cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Concluding Remarks on Creditor Protection

Summarizing the many thoughtful papers presented at this conference is a difficult task for an outside observer of European law reform. In lieu of bad comments on good papers, I offer instead my own observations on several of the conference's principal themes.
A unified approach to dynamic estimation

Abstract Discrepancies between assumed dynamical models and observations are often handled by making further probabilistic assumptions, a tactic which has both strengths and weaknesses. A re-examination of filtering and smoothing is conducted, and an alternative multicriteria approach, which is probability free, is advanced. This approach involves vector minimization as a key ingredient, and it specializes to the well-known Kalman, Viterbi, Larson-Peschon, and Swerling filters.
An axial gauge ansatz for higher spin theories

We present an ansatz which makes the equations of motion more tractable for the simplest of Vasiliev’s four-dimensional higher spin theories. The ansatz is similar to axial gauge in electromagnetism. We present a broad class of solutions in the gauge where the spatial connection vanishes, and we discuss the lift of one of these solutions to a full spacetime solution via a gauge transformation.
The Emerging Principles of Mammalian Prion Propagation and Transmissibility Barriers: Insight from Studies in Vitro

Self-perpetuating conformational conversion of the cellular prion protein PrPC into the β-sheet-rich “scrapie” conformer (PrPSc) is believed to be the central molecular event in pathogenesis of a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Recent advances provide growing support for the notion that a misfolded protein alone might act as an infectious agent. Furthermore, findings regarding the mechanism of prion protein structural rearrangement, the role of folding intermediates in conformational conversion, and “conformational adaptability” in the propagation of prion amyloids in vitro yield molecular-level insight into such phenomena as inherited prion diseases, prion transmission barriers, and prion strains.
A Model of Recommended Retail Prices

Manufacturers frequently post nonbinding public price recommendations, but neither the rationale for this practice nor its impact on prices is well understood. I develop a model in which recommendations signal a manufacturer's production cost to searching consumers, who then form beliefs about retail prices. Increasing search makes consumers reject offers for the manufacturer's and competitors' products more often, and I show that both consumers and the manufacturer prefer more search when the production cost is low and less search when it is high. With incentives thus aligned, manufacturer recommendations inform consumers via cheap talk, and their removal harms both parties.
Mini-discs around spinning black holes

Accretion on to black holes in wind-fed binaries and in collapsars forms small rotating discs with peculiar properties. Such ‘mini-discs’ accrete on the free-fall time without the help of viscosity and nevertheless can have a high radiative efficiency. The inviscid mini-disc model was previously constructed for a non-rotating black hole. We extend the model to the case of a spinning black hole, calculate the structure and radiative efficiency of the disc and find their dependence on the black hole spin. If the angular momenta of the disc and the black hole are anti-aligned, a hydrodynamic analogue of Penrose process takes place.
Social Interactions in the Labor Market

We examine theoretically and empirically social interactions in labor markets and how policy prescriptions can change dramatically when there are social interactions present.
Experimental evidence for the Volume Conjecture for the simplest hyperbolic non-2–bridge knot

Loosely speaking, the Volume Conjecture states that the limit of the n-th colored Jones polynomial of a hyperbolic knot, evaluated at the primitive complex n-th root of unity is a sequence of complex numbers that grows exponentially. Moreover, the exponential growth rate is proportional to the hyperbolic volume of the knot. We provide an efficient formula for the colored Jones functionof the simplest hyperbolic non-2-bridge knot, and using this formula, we provide numerical evidence for the Hyperbolic Volume Conjecture for the simplest hyperbolic non-2-bridge knot. AMS Classification 57N10; 57M25
Inference on Risk-Neutral Measures for Incomplete Markets

This paper proposes an econometric framework to estimate market risk prices associated with risk-neutral measures Q under incomplete markets. We show that, under incomplete markets, the market price of risk is not point-identified but is instead identified as a bounded subset of an affine subspace. On the other hand, a structural assumption fully identifies diffusion coefficients for the data-generating probability measure P. We apply Kaido and White's (2008, Discussion Paper, University of California, San Diego) two-stage extension of Chernozhukov, Hong, and Tamer's (2007, Econometrica, 75(5), 1243--1284) partial identification framework to construct a set estimator and confidence regions for the identified set of market risk prices and to test hypotheses. We apply our results to study international risk sharing and risk premiums for market cap range indexes. Copyright The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org., Oxford University Press.
SPATIALLY-DISTRIBUTED COVERAGE OPTIMIZATION AND CONTROL WITH LIMITED-RANGE INTERACTIONS

This paper presents coordination algorithms for groups of mobile agents performing de- ployment and coverage tasks. As an important modeling constraint, we assume that each mobile agent has a limited sensing or communication radius. Based on the geometry of Voronoi partitions and proximity graphs, we analyze a class of aggregate objective functions and propose coverage algorithms in continuous and discrete time. These algorithms have convergence guarantees and are spatially distributed with respect to appropriate proximity graphs. Numerical simulations illustrate the results.
Microwave modulation of a ruby laser output by absorption

