cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lower bounds in differential privacy

This paper is about private data analysis, in which a trusted curator holding a confidential database responds to real vector-valued queries. A common approach to ensuring privacy for the database elements is to add appropriately generated random noise to the answers, releasing only these noisy responses. A line of study initiated in [7] examines the amount of distortion needed to prevent privacy violations of various kinds. The results in the literature vary according to several parameters, including the size of the database, the size of the universe from which data elements are drawn, the "amount" of privacy desired, and for the purposes of the current work, the arity of the query. In this paper we sharpen and unify these bounds. Our foremost result combines the techniques of Hardt and Talwar [11] and McGregor et al. [13] to obtain linear lower bounds on distortion when providing differential privacy for a (contrived) class of low-sensitivity queries. (A query has low sensitivity if the data of a single individual has small effect on the answer.) Several structural results follow as immediate corollaries: — We separate so-called counting queries from arbitrary low-sensitivity queries, proving the latter requires more noise, or distortion, than does the former; — We separate (e,0)-differential privacy from its well-studied relaxation (e,δ)-differential privacy, even when δ∈2−o(n) is negligible in the size n of the database, proving the latter requires less distortion than the former; — We demonstrate that (e,δ)-differential privacy is much weaker than (e,0)-differential privacy in terms of mutual information of the transcript of the mechanism with the database, even when δ∈2−o(n) is negligible in the size n of the database. We also simplify the lower bounds on noise for counting queries in [11] and also make them unconditional. Further, we use a characterization of (e,δ) differential privacy from [13] to obtain lower bounds on the distortion needed to ensure (e,δ)-differential privacy for e,δ>0. We next revisit the LP decoding argument of [10] and combine it with a recent result of Rudelson [15] to improve on a result of Kasiviswanathan et al. [12] on noise lower bounds for privately releasing l-way marginals.
Fibre optic microarrays

This tutorial review describes how fibre optic microarrays can be used to create a variety of sensing and measurement systems. This review covers the basics of optical fibres and arrays, the different microarray architectures, and describes a multitude of applications. Such arrays enable multiplexed sensing for a variety of analytes including nucleic acids, vapours, and biomolecules. Polymer-coated fibre arrays can be used for measuring microscopic chemical phenomena, such as corrosion and localized release of biochemicals from cells. In addition, these microarrays can serve as a substrate for fundamental studies of single molecules and single cells. The review covers topics of interest to chemists, biologists, materials scientists, and engineers.
An evaluation of voice stress analysis techniques in a simulated AWACS environment

Fundamental frequency, frequency jitter, and amplitude shimmer voice algorithms were employed to measure the effects of stress in crewmember communications data in simulated AWACS mission scenarios. Two independent workload measures were used to identify levels of stress: 1) a predictor model developed by the simulation author based upon scenario-generated stimulus events, and 2) the duration of communication for each weapons director, representative of the individual's response to the induced stress. Results identified fundamental frequency and frequency jitter as statistically significant vocal indicators of stress, while amplitude shimmer showed no signs of any significant relationship with workload or stress. Consistent with previous research, the frequency algorithm was identified as the most reliable measure. However, the results did not reveal a sensitive discrimination measure between levels of stress, but rather, did distinguish between the presence or absence of stress.
Socioeconomic Change and Occupational Location for Successive Cohorts of American Male and Female Workers

Abstract Major changes have occurred in the occupational distribution of the American workforce during the past 20 years. These changes have occurred both within the working lives of cohorts and through the process of cohort replacement. This paper uses 1973-1991 Current Population Survey data to examine the importance of within- and between-cohort change on the shifting occupational and skill distributions of men and women. Significant change is found for both genders, but it is more dramatic for women than for men, especially when the focus is on skill rather than conventionally defined occupational groups. Decompositions that capture the effects of educational upgrading and industrial restructuring show that both forces play important roles in accounting for change. Men, however, have not upgraded their occupations as fast as educational and industrial change would predict, while women have upgraded at a faster rate than implied by underlying educational and industrial trends. Historical events have influenced the evolution of careers as well as their starting point. However, while the shape of cohort career trajectories reflects both historical and life course processes, the portion of social change that can be characterized as "uneven" - which would therefore generate interactions between age and cohort - has been a comparatively unimportant force on the evolving occupational distribution of the American workforce.
Stateful public-key cryptosystems: how to encrypt with one 160-bit exponentiation

We show how to significantly speed-up the encryption portion of some public-key cryptosystems by the simple expedient of allowing a sender to maintain state that is re-used across different encryptions.In particular we present stateful versions of the DHIES and Kurosawa-Desmedt schemes that each use only 1 exponentiation to encrypt, as opposed to 2 and 3 respectively in the original schemes, yielding the fastest discrete-log based public-key encryption schemes known in the random-oracle and standard models respectively. The schemes are proven to meet an appropriate extension of the standard definition of IND-CCA security that takes into account novel types of attacks possible in the stateful setting.
Complex function algebras and removable spaces

Abstract The compact Hausdorff space X has the Complex Stone–Weierstrass Property (CSWP) iff it satisfies the complex version of the Stone–Weierstrass Theorem. W. Rudin showed that all scattered spaces have the CSWP. We describe some techniques for proving that certain non-scattered spaces have the CSWP. In particular, if X is the product of a compact ordered space and a compact scattered space, then X has the CSWP if and only if X does not contain a copy of the Cantor set.
Balance sheets of early boomers: are they different from pre-boomers?

