cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Teleworking and Next Generation Cyberpace

Past decade will be remembered by dynamic developments and innovation in the field of information technologies (IT), communications and ubiquitous Internet technologies. The 21st Century started with innovation and dynamic developments in the area of next generation networks, Internet 2-3 and Web 2-3 technologies that will transform the current already technology-driven world to next level of Future Cyberspace and Ubiquity [1].The ubiquity of current internet and future cyber-space facilitates creation of very effective and real-time collaborative environment supported with the Tele-presence and a new generation of Video Conferencing Technologies. Globalization of world trades open doors to mobility of workers as well as creation of virtual teams of experts and virtual companies bringing together experts from all over the world via Tele-presence combined with next generation of Holographic Image Technologies [2].Given current economic climate, researchers and engineers worldwide are looking for new financially viable software/hardware solutions and platforms for the creation of virtual global corporations. The author discusses the current and future trends in the Future Cyberspace Collaborative Environments, as well as, his own vision on the Next Generation Collaborative Online Systems.
Treatment of advanced bladder carcinoma with irradiation and concomitant 5‐fluorouracil infusion

Nineteen patients with locally advanced bladder cancer were treated with irradiation and concomitant 5-fluorouracil intravenous infusion with or without bolus mitomycin. Eighteen of the 19 patients were evaluated for local response. Eleven of the 18 patients (61%) obtained a complete local response within 3 to 6 months. An additional five patients (28%) showed tumor regression to a superficial state controlled by local transurethral resection and intravesical chemotherapy making the overall local clearance rate 16/18 (89%). The remaining two patients (11%) required salvage cystectomy for persistent disease and presently show no evidence of disease. Nine patients have died. Two patients died of intercurrent disease, six patients died of metastatic disease, and one patient who died from regional disease showed no evidence of local bladder tumor at the time of death. Berkson-Gage life-table analysis yields an adjusted survival of 62.5% at 5 years. Late complications included five patients with hemorrhagic cystitis, two patients with a contracted bladder, and one patient with a hemorrhagic radiation proctitis.
Fractional statistics and fractional quantized Hall effect.

The authors suggest that the origin of the odd-denominator rule observed in the fractional quantized Hall effect (FQHE) may lie in fractional statistics which govern quasiparticles in FQHE. A theorem concerning statistics of clusters of quasiparticles implies that fractional statistics do not allow coexistence of a large number of quasiparticles at fillings with an even denominator. Thus, no Hall plateau can be formed at these fillings, regardless of the presence of an energy gap. 15 references.
A reduced order approach for the vibration of mistuned bladed disk assemblies

A reduced order approach is introduced in this paper that can be used to predict the steady-state response of mistuned bladed disks. This approach takes results directly from a finite element analysis of a tuned system and, based on the assumption of rigid blade base motion, constructs a computationally efficient mistuned model with a reduced number of degrees of freedom. Based on a comparison of results predicted by different approaches, it is concluded that: the reduced order model displays structural fidelity comparable to that of a finite element model of the entire bladed disk system with significantly improved computational efficiency; and under certain circumstances both the finite element model and the reduced order model predict quite different response from simple spring-mass models.
On the Picard-Fuchs equations for massive N = 2 Seiberg-Witten theories

Abstract A new method to obtain the Picard-Fuchs equations of effective, N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories with massive matter hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation is presented. It generalises a previously described method to derive the Picard-Fuchs equations of both pure super Yang-Mills and supersymmetric gauge theories with massless matter hypermultiplets. The techniques developed are well suited to symbolic computer calculations.
Mantle Transition Zone Discontinuities beneath the Contiguous United States

Using over 310,000 high-quality radial receiver functions recorded by the USArray and other seismic stations in the contiguous United States, the depths of the 410 km and 660 km discontinuities (d410 and d660) are mapped in over 1,000 consecutive overlapping circles with a radius of 1°. The average mantle transition zone (MTZ) thickness for both the western and central/eastern U.S. is within 3 km from the global average of 250 km, suggesting an overall normal MTZ temperature beneath both areas. The Pacific Coast Ranges and the southern Basin and Range Province are underlain by a depressed d410, indicating higher-than-normal temperature in the upper MTZ. The proposed Yellowstone and Raton hot spots are not associated with clear undulations of the MTZ discontinuities, but d410 beneath another proposed hot spot, Bermuda, is depressed significantly and d660 has a normal depth. Low-temperature regions are found in the upper MTZ associated with the subducted Juan de Fuca slab beneath the northern Rocky Mountains and in two circular areas beneath the northern Basin and Range Province and the southern Colorado Plateau. Part of the Great Plains is characterized by a depressed d660. This observation, when combined with results from seismic tomography, suggests the existence of a cold region in the lower MTZ, probably associated with subducted Farallon slab segments.
Informational product differentiation as a barrier to entry