Ruby exhibits the Zeeman effect in the energy levels responsible for the absorption of the R 1 line. When a ruby laser is directed to pass through a section of unexcited ruby rod, the intensity of the transmitted beam is strongly dependent upon the magnetic field applied to the absorber. This effect was used to modulate the amplitude of a pulsed ruby laser in the microwave frequency region. The experimental modulator consisted of a 0.2- inch long ruby absorber located at one end of an S -band TE 111 mode cylindrical cavity pumped by a 3.2-Gc/s microwave source. A dc bias magnetic field was also applied to the absorber. When both the laser and the absorber rods were cooled to 80°K, the modulated beam attained maximum modulation index with a bias field of 2.5 kOe. This and other experimental results agree well with calculations made from theoretical analysis of this modulation technique, and indicate that the various known relaxation mechanisms in the spin system of ruby do not impose a frequency limit to this method of modulation.
Zero Temperature Phase Transitions in Quantum Heisenberg Ferromagnets

The purpose of this work is to understand the zero temperature phases and the phase transitions of Heisenberg spin systems which can have an extensive, spontaneous magnetic moment, this entails a study of quantum transitions with an order parameter which is also a non-abelian conserved charge. To this end, we introduce and study a new class of lattice models of quantum rotors. We compute their mean-field phase diagrams and present continuum, quantum field-theoretic descriptions of their low energy properties in different regimes. We argue that, in spatial dimension {ital d}=1, the phase transitions in itinerant Fermi systems are in the same universality class as the corresponding transitions in certain rotor models. We discuss implications of our results for itinerant fermions systems in higher {ital d} and for other physical systems. Copyright {copyright} 1996 Academic Press, Inc.
Run by run advanced process control of metal sputter deposition

Metal sputter deposition processes for semiconductor manufacturing are characterized by a decrease in deposition rate from run to run as the sputter target degrades. The goal is to maintain a desired deposition thickness from wafer to wafer and lot to lot. Run by run (RbR) model-based process control (MBPC) has been applied to metal sputter deposition processes at Texas Instruments. RbR MBPC, based on the exponentially weighted moving-average filter, provides the ability to track and compensate for process drifts without a priori assumptions on their magnitude or consistency (from sputter target to sputter target or collimator to collimator). The application of RbR MBPC resulted in an improved C/sub pk/ of 44% for aluminum sputter deposition, while reducing the number of lot-based monitor wafers by a factor of three. The application of RbR MBPC to the titanium sputter deposition process eliminated look-ahead test runs and reduced the number of monitor wafers by a factor of three. At the same time, C/sub pk/ was improved by 10% with the application of RbR MBPC.
Happiness is assortative in online social networks

Online social networking communities may exhibit highly complex and adaptive collective behaviors. Since emotions play such an important role in human decision making, how online networks modulate human collective mood states has become a matter of considerable interest. In spite of the increasing societal importance of online social networks, it is unknown whether assortative mixing of psychological states takes place in situations where social ties are mediated solely by online networking services in the absence of physical contact. Here, we show that the general happiness, or subjective well-being (SWB), of Twitter users, as measured from a 6-month record of their individual tweets, is indeed assortative across the Twitter social network. Our results imply that online social networks may be equally subject to the social mechanisms that cause assortative mixing in real social networks and that such assortative mixing takes place at the level of SWB. Given the increasing prevalence of online social networks, their propensity to connect users with similar levels of SWB may be an important factor in how positive and negative sentiments are maintained and spread through human society. Future research may focus on how event-specific mood states can propagate and influence user behavior in "real life."
Is Law Coercive

That law is coercive is something we all more or less take for granted. It is an assumption so rooted in our ways of thinking that it is taken as a given of social reality, an uncontroversial datum. Because it is so regarded, it is infrequently stated, and when it is, it is stated without any hint of possible complications or qualifications. I will call this the “prereflective view,” and I want to examine it with the care it deserves.
PYRANOSIDE ALKENE TEMPLATES FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF CIS-2,5-DISUBSTITUTED TETRAHYDROFURAN SUBUNITS OF THE ACETOGENINS

The iodoetherification reaction of t-butyl and trityl glycosides of C6 allylated-2,3-dideoxy-d-erythro- and d-threo-pyranosides was examined as part of a model study aimed at the synthesis of the 2,5-disubstituted tetrahydrofuran subunits found in the acetogenin group of natural products. In general, the t-butyl glycosides gave moderate, and the trityl derivatives, excellent stereoselectivity for the cis THF product.
The combinatorial essence of supercompactness

