytic hydroamination of C–C multiple bonds. In addition, the chapter discusses about Rhenium, Manganese, and Technetium chemistry with respect to high oxidation as well as low oxidation state complexes.
Soliton splitting by external delta potentials

We show that in the dynamics of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation a soliton scattered by an external delta potential splits into two solitons and a radiation term. Theoretical analysis gives the amplitudes and phases of the reflected and transmitted solitons with errors going to zero as the velocity of the incoming soliton tends to infinity. Numerical analysis shows that this asymptotic relation is valid for all but very slow solitons. We also show that the total transmitted mass, that is, the square of the L2 norm of the solution restricted on the transmitted side of the delta potential, is in good agreement with the quantum transmission rate of the delta potential.
Analytical Derivation of Maximum Tolerable In-Band Interference Levels for Aviation Applications of GNSS*

This paper presents an analytic derivation of the maximum levels of radio frequency interference (RFI) that can be tolerated for aviation applications of GNSS (global navigation satellite system). The derivation, which is included in the document of RTCA Special Committee-159 Working Group 6 on RFI to GNSS, includes consideration of many factors not addressed comprehensively in previous analyses. Such factors include quantization loss, intermediate frequency (IF) filtering losses, modulation imperfections in the navigation satellites (GPS, GLONASS, and Wide-Area Augmentation System [WAAS]), Doppler loop stress, processing gain losses due to realizable spreading codes, and oscillator phase noise. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the interference levels provided in RTCA's Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) are indeed close to the maximum levels that can be tolerated for aviation applications by moderate-cost modern digital receiver designs.
Effects of Grain Boundary Sliding on Microstructural Evolution and Damage Accumulation in Tin-Lead Alloy

Experiments on the eutectic tin-lead (Sn-Pb) alloys were conducted to study the effects of grain boundary sliding on the deformation and damage processes at the microscopic level. The primary objective is to gain mechanistic undersanding of solder joint reliability in microelectronic packaging. Bulk specimens were subjected to relatively fast deformations of tension, compression, and bending, for the purposes of examining the pure mechanical effect without the influence of diffusion-related phenomena. Grain realignment and phase redistribution were characterized by microscopy and microhardness indentation. A micromechanical model is proposed to elucidate the observed microstructural changes and progressive damage. This study illustrates the significance of damage in the form of microscopic heterogeneity caused by grain boundary sliding. It also illustrates the possibility of mechanically induced phase coarsening in actual solder joints. High-frequency cyclic shear tests on Sn-Pb solder joints showed damag...
Effects of the Antenna Aperture on Remote Sensing of Sea Surface Salinity at L-Band

Remote sensing of sea surface salinity can be performed by means of microwave radiometry at L-band, but it requires high radiometric accuracy (e.g., on the order of 0.1 K). Since the variability of salinity in the open ocean exhibits large spatial scales and long temporal scales, it is possible to use antennas with large footprints and averaging to meet this goal. However, antennas with large footprints introduce other problems such as variations of the incidence angle and direction of the polarization vectors over the footprint. Examples of these effects are computed here using antennas that are representative of those that will be flown on the Aquarius/SAC-D mission being developed for remote sensing of salinity from space. It is shown that the antenna temperature (i.e., integrated over the antenna pattern) is biased relative to the value at boresight. In part, this is due to change in incidence angles across the field of view. Polarization mixing, because of the variations of the local plane of incidence across the footprint, also induces bias (peculiarly for the third Stokes parameter). Finally, large antenna footprints limit how close to land measurements can be made.
Advances in quality control: mouse embryo morphokinetics are sensitive markers of in vitro stress

STUDY QUESTION Can time-lapse analysis of cell division timings [morphokinetics (MK)] in mouse embryos detect toxins at concentrations that do not affect blastocyst formation? SUMMARY ANSWER An MK algorithm enhances assay sensitivity while providing results 24-48 h sooner than the traditional mouse embryo assay (MEA). WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Current quality control testing methodology is sensitive but further improvements are needed to assure optimal culture conditions. MKs of embryo development may detect small variations in culture conditions. STUDY DESIGN Cross sectional-control versus treatment. Mouse embryo development kinetics of 466 embryos were analyzed according to exposure to various concentrations of toxins and toxic mineral oil. MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Cryopreserved 1-cell embryos from F1 hybrid mice were cultured with cumene hydroperoxide (CH) (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 µM) and Triton X-100 (TX-100; 0, 0.0008, 0.0012, 0.0016 and 0.002%). Using the Embryoscope, time-lapse images were obtained every 20 min for 120 h in seven focal planes. End-points were timing and pattern of cell division and embryo development. The blastocyst rate (BR) was defined as the percentage of embryos that developed to the expanded blastocyst stage within 96 h. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE BR was not affected for embryos cultured in the three lowest concentrations of CH and the four lowest concentrations of TX-100. In contrast, a unique MK model detected all concentrations tested (P < 0.05). The MK model identified toxicity in two lots of toxic mineral oil that did not affect BR (P < 0.05). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION A limited number of toxins were used so that the results may not apply to all potential embryo toxins. A larger sample size may also demonstrate other statistically significant developmental kinetic parameters. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS MKs in mouse embryos are a sensitive and efficient method for quality control testing of in vitro culture conditions. BR, the end-point of traditional quality control assays, did not detect sublethal concentrations of toxins in the culture milieu in our study. This study demonstrates that temporal variation at key developmental stages reflects the quality of the culture environment. An MEA that incorporates MK will provide enhanced sensitivity and faster turn-around times.
Deep and shallow sources for the Lusi mud eruption revealed by surface deformation