Abstract In a market for experience goods, the products of an incumbent firm and a new entrant are informationally differentiated. A signalling model is analyzed, and it is shown that informational product differentiation can be a barrier to entry (even under ‘pro-entry’ assumptions). Furthermore, when products are informationally differentiated, cost-based notions of predation are argued inappropriate.
Diversification, coordination costs, and organizational rigidity: evidence from microdata

This paper examines the impact of coordination costs and organizational rigidity on the returns to diversification. The central thesis is that coordination costs offset economies of scope, while organizational rigidity increases coordination costs, further constraining economies of scope. The empirical tests of this proposition identify the effects of coordination and organizational rigidity costs on business unit and firm productivity, using novel data from the Economic Census on taxicab and limousine firms. The key results show that coordination and organizational rigidity costs are economically and statistically significant, while organizational rigidity itself accounts for a 16 percent decrease in paid ride-miles per taxicab in incumbent diversifiers, controlling for the other costs and benefits of diversification and incumbency. The findings suggest that coordination costs, in general, and organizational rigidity costs, in particular, limit the scope of the firm. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Associations between neurohormonal and inflammatory activation and heart failure in children

Background Adult heart failure (HF) has been shown to be associated with neuroendocrine and inflammatory activation. We hypothesize that neuroendocrine and inflammatory activation also associate with symptom severity and echocardiographic measurements in pediatric HF. Methods Nineteen children with HF were divided into 3 symptom severity groups. Measurements were made of left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, LV shortening fraction (LVSF), LV shortening fraction Z score (LVSFz), and LV end-systolic (LVSDz) and diastolic diameter Z scores. Blood levels of N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), tumor necrosis factor α, and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II were measured. Results NT-proBNP and hsCRP were significantly elevated with more severe symptoms ( P ≤ .003) and discriminated between clinical severity groups (volume under the receiver operating characteristic surface = 0.58 and 0.62, P = .007 and P = .002, respectively). NT-proBNP was negatively associated with LV ejection fraction, LVSF, and LVSFz ( P ≤ .05) and positively associated with LVSDz ( P P = .02) and positively associated with NT-proBNP ( P = .03). Tumor necrosis factor α was negatively associated with LVSF and LVSFz (P ≤ .03) and positively associated with LVSDz and NT-proBNP ( P ≤ .02). Soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II was negatively associated with LVSFz ( P = .03). Conclusions Neuroendocrine and inflammatory activation are associated with more severe symptoms and worse cardiac characteristics in pediatric HF. Blood levels of these biomarkers could be used to better assess the severity of HF in children.
Multiscale Experimental Mechanics of Hierarchical Carbon‐Based Materials

Investigation of the mechanics of natural materials, such as spider silk, abalone shells, and bone, has provided great insight into the design of materials that can simultaneously achieve high specific strength and toughness. Research has shown that their emergent mechanical properties are owed in part to their specific self-organization in hierarchical molecular structures, from nanoscale to macroscale, as well as their mixing and bonding. To apply these findings to manmade materials, researchers have devoted significant efforts in developing a fundamental understanding of multiscale mechanics of materials and its application to the design of novel materials with superior mechanical performance. These efforts included the utilization of some of the most promising carbon-based nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, and graphene, together with a variety of matrix materials. At the core of these efforts lies the need to characterize material mechanical behavior across multiple length scales starting from nanoscale characterization of constituents and their interactions to emerging micro- and macroscale properties. In this report, progress made in experimental tools and methods currently used for material characterization across multiple length scales is reviewed, as well as a discussion of how they have impacted our current understanding of the mechanics of hierarchical carbon-based materials. In addition, insight is provided into strategies for bridging experiments across length scales, which are essential in establishing a multiscale characterization approach. While the focus of this progress report is in experimental methods, their concerted use with theoretical-computational approaches towards the establishment of a robust material by design methodology is also discussed, which can pave the way for the development of novel materials possessing unprecedented mechanical properties.
Synthesis of 2-deoxyxylolactone from glycerol derivatives via highly enantioselective carbon-hydrogen insertion reactions

Abstract Diazodecomposition of 1,3-dialkoxy-2-propyl diazoacetates catalyzed by chiral dirhodium(II) carboxamides results in highly enantioselective and diastereoselective carbon-hydrogen insertion which forms 3,5-dialkyl 2-deoxyxylolactones in up to 98% enantiomeric excess.
A Search for Nitrogen-Enriched Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release

A search for nitrogen-rich quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS EDR) catalog has yielded 16 candidates, including five with very prominent emission, but no cases with nitrogen emission as strong as in Q0353-383. The quasar Q0353-383 has long been known to have extremely strong nitrogen intercombination lines at 1486 and 1750 A, implying an anomalously high nitrogen abundance of ~15 times solar. It is still the only one of its kind known. A preliminary search through the EDR using the observed property of the weak C IV emission seen in Q0353-383 resulted in a sample of 23 objects with unusual emission- or absorption-line properties, including one very luminous (z ≈ 2.5) star-forming galaxy. We present descriptions, preliminary emission-line measurements, and spectra for all the objects discussed here.
The formulation of spontaneous breakdown in the path-integral method

