cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimal private halfspace counting via discrepancy

A range counting problem is specified by a set P of size |P| = n of points in Rd, an integer weight xp associated to each point p ∈ P, and a range space R ⊆ 2P. Given a query range R ∈ R, the output is R(x) = ∑p ∈ Rxp. The average squared error of an algorithm A is 1/|R|∑R ∈ R((A(R, x) - R(x)))2. Range counting for different range spaces is a central problem in Computational Geometry. We study (e, δ)-differentially private algorithms for range counting. Our main results are for the range space given by hyperplanes, that is, the halfspace counting problem. We present an (e, δ)-differentially private algorithm for halfspace counting in d dimensions which is O(n1-1/d) approximate for average squared error. This contrasts with the Ω(n) lower bound established by the classical result of Dinur and Nissim on approximation for arbitrary subset counting queries. We also show a matching lower bound of Ω(n1-1/d) approximation for any (e, δ)-differentially private algorithm for halfspace counting. Both bounds are obtained using discrepancy theory. For the lower bound, we use a modified discrepancy measure and bound approximation of (e, δ)-differentially private algorithms for range counting queries in terms of this discrepancy. We also relate the modified discrepancy measure to classical combinatorial discrepancy, which allows us to exploit known discrepancy lower bounds. This approach also yields a lower bound of Ω((log n)d-1) for (e, δ)-differentially private orthogonal range counting in d dimensions, the first known superconstant lower bound for this problem. For the upper bound, we use an approach inspired by partial coloring methods for proving discrepancy upper bounds, and obtain (e, δ)-differentially private algorithms for range counting with polynomially bounded shatter function range spaces.
Self-Timed Regenerators for High-Speed and Low-Power On-Chip Global Interconnect

In this paper, we propose a new circuit technique called self-timed regenerator (STR) to improve both speed and power for on-chip global interconnects. The proposed circuits are placed along global wires to compensate the loss in resistive wires and to amplify the effect of wire inductance in the wires to enable transmission line like behavior. For different wire widths, the number of STR and sizing of the transistors are optimized to accelerate the signal propagation while consuming minimum power. In 90-nm CMOS technology, STR design achieved a delay improvement of 14% over the conventional repeater design. Furthermore, 20% power reduction is achieved for iso-delay, and 8% delay improvement for iso-power compared with the repeater design. The proposed technique has also been applied to a clock distribution network, reducing clock power by 26%.
The Robin Fahræus memorial lecture: Robin Fahræus - the scientist and the person☆

This lecture is divided into several parts. First I should like to acquaint you briefly with Robin Fahraeus, the historian. This will be followed by an account of his scientific contributions with emphasis on hemorheology. I shall attempt to place these contributions as they concern hemorheology in context with early and most recent developments in experimental and clinical hemorheology.
Does Africa grow differently

Abstract This paper extends the analysis of African economic growth in two directions: first by challenging the assumption that growth effects of particular explanatory variables are the same in Africa as elsewhere; and second, by measuring indirect contributions to growth of initial conditions as they influence explanatory variables in a basic growth regression. Robust regression analysis shows that for Africa, being closed to trade is more costly to growth, natural resource abundance is more detrimental to institutional development, and several factors that reduce population growth and enhance institutional quality outside Africa fail to show such beneficial effects within Africa.
The Planck Mission

Planck, scheduled for launch in 2007, will be the third space mission to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Two cryogenic instruments and an off-axis telescope will provide an unprecedented combination of sensitivity, angular resolution, and frequency coverage. Planck is designed to measure the temperature anisotropies of the CMB to limits set not by the instruments, but rather by the Universe itself. In addition, it will measure the E-type polarization of the CMB, and provide all-sky surveys at nine frequencies between 30 and 857 GHz.
Beyond Play: A New Approach to Games

Games have intruded into popular, academic, and policy-maker awareness to an unprecedented level, and this creates new opportunities for advancing our understanding of the relationship of games to society. The author offers a new approach to games that stresses them as characterized by process. Games, the author argues, are domains of contrived contingency, capable of generating emergent practices and interpretations, and are intimately connected with everyday life to a degree heretofore poorly understood. This approach is both consistent with a range of existing social theory and avoids many of the limitations that have characterized much games scholarship to date, in particular its tendency toward unsustainable formalism and exceptionalism. Rather than seeing gaming as a subset of play, and therefore as an activity that is inherently separable, safe, and pleasurable, the author offers a pragmatic rethinking of games as social artifacts in their own right that are always in the process of becoming. This ...
Substantial effect of efavirenz monotherapy on bilirubin levels in healthy volunteers.