The Lusi mud eruption, in East Java, Indonesia, began in May 2006 and continues to the present. Previous analyses of surface deformation data suggested an exponential decay of the pressure in the mud source but did not constrain the location, geometry, and evolution of the possible source(s) of the erupting mud and fluids. To map the surface deformation, we employ multitemporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar and analyze a well-populated L-band data set acquired by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) between May 2006 and April 2011. We then apply a time-dependent inverse modeling scheme. Volume changes occur in two regions beneath Lusi, at 0.3–2.0 km and 3.5–4.75 km depth. The cumulative volume change within the shallow source is ~2–3 times larger than that of the deep source. The observation and model suggest that a shallow source plays a key role by supplying the erupting mud, but that additional fluids do ascend from depths >4 km on eruptive timescales.
Capital Account Opening and Wage Inequality

Opening the capital account allows financially constrained firms to raise capital from abroad. Since capital and skilled labor are relative complements, this increases the relative demand for skilled labor versus unskilled labor, leading to higher wage inequality. Using aggregate data and exploiting variation in the timing of capital account openings across 20 mainly European countries, I find that opening the capital account increases aggregate wage inequality. In order to identify the mechanism, I use sectoral data and exploit variation in external financial dependence and capital-skill complementarity across industries. I find that capital account opening increases sectoral wage inequality, particularly in industries with both high financial needs and strong complementarity.
Noninvariance of Space- and Time-Scale Ranges under a Lorentz Transformation and the Implications for the Study of Relativistic Interactions

We present an analysis which shows that the ranges of space and time scales spanned by a system are not invariant under Lorentz transformation. This implies the existence of a frame of reference which minimizes an aggregate measure of the range of space and time scales. Such a frame is derived, for example, for the following cases: free electron laser, laser-plasma accelerator, and particle beams interacting with electron clouds. The implications for experimental, theoretical, and numerical studies are discussed. The most immediate relevance is the reduction by orders of magnitude in computer simulation run times for such systems.
Web software traffic characteristics and failure prediction model selection

In this paper, we analyze web traffic characters and the relationship with software failures. Results indicate hourly web access traffic is the lowest from 3:00 to 4:00 am, while the traffic load gradually reaches peak between 14:00 and 16:00, before declining. In daily base, web traffic fluctuates in the 25 observed days. The hourly access hits appear in similar patterns to the software failures. The web site reliability is 0.9878. The mean time between failures is 82.03 hits. Five popular software reliability models are calibrated with real data. The validations show that Goel-Okumoto and Gompertz models accurately describe web software failures. Further investigations indicate that both models have some deviations in prediction accuracy starting from the 20th day. Using similar approach to change-point solutions, we recalibrate the models with different parameter values after 20th day. The results appear that two sets of parameter values greatly improve model prediction accuracy.
On the emergence of an MFN club: equal treatment in an unequal world

Motivated by GATT, we endogenize the formation of a club whose members have to abide by the MFN principle of non-discrimination. The underlying model is that of oligopolistic intraindustry trade. While an MFN club does not alter average tariff levels across countries, it increases aggregate world welfare; makes non-members worse off; and can immiserize its high cost members. These results imply that (i) core WTO rules such as MFN are valuable even if multilateral negotiations deliver limited trade liberalization and (ii) the distributional effects of MFN maybe one reason why developing countries have been granted Special and Differential treatment at the WTO. JEL classification: F13, F10, F15
Synthesis of Lead Zirconate Titanate Stannate Antiferroelectric Thick Films by Sol‐Gel Processing