Nationally representative data are used to compare the magnitude, composition, and distribution of accumulated wealth of early boomers (born between 1946 and 1957) and pre-boomers (born between 1934 and 1945) at the same life cycle stage (ages 44–45, occurring in 1989 for pre-boomers and in 2001 for early boomers). Early boomers have accumulated greater mean wealth than pre-boomers at the same age, however median wealth did not change and net worth among lower-middle wealth groups declined. Multivariate analysis identified demographic change among those in the wealth distribution tails that indicates the increasing importance of education and race as predictors of wealth.
Rationing in IPOs

We provide a model of bookbuilding in IPOs, in which the issuer can choose to ration shares. Before informed investors submit their bids, they know that, in the aggregate, winning bidders will receive only a fraction of their demand. We demonstrate that this mitigates the winner's curse, that is, the incentive of bidders to shade their bids. It leads to more aggressive bidding, to the extent that rationing can be revenue-enhancing. In a parametric example, we characterize bid and revenue functions, and the optimal degree of rationing. We show that, when investors' information is diffuse, maximal rationing is optimal. Conversely, when their information is concentrated, the seller should not ration shares. We provide testable predictions on bid dispersion and the degree of rationing. Our model reconciles the documented anomaly that higher bidders in IPOs do not necessarily receive higher allocations.
A cross-country comparison of corporate governance and firm performance: Do financial structure and the legal system matter?

We blend the corporate governance and the financial structure/legal system literature streams to study whether firm performance is enhanced when its governance structure embodies the demands of the host country’s financial structure and legal system. Using a sample of 1736 unique firms representing 22 countries, we find that the joint effect of a country’s financial structure and legal system does matter when explaining the relationship between performance and the overall level of corporate governance in a given country. The results also suggest that firms operating in the market/common combination countries tend to command higher market valuations than firms with a comparable level of corporate governance that operate in the bank/civil combination countries.
Recoverable performance loss due to membrane chemical degradation in PEM fuel cells

Recoverable voltage loss was observed for a PEM fuel cell due to membrane chemical degradation under open circuit voltage (OCV) conditions. The anion analysis of the fuel cell effluent water, collected during both the OCV hold and voltage recovery stages, indicates that sulfate release rate is much higher during recovery than that during the OCV hold. The surge in sulfate anion release occurs simultaneously with the recovery of fuel cell voltage. It was found that the reversible voltage loss, and concurrent sulfate release rate during voltage recovery, is lower for Ce-mitigated NRE211 membrane compared to as-received membrane. The recoverable voltage loss is proposed to be mainly due to the sulfate anion generated by membrane chemical degradation adsorbing onto the platinum catalyst surface.
Erectile Function Rehabilitation after Radical Prostatectomy: Practice Patterns among AUA Members

ABSTRACT Introduction Despite a growing body of evidence supporting erectile function (EF) rehabilitation after radical prostatectomy (RP), there are no guidelines on this subject. Aim To explore EF rehabilitation practice patterns of American Urological Association (AUA) urologists. Methods A 35‐question instrument was constructed assessing physician demographics, training, and EF rehabilitation practices after RP, and was e‐mailed to AUA members by the AUA Office of Education. Data were acquired by the AUA and analyzed by the investigators. Main Outcome Measure Percentage of responders who recommend EF rehabilitation practices following RP, characterization of prevalent rehabilitation practices. Results Of the 618 urologists who completed the survey, 71% were in private practice, 28% considered themselves as sexual medicine specialists, although only 4% were fellowship‐trained, 43% were urologic oncology specialists (14% fellowship‐trained), 86% performed RP, and 86% of responders recommended rehabilitation practices. Being a sexual medicine or a urologic oncology specialist was not predictive of rehabilitation employment. Forty‐three percent rehabilitate all patients, 57% only selected patients. Selection for rehabilitation was dependent upon preop EF by 66%, nerve‐sparing status by 22%, and age by 5%. Eleven percent started rehab immediately after RP, 97% within 4 months. 24%, 45% and 18% ceased rehab at P Conclusions Among the respondents, penile rehabilitation is a common practice. Urologic oncologists and RP surgeons are more likely to use rehabilitation practices. The most commonly employed strategy is regular PDE5i use for 12–18 months after RP. Tal R, Teloken P, and Mulhall JP. Erectile function rehabilitation after radical prostatectomy: practice patterns among AUA members. J Sex Med 2011;8:2370–2376.
Are weak patent rights a barrier to U.S. exports