Background: Efavirenz exhibits multiple interactions with drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters, and for this reason efavirenz-based HIV therapy is associated with altered pharmacokinetics of coadministered drugs. Probably by the same mechanism, efavirenz-based HIV therapy affects the disposition of endogenous compounds, but this effect is difficult to directly link with efavirenz because it is used in combination with other drugs. Objectives: To explore the effect of efavirenz monotherapy on biochemical laboratory values in a clinical trial of healthy volunteers. Methods: Men and women (aged 18–49 years) with body mass index r32 who were assessed to be healthy based on medical history, physical examination, and standard laboratory screening received a single (600 mg) and multiple doses (600 mg/d for 17 days) of efavirenz orally. This trial was designed to determine the pharmacokinetics and drug interactions of efavirenz. As part of this study, analysis of serum chemistries that were measured at study entry (screening) and 1 week after completion of the multiple dose study (exit) is reported. Results: Data from 60 subjects who fully completed and 13 subjects who partially completed the study are presented. Total bilirubin was substantially reduced at exit (by � 30%, with large intersubject variability) compared with screening values (P o 0.0001). The percent changes were in part explained by the intersubject differences in baseline total bilirubin because there was a significant correlation between baseline (screening) values and percent change at exit (r ¼ 0.50; P o 0.0001). Hemoglobin and absolute neutropenia were also substantially decreased at exit compared with screening, but this may be due to intensive blood sampling rather than direct effect of efavirenz on these parameters. No significant correlation was found between percent change in hemoglobin versus percent change in bilirubin, indicating the effect of efavirenz on bilirubin is independent of its effects on hemoglobin. Conclusions: Efavirenz monotherapy significantly lowers plasma total bilirubin concentration in healthy volunteers independent of its effect on hemoglobin, probably through its effects on bilirubin metabolism and transport (uptake and efflux). These findings help explain reversal by efavirenz of hyperbilirubinemia induction observed by some protease inhibitor antiretroviral drugs (eg, atazanavir). Besides its welldocumented role on drug interactions, efavirenz may alter the disposition of endogenous compounds relevant in physiologic homeostasis through its interaction with drug metabolizing enzymes and/or drug transporters. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00668395. & 2014. The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
IS THE JONES POLYNOMIAL OF A KNOT REALLY A POLYNOMIAL

The Jones polynomial of a knot in 3-space is a Laurent polynomial in q, with integer coefficients. Many people have pondered why this is so, and what a proper generalization of the Jones polynomial for knots in other closed 3-manifolds is. Our paper centers around this question. After reviewing several existing definitions of the Jones polynomial, we argue that the Jones polynomial is really an analytic function, in the sense of Habiro. Using this, we extend the holonomicity properties of the colored Jones function of a knot in 3-space to the case of a knot in an integer homology sphere, and we formulate an analogue of the AJ Conjecture. Our main tools are various integrality properties of topological quantum field theory invariants of links in 3-manifolds, manifested in Habiro's work on the colored Jones function.
An efficient approximation algorithm for the survivable network design problem

The survivable network design problem (SNDP) is to construct a minimum-cost subgraph satisfying certain given edge-connectivity requirements. The first polynomial-time approximation algorithm was given by Williamson et al. (Combinatorica 15 (1995) 435–454). This paper gives an improved version that is more efficient. Consider a graph ofn vertices and connectivity requirements that are at mostk. Both algorithms find a solution that is within a factor 2k − 1 of optimal fork ⩾ 2 and a factor 2 of optimal fork = 1. Our algorithm improves the time from O(k 3n4) to O $$(k^2 n^2 + kn^2 \sqrt {\log \log n} )$$ ). Our algorithm shares features with those of Williamson et al. (Combinatorica 15 (1995) 435–454) but also differs from it at a high level, necessitating a different analysis of correctness and accuracy; our analysis is based on a combinatorial characterization of the “redundant” edges. Several other ideas are introduced to gain efficiency. These include a generalization of Padberg and Rao's characterization of minimum odd cuts, use of a representation of all minimum (s, t) cuts in a network, and a new priority queue system. The latter also improves the efficiency of the approximation algorithm of Goemans and Williamson (SIAM Journal on Computing 24 (1995) 296–317) for constrained forest problems such as minimum-weight matching, generalized Steiner trees and others. © 1998 The Mathematical Programming Society, Inc. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Género en transición: sentido común, mujeres y guerra

In August 28, 2003, after two years working and having collected 17000 testimonials, the Peruvian Committee for the Truth and Reconciliation presented its Final Information on the violence period from 1980 to 2000. This Committee shared many traits with its equivalents from Guatemala and South Africa. All three Committees were considered gender-sensitive for they tried to bring to light the experiences of violence suffered by women. Such an emphasis reflected the will to write "more inclusive truths" as well as changes in international jurisprudence. In this article, I examine the gender-sensitive research strategies and the ways in which truth committees incorporated these strategies to their work. Truth and memory are, in fact, crossed by gender, but not necessarily in the way that common sense understands it. Thus, I hope to offer a more subtle understanding of the dimensions associated to gender in war.
One-pot synthesis of unsymmetrical diaryl thioethers by palladium-catalyzed coupling of two aryl bromides and a thiol surrogate.