The effects of different sintering procedures on the preparation of antiferroelectric thick films and the structure–property relations in these films were studied. An acetic acid-based sol–gel processing with multistep annealing and suitable lead oxide overcoat layers was developed to fabricate both niobium-doped and lanthanum-doped lead zirconate titanate stannate antiferroelectric thick films. The 5-μm-thick Pb0.99Nb0.02(Zr0.85Sn0.13Ti0.02)0.98O3 films demonstrate typical square hysteresis loops with a maximum polarization of 40 μC/cm2, zero remanent polarization, an antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition field of 153 kV/cm, and a ferroelectric-to-antiferroelectric phase transition field of 97 kV/cm. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss are 283 and 1.7%, respectively. The 5-μm-thick Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.65Sn0.31Ti0.04)O3 films display typical slanted hysteresis loops with very small hysteresis, a maximum polarization of 35.0 μC/cm2, and zero remanent polarization. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss are 434 and 2.0%, respectively.
Dust in the Ionized Medium of the Galaxy: GHRS Measurements of Al III and S III*

We present interstellar absorption-line measurements of the ions S III and Al III toward the stars b1 Sco, k Col, m Per, f Oph, o Leo, and HD 18100 using archival data from the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space T elescope. The ions Al III and S III trace heavily depleted and nondepleted elements, respectively, in ionized gas along the sight lines to these late-O/early-B stars. We use the photoionization equilibrium code CLOUDY to derive the ionization correction relating the ratio N(Al III )/ N(S III) to the gas-phase abundance in the ionized (Al/S) i (4log (N(Al)/N(S)) i ( log (Al/S) _ ) gas. For spectral types considered here, the corrections range from 0.1 to 0.3 dex and are independent of the assumed ionization parameter, i.e., the ratio of ionizing photon density to mean electron density. Using the results of these photoionization models, we —nd in the ionized gas toward b1 (Al/S) i D(1.0 Sco, m Per, and f Oph; along the low-density path toward k Col we —nd Since S is not (Al/S) i B (0.8. depleted onto grains, these values of imply that Al-bearing grains are present in the (Al/S) i (B(Al/H) i ) ionized nebulae around these stars. If the warm ionized medium (WIM) of the Galaxy is photoionized by OB stars, the observations of o Leo and HD 18100 imply to (0.5 in the WIM and (Al/S) i \( 0.4 thus the presence of dust grains containing Al in this important phase of the interstellar medium. While photoionization appears to be the most likely origin of the ionization for Al III and S III, we cannot rule out confusion from the presence of hot, collisionally ionized gas along the sight lines to b1 Sco and HD 18100. We —nd that in the ionized gas along the six sight lines is anticorrelated with the electron (Al/S) i density and average sight-line neutral density. The degree of grain destruction in the ionized medium of the Galaxy is not much higher than in the warm neutral medium. The existence of grains in the ionized regions studied here has important implications for the thermal balance of these regions. Subject headings: dust, extinctionGalaxy: haloH II regionsISM: abundances ¨ ultraviolet: ISM
How noise matters

Abstract Recent advances in evolutionary game theory have introduced noise into decisionmaking to select in favor of certain equilibria in coordination games. Noisy decisionmaking is justified on bounded rationality grounds, and consequently the sources of noise are left unmodelled. This methodological approach can only be successful if the results do not depend too much on the nature of the noise process. This paper investigates invariance to noise of these results, both for the random matching paradigm that has characterized much of the recent literature and for a larger class of two-strategy population games where payoffs may vary non-linearly with the distribution of strategies among the population. Several parametrizations of noise reduction are investigated. The results show that a symmetry property of the noise process and, in the case of non-linear payoffs, bounds on the asymmetry of the payoff functions suffice to preserve the known stochastic stability results.
Constrained ramsey numbers

For two graphs S and T, the constrained Ramsey number f(S, T) is the minimum n such that every edge colouring of the complete graph on n vertices (with any number of colours) has a monochromatic subgraph isomorphic to S or a rainbow subgraph isomorphic to T. Here, a subgraph is said to be rainbow if all of its edges have different colours. It is an immediate consequence of the Erdős–Rado Canonical Ramsey Theorem that f(S, T) exists if and only if S is a star or T is acyclic. Much work has been done to determine the rate of growth of f(S, T) for various types of parameters. When S and T are both trees having s and t edges respectively, Jamison, Jiang and Ling showed that f(S, T) ≤ O(st2) and conjectured that it is always at most O(st). They also mentioned that one of the most interesting open special cases is when T is a path. In this paper, we study this case and show that f(S, Pt) = O(st log t), which differs only by a logarithmic factor from the conjecture. This substantially improves the previous bounds for most values of s and t.
Determining the orientations of ice crystals using electron backscatter patterns

Knowing the orientations of the ice crystals in a polycrystalline aggregate is essential for understanding and modeling the flow of naturally occurring ice. Here we show, for the first time, that the orientation of crystals in polycrystalline ice can be determined with a higher angular and spatial resolution and more rapidly than any currently used method by using electron backscatter patterns (EBSPs) in a cold-stage equipped scanning electron microscope. We also present an orientation image map constructed from EBSPs, and discuss possible applications of the technique for ice. The results indicate that obtaining EBSPs and orientation images from other frozen water-containing materials, such as clathrate hydrates, may also be possible.
Settling Some Open Problems on 2-Player Symmetric Nash Equilibria

