cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Car notches: Strategic automaker responses to fuel economy policy ☆

Notches | where small changes in behavior lead to large changes in a tax or subsidy | gure prominently in many policies, but have been rarely examined by economists. In this paper, we analyze a class of notches associated with policies aimed at improving vehicle fuel economy. We provide several pieces of evidence showing that automakers respond to notches in fuel economy policy by precisely manipulating fuel economy ratings so as to just qualify for more favorable treatment. We then describe the welfare consequences of this behavior and derive a welfare summary statistic applicable to many contexts.
Applications of non-uniform Pockels cells to high power laser amplifiers

Fast KD*P Pockels cells may be designed such that the electric field distribution within the crystal is non-uniform [1]. In this case, amplitude transmission of the cell becomes a function of transverse spatial coordinates. We present design parameters, predicted performance curves, and certain experimental results for circular aperture KD*P cells, based on specialized, detailed control of V(x,y,t). These cells are intended to serve the following functions: 1. Beam profiling (apodization) 2. Temporal pulse shaping 3. Whole-beam self-focusing compensation. Each of these functions has direct application to the performance of large, high power Nd:glass laser amplifiers, which are currently under intensive development for laser fusion.
Inorganic Materials as Catalysts for Photochemical Splitting of Water

Photochemical splitting of water into H2 and O2 using solar energy is a process of great economic and environmental interest. Since the discovery of the first water splitting system based on TiO2 and Pt in 1972 by Fujishima and Honda, over 130 inorganic materials have been discovered as catalysts for this reaction. This review discusses the known inorganic catalysts with a focus on structure–activity relationships.
Direct organocatalytic aldol reactions in buffered aqueous media

Organocatalytic cross-aldol reactions catalyzed by cyclic secondary amines in aqueous media provide a direct route to a variety of aldols including carbohydrate derivatives and may warrant consideration as a prebiotic route to sugars.
Inverse modeling of BTEX dissolution and biodegradation at the Bemidji, MN crude-oil spill site

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) solute transport and biodegradation code BIOMOC was used in conjunction with the USGS universal inverse modeling code UCODE to quantify field-scale hydrocarbon dissolution and biodegradation at the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program crude-oil spill research site located near Bemidji, MN. This inverse modeling effort used the extensive historical data compiled at the Bemidji site from 1986 to 1997 and incorporated a multicomponent transport and biodegradation model. Inverse modeling was successful when coupled transport and degradation processes were incorporated into the model and a single dissolution rate coefficient was used for all BTEX components. Assuming a stationary oil body, we simulated benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylene, and o-xylene (BTEX) concentrations in the oil and ground water, respectively, as well as dissolved oxygen. Dissolution from the oil phase and aerobic and anaerobic degradation processes were represented. The parameters estimated were the recharge rate, hydraulic conductivity, dissolution rate coefficient, individual first-order BTEX anaerobic degradation rates, and transverse dispersivity. Results were similar for simulations obtained using several alternative conceptual models of the hydrologic system and biodegradation processes. The dissolved BTEX concentration data were not sufficient to discriminate between these conceptual models. The calibrated simulations reproduced the general large-scale evolution of the plume, but did not reproduce the observed small-scale spatial and temporal variability in concentrations. The estimated anaerobic biodegradation rates for toluene and o-xylene were greater than the dissolution rate coefficient. However, the estimated anaerobic biodegradation rates for benzene, ethylbenzene, and m,p-xylene were less than the dissolution rate coefficient. The calibrated model was used to determine the BTEX mass balance in the oil body and groundwater plume. Dissolution from the oil body was greatest for compounds with large effective solubilities (benzene) and with large degradation rates (toluene and o-xylene). Anaerobic degradation removed 77% of the BTEX that dissolved into the water phase and aerobic degradation removed 17%. Although goodness-of-fit measures for the alternative conceptual models were not significantly different, predictions made with the models were quite variable.
The Infinite-Message Limit of Two-Terminal Interactive Source Coding