Abstract We examine the problem of formulating spontaneous breakdown of symmetries in the path-integral framework; since different solutions of the field equations correspond to different boundary conditions, the possibility of different boundary conditions must be incorporated in the generating functional itself. We propose a modification of the generating functional that provides the required flexibility that can lead to different solutions. We apply our formalism to a model of scalar complex fields with invariance under phase transformations of the first kind and derive Ward-Takahashi identities and the Goldstone theorem.
Pd-Catalyzed Carboamination of Oxazolidin-2-ones: A Stereoselective Route to trans-2,5-Disubstituted Pyrrolidines

Palladium-catalyzed carboamination reactions between aryl bromides and 4-(but-3-enyl)-substituted oxazolidin-2-ones are described. These transformations afford bicyclic oxazolidin-2-one derivatives that can be converted to trans-2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidines in one step. The starting materials are easily prepared from amino acid precursors, and products that contain up to three stereocenters are generated with >20:1 dr.
Using diagnostic load tests for accurate load rating of typical bridges

Historically, bridge load ratings based solely on theoretical calculations tend to be overly conservative, due to the many assumptions made in the modelling of a bridge. A controlled load test can be used to determine a more accurate load rating of the bridge. An overview of typical controlled load tests is presented in this paper. Specific attention is given to determining the bridge's actual live load distribution, assessing support fixity, unintended composite action, and contributions from non-structural components. The manner in which these factors are computed and applied directly to standard beam models currently used to load rate bridges is also discussed.
The Goddard program of gamma ray transient astronomy

The Goddard program of gamma-ray burst studies is briefly reviewed. The past results, present status and future expectations are outlined regarding our endeavors using experiments on balloons, IMP-6 and IMP-7, OGO-3, ISEE-1 and ISEE-3, Helios-2, Solar Maximum Mission, the Einstein Observatory, Solar Polar and the Gamma Ray Observatory, and with the interplanetary gamma-ray burst networks, to which some of these spacecraft sensors contribute. Additional emphasis is given to the recent discovery of a new type of gamma-ray transient, detected on 5 March, 1979.
Complexity measures for regular expressions

Several measures of the complexity of a regular expression are defined. (Star height and number of alphabetical symbols are two of them.) Upper and lower estimates for the complexities of expressions for certain sets of paths on graphs are derived.
Geometric comparison of combinatorial polytopes

Abstract We survey some analytic methods of volume calculation and introduce a distance function for pairs of polytopes based on their volumes. We study the distance function in the context of three familiar settings of combinatorial optimization: (i) Chvatal–Gomory rounding, (ii) fixed-charged problems, and (iii) vertex packing.
Characterizing the electrostatic charging of polymer particles by impact charging experiments

Abstract Impact charging experiments were systematically conducted using four kinds of polymers for impacting particles and three metal targets with different work functions in all of their combinations. The equilibrium charges were independent of the work function of the metal target and were almost constant for each polymer. Discussion of the results of this experiment suggested that the charge relaxation in the particles separating process determines the impact charge if this impact charging is generated under atmospheric conditions. One important reason for studying this charge relaxation process is to understand the particle charging mechanism. Furthermore, these discussions and experimental results suggested that the characteristic which decides the amount of charge generation, in charge generation in the dry powder processes etc., is the dielectric constant of the polymer material of which the particle consists.
Non-LTE Radiation Transport in High Radiation Plasmas

Abstract A primary goal of numerical radiation transport is obtaining a self-consistent solution for both the radiation field and plasma properties, which requires consideration of the coupling between the radiation and the plasma. The different characteristics of this coupling for continuum and line radiation have resulted in two separate sub-disciplines of radiation transport with distinct emphases and computational techniques. LTE radiation transfer focuses on energy transport and exchange through broadband radiation, primarily affecting temperature and ionization balance. Non-LTE line transfer focuses on narrowband radiation and the response of individual level populations, primarily affecting spectral properties. Many high energy density applications, particularly those with high-Z materials, incorporate characteristics of both these regimes. Applications where the radiation fields play an important role in the energy balance and include strong line components require a non-LTE broadband treatment of energy transport and exchange. We discuss these issues and present a radiation transport treatment which combines features of both approaches by explicitly incorporating the dependence of material properties on both temperature and radiation fields. The additional terms generated by the radiation dependence do not change the character of the system of equations and can easily be added to a numerical transport implementation. A numerical example from a Z-pinch application demonstrates that this method improves both the stability and convergence of the calculations. The information needed to characterize the material response to radiation is closely related to that used by the linear response matrix (LRM) approach to near-LTE simulation, and we investigate the use of the LRM for these calculations.
Unilateral action in the UN system