Over the years, researchers have studied the complexity of several decision versions of Nash equilibrium in (symmetric) two-player games (bimatrix games). To the best of our knowledge, the last remaining open problem of this sort is the following; it was stated by Papadimitriou in 2007: find a non-symmetric Nash equilibrium (NE) in a symmetric game. We show that this problem is NP-complete and the problem of counting the number of non-symmetric NE in a symmetric game is #P-complete.
10-Hydroxy-10,9-boroxarophenanthrenes: Versatile Synthetic Intermediates to 3,4-Benzocoumarins and Triaryls

10-Hydroxy-10,9-boroxarophenanthrenes were obtained as unexpected major products upon BBr(3)-mediated O-demethylation of 2-methoxybiaryls. The formation likely proceeds via intramolecular electrophilic aromatic cyclization of a reactive dibromoaryloxyborane intermediate. Essentially quantitative yields of 10-hydroxy-10,9-boroxarophenanthrenes were also obtained from 2-hydroxybiaryl and BCl(3)/AlCl(3) with use of a modified literature procedure. As synthetic intermediates, 10-hydroxy-10,9-boroxarophenanthrenes were efficiently converted to 3,4-benzocoumarins and triaryls through Pd-catalyzed CO insertion and Suzuki reaction.
Universality for ensembles of matrices with potential theoretic weights on domains with smooth boundary

Abstract We investigate a two-dimensional statistical model of N charged particles interacting via logarithmic repulsion in the presence of an oppositely charged compact region K whose charge density is determined by its equilibrium potential at an inverse temperature corresponding to β = 2 . When the charge on the region, s , is greater than N , the particles accumulate in a neighborhood of the boundary of K , and form a determinantal point process on the complex plane. We investigate the scaling limit, as N → ∞ , of the associated kernel in the neighborhood of a point on the boundary under the assumption that the boundary is sufficiently smooth. We find that the limiting kernel depends on the limiting value of N / s , and prove universality for these kernels. That is, we show that, the scaled kernel in a neighborhood of a point ζ ∈ ∂ K can be succinctly expressed in terms of the scaled kernel for the closed unit disk, and the exterior conformal map which carries the complement of K to the complement of the closed unit disk. When N / s → 0 we recover the universal kernel discovered by Lubinsky (2010) in [13] .
Atlas-driven lung lobe segmentation in volumetric X-ray CT images

High-resolution X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging is routinely used for clinical pulmonary applications. Since lung function varies regionally and because pulmonary disease is usually not uniformly distributed in the lungs, it is useful to study the lungs on a lobe-by-lobe basis. Thus, it is important to segment not only the lungs, but the lobar fissures as well. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of an anatomic pulmonary atlas, encoded with a priori information on the pulmonary anatomy, to automatically segment the oblique lobar fissures. Sixteen volumetric CT scans from 16 subjects are used to construct the pulmonary atlas. A ridgeness measure is applied to the original CT images to enhance the fissure contrast. Fissure detection is accomplished in two stages: an initial fissure search and a final fissure search. A fuzzy reasoning system is used in the fissure search to analyze information from three sources: the image intensity, an anatomic smoothness constraint, and the atlas-based search initialization. Our method has been tested on 22 volumetric thin-slice CT scans from 12 subjects, and the results are compared to manual tracings. Averaged across all 22 data sets, the RMS error between the automatically segmented and manually segmented fissures is 1.96/spl plusmn/0.71 mm and the mean of the similarity indices between the manually defined and computer-defined lobe regions is 0.988. The results indicate a strong agreement between the automatic and manual lobe segmentations.
Diastereoselective Silacyclopropanations of Functionalized Chiral Alkenes

Lithium reduction of di-tert-butyldichlorosilane and thermal silylene transfer (105−125 °C) are complementary methods for the highly diastereoselective silacyclopropanations of a range of functionalized chiral olefins to afford complex silacycles. We have shown that functionalized cyclohexenes, cyclopentenes, norbornenes, and 1,1-disubstituted alkenes undergo silacyclopropanation with excellent diastereoselectivity (92:8 to >99:1). Our results demonstrate that steric interactions, rather than oxygen-directing effects, control the approach of the silylene or silylenoid intermediate to the olefin. We believe that the sterically demanding nature of the di-tert-butylsilylene species prevents coordination to the oxygen functionality. Thermal silylene transfer conditions exhibit broad functional group tolerance; the elevated temperatures for silylene transfer, however, cannot be employed for the silacyclopropanation of substituted cyclohexenes and 1,1-disubstituted alkenes. Elaboration of the resulting function...
Electronic control of extraordinary terahertz transmission through subwavelength metal hole arrays

We describe the electronic control of extraordinary terahertz transmission through subwavelength metal hole arrays fabricated on doped semiconductor substrates. The hybrid metal-semiconductor forms a Schottky diode structure, where the active depletion region modifies the substrate conductivity in real-time by applying an external voltage bias. This enables effective control of the resonance enhanced terahertz transmission. Our proof of principle device achieves an intensity modulation depth of 52% by changing the voltage bias between 0 and 16 volts. Further optimization may result in improvement of device performance and practical applications. This approach can be also translated to the other optical frequency ranges.
Development of ultra short-acting muscle relaxant agents: history, research strategies, and challenges.