A two-terminal interactive function computation problem with alternating messages is studied within the framework of distributed block source coding theory. For any finite number of messages, a single-letter characterization of the sum-rate-distortion function was established in previous works using standard information-theoretic techniques. This, however, does not provide a satisfactory characterization of the infinite-message limit, which is a new, unexplored dimension for asymptotic analysis in distributed block source coding involving potentially an infinite number of infinitesimal-rate messages. In this paper, the infinite-message sum-rate-distortion function, viewed as a functional of the joint source distribution and the distortion levels, is characterized as the least element of a partially ordered family of functionals having certain convex-geometric properties. The new characterization does not involve evaluating the infinite-message limit of a finite-message sum-rate-distortion expression. This characterization leads to a family of lower bounds for the infinite-message sum-rate-distortion expression and a simple criterion to test the optimality of any achievable infinite-message sum-rate-distortion expression. The new convex-geometric characterization is used to develop an iterative algorithm for evaluating any finite-message sum-rate-distortion function. It is also used to construct the first examples which demonstrate that for lossy source reproduction, two messages can strictly improve the one-message Wyner-Ziv rate-distortion function settling an unresolved question from a 1985 paper. It is shown that a single backward message of arbitrarily small rate can lead to an arbitrarily large gain in the sum-rate.
Trauma and Stress Among Older Adults in the Criminal Justice System: A Review of the Literature with Implications for Social Work

The purpose of this article was to review the empirical literature that investigated trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system. Nineteen journal articles published between 1988 and 2010 were identified and extracted via research databases and included mixed age samples of adjudicated older and younger adults (n = 11) or older adult only samples (n = 8). Findings revealed past and current trauma and stress, consequences and/or correlates, and internal and external coping resources among aging offenders. The implications and future directions for gerontological social work, research, and policy with older adults in the criminal justice system are advanced.
Where Was the Iron Synthesized in Cassiopeia a

We investigate the properties of Fe-rich knots on the east limb of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant observed with Chandra/AXAF CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS). Using analysis methods developed in a companion paper, we constrain the ejecta density profile and the Lagrangian mass coordinates of the knots from their fitted ionization age and electron temperature. Fe-rich knots which also have strong emission from Si, S, Ar, and Ca are clustered around mass coordinates q approx. equal to 0.35 - 0.4 in the shocked ejecta of 2 solar masses; this places them 0.7 - 0.8 solar masses out from the center (or 2 - 2.1 solar masses, allowing for the mass of a compact object). We also find an Fe clump that is evidently devoid of line emission from lower mass elements, as would be expected for a region that had undergone alpha-rich freeze out. This clump has a similar mass coordinate to the other Fe knots.
Examining spatial and temporal variability in snow water equivalent using a 27 year reanalysis: Kern River watershed, Sierra Nevada

This paper used a data assimilation framework to estimate spatially and temporally continuous snow water equivalent (SWE) from a 27 year reanalysis (from water year 1985 to 2011) of the Landsat-5 record for the Kern River watershed in the Sierra Nevada, California. The data assimilation approach explicitly treats sources of uncertainty from model parameters, meteorological inputs, and observations. The method is comprised of two main components: (1) a coupled land surface model (LSM) and snow depletion curve (SDC) model, which is used to generate an ensemble of predictions of SWE and fractional snow cover area (FSCA) for a given set of prior (uncertain) inputs, and (2) a retrospective reanalysis step, which updates estimation variables to be consistent with the observed fractional snow cover time series. The final posterior SWE estimate is generated from the LSM-SDC using the posterior estimation variables consistently with all postulated sources of uncertainty in the model, inputs, and observations. A reasonable agreement was found between the SWE reanalysis and in situ SWE observations and streamflow data. The data set was studied to evaluate factors controlling SWE spatial and temporal variability. Elevation was found to be the primary control on spatial patterns of peak-SWE and day-of-peak. The easting coordinate had additional explanatory power, which is hypothesized to be related to rain shadow effects due to the prevailing storm track directions. The spatial patterns were found to be interannually inconsistent. However, drier years and lower elevations were found more variable than wetter years and higher elevations, respectively. Only a very small percentage of the Kern River watershed had a significant trend in peak-SWE and day-of-peak. Trends deemed to be significant were found to be positive (peak-SWE is increasing and day-of-peak occurs later) at higher elevations, but negative (peak-SWE is decreasing and day-of-peak occurs earlier) at lower elevations. The reanalysis approach proved to be useful in terms of identifying subwatershed variability and trends, and could be extended to larger regions and areas where in situ data are sparse or unavailable.
An efficient synthesis of (S)-2-hexylthiodecanoic acid

Abstract A short synthesis of (S)-2-hexylthiodecanoic acid from racemic 2-hydroxydecanoic acid is described. This material is useful as a sidechain for ACAT inhibitors.
Measuring Poverty in a Growing World (or Measuring Growth in a Poor World)