Realization of UN Charter values has required adaptation of its procedures in the face of Cold War politics and conflicts of national self-interest. Security Council machinery has never worked quite as planned. 'Recommendations' for the use of force have substituted when Article 43 agreements were not forthcoming and direct enforcement action was unavailable. 'Abstentions' by permanent members of the Council have been counted as 'concurrences' to allow decisions to go forward. In an era with an expanded account of human rights and human security, it should not surprise us that there is an impetus to permit effective action: in humanitarian emergencies through an expanded reading of Chapter VIII, with new latitude for regional action, and in meeting the dangers of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism through a broader account of Article 51 self-defence and unilateral enforcement of standing Council resolutions. The United Nations Charter is, perhaps more than we care to acknowledge, a document of its time, built upon the Western alliance of World War II and the expectation that post-war action would be undertaken with unity by the anti-fascist powers. Its adaptation to the ideological schism of the Cold War, and to a post-Cold War period where national interests continue to diverge, has required focus on Charter goals as much as on formal procedures. Realization of the Charter's humane values has, at times, required the substitution of other actors and imperfect observance of the Charter's forms. The justification of procedural latitude has weighed more heavily on international lawyers than upon pragmatic political authorities. It may be time for the twain to meet.
Influence of Electrode Configuration on the Performance of Electrode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

The effect of the cathode-to-anode area ratio on the normalized power density for solid oxide fuel cells was investigated. A geometrically symmetric cell having a screen printed cathode produced a power density of 0.45 W/cm 2 at 800°C. However, using a cathode with a geometric area significantly less than that of the anode can enhance the normalized power density by a factor of two. Furthermore, using a current collector with a geometric area less than that of the cathode contributes an additional enhancement that leads to an apparent power density of 1.2 W/cm 2 . This difference in cell performance is interpreted as an artifact of normalization. When the performance of the cathode is improved using optimized processing technology and careful control of electrode microstructure, the effect of the area ratio on the normalized power density enhancement is less pronounced. Only testing in a symmetric cell configuration can result in power densities that are also achievable in stacks.
Curvature as a remedy or discretizing gravity in warped dimensions

The attempt to discretize gravity in flat space is foiled by the appearance of strongly interacting long wave-length longitudinal modes. In this paper we show how the introduction of sites with different scales, or equivalently curvature in the bulk, ameliorate all the problems encountered in flat space associated with long wave-length modes. However, as one could expect, all such problem resurface once the mode's wave-length is smaller than the bulk curvature.
Global computation in a poorly connected world: fast rumor spreading with no dependence on conductance

In this paper, we study the question of how efficiently a collection of interconnected nodes can perform a global computation in the GOSSIP model of communication. In this model, nodes do not know the global topology of the network, and they may only initiate contact with a single neighbor in each round. This model contrasts with the much less restrictive LOCAL model, where a node may simultaneously communicate with all of its neighbors in a single round. A basic question in this setting is how many rounds of communication are required for the information dissemination problem, in which each node has some piece of information and is required to collect all others. In the LOCAL model, this is quite simple: each node broadcasts all of its information in each round, and the number of rounds required will be equal to the diameter of the underlying communication graph. In the GOSSIP model, each node must independently choose a single neighbor to contact, and the lack of global information makes it difficult to make any sort of principled choice. As such, researchers have focused on the uniform gossip algorithm, in which each node independently selects a neighbor uniformly at random. When the graph is well-connected, this works quite well. In a string of beautiful papers, researchers proved a sequence of successively stronger bounds on the number of rounds required in terms of the conductance φ and graph size n, culminating in a bound of O(φ-1 log n). In this paper, we show that a fairly simple modification of the protocol gives an algorithm that solves the information dissemination problem in at most O(D + polylog (n)) rounds in a network of diameter D, with no dependence on the conductance. This is at most an additive polylogarithmic factor from the trivial lower bound of D, which applies even in the LOCAL model. In fact, we prove that something stronger is true: any algorithm that requires T rounds in the LOCAL model can be simulated in O(T + polylog(n)) rounds in the GOSSIP model. We thus prove that these two models of distributed computation are essentially equivalent.
Thermal Stability of InGaAs Quantum Dots Under Large Temperature Transients

We report here studies of the thermal stability of InGaAs quantum dots that have been subjected to various thermal treatments. Atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy are used to analyze the effects of the thermal treatments. In this paper we present data that demonstrates a remarkable improvement in the thermal stability of quantum dots that were rapidly cooled down to room temperature following the growth of a GaAs capping layer. The observed thermal behavior is attributed to metastable states formed during post growth thermal cycle.
Viscoelastic response of epoxy glasses subjected to different thermal treatments