Author has reviewed the literature and his own work related to the chemistry, pharmacology, and clinical aspects of new muscle relaxants. Emphasis has been placed on the basic science concepts and technologies (e.g. structure–activity relationships, nicotinic receptor pharmacology, and investigation of side effects) behind the development of rapidly and short acting nondepolarizing muscle relaxants. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Changes in alcohol policies and public opinions in Finland 2003–2013

INTRODUCTION: There is a constant and ongoing interplay between public opinions and public policies, alcohol policies being no exception. This article describes the development of public opinions regarding alcohol policy in Finland during a 10-year period between 2003 and 2013. Fluctuations in the alcohol policy opinion climate are put in context by looking at concurrent changes in alcohol policies and in total alcohol consumption. DATA AND METHODS: The study is based on data from opinion surveys on alcohol policies commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Welfare and the Finnish Social and Health Association. The opinion polls include questions about the general acceptance of prevailing alcohol policies, appropriate sales channels of different alcoholic beverage categories and opinions about the legal age limits and prices of alcoholic beverages. In the study, changes in alcohol policy during 2003-2013 are surveyed, and their relationship with changes in alcohol policy opinion is examined. RESULTS: There seem to be a strong positive correlation during the study period between the level of alcohol consumption and the share of those wanting a more restrictive alcohol policy in Finland. DISCUSSION: It seems that an increased level of awareness of alcohol-related issues among the general public created a more restrictive opinion climate on alcohol policy issues after the big alcohol excise duty decrease in 2004. The reverse seems to happen but in a lesser degree when alcohol excise duties has been increased after the year 2007. Language: en
Effect of Channel Restoration on Flood Wave Attenuation

Stream channel restoration can increase flow storage and energy dissipation of passing flood waves. Elements of restoration design that can enhance attenuation include remeandering, which reduces channel slope and increases channel length relative to the floodplain; restoring channel-floodplain connectivity; and revegetating banks and the floodplain. Reestablishment of floodplain hydraulic function is increasingly a goal of restoration programs, yet the approximate magnitude of possible change to attenuation due to reach-scale restoration remains poorly quantified. We examined the efficacy of channel restoration on flood attenuation using restored reaches and synthetic reaches representing median dimensions of channel restoration projects in North Carolina e.g., 1 km in length. We applied an industry standard dynamic flood routing model UNET in HEC-RAS to route floods in impaired and restored reach models. Floods routed through field-based reach models either exhibited very small increases in attenuation, largely due to assumed increases in flood- plain roughness, or a decrease in attenuation. Analysis demonstrated that attenuation of peak discharge is overall most sensitive to channel and valley slope, channel and floodplain roughness, and channel and valley length in decreasing order, but is dependent on flood magnitude. Restoration most impacted floods of intermediate magnitude between 2- and 50-year return interval, particularly those confined to the channel under the impaired morphology but able to access the floodplain under the restored morphology. Restoration may rehabilitate a channel's ability to attenuate small to intermediate floods by augmenting flood access to the floodplain, changing channel geometry, and enhancing channel and floodplain roughness over time. However, our study shows that the predominantly small scale of current channel restoration will provide minimally quantifiable enhancement to flood attenuation.
Clustering algorithms for a PC based hardware implementation of the unsupervised classifier for the Shuttle ice detection system

The author introduces a near-real-time method of image processing in a PC-based environment. A segmentation technique based on unsupervised classification is implemented. A prototype for the detection of ice formation on the external tank (ET) of the Space Shuttle is being developed. The objective is to be able to do an online classification of the ET images into distinct regions denoting ice, frost, wet or dry areas. The images are acquired with an infrared camera and digitized before being processed by a computer to yield a false color-coded pattern, with each color representing a region. A two-monitor PC based setup is used for image processing. Various techniques for classification both supervised and unsupervised, are being investigated for developing a methodology. The implementation of two adaptive algorithms for image segmentation is discussed. The K-means algorithm is compared to another algorithm based on adaptive estimation of region boundaries. >
Object boundary detection in images using a semantic ontology