Aromatic thioethers are valuable synthetic intermediates frequently found in biologically and pharmaceutically active molecules or in polymeric materials. In particular, diaryl-and aryl-heteroaryl thioethers are essential components of numerous drugs with potential application in the treatment of inflammation, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), asthma, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.[1–6] Furthermore, diaryl thioethers are precursors to the corresponding sulfoxides and sulfones that also exhibit important biological activities and are contained in antifungal and anti-cancer agents as well as in potential drug candidates for Alzheimer’s disease or HIV.[7–11] Classical methods for the synthesis of such thioethers encompass thermal reaction of arenes with sulfur,[12,13] base-mediated reactions of activated chloroarenes with thiophenols,[14] and condensation of organolithium or Grignard reagents with chlorophenyl sulfide.[15] However, these reactions often require harsh reaction conditions, occur with low regioselectivity, and form disulfide and thiantrene side products.[12,13]
Attitude-dependent altruism, turnout and voting

This paper presents a goal-oriented model of political participation based on two psychological assumptions. The first is that people are more altruistic towards individuals that agree with them and the second is that people’s well-being rises when other people share their personal opinions. The act of voting is then a source of vicarious utility because it raises the well-being of individuals that agree with the voter. Substantial equilibrium turnout emerges with nontrivial voting costs and modest altruism. The model can explain higher turnout in close elections as well as votes for third-party candidates with no prospect of victory. For certain parameters, these third party candidates lose votes to more popular candidates, a phenomenon often called strategic voting. For other parameters, the model predicts “vote-stealing” where the addition of a third candidate robs a viable major candidate of electoral support.
Combined Source-Channel Coding of Images Using the Block Cosine Transform

An approach is described for exploiting the tradeoffs between source and channel coding in the context of image transmission. The source encoder employs two-dimensional (2-D) block transform coding using the discrete cosine transform (DCT). This technique has proven to be an efficient and readily implementable source coding technique in the absence of channel errors. In the presence of channel errors, however, the performance degrades rapidly, requiring some form of error-control protection if high quality image reconstruction is to be achieved. This channel coding can be extremely wasteful of channel bandwidth if not applied judiciously. The approach described here provides a rationale for combined source-channel coding which provides improved quality image reconstruction without sacrificing transmission bandwidth. This approach is shown to result in a relatively robust design which is reasonably insensitive to channel errors and yet provides performance approaching theoretical performance limits. Analytical results are provided for assumed 2-D autoregressive image models, while simulation results are provided for real-world images.
One-pot synthesis of (±)-1′a-carba-1′aβ-hydroxycytidine - a new carbocyclic analogue of cytidine

Abstract The title compound 1 was synthesized by a one-pot (two-step) procedure starting from aminocyclopentane tetrol 2 and BrCN at pH 9 followed by reaction with cyanoacetylene in 1 M NH4OH. Oxazolines 3 and 4 are intermediates in the synthesis.
Adaptive control of mechanical manipulators

We present an adaptive version of the computed torque method for the control of manipulators with rigid links. The algorithun estimates parameters on-line which appear in the non-linear dynamic model of the manipulator, such as load and link mass parameters and friction parameters, and uses the latest estimates in the computed torque servo. We present what we believe is the first golbally convergent, rigorous proof of the stability of such a scheme in its non-linear setting, as well as its asymptotic properties and conditions for parameter convergence. We illustrate the theory with some simulation results.
Quantum transverse-field Ising model on an infinite tree from matrix product states

We give a generalization to an infinite tree geometry of Vidal's infinite time-evolving block decimation (iTEBD) algorithm [G. Vidal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 070201 (2007)] for simulating an infinite line of quantum spins. We numerically investigate the quantum Ising model in a transverse field on the Bethe lattice using the matrix product state ansatz. We observe a second order phase transition, with certain key differences from the transverse field Ising model on an infinite spin chain. We also investigate a transverse field Ising model with a specific longitudinal field. When the transverse field is turned off, this model has a highly degenerate ground state as opposed to the pure Ising model whose ground state is only doubly degenerate.
Optimal detection of symmetric mixed quantum states