Isothermal aging after a quench from above the glass-transition temperature (Tg) to below it was studied as a function of cross-link density for model epoxy networks using small deformation stress relaxation experiments. We found that time-aging time and time-cross-link density superposition principles described the changes observed in the Viscoelastic behavior of the epoxy networks. The aging response in the nonlinear Viscoelastic regime was also studied using creep experiments for one of the networks. It was found that upon aging near to the conventional glass-transition temperature, the time required for the glass to age into structural equilibrium was independent of the magnitude of the applied stress. This result suggests that large stresses do not erase physical aging (or cause rejuvenation of the glasses).
On the k-server conjecture

We prove that the work function algorithm for the k-server problem has a competitive ratio at most 2k−1. Manasse et al. [1988] conjectured that the competitive ratio for the k-server problem is exactly k (it is trivially at least k); previously the best-known upper bound was exponential in k. Our proof involves three crucial ingredients: A quasiconvexity property of work functions, a duality lemma that uses quasiconvexity to characterize the configuration that achieve maximum increase of the work function, and a potential function that exploits the duality lemma.
Anomalous dimension and local charges

AdS space is the universal covering of a hyperboloid. We consider the action of the deck transformations on a classical string worldsheet in AdS5 × S5. We argue that these transformations are generated by an infinite linear combination of the local conserved charges. We conjecture that a similar relation holds for the corresponding operators on the field theory side. This would be a generalization of the recent field theory results showing that the one loop anomalous dimension is proportional to the Casimir operator in the representation of the Yangian algebra.
The inverse Laplace transform as the ultimate tool for transverse mass spectra

New high statistics data from the second generation of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion experiments open up new possibilities in terms of data analysis. To fully utilize the potential we propose to analyze them⊥-spectra of hadrons using the inverse Laplace transform. The problems with its inherent ill-definedness can be overcome and several applications in other fields like biology, chemistry or optics have already shown its feasibility. Moreover the method also promises to deliver upper bounds on the total information content of the spectra, which is of big importance for all other means of analysis. Here we compute several Laplace inversions from different thermal scenarios both analytically and numerically to test the efficiency of the method. Especially the case of a two component structure, related to a possible first order phase transition to a quark gluon plasma, is closer investigated and it is shown that at least a signal to noise ratio of 104 is necessary to resolve two individual components.
Fission Reaction Event Yield Algorithm, FREYA — For event-by-event simulation of fission

Abstract From nuclear materials accountability to detection of special nuclear material, SNM, the need for better modeling of fission has grown over the past decades. Current radiation transport codes compute average quantities with great accuracy and performance, but performance and averaging come at the price of limited interaction-by-interaction modeling. For fission applications, these codes often lack the capability of modeling interactions exactly: energy is not conserved, energies of emitted particles are uncorrelated, prompt fission neutron and photon multiplicities are uncorrelated. Many modern applications require more exclusive quantities than averages, such as the fluctuations in certain observables (e.g. the neutron multiplicity) and correlations between neutrons and photons. The new computational model, FREYA (Fission Reaction Event Yield Algorithm), aims to meet this need by modeling complete fission events. Thus it automatically includes fluctuations as well as correlations resulting from conservation of energy and momentum. FREYA has been integrated into the LLNL Fission Library, and will soon be part of MCNPX2.7.0 , MCNP6 , TRIPOLI-4.9 , and Geant4.10 . Program summary Program title: FREYA 1.0 Catalogue identifier: AEVS_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEVS_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Special LLNL licence No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 187792 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 2585089 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Fortran 90, C++. Computer: Any computer with a Fortran 90 and a C++ compiler, tested with (a) Intel Xeon CPU X5660, 2.8 GHz, 48 GB RAM, (b) Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2620, 2 GHz, 64 GB RAM, (c) Intel Xeon CPU W3520, 2.67 GHz, 6 GB RAM. Operating system: (a) Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 6.5 (GNU Fortran and g++ (GCC) 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-4)), (b) CentOS release 6.4 (GNU Fortran and g++ (GCC) 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-3)), (c) MacBook Pro OSX 10.6.8 (GNU Fortran and g++-mp-4.7 (MacPorts gcc47 4.7.3 5) 4.7.3). RAM: 6 GB Classification: 17.8. Nature of problem: Modeling of fission events. Solution method: Simulation of complete fission events, production of secondary fission fragments, fission neutrons and photons. Restrictions: Restricted to spontaneous fission of 238 U, 240 Pu, 244 Cm, 252 Cf; neutron-induced fission of 233 U, 235 U, 239 Pu, for incident neutron energies less than 20 MeV. Running time: 8 s for 1M events
Dependence of neutral temperatures in the lower thermosphere on geomagnetic activity