The extent to which growth reduces global poverty has been disputed for 30 years. Although there are better data than ever before, controversies are not resolved. A major problem is that consumption measured from household surveys, which is used to measure poverty, grows less rapidly than consumption measured in national accounts, in the world as a whole and in large countries, particularly India, China, and the United States. In consequence, measured poverty has fallen less rapidly than appears warranted by measured growth in poor countries. One plausible cause is that richer households are less likely to participate in surveys. But growth in the national accounts is also upward biased, and consumption in the national accounts contains large and rapidly growing items that are not consumed by the poor and not included in surveys. So it is possible for consumption of the poor to grow less rapidly than national consumption, without any increase in measured inequality. Current statistical procedures in poor ...
Enantioselective, organocatalyzed, intramolecular aldol lactonizations with keto acids leading to bi- and tricyclic β-lactones and topology-morphing transformations.

An advance in the asymmetric, nucleophile-catalyzed aldol lactonization process with keto acid substrates is described.
Post Keynesian Price Theory

List of figures and tables Acknowledgements Introduction Part I. The Doctrine of Administered Prices: 1. The origin of the doctrine of administered prices: from the modern corporation to industrial prices 2. Gardiner Means' doctrine of administered prices 3. Developments in the doctrine of administered prices Part II. The Doctrine of Normal Cost Prices: 4. The origin of the doctrine of normal cost prices: the Oxford Economists' Research Group and full cost pricing 5. Philip Andrews' theory of competitive oligopoly 6. Developments in the doctrine of normal cost prices Part III. The Doctrine of Mark Up Prices: 7. The origin of the doctrine of mark up prices: Michal Kalecki's microanalysis 8. Kalecki's microanalysis and the war years 9. Kalecki and the Cambridge contributions 10. Josef Steindl and the stagnation thesis Part IV. The Grounded Pricing Foundation of Post Keynesian Price Theory: 11. Pricing and prices 12. The pricing model, the grounded pricing foundation, and Post Keynesian price theory Appendices Bibliography Index.
Epipolar Geometry of Opti-Acoustic Stereo Imaging

Optical and sonar cameras are suitable imaging systems for inspecting underwater structures, both in regular maintenance and security operations. Despite their high resolution, optical systems have limited visibility range when deployed in turbid waters. In contrast, the new generation of high-frequency (MHz) forward-scan sonar cameras can provide images with enhanced target details in highly turbid waters though their range is reduced by one or two orders of magnitude as compared to traditional low or midfrequency (10s-100s KHz) sonar systems. It is conceivable that an effective inspection strategy is the deployment of both optical and sonar cameras on a submersible platform to enable target imaging in a range of turbidity conditions. Under this scenario and where visibility allows, registration of the images from both cameras (arranged in binocular stereo configuration) provides valuable scene information that cannot be readily recovered from each sensor alone. We explore and derive the constraint equations for the epipolar geometry and stereo triangulation in utilizing these two sensing modalities with different projection models. Theoretical results supported by computer simulations show that an opti-acoustic stereo imaging system outperforms a traditional binocular vision with optical cameras, particularly for increasing target distance and/or turbidity.
Serf and turf: crowdturfing for fun and profit

Popular Internet services in recent years have shown that remarkable things can be achieved by harnessing the power of the masses using crowd-sourcing systems. However, crowd-sourcing systems can also pose a real challenge to existing security mechanisms deployed to protect Internet services. Many of these security techniques rely on the assumption that malicious activity is generated automatically by automated programs. Thus they would perform poorly or be easily bypassed when attacks are generated by real users working in a crowd-sourcing system. Through measurements, we have found surprising evidence showing that not only do malicious crowd-sourcing systems exist, but they are rapidly growing in both user base and total revenue. We describe in this paper a significant effort to study and understand these "crowdturfing" systems in today's Internet. We use detailed crawls to extract data about the size and operational structure of these crowdturfing systems. We analyze details of campaigns offered and performed in these sites, and evaluate their end-to-end effectiveness by running active, benign campaigns of our own. Finally, we study and compare the source of workers on crowdturfing sites in different countries. Our results suggest that campaigns on these systems are highly effective at reaching users, and their continuing growth poses a concrete threat to online communities both in the US and elsewhere.
On inferring and characterizing Internet routing policies