We present a novel method for detecting the boundaries between objects in images that uses a large, hierarchical, semantic ontology - WordNet. The semantic object hierarchy in WordNet grounds this ill-posed segmentation problem, so that true boundaries are defined as edges between instances of different classes, and all other edges are clutter. To avoid fully classifying each pixel, which is very difficult in generic images, we evaluate the semantic similarity of the two regions bounding each edge in an initial oversegmentation. Semantic similarity is computed using WordNet enhanced with appearance information, and is largely orthogonal to visual similarity. Hence two regions with very similar visual attributes, but from different categories, can have a large semantic distance and therefore evidence of a strong boundary between them, and vice versa. The ontology is trained with images from the UC Berkeley image segmentation benchmark, extended with manual labeling of the semantic content of each image segment. Results on boundary detection against the benchmark images show that semantic similarity computed through WordNet can significantly improve boundary detection compared to generic segmentation.
Paper rating vs. paper ranking

Within the computer-science community, submitted conference papers are typically evaluated by means of rating, in two respects: First, individual reviewers are asked to provide their evaluations of papers by assigning a rating to each paper's overall quality. Second, program committees collectively rate each paper as being either worthy or unworthy of acceptance, according to the aggregate judgment of the committee members. This paper proposes an alternative approach to these two processes, based on rankings rather than ratings. It also presents experiences from employing rankings in PC discussions of a major CS conference.
Optical and electrical properties of the wide gap, n-type semiconductors: ZnBi2O6 and MgBi2O6

Characterization of polycrystalline samples of the trirutile oxides ZnBi2O6 and MgBi2O6 reveals temperature independent conductivity (0.4 and 0.01 S cm−1), a negative Seebeck coefficient (−0.035 and −0.025 mV K−1), and an optical band gap that falls at the low energy end of visible region (1.7 and 1.8 eV), this combination of attributes, indicating that these compounds are degenerate n-type semiconductors, has not previously been observed in a Bi5+ oxide.
Who Owns the Major US Subsidiaries of Foreign Banks? A Note

In 2000, ten foreign banks owned the 12 largest US subsidiaries of foreign banks, which together accounted for over 92% of the assets of all subsidiaries. The parent banks were large and tended to be from English-speaking countries. The novel result is that the parent was often the largest bank in its home country, which suggests that domestic limits to growth are a factor in the foreign direct investment decision.
Significance of Circulating Tumor Cells in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients within a Randomized, Phase II Trial: TBCRC 019

Purpose: Circulating Tumor cells (CTC) are prognostic in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We tested whether EpCAM based capture system (CellSearch®) is effective in patients with triple negative (TN) MBC, and whether CTC-apoptosis and clustering enhances the prognostic role of CTC. Experimental Design: CTC enumeration and apoptosis was determined using the CXC CellSearch® kit at baseline and days 15 and 29 in blood drawn from TN MBC patients who participated in a prospective randomized phase II trial of nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PAC) with or without tigatuzumab (TIG). Association between levels of CTC and patient outcomes was assessed using logistic regression, Kaplan Meier curves, and Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results: Nineteen of 52 (36.5%), 14/52 (26.9%), and 13/49 (26.5%) patients who were evaluable had elevated CTC (≥5CTC/7.5 ml WB) at baseline, days 15 and 29, respectively. Patients with elevated vs. not elevated CTC at each time point had worse progression free survival (PFS) (p=0.005, 0.0003, 0.0002, respectively). The odds of clinical benefit response for those who had elevated vs. low CTC at baseline and days 15 and 29 were 0.25 (95% CI: 0.08-0.84, p=0.024), 0.19 (95% CI: 0.05-0.17, p=0.014), and 0.06 (95% CI: 0.01-0.33, p=0.001), respectively. There was no apparent prognostic effect comparing CTC-apoptosis vs. non-apoptosis. Presence of CTC-cluster at day 15, and day 29 was associated with shorter PFS. Conclusions: CTC were detected using CellSearch® assay in approximately one-third of TN MBC patients. Elevated CTC at baseline and days 15 and 29 were prognostic, and reductions in CTC levels reflected response.
t-Bu-Amphos-RhCl3.3H2O: a highly recyclable catalyst system for the cross-coupling of aldehydes and aryl- and alkenylboronic acids in aqueous solvents.