We develop a sufficient condition for the least-squares measurement (LSM), or the square-root measurement, to minimize the probability of a detection error when distinguishing between a collection of mixed quantum states. Using this condition we derive the optimal measurement for state sets with a broad class of symmetries. We first consider geometrically uniform (GU) state sets with a possibly non-Abelian generating group, and show that if the generator satisfies a weighted norm constraint, then the LSM is optimal. In particular, for pure-state GU ensembles, the LSM is shown to be optimal. For arbitrary GU state sets we show that the optimal measurement operators are GU with generator that can be computed very efficiently in polynomial time, within any desired accuracy. We then consider compound GU (CGU) state sets which consist of subsets that are GU. When the generators satisfy a certain constraint, the LSM is again optimal. For arbitrary CGU state sets, the optimal measurement operators are shown to be CGU with generators that can be computed efficiently in polynomial time.
KeV warm dark matter and composite neutrinos

Elementary keV sterile Dirac neutrinos can be a natural ingredient of the composite neutrino scenario. For a certain class of composite neutrino theories, these sterile neutrinos naturally have the appropriate mixing angles to be resonantly produced warm dark matter (WDM). Alternatively, we show these sterile neutrinos can be WDM produced by an entropy-diluted thermal freeze-out, with the necessary entropy production arising not from an out-of-equilibrium decay, but rather from the confinement of the composite neutrino sector, provided there is sufficient supercooling.
The transient swimming of a waving sheet

Small-scale locomotion plays an important role in biology. Different modelling approaches have been proposed in the past. The simplest model is an infinite inextensible two-dimensional waving sheet...
The synthesis of preference: Bridging behavioral decision research and marketing science

Scientific inquiry often advances in triadic waves of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. We concur with Simonson [Simonson, I., (2008). Will I Like a “Medium” Pillow: Another Look at Constructed and Inherent Preferences. Journal of Consumer Psychology, this issue.] that BDT's antithesis of preference construction, positioned against the normative utility thesis, may have swung the pendulum too far. Contrary to BDT's focus on constructed preference, inherent preferences — or what may be considered dispositions — are ubiquitous and critical determinants of choice. Thus, a synthesis in decision research is proposed, one in which researchers better bridge inherent and constructed preferences, or more broadly, marketing science and BDT. Such a synthesis, although uncertain and difficult, has the potential to explain the origins of inherent preferences, their slow evolution over time, and their interaction with constructed preferences. In this commentary, we discuss the synthesis between constructed and inherent preferences and how such a synthesis could be conceptualized and modeled. We conclude by suggesting some ways in which behavioral economics might evolve.
Future trends in environmental mercury concentrations: implications for prevention strategies

In their new paper, Bellanger and coauthors show substantial economic impacts to the EU from neurocognitive impairment associated with methylmercury (MeHg) exposures. The main source of MeHg exposure is seafood consumption, including many marine species harvested from the global oceans. Fish, birds and other wildlife are also susceptible to the impacts of MeHg and already exceed toxicological thresholds in vulnerable regions like the Arctic. Most future emissions scenarios project a growth or stabilization of anthropogenic mercury releases relative to present-day levels. At these emissions levels, inputs of mercury to ecosystems are expected to increase substantially in the future, in part due to growth in the legacy reservoirs of mercury in oceanic and terrestrial ecosystems. Seawater mercury concentration trajectories in areas such as the North Pacific Ocean that supply large quantities of marine fish to the global seafood market are projected to increase by more than 50% by 2050. Fish mercury levels and subsequent human and biological exposures are likely to also increase because production of MeHg in ocean ecosystems is driven by the supply of available inorganic mercury, among other factors. Analyses that only consider changes in primary anthropogenic emissions are likely to underestimate the severity of future deposition and concentration increases associated with growth in mercury reservoirs in the land and ocean. We therefore recommend that future policy analyses consider the fully coupled interactions among short and long-lived reservoirs of mercury in the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial ecosystems. Aggressive anthropogenic emission reductions are needed to reduce MeHg exposures and associated health impacts on humans and wildlife and protect the integrity of one of the last wild-food sources globally. In the near-term, public health advice on safe fish consumption choices such as smaller species, younger fish, and harvests from relatively unpolluted ecosystems is needed to minimize exposure risks.
Deformation of plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings

The deformation behavior of thermally sprayed partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) coatings are investigated using Hertzian indentation and four-point bend testing, with in situ acoustic emission monitoring. The experimental deformation curves, together with the corresponding acoustic emission responses and the fracture properties of the material are used in defining the deformation characteristics of the coating (ceramic overlay with metallic bond coat where applicable) and substrate composite system. Experiments are aimed in examining the influence of the bond coat and the coating properties on the form of deformation. Substrate temperature and pauses during spraying are demonstrated to strongly effect the coating properties and the resulting fracture/failure characteristics of the composite system.
Organotrifluoroborates and Monocoordinated Palladium Complexes as Catalysts—A Perfect Combination for Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling

Monocoordinated palladium catalysts derived from sterically hindered, electron-rich phosphines or N-heterocyclic carbenes have revolutionized the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction. The emergence of organotrifluoroborates has provided important new perspectives for the organoboron component of these reactions. In combination, these two components prove to be extraordinarily powerful partners for cross-coupling reactions.
Dietary habits and nutrient intake of Finnish adolescents.