Abstract We introduce combinatorial principles that characterize strong compactness and supercompactness for inaccessible cardinals but also make sense for successor cardinals. Their consistency is established from what is supposedly optimal. Utilizing the failure of a weak version of a square, we show that the best currently known lower bounds for the consistency strength of these principles can be applied.
The theory of parity violation in few-nucleon systems

Abstract We review recent progress in the theoretical description of hadronic parity violation in few-nucleon systems. After introducing the different methods that have been used to study parity-violating observables we discuss the available calculations for reactions with up to five nucleons. Particular emphasis is put on effective field theory calculations where they exist, but earlier and complementary approaches are also presented. We hope this review will serve as a guide for those who wish to know what calculations are available and what further calculations need to be completed before we can claim to have a comprehensive picture of parity violation in few nucleon systems.
Solvent-induced organization: A physical model of folding myoglobin

The essential features of the in vitro refolding of myoglobin are expressed in a solvable physical model. Alpha helices are taken as the fundamental collective coordinates of the system, while the refolding is assumed to be mainly driven by solvent-induced hydrophobic forces. A quantitative model of these forces is developed and compared with experimental and theoretical results. The model is then tested by being employed in a simulation scheme designed to mimic solvent effects. Realistic dynamic trajectories of myoglobin are shown as it folds from an extended conformation to a close approximation of the native state. Various suggestive features of the process are discussed. The tenets of the model are further tested by folding the single-chain plant protein leghemoglobin.
Three-Dimensional Electromagnetic Metamaterials with Non-Maxwellian Effective Fields

It is commonly assumed that the long-wavelength limit of a metamaterial can always be described in terms of effective permeability and permittivity tensors. Here we report that this assumption is not necessary–there exists a new class of metamaterial consisting of several interlocking disconnected metal networks, for which the effective long-wavelength theory is local, but the effective field is non-Maxwellian, and possesses much more internal degrees of freedom than effective Maxwellian fields in a local homogeneous medium.
The direct anti-Markovnikov addition of mineral acids to styrenes

The direct anti-Markovnikov addition of strong Bronsted acids to alkenes remains an unsolved problem in synthetic chemistry. Here, we report an efficient organic photoredox catalyst system for the addition of HCl, HF and also phosphoric and sulfonic acids to alkenes, with complete regioselectivity. These transformations were developed using a photoredox catalyst in conjunction with a redox-active hydrogen atom donor. The nucleophile counterion plays a critical role by ensuring high reactivity, with 2,6-lutidinium salts typically furnishing the best results. The nature of the redox-active hydrogen atom donor is also consequential, with 4-methoxythiophenol providing the best reactivity when 2,6-lutidinium salts are used. A novel acridinium sensitizer provides enhanced reactivity within several of the more challenging reaction manifolds. This Article demonstrates how nucleophilic addition reactions mediated by photoredox catalysis can change the way electrophilic and homofugal precursors are constructed.
Synthesis of amino acids via a three-component reaction of phenols, glyoxylates and amines

Abstract Amino acid derivatives are generated by a scandium triflate-catalyzed three-component reaction of phenols, glyoxylates and amines.
Interactions of staphylococcal colonization. Influence of normal nasal flora and antimicrobials on inoculated Staphylococcus aureus strain 502A

IT HAS BEEN clearly demonstrated that artificial colonization of the nasal mucosa of newborns with one strain ofStaphylococcus aureusinterferes with subsequent acquisition of a second strain of Saureus.1This deliberate colonization of infants shortly after birth with a staphylococcal strain of low virulence (strain 502A) has been employed to protect infants from colonization and disease with virulent epidemic strains of Saureus.2-6 Following these observations, studies were extended to two groups of adults. Observations on one group (male, adult volunteers, members of the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta) emphasized altered resistance of carriers to nasal colonization following administration of sodium oxacillin.7,8 The present observations were made on medical and nursing students at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center primarily to study colonization of oxacillin-and placebo-treated noncarriers by a selected strain of Saureus. Data were also collected on the effect of sodium oxacillin on organisms other than S
The Changing Economics of U.S. Hog Production

The increasing size and specialization of hog operations reflect structural change in U.S. swine production during the past 15 years. The number of farms with hogs has declined by over 70 percent, as hog enterprises have grown larger. Large operations that specialize in a single phase of production have replaced farrow-to-finish operations that performed all phases of production. The use of production contracts has increased. Operations producing under contract are larger than independent operations and are more likely to specialize in a single phase of production. These structural changes have coincided with substantial gains in efficiency for hog farms and lower production costs. Most of these productivity gains are attributable to increases in the scale of production and technological innovation. Productivity gains likely contributed to a 30-percent reduction in the price of hogs at the farm gate.
Experimental Primer on the Trapped Ion Quantum Computer