The combination of t-Bu-Amphos and RhCl3·3H2O gave the first highly recyclable catalyst for the coupling of aryl- and vinylboronic acids with aldehydes in aqueous solvents.
Inflating and Deflating Hot Jupiters: Coupled Tidal and Thermal Evolution of Known Transiting Planets

We examine the radius evolution of close in giant planets with a planet evolution model that couples the orbital-tidal and thermal evolution. For 45 transiting systems, we compute a large grid of cooling/contraction paths forward in time, starting from a large phase space of initial semimajor axes and eccentricities. Given observational constraints at the current time for a given planet (semimajor axis, eccentricity, and system age), we find possible evolutionary paths that match these constraints, and compare the calculated radii to observations. We find that tidal evolution has two effects. First, planets start their evolution at larger semimajor axis, allowing them to contract more efficiently at earlier times. Second, tidal heating can significantly inflate the radius when the orbit is being circularized, but this effect on the radius is short-lived thereafter. Often circularization of the orbit is proceeded by a long period while the semimajor axis slowly decreases. Some systems with previously unexplained large radii that we can reproduce with our coupled model are HAT-P-7, HAT-P-9, WASP-10, and XO-4. This increases the number of planets for which we can match the radius from 24 (of 45) to as many as 35 for our standard case, but for some of these systems we are required to be viewing them at a special time around the era of current radius inflation. This is a concern for the viability of tidal inflation as a general mechanism to explain most inflated radii. Also, large initial eccentricities would have to be common. We also investigate the evolution of models that have a floor on the eccentricity, as may be due to a perturber. In this scenario, we match the extremely large radius of WASP-12b. This work may cast some doubt on our ability to accurately determine the interior heavy element enrichment of normal, noninflated close in planets, because of our dearth of knowledge about these planets' previous orbital-tidal histories. Finally, we find that the end state of most close in planetary systems is disruption of the planet as it moves ever closer to its parent star.
Testing for State Dependence with Time-Variant Transition Probabilities

We derive a simple result that allows us to test for the presence of state dependence in a dynamic Logit model with time-variant transition probabilities and an arbitrary distribution of the unobserved heterogeneity. Monte Carlo evidence suggests that this test has desirable properties even when there are some violations of the model's assumptions. We also consider alternative tests that will have desirable properties only when the transition probabilities do not depend on time and provide evidence that there is an “acceptable” range in which ignoring time-dependence does not matter too much. We conclude with an application to the Barker Hypothesis.
Synthesis of Cyclic Sulfones by Ring-Closing Metathesis

A general and highly efficient synthesis of cyclic sulfones based on ring-closing metathesis has been developed. The synthetic utility of the resulting cyclic sulfones was demonstrated by their participation in stereoselective Diels-Alder reactions and transformation to cyclic dienes by the Ramberg-Backlund reaction.
A Sociological Theory of Drug Sales, Gifts, and Frauds

The transfer of drugs from one person to another does not always involve a fair sale. Gifts and frauds are also common. Although the rationality perspective has dominated and made important contributions to the study of drug transfer, this article proposes a new theory of drug sales, gifts, and frauds. The theoretical lens of pure sociology is used to find social structural patterns in qualitative data obtained from a study of middle- and lower class drug dealers. Based on that data, the authors suggest that the social status of drug procurers and their social distance from drug dealers affect (a) whether the transfer is a gift, sale, or fraud and (b) the size of the gift, the price of the sale, and the seriousness of the fraud. Implications for future research are discussed.
EXCITED BARYONS AND PENTAQUARKS ON THE LATTICE

I review recent progress in computing the mass spectrum of excited baryons and pentaquarks in lattice QCD.
Aggregation and the Measurement of Health Care Costs

Objective This study evaluated the extent to which the causes of variation in health care costs differ by the level at which observations are made.
Modeling infection with multi-agent dynamics

Developing the ability to comprehensively study infections in small populations enables us to improve epidemic models and better advise individuals about potential risks to their health. We currently have a limited understanding of how infections spread within a small population because it has been difficult to closely track and infection within a complete community. This paper presents data closely tracking the spread of an infection centered on a student dormitory, collected by leveraging the residents' use of cellular phones. This data is based on daily symptom surveys taken over a period of four months and proximity tracking through cellular phones. We demonstrate that using a Bayesian, discrete-time multi-agent model of infection to model the real-world symptom report and proximity tracking records can give us important insights about infections in small populations
Prison Health Care: Is Contracting Out Healthy?

US prison health care has recently been in the news and in the courts. A particular issue is whether prisons should contract out for health care. Contracting out has been growing over the past few decades. The stated motivation for this change ranges from a desire to improve the prison healthcare system, sometimes in response to a court mandate, to a desire to reduce costs. This study is a first attempt to quantify the impact of this change on inmate health. As morbidity measures are not readily obtainable, we focus on mortality. More specifically, we use a panel of state prisons from 1979 to 1990 and a fixed effects Poisson model to estimate the change in mortality associated with increase in the percentage of medical personnel employed under contract. In contrast to the first stated aim of contracting, we find that a 13% increase in percentage of medical personnel employed under contract increases mortality by 1.3%.
The dynamics of poverty in the United States: A review of data, methods, and findings

This paper reviews the literature on poverty dynamics in the U.S. It surveys the most prevalent data, theories, and methods used to answer three key questions: How likely are people to enter, exit, and reenter poverty? How long do people remain in poverty? And what events are associated with entering and exiting poverty? The paper then analyzes the combined findings of the literature, discussing overarching patterns of poverty dynamics, differences among demographic groups, and how poverty probabilities, duration, and events have changed over time. We conclude with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings and avenues for future research. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Scope and mechanistic analysis of the enantioselective synthesis of allenes by rhodium-catalyzed tandem ylide formation/[2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement between donor/acceptor carbenoids and propargylic alcohols.