Abstract This paper assesses whether, how, and to what extent U.S. exports are sensitive to national differences in patent rights. I estimate bilateral trade equations that account for trade distortions related to patent rights using data on state-to-country manufacturing exports in 1992. I find that weak patent rights are a barrier to U.S. exports, but only to countries that pose a strong threat-of-imitation (e.g. China). The stronger patent rights required under the WTO agreement increase U.S. exports to these high-threat markets. Alternatively, strengthening patent rights in countries that pose a weak threat-of-imitation reinforces monopoly power and reduces U.S. exports to these markets.
Competing Particle Systems and the Ghirlanda-Guerra Identities

Competing particle systems are point processes on the real line whose configurations $X$ can be ordered decreasingly and evolve by increments which are functions of correlated Gaussian variables. The correlations are intrinsic to the points and quantified by a matrix $Q=\{q_{ij}\}$. Quasi-stationary systems are those for which the law of $(X,Q)$ is invariant under the evolution up to translation of $X$. It was conjectured by Aizenman and co-authors that the matrix $Q$ of robustly quasi-stationary systems must exhibit a hierarchical structure. This was established recently, up to a natural decomposition of the system, whenever the set $S_Q$ of values assumed by $q_{ij}$ is finite. In this paper, we study the general case where $S_Q$ may be infinite. Using the past increments of the evolution, we show that the law of robustly quasi-stationary systems must obey the Ghirlanda-Guerra identities, which first appear in the study of spin glass models. This provides strong evidence that the above conjecture also holds in the general case. In addition, it yields an alternative proof of a theorem of Ruzmaikina and Aizenman for independent increments.
An investigation of capital market reactions to pronouncements on fair value accounting

This paper examines the impact of twenty-three pronouncements related to fair value accounting (FVA) rules on equity prices of financial institutions. The results document that announcements that signal an increased (decreased) probability of issuance of FVA standards produce negative (positive) abnormal stock price reactions for sample banks. Further, the magnitude of the stock price reactions is negatively related to a bank's primary capital ratio and positively related to the ratio of the book value of the investment portfolio to total assets and the ratio of the difference between the market and book value of the investment portfolio to total assets.
How Much Math Do Students Need to Succeed in Business and Economics Statistics? An Ordered Probit Analysis.

Because statistical analysis requires the ability to use mathematics, students typically are required to take one or more prerequisite math courses prior to enrolling in the business statistics cou...
Restructuring and Skill Needs: Will Firms Train?

In this article, Harold Salzman presents an analysis of corporate restructuring and resulting organizational outcomes to provide a framework for analyzing the role of the firm in workforce skill development. Salzman bases his analysis on case studies of firms in two industries, insurance and medical imaging equipment, supplemented by case studies of other firms engaged in significant levels of workforce skill development. The study addresses the extent to which restructuring firms are unstable in terms of organizational form—losing the capacity to provide skill development for their workforces—and the extent to which job changes, restructuring, and/or technology increases skill levels and therefore the demand for upgrading the skills of incumbent and new workers. His findings show that, although demand for skills has increased, a number of countervailing factors within firms and in the market inhibit firms' active engagement in skill development.
Randomly spread CDMA: asymptotics via statistical physics

This paper studies randomly spread code-division multiple access (CDMA) and multiuser detection in the large-system limit using the replica method developed in statistical physics. Arbitrary input distributions and flat fading are considered. A generic multiuser detector in the form of the posterior mean estimator is applied before single-user decoding. The generic detector can be particularized to the matched filter, decorrelator, linear minimum mean-square error (MMSE) detector, the jointly or the individually optimal detector, and others. It is found that the detection output for each user, although in general asymptotically non-Gaussian conditioned on the transmitted symbol, converges as the number of users go to infinity to a deterministic function of a "hidden" Gaussian statistic independent of the interferers. Thus, the multiuser channel can be decoupled: Each user experiences an equivalent single-user Gaussian channel, whose signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) suffers a degradation due to the multiple-access interference (MAI). The uncoded error performance (e.g., symbol error rate) and the mutual information can then be fully characterized using the degradation factor, also known as the multiuser efficiency, which can be obtained by solving a pair of coupled fixed-point equations identified in this paper. Based on a general linear vector channel model, the results are also applicable to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels such as in multiantenna systems.
Clomiphene, Metformin, or Both for Infertility in the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background The polycystic ovary syndrome is a common cause of infertility. Clomiphene and insulin sensitizers are used alone and in combination to induce ovulation, but it is unknown whether one approach is superior. Methods We randomly assigned 626 infertile women with the polycystic ovary syndrome to receive clomiphene citrate plus placebo, extended-release metformin plus placebo, or a combination of metformin and clomiphene for up to 6 months. Medication was discontinued when pregnancy was confirmed, and subjects were followed until delivery. Results The live-birth rate was 22.5% (47 of 209 subjects) in the clomiphene group, 7.2% (15 of 208) in the metformin group, and 26.8% (56 of 209) in the combination-therapy group (P<0.001 for metformin vs. both clomiphene and combination therapy; P=0.31 for clomiphene vs. combination therapy). Among pregnancies, the rate of multiple pregnancy was 6.0% in the clomiphene group, 0% in the metformin group, and 3.1% in the combination-therapy group. The rates of first...
The Making of Modern Belize: Politics, Society and British Colonialism in Central America