The development of a quantum computer based on a system of trapped atomic ions is described, following the proposal of Cirac and Zoller. Initial results on a two-bit quantum logic gate are presented, and select experimental issues in scaling the system to larger numbers of ions and gates are treated.
Gravity effects on antimatter in the standard-model extension

The gravitational Standard-Model Extension (SME) is the general field-theory based framework for the analysis of CPT and Lorentz violation. In this work we summarize the implications of Lorentz and CPT violation for antimatter gravity in the context of the SME. Implications of various attempts to place indirect limits on anomalous antimatter gravity are considered in the context of SME-based models.
Measured channel parameters for the disturbed wide-bandwidth HF channel

[1] The wideband HF (WBHF) channel impulse response measurements presented here were taken over a high-latitude auroral path using the MITRE experimental WBHF test facility. A nominal instantaneous bandwidth of 1 MHz was used for the majority of the tests. These tests took place from 14 March through 1 April 1992 over a path from Sondrestrom AFB, Greenland, to Bedford, Massachusetts, a distance of approximately 3,100 km. The measurements were made using a direct-sequence pseudo-noise (DSPN) channel probe with a (±180°) chip modulation and chip rate of 1024 kchips/second. Complex channel impulse response values at increments of 500 nanoseconds in delay were derived by correlating the received signal with a set of local DSPN references uniformly spaced in delay over a delay range of 2 ms. Each of these channel impulse response values was sampled in time at a rate of up to 62.5 samples per second, resulting in the ability to observe (one-sided) Doppler spectra and shifts of up to 31.25 Hz. From these measurements, the channel scattering function, rms (2σ) Doppler spread, rms (2σ) Delay spread, Doppler shift, and rms (2σ) spread factor were calculated. In addition, for the first time, the impulse response correlation along the delay axis was calculated. These latter measurements support the use of an uncorrelated scattering hypothesis in modeling the disturbed WBHF channel.
Social Distance and Immediate Informal Responses to Violent Victimization

There are a number of ways that victims of violence informally handle attacks as they unfold. Their responses range in severity from physical resistance, to talking it out with the offender, to running away, to cooperating. Why do victims respond in a more or less severe manner? Cooney (2009) suggests that social distance is part of the answer: the further the relational or cultural distance between offender and victim, the more severe the latter’s response. Using National Crime Victimization Survey data, we test hypotheses derived from this theory and find oppositional findings. Specifically, results indicate that closer social distance predicts more severe responses. We conclude by discussing the implications of this finding for future work, especially as relates to the study of self-protective behavior.
Control of variable geometry turbocharged diesel engines for reduced emissions

The emission control problem for an automotive direct injected compression ignition (diesel) engine equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) is considered. The objective is to operate the engine to meet driver's torque demand and minimize NO/sub x/ emissions while at the same time avoiding visible smoke generation. It is demonstrated that the steady-state optimization of engine emissions results in operating points where EGR and VGT actuators are in effect redundant in their effect on the variables that most directly affect the emissions. A multivariable feedback controller is proposed which accounts for this actuator redundancy. Furthermore, it coordinates the two actuators to fully utilize their joint effect on engine emission performance. Experimental results confirm good response properties of the proposed controller.
Micro-burr formation and minimization through process control

Abstract This paper presents an investigation on micro-burr formation in machining. Micro-cutting is compared with conventional cutting in terms of cutting process characteristic and cutting conditions. In this paper, tungsten–carbide micro-mills were used to cut holes (in a drilling-like process) to investigate top burr formation. The size and type of burr created in stainless steel 304 are studied as a function of machining variables, which are feed, cutting speed and cutting edge radius, to help illuminate the micro-burr formation mechanisms. A series of experiments was conducted to study tool life as a function of cutting conditions. Tool life, here, is defined as the number of holes created before a significant increase in burr height. Based on experimental results, contour charts for predicting burr formation as well as tool life are developed to minimize burr formation and to improve tool life. The model, which includes the effect of feed, cutting speed, and the interaction between the two, predicted the burr height and tool life values with an accuracy of about ±15%.
Using infinitesimal perturbation analysis of stochastic flow models to recover performance sensitivity estimates of discrete event systems

Stochastic Flow Models (SFMs) form a class of hybrid systems used as abstractions of complex Discrete Event Systems (DES) for the purpose of deriving performance sensitivity estimates through Infinitesimal Perturbation Analysis (IPA) techniques when these cannot be applied to the original DES. In this paper, we establish explicit connections between gradient estimators obtained through a SFM and those obtained in the underlying DES, thus providing analytical evidence for the effectiveness of these estimators which has so far been limited to empirical observations. We consider DES for which analytical expressions of IPA (or finite difference) estimators are available, specifically G/G/1 and G/G/1/K queueing systems. In the case of the G/G/1 system, we show that, when evaluated on the same sample path of the underlying DES, the IPA gradient estimators of states, event times, and various performance metrics derived through SFMs are, under certain conditions, the same as those of the associated DES or their expected values are asymptotically the same under large traffic rates. For G/G/1/K systems without and with feedback, we show that SFM-based derivative estimates capture basic properties of finite difference estimates evaluated on a sample path of the underlying DES.
Comparison of two microwave and two probe methods for measuring plasma density