ObjectiveTo evaluate food and nutrient intake and especially eating during the school day among Finnish secondary-school pupils.DesignCross-sectional study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire mailed to home and by 48 h dietary recall interviews performed at schools in 2007.SettingTwelve schools in three cities in Finland.SubjectsThe seventh grade pupils (a total of 1469 at the mean age of 13·8 years). Questionnaire data were available from 726 pupils and dietary data from a subgroup of 40 % (n 306).ResultsAccording to the questionnaire data, 40 % of the girls and 28 % of the boys reported eating fresh vegetables daily and the respective figures for fruit were 32 % and 23 %. Altogether, 71 % of the adolescents reported having school lunch every day. The average intake of sucrose was higher and the average intakes of fibre, iron, folate and vitamin D were lower than recommended. School lunch provided around 20 % of daily energy intake, while the recommended daily energy intake level is one-third. However, the school lunch as consumed was nutritionally superior to the other daily meals. Snacks provided 41 % of the daily energy. The most common sources of sucrose were sugary drinks.ConclusionsLow consumption of fruit and vegetables and abundant consumption of sucrose-rich drinks and snacks are the main problems in the diet of Finnish adolescents. The nutritional quality of the school lunch is good, but the supply of healthy snacks must be improved in schools. Schools can promote healthy eating habits by making healthy choices easy during the school day.
Coercion and public justification

According to recently influential conceptions of public reasoning, citizens have the right to demand of each other ‘public justifications’ for controversial political action. On this view, only arg...
Testing Baumol: Institutional quality and the productivity of entrepreneurship ☆

Abstract Baumol's [Baumol, W.J., 1990. Entrepreneurship: productive, unproductive and destructive. Journal of Political Economy 98 (5), 893–921] theory of productive and unproductive entrepreneurship is a significant recent contribution to the economics of entrepreneurship literature. He hypothesizes that entrepreneurial individuals channel their effort in different directions depending on the quality of prevailing economic, political, and legal institutions. This institutional structure determines the relative reward to investing entrepreneurial energies into productive market activities versus unproductive political and legal activities (e.g., lobbying and lawsuits). Good institutions channel effort into productive entrepreneurship, sustaining higher rates of economic growth. I test and confirm Baumol's theory, and discuss its significance to the literature, economic prosperity, and policy reform.
Context dependence and consistency in dynamic choice under uncertainty: the case of anticipated regret

We examine if and to what extent choice dispositions can allow dependence on contexts and maintain consistency over time, in a dynamic environment under uncertainty. We focus on one of the context dependence properties, opportunity dependence because of being affected by anticipated regret, where the consequentialist choice framework is maintained. There are two sources of potential inconsistency: one is arrival of information, and the other is changing opportunities. First, we go over the general method of resolution of potential inconsistency, by taking any kinds of inconsistency as given constraints. Second, we characterize a class of choice dispositions that are consistent to information arrival, but may be inconsistent to changing opportunities. Finally, we consider the overall requirement of dynamic consistency and show that it necessarily implies each of consistency to information arrival and independence of choice opportunities. The last result states that the two kinds of potential inconsistency cannot “compensate” each other to recover dynamic consistency overall.
Duality relations for the classical ground states of soft-matter systems

Bounded interactions are particularly important in soft-matter systems, such as colloids, microemulsions, and polymers. In this paper, we extend the results of a recent letter [S. Torquato and F. H. Stillinger, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2008, 100, 020602] on duality relations for ground states of pair interactions to include three-body and higher-order functions. Our novel and general relations link the energy of configurations associated with a real-space potential to the corresponding energy of the dual (Fourier-transformed) potential and can be applied to ordered and disordered classical ground states. We use the duality relations to demonstrate how information about the classical ground states of short-ranged potentials can be used to draw new conclusions about the ground states of long-ranged potentials and vice versa. The duality relations also lead to bounds on the T = 0 system energies in density intervals of phase coexistence. Additionally, we identify classes of “self-similar“ potentials, for which one can rigorously relate low- and high-density ground-state energies. We analyze the ground state configurations and thermodynamic properties of a one-dimensional system expected to exhibit an infinite number of structural phase transitions and comment on the known ground states of purely repulsive monotonic potentials in the context of our duality relations.
Measuring the polarization of boosted hadronic tops