Part I. The colonial order, 1638-1949 1. Colonialism in historical perspective, 1638-1931 2. Latent crisis of the colonial order: economic aspects, 1931-1949 3. Latent crisis of the colonial order: political aspects, 1931-1949 Part II, The decolonisation process, 1950-1960 An overview 4. The nationalist upsurge: the People's Committee in 1950 5. Political conflict: scope and dimensions 6. The conflict: the climax and resolution Part III. Towards independence, 1961-1974 7. An overview 8. Constitutional advance and imbroglio 9. Political parties and the political process 10. Multiple external orientations: sentiment and reality Conclusion: decolonisation and national integration.
The Entrepreneurial Event Revisited: Firm Formation in a Regional Context

This paper outlines the development of an entrepreneurial culture in the US Capitol region and the formation of a regional industrial cluster. The conditions that the literature associates with entrepreneurship lag rather than lead the development of the cluster. Supportive social capital, venture capital and entrepreneurial support services, as well as actively engaged research universities, are conditions that reflect the successful establishment of an entrepreneurial culture, built by the actions of pioneering entrepreneurs who often adapted to constructive crisis. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.
Environmental regulation and economic integration

This article explores the relationship between economic integration and environmental regulation. It begins by observing that fears that economic competition would lead to a regulatory 'race toward the bottom' appear to have proven unwarranted: increased economic integration has proven compatible with the general strengthening of environmental standards. It then explains why economic interdependence has not led sub-national, national, and regional governments to compete by lowering their environmental standards. The article then explores various mechanisms by which economic integration has contributed to the strengthening of regulatory standards. It concludes by discussing the shortcomings of existing mechanisms of global environmental governance and specifying the circumstances under which regulatory coordination can promote more effective environmental governance.
Shape Transitions and Chiral Symmetry Breaking in the Energy Landscape of the Mitotic Chromosome

We derive an unbiased information theoretic energy landscape for chromosomes at metaphase using a maximum entropy approach that accurately reproduces the details of the experimentally measured pairwise contact probabilities between genomic loci. Dynamical simulations using this landscape lead to cylindrical, helically twisted structures reflecting liquid crystalline order. These structures are similar to those arising from a generic ideal homogenized chromosome energy landscape. The helical twist can be either right or left handed so chiral symmetry is broken spontaneously. The ideal chromosome landscape when augmented by interactions like those leading to topologically associating domain formation in the interphase chromosome reproduces these behaviors. The phase diagram of this landscape shows that the helical fiber order and the cylindrical shape persist at temperatures above the onset of chiral symmetry breaking, which is limited by the topologically associating domain interaction strength.
Designing stabilizing controllers for uncertain systems using the Riccati equation approach

A useful technique for determining a linear feedback control law stabilizes an uncertain system is the Riccati-equation approach of I.R. Petersen and C.V. Hollot (1986). They consider systems with time-varying uncertainty in the system matrix and obtain the constant feedback gains for the linear stabilizing controller in terms of the solutions of a Riccati equation. The technique is extended to include problems with time-varying uncertainty in the input connection matrix. Several examples are included to demonstrate the efficacy of this result. >
A one-step procedure for the monoacylation of symmetrical 1,2-diols

A series of lanthanide (III) salts have been shown to catalyze the monoacylation of symmetrical 1,2-diols by carboxylic acid anhydrides with surprisingly high selectivity.
Asynchronous gossip algorithms for stochastic optimization

We consider a distributed multi-agent network system where the goal is to minimize an objective function that can be written as the sum of component functions, each of which is known (with stochastic errors) to a specific network agent. We propose an asynchronous algorithm that is motivated by a random gossip scheme where each agent has a local Poisson clock. At each tick of its local clock, the agent averages its estimate with a randomly chosen neighbor and adjusts the average using the gradient of its local function that is computed with stochastic errors.We investigate the convergence properties of the algorithm for two different classes of functions: differentiable but not necessarily convex and convex but not necessarily differentiable.
Time Bounds on Space Computations

A physicomathematical basis is used to establish bounds T D (n) on the time needed to compute n-argument functions by spatially distributed primitive devices or composite systems D. The axioms used concern the speed, packing density, and noise threshold of the energy with which any computing device detects or alters the physical representation of information. The principal result is that T D (n) grows at least as n1/2. Composite systems consisting of spatially distributed identical components are examined in light of this bound. Inherent bounds on the computing time of n-argument functions are then combined with T D (n), resulting in a measure of computational efficiency which bounds computing time to processor size.
Parenting styles and emerging adult drug use in Cebu, the Philippines