[1] The neutral temperature (Tn) in the lower thermosphere has been measured using high-resolution (0.13 nm) N2 Lyman-Birge-Hopfield (LBH) band emissions, taken from the High-Resolution Ionospheric and Thermospheric Spectrograph (HITS) instrument aboard the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS). Tn in the lower thermosphere (below ∼200 km) has been examined for 12 days in 2000 and 2001. During geomagnetically quiet conditions, the observed HITS temperatures (THITS) as a function of latitude and calculations using the NRLMSISE-00 model are in good agreement. During periods with geomagnetic disturbances, the model temperatures are unable to match the spatial and temporal variations exhibited by the measurements. An analysis of HITS temperatures and measurements of the auroral electrojet index AL indicates that THITS changes typically follow variations in AL obtained between 13 and 18.5 hours earlier. On average, the time delay is 16 hours and 25 min earlier (correlation coefficient of 0.55), yielding the following empirical formula between Tn and AL changes: ΔTn[K] = 2.1 × ΔAL[nT]. Also, the agreement between measured (HITS) and modeled (NRLMSISE-00) Tn values has been investigated for 8 days with similar geomagnetic conditions, yielding a correlation coefficient of 0.75 between the THITS-TMSIS agreement and the previously measured AL.
Materials Development of Thin Film TiNi Ferroelastic-Ferroelectric Heterostructures

Active and adaptive thin film materials for “smart” materials will likely be a heterostructure of several types of thin films. In this investigation, deposition and processing of thin film Shape Memory Effect TiNi and thin film ferroelectric BaTiO 3 and SrTiO 3 are discussed. Growth conditions as well as the thermodynamic conditions for thin films are described. It was found that amorphous thin films of TiNi and BaTiO 3 can be crystallized simultaneously by air annealing at 600°C.
Oxidative destruction of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC11 and CFC12) by zeolite catalysts

Abstract The catalytic oxidations of CFC1 I and CFC12 were studied over four Y-zeolite catalysts (HY, CoY, CeY, and CrY) in a fixed-bed reactor at temperatures ranging from 150 to 400°C and space velocity of 10,500 h−1. Initial oxidation activities and selectivities for each catalyst were measured and compared. Two catalysts (HY and CrY) were investigated further at a temperature of 300°C and space velocity of 5000 h−1 for longer term stability-deactivation characteristics. Results showed initial activities and selectivities of all four catalysts to be comparatively similar, with substantially complete conversion (>90%) obtained at temperatures >-/ 250°C for CFC1 I and >-/ 400°C for CFC12. Initial selectivity at higher temperatures (>-/ 250°C) was predominantly to CO2; F2 and Cl, were largely adsorbed/reacted on the catalysts and could not be quantified. The longer term catalyst deactivation tests carried out on HY and CrY showed a drop in catalytic activity and deep oxidation selectivity (partial oxidation products detected were CCl4, COCI,, and other CFCs) with time due to the deactivation of the catalysts. The CrY catalyst was found to be much more resistant than the HY, probably because the Cr3+ cations were able to catalyze and subsequently desorb a substantial portion of the corrosive halogens that were formed.
CALCULATION OF THE QUASIPARTICLE RECOMBINATION TIME IN A SUPERCONDUCTOR

S>Phonon emission effects on electron-pair recombination in superconductors are considered. The Bardeen-CooperSchrieffer theory (Phys. Rev., 108: 1175(1957)) is applied. At 1.44 deg K, a result one order of magnitude smaller than the experimental upper limit is obtained. (L.N.N.)
The synthesis of neophyllithium and its reaction with anthracene

Abstract The transmetalation reaction between t-butyllithium and dineophylmercury produces pure neophyllithium, 1 , in a rapid, convenient manner as shown by FT-NMR. Alkylation of anthracene with 1 in HMPA gives 6–10% yields of unrearranged adduct.
Defining a role for platelets in allergic inflammation

There is now considerable evidence suggesting a role for platelets as inflammatory cells. These actions are distinct from their classically known actions performed during thrombosis and haemostasis, and include the expression of adhesion molecules and contact-dependent activation of leucocytes, the release of a plethora of inflammatory mediators, activation in cells of the adaptive immune response and the ability to migrate and undergo chemotaxis. Chronic asthma is a disease characterized by a mixed inflammatory cell pulmonary infiltrate, AHR (airways hyper-responsiveness) and tissue remodelling. Clinical data from patients suffering from asthma, allergic rhinitis and allergic dermatitis reveal changes in platelet behaviour and function during or after allergen exposure. Furthermore, mouse models of allergic inflammation demonstrate a role for intact platelets in eosinophil and lymphocyte recruitment to the lungs, a mechanism that is P-selectin (platelet selectin)-dependent. Models of chronic inflammation also reveal the participation of platelets in tissue remodelling events whereby platelet depletion was found to be more effective in suppressing airway remodelling processes than the administration of a glucocorticosteroid. This process of destruction and repair to the architecture of airway tissue is therefore perhaps enhanced by platelet activation. Recent evidence demonstrates that platelets can undergo chemotaxis and indicates an ability to migrate through inflamed tissue, where they localize to specific tissue sites. Indeed, platelets have been shown to become activated and recruited to various body compartments in direct response to allergen via IgE and this is suggestive of a link between the innate and adaptive immune responses. Thus these actions may lead to pathophysiological events that alter disease progression, since platelet depletion suppresses AHR in allergic rabbits. Further investigations into the role of platelets in inflammation may be beneficial in the search for future therapeutic targets in the treatment of asthma and allergy.
Frequency-domain statistics of the chaotic optical field of a high-gain, self-amplified free-electron laser and its correlation to the time-domain statistics