We propose a new technique for measuring the polarization of hadronically decaying boosted top quarks. In particular, we apply a subjet-based technique to events where the decay products of the top are clustered within a single jet. The technique requires neither b-tagging nor W-reconstruction, and does not rely on assumptions about either the top production mechanism or the sources of missing energy in the event. We include results for various new physics scenarios made with different Monte Carlo generators to demonstrate the robustness of the technique.
Bounds on the Minimum Distance of Punctured Quasi-Cyclic LDPC Codes

Recent work by Divsalar has shown that properly designed protograph-based low-density parity-check codes typically have minimum (Hamming) distance linearly increasing with block length. This fact rests on ensemble arguments over all possible expansions of the base protograph. However, when implementation complexity is considered, the expansions are frequently selected from a smaller class of structured expansions. For example, protograph expansion by cyclically shifting connections generates a quasi-cyclic (QC) code. Other recent work by Smarandache and Vontobel has provided upper bounds on the minimum distance of QC codes. In this paper, we generalize these bounds to punctured QC codes and then show how to tighten these for certain classes of codes. We then evaluate these upper bounds for the family of protograph codes known as AR4JA codes that have been recommended for use in deep space communications in a standard established by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems. At block lengths larger than 4400 bits, these upper bounds fall well below the ensemble lower bounds.
Covering Numbers for Convex Functions

In this paper, we study the covering numbers of the space of convex and uniformly bounded functions in multidimension. We find optimal upper and lower bounds for the $\epsilon $ -covering number of $ {\cal C}([a, b]^{d}, B)$ , in the $L_{p}$ -metric, $1 \leq p , in terms of the relevant constants, where $d \geq 1$ , $a , $B > 0$ , and $ {\cal C}([a,b]^{d}, B)$ denotes the set of all convex functions on $[a, b]^{d}$ that are uniformly bounded by $B$ . We summarize previously known results on covering numbers for convex functions and also provide alternate proofs of some known results. Our results have direct implications in the study of rates of convergence of empirical minimization procedures as well as optimal convergence rates in the numerous convexity constrained function estimation problems.
Impact of Time-Correlation of Monitor Statistic on Continuity of Safety-Critical Operations

Integrity monitors are an essential component of ensuring the quality of navigation measurements for safety-critical GNSS augmentation systems. The sensitivity of these monitors is closely related to requirements limiting monitor false alarms. This paper shows that the risk of false alarms interrupting safety critical operations (loss of continuity) is closely tied to monitor-noise correlation. Analysis shows that specific continuity risk may be as high as 50% for conventional monitor implementations, when time correlation is considered. This paper presents an alternate two-threshold monitor implementation, which features both a subcritical threshold and a critical threshold, only the latter of which triggers a loss of continuity. Using this two-threshold implementation, we introduce methods to compute specific continuity risk in the presence of time-correlated noise. Subsequently, through simulation, we quantify how specific continuity risk is influenced by varying levels of time-correlation, which may be present in the raw monitor data or introduced by smoothing. Copyright © 2012 Institute of Navigation.
Model for mutually pumped phase conjugation

A model is proposed and demonstrated for mutually pumped phase conjugation when two mutually incoherent laser beams pump each other, producing a pair of phase-conjugate beams through a cross-readout process. The model considers the buildup of two independent counterpropagating oscillations in a ring resonator containing two-beam-cbupling gain media. The experimental demonstration of the model using two photorefractive BaTiO3 crystals in a ring cavity gave simultaneous phase-conjugate images with good fidelity and no image cross talk. As expected, the counterpropagating oscillations were slightly detuned in frequency (∼1 Hz) from the corresponding pumping beams with frequency shifts related to the ring-cavity length. Frequency shifts were also observed in the phase-conjugate beams, with their magnitudes dictated by energy conservation for nondegenerate four-wave mixing.
Intergenerational impacts of maternal mortality: Qualitative findings from rural Malawi