Border gateway protocol allows autonomous systems (ASes) to apply diverse routing policies for selecting routes and for propagating reachability information to other ASes. Although a significant number of studies have been focused on the Internet topology, little is known about what routing policies network operators employ to configure their networks. In this paper, we infer and characterize routing policies employed in the Internet. We find that routes learned from customers are preferred over those from peers and providers, and those from peers are typically preferred over those from providers. We present an algorithm for inferring and characterizing export policies. We show that ASes announce their prefixes to a selected subset of providers to perform traffic engineering for incoming traffic. We find that the selective announcement routing policies imply that there are much less available paths in the Internet than shown in the AS connectivity graph, and can make the Internet extremely sensitive to failure events. We hope that our findings will help network operators in designing routing policies.
Uplifted supersymmetric Higgs region

We show that the parameter space of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model includes a region where the down-type fermion masses are generated by the loop-induced couplings to the up-type Higgs doublet. In this region the down-type Higgs doublet does not acquire a vacuum expectation value at tree level, and has sizable couplings in the superpotential to the tau leptons and bottom quarks. Besides a light standard-like Higgs boson, the Higgs spectrum includes the nearly degenerate states of a heavy spin-0 doublet which can be produced through their couplings to the b quark and decay predominantly into τ + τ − or τν.
Making poor Haitians count--poverty in rural and urban Haiti based on the first household survey for Haiti

This paper analyzes poverty in Haiti based on the first Living Conditions Survey of 7,186 households covering the whole country and representative at the regional level. Using a USD1 a day extreme poverty line, the analysis reveals that 49 percent of Haitian households live in absolute poverty. Twenty, 56, and 58 percent of households in metropolitan, urban, and rural areas, respectively, are poor. At the regional level, poverty is especially extensive in the northeastern and northwestern regions. Access to assets such as education and infrastructure services is highly unequal and strongly correlated with poverty. Moreover, children in indigent households attain less education than children in nonpoor households. Controlling for individual and household characteristics, location, and region, living in a rural area does not by itself affect the probability of being poor. But in rural areas female headed households are more likely to experience poverty than male headed households. Domestic migration and education are both key factors that reduce the likelihood of falling into poverty. Employment is essential to improve livelihoods and both the farm and nonfarm sector play a key role.
FARMERS' RIGHTS AND PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

Summary This paper questions the value of bioprospecting contracts for protecting traditional agricultural knowledge and argues for a common pool approach. It examines the nature of crop genetic resources and farmers’ knowledge about them, and it analyzes the nature of the “common heritage” regime that was partly dismantled by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The paper reviews the implementation of access and benefit sharing schemes under the CBD and discusses programs to recognize Farmers’ Rights that have arisen since the establishment of the CBD. It concludes with recommendations for meeting the Farmers’ Rights mandate of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Patient-Oncologist Cost Communication, Financial Distress, and Medication Adherence

The authors conclude that patient-oncologist cost communication and financial distress were associated with medication nonadherence, suggesting that cost discussions are important for patients forced to make cost-related behavior alterations.
A Cationic Gold(I) Complex as a General Catalyst for the Intermolecular Hydroamination of Alkynes: Application to the One‐Pot Synthesis of Allenes from Two Alkynes and a Sacrificial Amine

Two very distinct chemical reactions, yet a single catalyst: A gold complex promotes the formation of tertiary enamines from a variety of terminal and internal alkynes. Subsequent addition of a terminal alkyne to the reaction mixture affords allenes (see scheme).
Flux Crystal Growth of the Ternary Polygermanide LaPtGe2, a p‐Type Metal

Large plate crystals of LaPtGe2 have been grown by using an inert indium metal flux. This compound crystallizes in the CeNiSi2-type structure (orthorhombic space group Cmcm) with lattice parameters a = 4.3770(9) A, b = 17.186(3) A, and c = 4.3942(9) A. The structure of LaPtGe2 is a three-dimensional framework with alternating PbO-type layers of PtGe and infinite Ge chains, separated by La atoms. Electrical resistivity and Hall effect measurements characterize LaPtGe2 as a metal with holes that act as the charge carriers. Strong temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient and a violation of Kohler's rule (from magnetoresistance data) both indicate possible multiband effects. The electronic structure calculations suggest the metallic nature of LaPtGe2 and show that the strongest bonding exists between Pt and Ge within the PbO-type layers.
Preparation of N-Alkylbis(3-aminopropyl)amines by the Catalytic Hydrogenation of N-Alkylbis(cyanoethyl)amines