Parenting style is a potent and malleable influence on emerging adult substance use. Most of the parenting-substance use literature has been conducted in Western populations and it is unknown whether findings are generalizable to other cultures and contexts. We extended the parenting-substance use literature to a cohort of emerging adults in the Philippines using the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. We assessed associations between mothers' and fathers' parenting styles (authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful) reported by offspring at age 18 and odds of offspring-reported drug use three years later, adjusted for a range of offspring- and parent/household-level characteristics. Females were dropped from analyses due to low prevalence of drug users. We found that many emerging adults in Cebu reported having used drugs, particularly methamphetamine-a dangerous drug with high abuse potential. Authoritative (warm, firm) mothering was significantly associated with sons' reduced odds of drug use and neglectful fathering was related at a trend level with sons' increased odds of having tried drugs. Findings underscore the relation of parenting styles to emerging adults' drug use and add to the literature on cross-cultural variability in parenting styles.
Deconstructing Schizophrenia: An Overview of the Use of Endophenotypes in Order to Understand a Complex Disorder

The genetics of schizophrenia has been approached utilizing a variety of methods. One emerging strategy is the use of endophenotypes in order to understand and identify the functional importance of genetically transmitted, brain-based deficits across schizophrenia kindreds. The endophenotype strategy is a topic of this issue of Schizophrenia Bulletin. Endophenotypes are quantitative, heritable, trait-related deficits typically assessed by laboratory-based methods rather than clinical observation. Endophenotypes are seen as closer to genetic variation than are clinical symptoms of schizophrenia, and are therefore closely linked to heritable risk factors. There has been a broad expansion of opportunities available to psychiatric neuroscientists who use the endophenotype strategy to understand the genetic basis of schizophrenia. In this context, genetic variation such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) induces abnormalities in endophenotypic domains such as neurocognition, neurodevelopment, metabolism, and neurophysiology. This article discusses the challenges that abound in genetic research of schizophrenia, including issues in ascertainment, epistasis, ethnic diversity, and the potentially normalizing effects of second-generation antipsychotic medications on neurocognitive and neurophysiological measures. Robust strategies for meeting these challenges are discussed in this review and the subsequent articles in this issue. This article summarizes conceptual advances and progress in the measurement and use of endophenotypes in schizophrenia that form the basis of the multisite National Institute of Mental Health Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia. The endophenotype strategy offers powerful and exciting opportunities to understand the genetically conferred neurobiological vulnerabilities and possible new strong inference and molecularly based treatments for schizophrenia.
Euclid: Strategic alternative assessment matrix

The vast amount of information that must be considered to solve inherently ill-structured and complex strategic problems creates a need for tools to help decision makers (DMs) recognize the complexity of this process and develop a rational model for strategy evaluation. Over the last several decades, a philosophy and a body of intuitive and analytical methods have been developed to assist DMs in the evaluation of strategic alternatives. However, the intuitive methods lack a structured framework for the systematic evaluation of strategic alternatives while the analytical methods are not intended to capture intuitive preferences. Euclid is a simple and yet sophisticated multiobjective value analysis model that attempts to uncover some of the complexities inherent in the evaluation of strategic alternatives. The proposed model uses a series of intuitive and analytical methods including environmental scanning, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), subjective probabilities, and the theory of displaced ideal, to plot strategic alternatives on a matrix based on their Euclidean distance from the ideal alternative. Euclid is further compared to the quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) in a real world application. The information provided by the users shows that Euclid can significantly enhance decision quality and the DM's confidence. Euclid is not intended to replace the DMs, rather, it provides a systematic approach to support, supplement, and ensure the internal consistency of their judgments through a series of logically sound techniques. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Distributions of angles in random packing on spheres

This paper studies the asymptotic behaviors of the pairwise angles among n randomly and uniformly distributed unit vectors in Rp as the number of points n → ∞, while the dimension p is either fixed or growing with n. For both settings, we derive the limiting empirical distribution of the random angles and the limiting distributions of the extreme angles. The results reveal interesting differences in the two settings and provide a precise characterization of the folklore that "all high-dimensional random vectors are almost always nearly orthogonal to each other". Applications to statistics and machine learning and connections with some open problems in physics and mathematics are also discussed.
Silicon mosaic for integrated devices

A new method of integrating silicon devices is discussed. Preliminary results of work are reported and a recommendation for continued development is given.
A multigrid solver for boundary value problems using programmable graphics hardware