Recently, the temporal evolution of the amplitude and phase of the chaotic output from a self-amplified free-electron laser was determined. In this letter, we characterize the frequency dependence of the amplitude and phase of the output radiation and discuss the relationship between the characteristics of the spiky intensity structures observed in both the time and the frequency domains. The distribution of the rms time–bandwidth products for an ensemble of output pulses is presented. Experimental results are compared with simulation and theory.
The constituent object parser: syntactic structure matching for information retrieval

The Constituent Object Parser is a shallow syntactic parser designed to produce dependency tree representations of syntactic structure that can be used to specify the intended meanings of a sentence more precisely than can the key terms of the sentence alone. It is intended to improve the precision/recall performance of information retrieval and similar text processing applications by providing more powerful matching procedures. The dependency tree representation and the relationship between the intended use of this parser and its design is described, and several problems concerning the processing of ambiguous structures are discussed.
Synthesis of 4,4‐Disubstituted‐4H‐benzo[d][1,3]oxathiin‐2‐ones, a New Class of Compounds

Abstract 4,4‐Dialkyl and 4,4‐diaryl‐4H‐benzo[d][1,3]oxathiin‐2‐ones were synthesized by the reaction of 2‐(mercapto‐phenyl)‐dialkyl‐ (or diaryl)‐methanol with CDI in excellent yield. The 2‐(mercaptophenyl)‐dialkyl‐ (or diaryl)‐methanols were prepared by the reaction of commercially available methylthiosalicylate with an appropriate alkyl or aryl Grignard reagent.
Foreign Object Damage in an Oxide/Oxide Composite at Ambient Temperature

Foreign object damage behavior of an oxide/oxide (N720/AS) ceramic matrix composite was determined at ambient temperature using impact velocities ranging from 100 m/s to 400 m/s by 1.59 mm diameter steel-ball projectiles. Two different support configurations of target specimens were used: fully supported and partially supported. The degree of post-impact strength degradation increased with increasing impact velocity and was greater in a partially supported configuration than in a fully supported one. For the fully supported configuration, frontal contact stress played a major role in generating composite damage, while for the partially supported case, both frontal contact and backside flexure stresses were the combined sources of damage generation. The oxide/oxide composite was able to survive high energy (∼1.3 J) impacts without complete structural failure. The degree of relative post-impact strength degradation of the oxide/oxide composite was similar to that of an advanced SiC/SiC composite observed from a previous study, regardless of the type of specimen support. Like the SiC/SiC composite, impact-damage tolerance was greater in the oxide/oxide than in monolithic silicon nitride ceramics for impact velocities >300 m/s.
Yellow Fever Vaccines

Origine des vaccins. Developpement du vaccin b17. Preparation des vaccins standards. Directions futures dans le developpement des vaccins
Asymmetric synthesis of 4,5,6- and 3,4,5,6-substituted azepanes by a highly diastereoselective and enantioselective lithiation-conjugate addition sequence.

Asymmetric syntheses of 4,5,6- and 3,4,5,6-substituted azepanes have been achieved by highly diastereoselective and enantioselective (−)-sparteine-mediated asymmetric lithiation−conjugate additions of N-Boc-N-(p-methoxyphenyl)-2,3-substituted allylamines to a β-aryl α,β-unsaturated ester followed by hydrolysis, cyclization, and reduction. Access to the enantiomeric adduct is provided by an invertive lithiation−stannylation−lithiation sequence.
Regiospecific Synthesis of Unsymmetrical 2,3-Diarylquinones via Stepwise Pd(0)-Catalyzed Couplings of Arylstannanes to Doubly Activated Quinone Equivalents

Abstract Coupling of aryltaannanes to 2-phenyliodonio-1,4-naphthoquinone-3-oxide in the presence of a tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0)-cuprous iodide catalyst yields 3-aryl-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones which are converted to the corresponding 3-aryl-2-trifluoromethanesulfonyloxy-1,4-naphthoquinone and coupled to a different arylstannane to yield unsymmetrical 2,3-diaryl-1,4-naphthoquinones in good yields. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Long aftershock sequences within continents and implications for earthquake hazard assessment