Maternal mortality, although largely preventable, remains unacceptably high in developing countries such as Malawi and creates a number of intergenerational impacts. Few studies have investigated the far-reaching impacts of maternal death beyond infant survival. This study demonstrates the short- and long-term impacts of maternal death on children, families, and the community in order to raise awareness of the true costs of maternal mortality and poor maternal health care in Neno, a rural and remote district in Malawi. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted to assess the impact of maternal mortality on child, family, and community well-being. We conducted 20 key informant interviews, 20 stakeholder interviews, and six sex-stratified focus group discussions in the seven health centers that cover the district. Transcripts were translated, coded, and analyzed in NVivo 10. Participants noted a number of far-reaching impacts on orphaned children, their new caretakers, and extended families following a maternal death. Female relatives typically took on caregiving responsibilities for orphaned children, regardless of the accompanying financial hardship and frequent lack of familial or governmental support. Maternal death exacerbated children’s vulnerabilities to long-term health and social impacts related to nutrition, education, employment, early partnership, pregnancy, and caretaking. Impacts were particularly salient for female children who were often forced to take on the majority of the household responsibilities. Participants cited a number of barriers to accessing quality child health care or support services, and many were unaware of programming available to assist them in raising orphaned children or how to access these services. In order to both reduce preventable maternal mortality and diminish the impacts on children, extended families, and communities, our findings highlight the importance of financing and implementing universal access to emergency obstetric and neonatal care, and contraception, as well as social protection programs, including among remote populations.
Speech recognition using noise-adaptive prototypes

A probabilistic mixture mode is described for a frame (the short term spectrum) of speech to be used in speech recognition. Each component of the mixture is regarded as a prototype for the labeling phase of a hidden Markov model based speech recognition system. Since the ambient noise during recognition can differ from that present in the training data, the model is designed for convenient updating in changing noise. Based on the observation that the energy in a frequency band is at any fixed time dominated either by signal energy or by noise energy, the energy is modeled as the larger of the separate energies of signal and noise in the band. Statistical algorithms are given for training this as a hidden variables model. The hidden variables are the prototype identities and the separate signal and noise components. Speech recognition experiments that successfully utilize this model are described. >
A claisen rearrangement strategy for the three-atom ring expansion of cyclic ketones. A total synthesis of (±) precapnelladiene

Abstract The aldol products derived from cyclic ketone enolates undergo Baeyer-Villiger oxidation to give after dehydration the corresponding vinylic-substituted lactones. Titanium-mediated olefination followed by Claisen rearrangement leads to an overall three-atom ring-expansion. The application of this strategy to a concise total synthesis of (±) precapnelladiene ( 22 ) is reported.
Immigration & Language Diversity in the United States

While the United States historically has been a polyglot nation characterized by great linguistic diversity, it has also been a zone of language extinction in which immigrant tongues fade and are replaced by monolingual English within a few generations. In 1910, 10 million people reported a mother tongue other than English, notably German, Italian, Yiddish, and Polish. The subsequent end of mass immigration from Europe led to a waning of language diversity and the most linguistically homogenous era in American history. But the revival of immigration after 1970 propelled the United States back toward its historical norm. By 2010, 60 million people (a fifth of the population) spoke a non-English language, especially Spanish. In this essay, we assess the effect of new waves of immigration on language diversity in the United States, map its evolution demographically and geographically, and consider what linguistic patterns are likely to persist and prevail in the twenty-first century.
The external validity of MRI-defined vascular depression.

Objective Multiple diagnostic criteria have been used to define vascular depression (VD). As a result, there are discrepancies in the clinical characteristics that have been established for the illness. The aim of this study was twofold. First, we used empirically established diagnostic criteria to determine the clinical characteristics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined VD. Second, we assessed the agreement between a quantitative and qualitative method for identifying the illness. Method We examined the baseline clinical and neuropsychological profile of 38 patients from a larger, double-blind, randomized, 12-week clinical trial comparing nortriptyline with sertraline in depressed older adults. Ten patients met quantitative criteria for MRI-defined VD based on the highest quartile of deep white matter hyperintensity (DWMH) volume. Fourteen patients met qualitative criteria for MRI-defined VD based on a DWMH score of 2 or higher on the Fazekas' modified Coffey rating scale. Results Age, gender, cumulative illness rating scale-geriatric (CIRS-G) score, two measures of psychomotor retardation [the psychomotor retardation item of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) as well as performance on the Purdue Pegboard], and performance on the Stroop Color/Word test (a measure of the response inhibition component of executive functioning) were significantly different between those with VD and non-VD. Conclusions Patients with VD have a distinct clinical and neuropsychological profile that is mostly consistent across different methods for identifying the illness. These findings support the notion that MRI-defined VD represents a unique and valid subtype of late-life depression. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Accessibility and Controllability of Flexible Robotic Manipulators