We present a case study in the application of graphics hardware to general-purpose numeric computing. Specifically, we describe a system, built on programmable graphics hardware, able to solve a variety of partial differential equations with complex boundary conditions. Many areas of graphics, simulation, and computational science require efficient techniques for solving such equations. Our system implements the multigrid method, a fast and popular approach to solving large boundary value problems. We demonstrate the viability of this technique by using it to accelerate three applications: simulation of heat transfer, modeling of fluid mechanics, and tone mapping of high dynamic range images. We analyze the performance of our solver and discuss several issues, including techniques for improving the computational efficiency of iterative grid-based computations for the GPU.
Real-time harmonic pitch detector

A real-time harmonic pitch detection algorithm has been developed on the Lincoln Digital Voice Terminal (LDVT). The algorithm was designed to be fast and to perform well when the input speech is degraded (i.e., telephone quality) or corrupted with acoustically coupled noise. The algorithm determines the fundamental frequency from the spacing between harmonics in a selected portion of the spectrum. The algorithm was incorporated into a real-time linear prediction vocoder and compared favorably in informal listening tests with the Gold-Rabiner time-domain detector under a variety of adverse conditions.
Information granulation and its centrality in human and machine intelligence

Summary form only given. In a general setting, granulation involves a partitioning of a real or mental object into granules, with a granule being a clump of points (objects) drawn together by indistinguishability, similarity, proximity or functionality. Granulation is crisp or fuzzy depending on whether the granules are crisp or fuzzy. Fuzzy information granulation (IG) is central to human reasoning and concept formation. It is this aspect of fuzzy IG that underlies its essential role in the conception and design of information/intelligent systems. What is conclusive is that there are many, many tasks which humans can perform with ease and that no machine could perform without the use of fuzzy IG. This conclusion has a thought-provoking implication for AI: without the methodology of fuzzy IG in its armamentarium, AI cannot achieve its goals.
Thermal expansion of mantle and core materials at very high pressures

The thermal expansivities (α) of MgO and high-pressure phases of CaO, CaMgSi2O6, and Fe at ultrahigh pressure are obtained by comparing existing shock compression and temperature measurements to 300 K compression curves constructed from ultrasonic elasticity and static compression data. For MgO, α can be represented by: α = ρoγoCV(ρo/ρ)0.5±0.5/KT where γ is the Gruneisen parameter, CV is the constant volume specific heat, KT is the isothermal bulk modulus, and ρ is the density. Using this expression, the thermal expansivity of MgO is 28-32×10−6K−1 at the pressure of the top of the lower mantle and 10-16×10−6K−1 at its base (at 2000 K). New data for α of e-Fe, together with an inner core temperature of 6750 K, constrain the density of the inner core to be 5±2% less than the density of e-Fe, implying the inner core contains a light element.
Nickel-catalyzed coupling reactions of alkenes

Several reactions of simple, unactivated alkenes with electrophiles under nickel(0) catalysis are discussed. The coupling of olefins with aldehydes and silyl triflates provides allylic or homoallylic alcohol derivatives, depending on the supporting ligands and, to a lesser extent, the substrates employed. Reaction of alkenes with isocyanates yields N-alkyl acrylamides. In these methods, alkenes act as the functional equivalents of alkenyl- and allylmetal reagents.
Isomonodromic Deformations of Connections with Singularities of Parahoric Formal Type

In previous work, the authors have developed a geometric theory of fundamental strata to study connections on the projective line with irregular singularities of parahoric formal type. In this paper, the moduli space of connections that contain regular fundamental strata with fixed combinatorics at each singular point is constructed as a smooth Poisson reduction. The authors then explicitly compute the isomonodromy equations as an integrable system. This result generalizes work of Jimbo, Miwa, and Ueno to connections whose singularities have parahoric formal type.
Thyroid hormone induces artery smooth muscle cell proliferation: discovery of a new TRα1‐Nox1 pathway

Thyroid hormone (T3) can stimulate protein synthesis and cell growth. NOX1 is a mitogenic oxidase. The aim of this study was to test a novel hypothesis that T3 induces artery smooth muscle cell proliferation by up-regulating NOX1. Immunofluoresence confocal microscopy was used to visualize the sub-cellular localization of NOX1 and TRalpha1 in rat aorta smooth muscle (RASM) cells. Optical sectioning showed that TRalpha1 and NOX1 co-localized around the nucleus. T3 promoted RASM cell proliferation as determined by the fact that T3 significantly increased the number of cytokinesis cells, proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA) and smooth muscle alpha-actin (SM alpha-actin). T3 increased NOX1 expression at both the transcription (mRNA) and translation (protein) levels as evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. T3 also significantly increased the intracellular ROS production based on the oxidation of 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluoresein (H2DCF) to a fluorescent 2',7'-dichlorofluoresein (DCF). RNAi silence of TRalpha1 or NOX1 abolished T3-induced intracellular ROS generation and PCNA and SM alpha-actin expression, indicating that TRalpha1 and NOX1 mediated T3-induced RASM cell proliferation. Notably, RNAi silence of TRalpha1 blocked the T3-induced increase in NOX1 expression, whereas silence of NOX1 did not affect TRalpha1 expression, disclosing a new pathway, i.e. T3-TRalpha1-NOX1-cell proliferation. TRalpha1 and NOX1 co-localized around the nucleus. T3 induced RASM cell proliferation by up-regulating NOX1 in a TRalpha1-dependent manner.
Chiral Macrocycle-Catalyzed Highly Enantioselective Phenylacetylene Addition to Aliphatic and Vinyl Aldehydes