One of the most powerful features of plate tectonics is that the known plate motions give insight into both the locations and average recurrence interval of future large earthquakes on plate boundaries. Plate tectonics gives no insight, however, into where and when earthquakes will occur within plates, because the interiors of ideal plates should not deform. As a result, within plate interiors, assessments of earthquake hazards rely heavily on the assumption that the locations of small earthquakes shown by the short historical record reflect continuing deformation that will cause future large earthquakes. Here, however, we show that many of these recent earthquakes are probably aftershocks of large earthquakes that occurred hundreds of years ago. We present a simple model predicting that the length of aftershock sequences varies inversely with the rate at which faults are loaded. Aftershock sequences within the slowly deforming continents are predicted to be significantly longer than the decade typically observed at rapidly loaded plate boundaries. These predictions are in accord with observations. So the common practice of treating continental earthquakes as steady-state seismicity overestimates the hazard in presently active areas and underestimates it elsewhere.
NONLINEARITIES AND THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF OIL PRICES

This paper reviews some of the literature on the macroeconomic effects of oil price shocks with a particular focus on possible nonlinearities in the relation and recent new results obtained by Kilian and Vigfusson [http://www-personal.umich/~lkilian/kvsubmission.pdf (2009)].
Institutional quality and the tenure of autocrats

A substantial body of literature concludes that nations that maintain market institutions and have limited governments have higher economic growth rates and higher per capita incomes. This conclusion goes back at least to Adam Smith (1937 [1776]), and includes historical studies by Mokyr (1990) and Landes (1998), and institutional analyses by Olson (1996) and Baumol (1990). If the advantages of market institutions are widely recognized, why would the political leadership of any nation not adopt them? One answer often applied to autocracies is that while the general population may be better off with market institutions, the political leadership can obtain personal benefits from more oppressive economic institutions. Referring to the poor nations of Africa, Ayittey (2008: 168) says, “African despots are loath to relinquish control or power. They would rather destroy their economies and countries than give up economic and political power. This power allows them to allocate or extract resources to build personal fortunes and to dispense patronage to buy political support.” Acemoglu and Robinson (2006: 115) say it is “. . .because superior institutions and technologies may reduce their political power and make it more likely that they will be replaced.” This paper examines the proposition that autocrats can enhance their holds on power, and reduce the probability they will be replaced, by retaining low-quality economic institutions. Svolik (2009) notes that autocrats always share power with a ruling coalition, and the ruling coalition may receive concentrated benefits from poor institutions, paid for by costs imposed on everyone. Concentrated interests are able to organize more effectively than larger groups, Olson (1965) observed, so a ruling coalition may be able to maintain power even when the benefit to the ruling group is smaller than the costs imposed on everyone else. The payoffs to members of the ruling coalition buy support for the autocrat. Thus, as Acemoglu
Profit-maximizing cluster hires

Team formation has been long recognized as a natural way to acquire a diverse pool of useful skills, by combining experts with complementary talents. This allows organizations to effectively complete beneficial projects from different domains, while also helping individual experts position themselves and succeed in highly competitive job markets. Here, we assume a collection of projects ensuremath{P}, where each project requires a certain set of skills, and yields a different benefit upon completion. We are further presented with a pool of experts ensuremath{X}, where each expert has his own skillset and compensation demands. Then, we study the problem of hiring a cluster of experts T ⊆ X, so that the overall compensation (cost) does not exceed a given budget B, and the total benefit of the projects that this team can collectively cover is maximized. We refer to this as the ClusterHire problem. Our work presents a detailed analysis of the computational complexity and hardness of approximation of the problem, as well as heuristic, yet effective, algorithms for solving it in practice. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approaches through experiments on real datasets of experts, and demonstrate their advantage over intuitive baselines. We also explore additional variants of the fundamental problem formulation, in order to account for constraints and considerations that emerge in realistic cluster-hiring scenarios. All variants considered in this paper have immediate applications in the cluster hiring process, as it emerges in the context of different organizational settings.
Estrogen and progesterone effects on the morphology of the mouse meibomian gland.

One of the most compelling epidemiological features of dry eye syndromes is that they occur predominantly in women.1–3 In fact, the female gender has been termed a risk factor for the development of dry eye.4 This gender-related prevalence is not surprising, given that over 90% of the individuals with Sjogren’s syndrome are women,5–7 and that dry eye often occurs during menopause and aging.8–10 We hypothesize that this gender-related difference in the prevalence of dry eye syndromes is due, at least in part, to the influence of estrogens. We also hypothesize that this hormone effect is mediated primarily through estrogen action on the meibomian gland. This tissue is a large sebaceous gland,11 and estrogens are known to suppress sebaceous gland function throughout the body.11–17 To begin to test these hypotheses, we sought in the present study to determine whether estrogens, as compared to other sex steroids, influence the morphology of the meibomian gland.