Although serial manipulator arms modeled with rigid links show full system controllability in the joint space, this condition does not necessarily hold for flexible robotic systems. In particular, in certain robot configurations, called inaccessible robot positions, one or more of the flexibilities may not be accessed directly by the actuators. This condition may significantly deteriorate system performance as reported earlier by the authors (Tosunoglu et al., 1988, 1989). The present study addresses the relationship between the accessibility and controllability concepts and establishes accessibility as a distinct concept from controllability. Although the theoretical framework is developed for general n -link, spatial manipulators modeled with m oscillation components, example case studies demonstrate the concepts on one- and two-link arms for brevity. Specifically, it is shown that although inaccessibility and uncontrollability may coincide in certain instances (as shown on a one-link arm), counter examples may be found where an arm in an inaccessible position can simultaneously demonstrate full system controllability (as shown on a two-link arm).
Hyperelliptic curves with prescribed p-torsion

In this paper, we show that there exist families of curves (defined over an alge- braically closed field k of characteristic p> 2) whose Jacobians have interesting p-torsion. For example, for every 0 ≤ f ≤ g, we find the dimension of the locus of hyperelliptic curves of genus g with p-rank at most f . We also produce families of curves so that the p-torsion of the Jacobian of each fibre contains multiple copies of the group scheme αp. The method is to study curves which admit an action by (Z/2) n so that the quotient is a projective line. As a result, some of these families intersect the hyperelliptic locus Hg.
Complexity of determining nonemptiness of the core

Coalition formation is a key problem in automated negotiation among self-interested agents, and other multiagent applications. A coalition of agents can sometimes accomplish things that the individual agents cannot, or can do things more efficiently. However, motivating the agents to abide to a solution requires careful analysis: only some of the solutions are stable in the sense that no group of agents is motivated to break off and form a new coalition. This constraint has been studied extensively in cooperative game theory. However, the computational questions around this constraint have received less attention. When it comes to coalition formation among software agents (that represent real-world parties), these questions become increasingly explicit. In this paper we define a concise general representation for games in characteristic form that relies on superadditivity, and show that it allows for efficient checking of whether a given outcome is in the core. We then show that determining whether the core is nonempty is NP-complete both with and without transferable utility. We demonstrate that what makes the problem hard in both cases is determining the collaborative possibilities (the set of outcomes possible for the grand coalition), by showing that if these are given, the problem becomes tractable in both cases. However, we then demonstrate that for a hybrid version of the problem, where utility transfer is possible only within the grand coalition, the problem remains NP-complete even when the collaborative possibilities are given.
The Gender and Intergenerational Consequences of the Demographic Dividend: An Assessment of the Micro- and Macrolinkages between the Demographic Transition and Economic Development

The demographic transition changes the age composition of a population, potentially affecting resource allocation at the household level and exerting general equilibrium effects at the aggregate level. If age profiles of income, consumption, and savings were stable and estimable for the entire population, they might imply how the demographic transition will affect national savings rates, but there is little agreement on the impact of age composition. These age profiles differ by gender and are affected by human capital investments, whereas an existing micro-simulation are estimated from samples of wage earners that are not distinguished by sex or schooling and make no effort to model family labor supply behavior or physical and human capital accumulation. Considering these shortcomings of assessments of the 'demographic dividend,' a case study based on household surveys and long-run social experiments may be more informative. Matlab, Bangladesh, extended a family planning and maternal and child health program to half the villages in the district in 1977, and recorded fertility in the program villages was 15-16 percent lower than in the control villages for two decades. Households in the program villages realized health and productivity gains that were concentrated among women, survival and schooling increased among children, and after 19 years household physical assets were 25 percent greater per adult than in the control villages. These large gains in the wake of the program-induced demographic transition suggest reasons for designing new labor market and microcredit policies to help women during the demographic transition invest in productive skills; shift their time more efficiently from child care to home production, self-employment, and wage labor; and invest more in the human capital of their children.
Fast Algorithm for N-2 Contingency Problem

We present a novel selection algorithm for N-2 contingency analysis problem. The algorithm is based on the iterative bounding of line outage distribution factors and successive pruning of the set of contingency pair candidates. The selection procedure is non-heuristic, and is certified to identify all events that lead to thermal constraints violations in DC approximation. The complexity of the algorithm is O(N2) comparable to the complexity of N-1 contingency problem. We validate and test the algorithm on the Polish grid network with around 3000 lines. For this test case two iterations of the pruning procedure reduce the total number of candidate pairs by a factor of almost 1000 from 5 millions line pairs to only 6128.
Optical vortex filtering for the detection of electromagnetically induced transparency

We report on the realization of an optical filter based on an optical vortex mask designed to exclusively detect a weak coherent laser field in the presence of a much stronger, nearly spatially overlapping field. We demonstrate the performance of such an optical vortex filter to eliminate the strong control field and detect only a weak optical field's transmission under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. The attractive feature of such a filter is its insensitivity to optical field frequencies and polarizations, which makes it applicable for a wide range of coherent processes.