Four types of electron density measurements are compared in the same device: cylindrical probe, disk probe, microwave cavity, and microwave hairpin. The measurements are made in hot-filament discharges in a soup-pot type of plasma device with and without multidipolar surface magnetic fields with densities up to 1times109 cm -3 and electron temperatures of 0.1-1.3 eV. The cylindrical probe and hairpin give densities that are in close agreement for all conditions. The density from the cylindrical probe, hairpin, and cavity measurements are in good agreement (les12% difference) in plasma without magnetic containment. With magnetic containment, the different methods give greater differences in the densities (les30%), perhaps as a result of the higher fraction of energetic electrons. For all conditions, the densities from the disk probe are lower than the densities from the other methods
S-nitrosation of proteins by N-methyl-N-nitrosoanilines

Abstract Substituted N-methyl-N-nitrosoanilines are found to function as stable, potent, nitrosating agents for S-nitrosation and inactivation of cysteine proteases such as papain, bromelain and aldehyde dehydrogenase under physiological conditions in a time and concentration dependent manner. Spectroscopic studies on the reaction products have proved that the mechanism of the inactivation is a S-nitrosation of the protein.
Compulsory Schooling Legislation: An Economic Analysis of Law and Social Change in the Nineteenth Century

The role of law in relation to social change is not well understood. One reason for our ignorance is the lack of evidence on the causal role of legislation. Too often the efforts at social reform and the intended consequences of legislation are accepted as proof that behavior has been significantly altered. A case in point is legislation that compels children to attend school. Although it is commonly believed that such laws have been effective in increasing the participation of children in schooling systems in the United States over the last 100 years, there is little evidence to support or reject this belief. Some persons have questioned whether these laws have been the cause or the result of observed increases in school attainment. Still others have doubted the degree to which compulsory schooling laws have been enforced. Reports of widespread truancy in urban schools today call into question not only present enforcement difficulties but also whether these laws were effectively enforced from their inception in the nineteenth century. Yet, in spite of the contemporary and historical interest in compulsory school attendance laws, the basic question remains unanswered: what has been the effect, if any, of these laws on school enrollment and attendance?
The Strange quark content of the nucleon in 2+1 flavor lattice QCD

The strangeness of the nucleon, hNj ¯ ssj Ni h 0j ¯ ssj 0i , is a quantity of interest for interpreting the results of dark matter detection experiments as well as f or exploring the structure of the nucleon itself. We present a calculation of this quantity in 2+ 1 flavor lattice QCD using a range of lattice spacings and quark masses. The method is based on calculating quark-line disconnected contributions on the MILC lattice configurations, wh ich include the effects of dynamical strange quarks. After continuum and chiral extrapolations , the value is hNj ¯
Mid-infrared upconversion spectroscopy based on a Yb:fiber femtosecond laser

We present a system for molecular spectroscopy using a broadband mid-infrared laser with near-infrared detection. Difference frequency generation of a Yb:fiber femtosecond laser produced a mid-infrared (MIR) source tunable from 2100–3700 cm−1 (2.7–4.7 µm) with average power up to 40 mW. The MIR spectrum was upconverted to near-infrared wavelengths for broadband detection using a two-dimensional dispersion imaging technique. Absorption measurements were performed over bandwidths of 240 cm−1 (7.2 THz) with 0.048 cm−1 (1.4 GHz) resolution, and absolute frequency scale uncertainty was better than 0.005 cm−1 (150 MHz). The minimum detectable absorption coefficient per spectral element was determined to be 4.4×10−7 cm−1 from measurements in low pressure CH4, leading to a projected detection limit of 2 parts-per-billion of methane in pure nitrogen. In a natural atmospheric sample, the methane detection limit was found to be 30 parts-per-billion. The spectral range, resolution, and frequency accuracy of this system show promise for determination of trace concentrations in gas mixtures containing both narrow and broad overlapping spectral features, and we demonstrate this in measurements of air and solvent samples.
A Limited Dependent Variable Analysis of Integrated Pest Management Adoption in Uganda