Rhodium-catalyzed reactions of tertiary propargylic alcohols with methyl aryl- and styryldiazoacetates result in tandem reactions, consisting of oxonium ylide formation followed by [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. This process competes favorably with the standard O–H insertion reaction of carbenoids. The resulting allenes are produced with high enantioselectivity (88–98% ee) when the reaction is catalyzed by the dirhodium tetraprolinate complex, Rh2(S-DOSP)4. Kinetic resolution is possible when racemic tertiary propargylic alcohols are used as substrates. Under the kinetic resolution conditions, the allenes are formed with good diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity (up to 6.1:1 dr, 88–93% ee), and the unreacted alcohols are enantioenriched to 65–95% ee. Computational studies reveal that the high asymmetric induction is obtained via an organized transition state involving a two-point attachment: ylide formation between the alcohol oxygen and the carbenoid and hydrogen bonding of the alcohol to a carb...
A verifiable random function with short proofs and keys

We give a simple and efficient construction of a verifiable random function (VRF) on bilinear groups. Our construction is direct. In contrast to prior VRF constructions [14,15], it avoids using an inefficient Goldreich-Levin transformation, thereby saving several factors in security. Our proofs of security are based on a decisional bilinear Diffie-Hellman inversion assumption, which seems reasonable given current state of knowledge. For small message spaces, our VRF's proofs and keys have constant size. By utilizing a collision-resistant hash function, our VRF can also be used with arbitrary message spaces. We show that our scheme can be instantiated with an elliptic group of very reasonable size. Furthermore, it can be made distributed and proactive.
Using Autonomic Principles to Manage Converged Services in Next Generation Networks

While Next Generation Networks are an active field of study, effective management of these complex networks is still an open research problem. Applications of next generation networks, such as converged services, further exacerbate the difficulty of their management. This is due largely to the dramatically increased business, system and operational complexity of both the networks and the converged services. Autonomic networks use business goals to dynamically adapt the services and resources that they provide as their environment changes and as the demands placed upon them fluctuate. Hence, it is natural to consider using autonomic principles to manage next generation networks and the services that run on them. This talk provides a brief overview of next generation networks, examines converged and other next generation services and formulates a methodology and architecture, based on autonomic principles and semantics, to manage next generation networks and services.
Identifying Disruptive Innovation: Innovation Theory and the Defense Industry

This article improves Clayton Christensen's widely cited theory of innovation and applies it to explain recent developments in the U.S. defense industry. We clarify Christensen's categorization of innovations, and expand the theory's scope to products with multiple quality attributes and markets that have a 'demand pull' for innovation. We then demonstrate that military leaders have misdiagnosed the current wave of innovation by casually claiming that it is disruptive. These improvements to Christensen's theory could help improve military investment decisions.
Constructing perfect phylogenies and proper triangulations for three-state characters

In this paper, we study the problem of constructing perfect phylogenies for three-state characters. Our work builds on two recent results. The first result states that for three-state characters, the local condition of examining all subsets of three characters is sufficient to determine the global property of admitting a perfect phylogeny. The second result applies tools from minimal triangulation theory to the partition intersection graph to determine if a perfect phylogeny exists. Despite the wealth of combinatorial tools and algorithms stemming from the chordal graph and minimal triangulation literature, it is unclear how to use such approaches to efficiently construct a perfect phylogeny for three-state characters when the data admits one. We utilize structural properties of both the partition intersection graph and the original data in order to achieve a competitive time bound.
An improved network model for transmission expansion planning considering reactive power and network losses

The expansion plan obtained from a DC model based transmission expansion planning (TEP) model could be problematic in the AC network because the DC model is potentially inaccurate. However, solving TEP problems using the AC model is still extremely challenging. The motivation for this work is to develop a less relaxed network model, based on which more realistic TEP solutions are obtained. The proposed TEP model includes a linear representation of reactive power, off-nominal bus voltage magnitudes and network losses. Binary variables are added to avoid fictitious losses. Garver's 6-bus system is used to compare the proposed TEP model with the existing models. An iterative approach for considering the N − 1 criterion during the planning process is developed and demonstrated on the IEEE 118-bus system. Simulation results indicate that the proposed TEP model provides a better approximation to the AC network and is applicable to large power system planning problems.