The 1,1'-binaphthyl macrocycle (S)-2 is found to be an excellent catalyst for the alkyne addition to aldehydes. In the presence of (S)-2 (20 mol %) and Me2Zn (2 equiv) in THF at room temperature, the addition of phenylacetylene to linear or branched aliphatic aldehydes and vinyl aldehydes gave various propargylic alcohols with 89-96% ee.
Characterizing Forbidden Pairs for Hamiltonian Squares

The square of a graph is obtained by adding additional edges joining all pair of vertices of distance two in the original graph. Particularly, if $$C$$C is a hamiltonian cycle of a graph $$G$$G, then the square of $$C$$C is called a hamiltonian square of $$G$$G. In this paper, we characterize all possible forbidden pairs, which implies the containment of a hamiltonian square, in a 4-connected graph. The connectivity condition is necessary as, except $$K_3$$K3 and $$K_4$$K4, the square of a cycle is always 4-connected.
Economic Growth and Equity Investing

The performance of equity investments is inextricably linked to economic growth. Nonetheless, few studies on investing have explicitly taken research on economic growth into account. This study bridges that gap by examining the implications for equity investing of both theoretical models and empirical results from growth theory. The study concludes that over the long run, investors should anticipate real returns on common stock to average no more than about 4 percent.
Thermal annealing of GaAs concentrator solar cells

The thermal annealing of GaAs concentrator cells for space power after electron irradiation is reported. Results are given for cells annealed at 150 degrees C, 200 degrees C, and 250 degrees C. Isochronal annealing was done for 20 min intervals up to 350 degrees C. For cells irradiated with electrons of energies between 0.7 and 2.3 MeV, the recovery decreases with increasing electron energy. Isothermal and isochronal annealing produce the same recovery. Cells irradiated to 3*10/sup 15/ or 1*10/sup 16/ e/cm/sup 2/ recover to similar unannealed fractions. Significant annealing is seen starting at 150 degrees C, although very long times are required. >
Transfer of Training on the Vertical Motion Simulator

This paper describes a quasi-transfer-of-training study in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator. Sixty-one general aviation pilots trained on four challenging commercial transport tasks under one of four different motion conditions: no motion, small hexapod, large hexapod, and Vertical Motion Simulator motion. Then, every pilot repeated the tasks in a check with Vertical Motion Simulator motion to determine if training with different motion conditions had an effect on task performance. New objective motion criteria guided the selection of the motion parameters for the small and large hexapod conditions. Considering results that were statistically significant, or marginally significant, the motion condition used in training affected 1) longitudinal and lateral touchdown position, 2) the number of secondary stall warnings in a stall recovery, 3) pilot ratings of motion utility and maximum load factor obtained in an overbanked upset recovery, and 4) pilot ratings of motion utility and pedal input reaction...
The Merging of Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics Concepts: A Historical Perspective

The seventh Jerry L. Swedlow Memorial Lecture presents a review of some of the technical developments, that have occurred during the past 40 years, which have led to the merger of fatigue and fracture mechanics concepts. This review is made from the viewpoint of 'crack propagation.' As methods to observe the 'fatigue' process have improved, the formation of fatigue micro-cracks have been observed earlier in life and the measured crack sizes have become smaller. These observations suggest that fatigue damage can now be characterized by 'crack size.' In parallel, the crack-growth analysis methods, using stress-intensity factors, have also improved. But the effects of material inhomogeneities, crack-fracture mechanisms, and nonlinear behavior must now be included in these analyses. The discovery of crack-closure mechanisms, such as plasticity, roughness, and oxide/corrosion/fretting product debris, and the use of the effective stress-intensity factor range, has provided an engineering tool to predict small- and large-crack-growth rate behavior under service loading, conditions. These mechanisms have also provided a rationale for developing, new, damage-tolerant materials. This review suggests that small-crack growth behavior should be viewed as typical behavior, whereas large-crack threshold behavior should be viewed as the anomaly. Small-crack theory has unified 'fatigue' and 'fracture mechanics' concepts; and has bridged the cap between safe-life and durability/damage-tolerance design concepts.
Computation of the One-Dimensional Unwrapped Phase