(Abstract) In Uganda overall crop loss due to pests exceeds that caused by drought, soil infertility, or poor planting material. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technologies can reduce pest damage to crops by emphasizing non-chemical control methods thereby reducing potential negative effects of chemicals on the environment while preserving profitability. This study investigates the adoption of eight IPM practices including intercropping, crop rotation, two improved varieties, incorporating an ‘exotic weed chaser’, optimal planting dates, optimal planting density and fertilizer use. Variables include market forces, social factors, management factors, and technology delivery mechanisms. Results were consistent across the multivariate logit and ordered logit analyses. The single most important category of influential factors across all crops and technologies is economic/market forces, including labor availability, technology resource requirements, technology complexity, and the level of expected benefits. Social factors are generally less associated with IPM technology adoption than either market or institutional factors. Management factors are not important for adoption of the IPM technologies evaluated for the cowpea crop, while with groundnut IPM practices, no social or institutional factors are found to be important. High expected/potential benefits from the groundnut IPM technologies increase the probability of their adoption, as does the availability of off-farm income and farmers’ membership in farm organizations. Generally high levels of adoption (>75%) were observed with crop rotation, and improved varieties. Other technologies registered low levels of adoption (<25%), the least popular being the application of fertilizer on sorghum fields.
Finding sparse cuts locally using evolving sets

A local graph partitioning algorithm finds a set of vertices with small conductance (i.e.~a sparse cut) by adaptively exploring a large graph G, starting from a specified vertex. For the algorithm to be local, its complexity must be bounded in terms of the size of the set it outputs, with at most a weak dependence on n, the number of vertices in G. Previous local partitioning algorithms find sparse cuts using random walks and personalized PageRank. In this paper, we introduce a randomized local partitioning algorithm that finds a sparse cut by simulating the volume-biased evolving set process, which is a Markov chain on sets of vertices. We prove that for any set of vertices A that has conductance at most φ, and for at least half of the starting vertices in A, our algorithm will output (with probability at least half) a set of conductance O(φ1/2 log1/2 n). The complexity of a local partitioning algorithm is measured by its work/volume ratio, which is the ratio between the computational complexity of the algorithm on a given run, and the volume of the set output. We prove that for our algorithm, the expected value of the work/volume ratio is polylognoparen(φ-1/2). The best previous local partitioning algorithm, due to Andersen, Chung, and Lang, has the same approximation guarantee but a larger work/volume ratio of polylognoparen(φ-1). As an application of our local partitioning algorithm, we construct a fast algorithm for finding balanced cuts. The resulting algorithm takes as input a graph and a fixed value of φ, has complexity polylog{m+nφ-1/2), and returns a cut with conductance O(φ1/2 log1/2 n) and volume at least vφ/2, where vφ is the volume of the largest set in the graph with conductance at most φ.
Phosphite as Polyanion-Based Cathode for Li-Ion Battery: Synthesis, Structure, and Electrochemistry of LiFe(HPO3)2.

A new lithium containing iron(III) phosphite, LiFe(HPO3)2, has been synthesized via a solvent-free, low temperature, solid-state synthesis route. The crystal structure of this material has been determined employing single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which indicates that the compound has a three-dimensional structure formed by isolated FeO6 octahedral units joined together via bridging HPO3 pseudopyramidal moieties. This arrangement leads to the formation of channels along all the three crystallographic directions, where channels along the a- and b-axes host Li+ ions. The compound was further characterized by TGA, IR, and Mossbauer spectroscopic techniques. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that this phase is electrochemically active toward reversible intercalation of Li+ ions and thus can be used as a cathode material in Li-ion cells. An average discharge potential of 2.8 V and a practical capacity of 70 mAh·g–1 has been achieved as indicated by the results of cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic char...
Simulating Activities: Relating Motives, Deliberation and Attentive Coordination

Activities are located behaviors, taking time, conceived as socially meaningful, and usually involving interaction with tools and the environment. In modeling human cognition as a form of problem solving (goal-directed search and operator sequencing), cognitive science researchers have not adequately studied 'off-task' activities (e.g. waiting), non-intellectual motives (e.g. hunger), sustaining a goal state (e.g. playful interaction), and coupled perceptual-motor dynamics (e.g. following someone). These aspects of human behavior have been considered in bits and pieces in past research, identified as scripts, human factors, behavior settings, ensemble, flow experience, and situated action. More broadly, activity theory provides a comprehensive framework relating motives, goals, and operations. This paper ties these ideas together, using examples from work life in a Canadian High Arctic research station. The emphasis is on simulating human behavior as it naturally occurs, such that 'working' is understood as an aspect of living. The result is a synthesis of previously unrelated analytic perspectives and a broader appreciation of the nature of human cognition. Simulating activities in this comprehensive way is useful for understanding work practice, promoting learning, and designing better tools, including human-robot systems.
Synthesis of ultrahigh molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Gas chromatograph apparatus for preparing ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene terephthalate from solid state commercial grade material
Sample-Selection Biases and the Industrialization Puzzle

Understanding long-term changes in human well-being is central to understanding the consequences of economic development. An extensive anthropometric literature purports to show that heights in the United States declined between the 1830s and the 1890s, which is when the U.S. economy modernized. Most anthropometric research contends that declining heights reflect the negative health consequences of industrialization and urbanization. This interpretation, however, relies on sources subject to selection bias. Our meta-analysis shows that the declining height during industrialization emerges primarily in selected samples. We also develop a parsimonious diagnostic test that reveals, but does not correct for, selection bias in height samples. When applied to four representative height samples, the diagnostic provides compelling evidence of selection.
Consumer Fit Search, Retailer Shelf Layout, and Channel Interaction

This study examines the strategic implications of retailer shelf layout decisions in a market characterized by consumer fit uncertainty. A retailer can display competing products in the same location, allowing consumers to inspect various products all at once or in distant locations, which induces consumers to inspect one product first and then decide whether to incur the travel cost to inspect another product. We consider a model in which two competing manufacturers distribute two horizontally differentiated products through a common retailer. Our analysis shows when the two manufacturers offer products of the same fit probabilities, the retailer obtains a greater profit by displaying competing products in distant locations if the products' fit probabilities are not too high; otherwise, the retailer is better off displaying competing products in the same location. When manufacturers offer products of differentiated fit probabilities, a retailer is more likely to benefit from displaying competing products in distant locations with an increased fit difference between products. Finally, a retailer is more likely to benefit from displaying competing products in distant locations when facing less competition from other retailers.
ORBITS OF AUTOMORPHISM GROUPS OF FIELDS

Abstract We address several specific aspects of the following general question: can a field K have so many automorphisms that the action of the automorphism group on the elements of K has relatively few orbits? We prove that any field which has only finitely many orbits under its automorphism group is finite. We extend the techniques of that proof to approach a broader conjecture, which asks whether the automorphism group of one field over a subfield can have only finitely many orbits on the complement of the subfield. Finally, we apply similar methods to analyze the field of Mal'cev–Neumann “generalized power series” over a base field; these form near-counterexamples to our conjecture when the base field has characteristic zero, but often fall surprisingly far short in positive characteristic.
An error analysis of some higher order space-time moving finite elements

This is a study of certain finite element methods designed for convection-dominated, time-dependent partial differential equations. Specifically, we analyze high order space-time tensor product finite element discretizations, used in a method of lines approach coupled with mesh modification to solve linear partial differential equations. Mesh modification can be both continuous (moving meshes) and discrete (static rezone). These methods can lead to significant savings in computation costs for problems having solutions that develop steep moving fronts or other localized time-dependent features of interest. Our main result is a symmetric a priori error estimate for the finite element solution computed in this setting.
Functional Graphenic Materials Via a Johnson−Claisen Rearrangement

Current research in materials has devoted much attention to graphene, with a considerable amount of the chemical manipulation going through the oxidized state of the material, known as graphene oxide (GO). In this report, the hydroxyl functionalities in GO, the vast majority that must be allylic alcohols, are subjected to Johnson−Claisen rearrangement conditions. In these conditions, a [3, 3] sigmatropic rearrangement after reaction with triethyl orthoacetate gives rise to an ester functional group, attached to the graphitic framework via a robust C−C bond. This variation of the Claisen rearrangement offers an unprecedented versatility of further functionalizations, while maintaining the desirable properties of unfunctionalized graphene. The resultant functional groups were found to withstand reductive treatments for the deoxygenation of graphene sheets and a resumption of electronic conductivity is observed. The ester groups are easily saponified to carboxylic acids in situ with basic conditions, to give water-soluble graphene. The ester functionality can be further reacted as is, or the carboxylic acid can easily be converted to the more reactive acid chloride. Subsequent amide formation yields up to 1 amide in 15 graphene carbons and increases intergallery spacing up to 12.8 A, suggesting utility of this material in capacitors and in gas storage. Other functionalization schemes, which include the installation of terminal alkynes and dipolar cycloadditions, allow for the synthesis of a highly positively charged, water-soluble graphene. The highly negatively and positively charged graphenes (zeta potentials of −75 mV and +56 mV, respectively), are successfully used to build layer-by-layer (LBL) constructs.
Energy efficiency and fairness tradeoffs in multi-resource, multi-tasking embedded systems

This paper presents techniques for optimizing the energy efficiency of multi-resource, multi-tasking embedded systems. Low power design of individual system resources, such as embedded processors, has been extensively studied in the past. However, system-level techniques, such as those presented in this paper, which exploit the synergy between various system resources, achieve levels of energy efficiency that cannot be obtained by considering individual resources independently. We demonstrate that, in multi-resource embedded systems that concurrently execute multiple applications, there exists a tradeoff between resource management efficiency and resource allocation fairness. By solving the multi-resource energy optimization problem in the context of an embedded sensor system, we show that our techniques enable the system designer to traverse this efficiency-fairness tradeoff space.
Provable Submodular Minimization using Wolfe's Algorithm