In this paper, the computation of the unwrapped phase of the discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) of a one-dimensional finite-length signal is explored. The phase of the DTFT is not unique, and may contain integer multiple of 2 pi discontinuities. The unwrapped phase is the instance of the phase function chosen to ensure continuity. This paper compares existing algorithms for computing the unwrapped phase. Then, two composite algorithms are proposed that build upon the existing ones. The core of the proposed methods is based on recent advances in polynomial factoring. The proposed methods are implemented and compared to the existing ones.
Constructional Canyons Built by Sheet-Like Turbidity Currents: Observations from Offshore Brunei Darussalam

Abstract Formation and deepening of submarine canyons are typically attributed to erosion. We present data from an industry-grade seismic volume located offshore Brunei Darussalam illustrating how topography typically associated with erosion can be produced under conditions of net sediment deposition. These data were generated via subsurface mapping in the vicinity of a shale-cored anticline on the Quaternary continental slope. The shale ridge is located 20 km down slope from the present-day continental shelf edge in ~ 900 m of water. Its crest line runs for 18 km and is oriented perpendicular to the regional slope. Three canyons traverse the structure at right angles to the crest line, with maximum canyon relief of 165 m. Subsurface mapping reveals that the structure is a site of net sediment deposition and defines a background sedimentation pattern that decreases gradually with distance from the shelf edge. Profiles down canyon axes reveal several local minima in deposit thickness over the anticline hinge that are associated with high downstream gradients. Deposition on ridges adjacent to canyons also displays local minima at the anticline hinge, but these minima are not correlated with gradient. A comparison of canyon axis and ridge deposition shows that somewhat higher rates of sedimentation on the ridges resulted in the preservation and growth of the submarine canyons with time. Laterally persistent seismic reflectors and depositional packages suggest that the canyon forming currents were sheet-like flows, extending for many kilometers in the strike direction. This interpretation is consistent with minima in ridge deposition being correlated with maximum canyon relief. The currents drained into canyons as they approached the anticline hinge, leaving only a small supra-canyon fraction available to deposit sediment on the nonchannelized zones. We use the cross-sectional area of the confined flow over the anticline crest to estimate a minimum thickness of 20 m for the sheet-like currents as they approached the anticline.
Post-Minkowskian Gravity: Dark matter as a relativistic inertial effect?

Talk at the 1st Mediterranean Conference in Classical and Quantum Gravity, held in the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolymbari (Greece) from Monday, September 14th to Friday, September 18th, 2009. A review is given of the theory of non-inertial frames (with the associated inertial effects and the study of the non-relativistic limit) in Minkowski space-time, of parametrized Minkowski theories and of the rest-frame instant form of dynamics for isolated systems admitting a Lagrangian description. The relevance and gauge equivalence of the clock synchronization conventions for the identification of the instantaneous 3-spaces (Euclidean only in inertial frames) are described. Then this formalism is applied to tetrad gravity in globally hyperbolic, asymptotically Minkowskian space-times without super-translations, where the equivalence principle implies the absence of global inertial frames. The recently discovered York canonical basis, diagonalizing the York-Lichnerowicz approach, allows to identify the gauge variables (inertial effects in general relativity) and the tidal ones (the gravitational waves of the linearized theory) and to clarify the meaning of the Hamilton equations. The role of the gauge variable 3K, the trace of the extrinsic curvature of the non-Euclidean 3-space (the York time not existing in Newton theory), as a source of inertial effects is emphasized. After the presentation of preliminary results on the linearization of tetrad gravity in the family of non-harmonic 3-orthogonal gauges with a free value of 3K, we define post-Minkowskian gravitational waves (without post-Newtonian approximations on the matter sources) propagating in a non-Euclidean 3-space, emphasizing the non-graviton-like aspects of gravity. It is conjectured that dark matter may be explained as a relativistic inertial effect induced by 3K: it would simulate the need to choose a privileged gauge connected with the observational conventions for the description of matter.
The Nature of the Relationship between Corporate Codes of Ethics and Behaviour

A study was conducted in order to examine the relationship between corporate codes of ethics and behaviour. Fifty-seven interviews of employees, managers, and ethics officers were conducted at four large Canadian companies. The study found that codes of ethics are a potential factor influencing the behaviour of corporate agents. Reasons are provided why codes are violated as well as complied with. A set of eight metaphors are developed which help to explain how codes of ethics influence behaviour.
Asymmetric azidation-cycloaddition with open-chain peptide-based catalysts. A sequential enantioselective route to triazoles.

A family of β-substituted histidine-containing peptides has been synthesized to probe the effect of noncovalent conformational rigidification on catalyst enantioselectivity. Unambiguous enhancement of enantioselectivity in the conjugate addition of azide to α,β-unsaturated carboxylate derivatives has been achieved, enabling application to a sequential asymmetric azidation/cycloaddition for the synthesis of optically enriched triazoles and triazolines.
A CONTROLLED-TOPOLOGY PROOF OF THE PRODUCT STRUCTURE THEOREM

The controlled end and h-cobordism theorems (Ends of maps I, 1979) are used to give quick proofs of the Top/PL and PL/DIFF product structure theorems.