Owing to several applications in large scale learning and vision problems, fast submodular function minimization (SFM) has become a critical problem. Theoretically, unconstrained SFM can be performed in polynomial time [10, 11]. However, these algorithms are typically not practical. In 1976, Wolfe [21] proposed an algorithm to find the minimum Euclidean norm point in a polytope, and in 1980, Fujishige [3] showed how Wolfe's algorithm can be used for SFM. For general submodular functions, this Fujishige-Wolfe minimum norm algorithm seems to have the best empirical performance. Despite its good practical performance, very little is known about Wolfe's minimum norm algorithm theoretically. To our knowledge, the only result is an exponential time analysis due to Wolfe [21] himself. In this paper we give a maiden convergence analysis of Wolfe's algorithm. We prove that in t iterations, Wolfe's algorithm returns an O(1/t)-approximate solution to the min-norm point on any polytope. We also prove a robust version of Fujishige's theorem which shows that an O(1/n2)-approximate solution to the min-norm point on the base polytope implies exact submodular minimization. As a corollary, we get the first pseudo-polynomial time guarantee for the Fujishige-Wolfe minimum norm algorithm for unconstrained submodular function minimization.
Gauge theory amplitudes in twistor space and holomorphic anomaly

We show that, in analyzing differential equations obeyed by one-loop gauge theory amplitudes, one must take into account a certain holomorphic anomaly. When this is done, the results are consistent with the simplest twistor-space picture of the available one-loop amplitudes.
New strategy for the synthesis of the taxane diterpenes: Formation of the BC-rings of taxol via a [5+2]-pyrylium ylide-alkene cyclization, ring expansion strategy

Abstract The BC-rings of taxol can be synthesized using an intramolecular [5+2]-pyrylium ylide-alkene cyclization, followed by gem -methylcyclopropanation and reductive cleavage of the internal cyclopropane bond.
Beyond Feedforward Models Trained by Backpropagation: A Practical Training Tool for a More Efficient Universal Approximator

Cellular simultaneous recurrent neural network (SRN) has been shown to be a function approximator more powerful than the multilayer perceptron (MLP). This means that the complexity of MLP would be prohibitively large for some problems while SRN could realize the desired mapping with acceptable computational constraints. The speed of training of complex recurrent networks is crucial to their successful application. This work improves the previous results by training the network with extended Kalman filter (EKF). We implemented a generic cellular SRN (CSRN) and applied it for solving two challenging problems: 2-D maze navigation and a subset of the connectedness problem. The speed of convergence has been improved by several orders of magnitude in comparison with the earlier results in the case of maze navigation, and superior generalization has been demonstrated in the case of connectedness. The implications of this improvements are discussed.
Iron bioavailability and the coordination chemistry of hydroxamic acids

Abstract The mechanism of iron bioavailability and the principles underlying siderophore affinity and specificity for iron are briefly reviewed. The kinetics and mechanism of iron dissociation from ferrioxamine B under conditions of low pH, or competing ligands, is discussed and compared with similar data for iron complexes with synthetic hydroxamic acids. Data are also presented for ferrioxamine B ligand exchange kinetics in the presence of surfactants. The mechanisms for the surfactant enhanced reactions are discussed and related to their possible relevance to iron dissociation from a hydroxamic acid siderophore complex at the cell surface.
A framework for sequential planning in multi-agent settings

This paper extends the framework of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) to multi-agent settings by incorporating the notion of agent models into the state space. Agents maintain beliefs over physical states of the environment and over models of other agents, and they use Bayesian updates to maintain their beliefs over time. The solutions map belief states to actions. Models of other agents may include their belief states and are related to agent types considered in games of incomplete information. We express the agents' autonomy by postulating that their models are not directly manipulable or observable by other agents. We show that important properties of POMDPs, such as convergence of value iteration, the rate of convergence, and piece-wise linearity and convexity of the value functions carry over to our framework. Our approach complements a more traditional approach to interactive settings which uses Nash equilibria as a solution paradigm. We seek to avoid some of the drawbacks of equilibria which may be non-unique and do not capture off-equilibrium behaviors. We do so at the cost of having to represent, process and continuously revise models of other agents. Since the agent's beliefs may be arbitrarily nested, the optimal solutions to decision making problems are only asymptotically computable. However, approximate belief updates and approximately optimal plans are computable. We illustrate our framework using a simple application domain, and we show examples of belief updates and value functions.
Random Loose Packing in Granular Matter

We introduce and simulate a two-dimensional Edwards-style model of granular matter at vanishing pressure. The model incorporates some of the effects of gravity and friction, and exhibits a random loose packing density whose standard deviation vanishes with increasing system size, a phenomenon that should be verifiable for real granular matter.
Application of ferrocene and its derivatives in cancer research

The use of ferrocene-based compounds for medicinal applications is an active research area. Many reports have demonstrated that some ferrocenyl derivatives are highly active against several diseases, including cancer. This review focuses on the most relevant examples of ferrocene-based molecules that show anticancer activity.