An improved process for the preparation of N-alkylbis(3-aminopropyl)amines is described. These triamines are of interest as monomers for the condensation polymerization with esterified carbohydrate diacids (aldaric acids) to generate the corresponding poly(4-alkyl-4-azaheptamethylene aldaramides). The triamine synthesis is comprised of two efficient steps and requires no chromatographic purification. Bisconjugate addition of alkylamines to acrylonitrile followed by catalytic hydrogenation of the N-alkylbis(cyanoethyl)amines over Raney nickel yields the target N-alkylbis(3-aminopropyl)amines. Much less solvent was used in the bisconjugate addition step then previously reported, and in the second step, a relatively low-pressure catalytic hydrogenation (50 psi of hydrogen) was employed using Raney nickel as the catalyst in a 7 N methanolic ammonia solvent system to afford the N-alkylbis(3-aminopropyl)amines of high purity in nearly quantitative yield.
The effects of orbital and climatic variations on Martian surface heat flow

We have examined the effects of climate changes, induced by orbital oscillations, on Martian surface heat flow. It was found that the climatological component of the surface heat flow can be larger than the expected internal geothermal heat flow. We suggest that measurements of surface heat flow be targeted for equatorial and south polar regions to avoid climatic effects and that care be taken in interpreting measurements in mid-latitude and north polar regions.
Passive dust collectors for assessing airborne microbial material

Settled airborne dust is used as a surrogate for airborne exposure in studies that explore indoor microbes. In order to determine whether detecting differences in dust environments would depend on the sampler type, we compared different passive, settled dust sampling approaches with respect to displaying qualitative and quantitative aspects of the bacterial and fungal indoor microbiota. Settled dust sampling approaches—utilizing plastic petri dishes, TefTex material, and electrostatic dustfall collectors (EDCs)—were evaluated in indoor spaces in the USA and Finland and in an experimental chamber study. The microbial content was analyzed with quantitative PCR (qPCR) to quantify total bacterial and fungal biomass and through high-throughput sequencing to examine bacterial community composition. Bacterial composition and diversity were similar within a sampling environment regardless of the sampler type. The sampling environment was the single largest predictor of microbial community composition within a study, while sampler type was found to have much less predictive power. Quantitative analyses in indoor spaces indicated highest yields using a petri dish approach, followed by sampling with EDCs and TefTex. The highest correlations between duplicate samples were observed for EDC and petri dish approaches, indicating greater experimental repeatability for these sampler types. For the EDC samples, it became apparent that, due to the fibrous nature of the material, a rigorous extraction protocol is crucial to obtain optimal yields and stable, repeatable results. Correlations between sampler types were strong both in compositional and quantitative terms, and thus, the particular choice of passive settled dust sampler is not likely to strongly alter the overall conclusion of a study that aims to characterize dust across different environments. Microbial cell abundances determined from settled dust varied with the use of different sampling approaches, and thus, consistency in the method is necessary to allow for absolute comparisons within and among studies. Considering practical aspects, petri dishes were found to be an inexpensive, simple, and feasible approach that showed the highest quantitative determinations under typical building conditions, though the choice of sampler will ultimately depend on study logistics and characteristics such as low- or high-exposure settings.
Preferred direction Steiner trees

The planar rectilinear Steiner tree problem has been extensively studied. The common formulation ignores circuit fabrication issues such as multiple routing layers, preferred routing directions, and vias between layers. In this paper, the authors extend a previously presented planar rectilinear Steiner tree heuristic to consider layer assignment, preferred routing direction restrictions, and via minimization. They use layer-specific routing costs, via costs, and have a minimum cost objective. Their approach combines the low computational complexity of modern geometry-based methods with much of the freedom enjoyed by graph-based methods. When routing costs mirror those of traditional planar rectilinear Steiner problems, the authors' approach obtains close to 11% reductions in tree lengths, compared to minimum spanning trees; this is on par with the performance of the best available Steiner heuristics. When via costs are significant and layer costs differ, they observe average cost reductions of as much as 37%. Their method can also reduce the number of vias significantly.
SDF1 in the dorsal corticospinal tract promotes CXCR4+ cell migration after spinal cord injury

Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF1) and its major signaling receptor, CXCR4, were initially described in the immune system; however, they are also expressed in the nervous system, including the spinal cord. After spinal cord injury, the blood brain barrier is compromised, opening the way for chemokine signaling between these two systems. These experiments clarified prior contradictory findings on normal expression of SDF1 and CXCR4 as well as examined the resulting spinal cord responses resulting from this signaling. These experiments examined the expression and function of SDF1 and CXCR4 in the normal and injured adult mouse spinal cord primarily using CXCR4-EGFP and SDF1-EGFP transgenic reporter mice. In the uninjured spinal cord, SDF1 was expressed in the dorsal corticospinal tract (dCST) as well as the meninges, whereas CXCR4 was found only in ependymal cells surrounding the central canal. After spinal cord injury (SCI), the pattern of SDF1 expression did not change rostral to the lesion but it disappeared from the degenerating dCST caudally. By contrast, CXCR4 expression changed dramatically after SCI. In addition to the CXCR4+ cells in the ependymal layer, numerous CXCR4+ cells appeared in the peripheral white matter and in the dorsal white matter localized between the dorsal corticospinal tract and the gray matter rostral to the lesion site. The non-ependymal CXCR4+ cells were found to be NG2+ and CD11b+ macrophages that presumably infiltrated through the broken blood-brain barrier. One population of macrophages appeared to be migrating towards the dCST that contains SDF1 rostral to the injury but not towards the caudal dCST in which SDF1 is no longer present. A second population of the CXCR4+ macrophages was present near the SDF1-expressing meningeal cells. These observations suggest that attraction of CXCR4+ macrophages is part of a programmed response to injury and that modulation of the SDF1 signaling system may be important for regulating the inflammatory response after SCI.
Estimating Lost Output from Allocative Inefficiency, with an Application to Chile and Firing Costs

We propose a new measure of allocative eciency based on unrealized increases in aggregate productivity growth. We show that the dierence in the value of the marginal product of an input and its marginal cost at any plant - the plant-input "gap" - is exactly equal to the change in aggregate output that would occur if that plant changed that input’s use by one unit. The mean absolute gap across plants for any input can then be interpreted as the gain to society that would occur if every plant had a one-unit change in that input in the ecient direction, holding everything else constant. We show how to estimate this average gap using plant-level data from Chilean manufacturing from 1982-1994, a sector largely viewed as being one of South America’s least distorted. We nd the gaps for blue and white collar labor are quite large in absolute value and increasing over time, and that a one-unit move in the correct direction for blue collar would increase aggregate value added by almost 0.5%. We nd the gap for materials is small and the gap for electricity non-neglible but not
The Design and Implementation of Multi-player Card Games on Multi-user Interactive Tabletop Surfaces

We present the design and implementation of a card game architecture for mulit-user interactive tabletop surfaces. Our system is built on the DiamondTouch, a touch-sensitive input surface that allows several users to interact with a program at the same time. We describe the software architecture and present Blackjack as a sample implementation using this framework.
A natural language argumentation interface for explanation generation in Markov decision processes

A Markov Decision Process (MDP) policy presents, for each state, an action, which preferably maximizes the expected reward accrual over time. In this paper, we present a novel system that generates, in real time, natural language explanations of the optimal action, recommended by an MDP while the user interacts with the MDP policy. We rely on natural language explanations in order to build trust between the user and the explanation system, leveraging existing research in psychology in order to generate salient explanations for the end user. Our explanation system is designed for portability between domains and uses a combination of domain specific and domain independent techniques. The system automatically extracts implicit knowledge from an MDP model and accompanying policy. This policy-based explanation system can be ported between applications without additional effort by knowledge engineers or model builders. Our system separates domain-specific data from the explanation logic, allowing for a robust system capable of incremental upgrades. Domain-specific explanations are generated through case-based explanation techniques specific to the domain and a knowledge base of concept mappings for our natural language model.
Evaporation of large black holes in AdS: coupling to the evaporon

Large black holes in an asymptotically AdS spacetime have a dual de- scription in terms of approximately thermal states in the boundary CFT. The reect- ing boundary conditions of AdS prevent such black holes from evaporating completely. On the other hand, the formulation of the information paradox becomes more stringent when a black hole is allowed to evaporate. In order to address the information loss prob- lem from the AdS/CFT perspective we then need the boundary to become partially absorptive. We present a simple model that produces the necessary changes on the boundary by coupling a bulk scalar eld to the evaporon, an external eld propagating in one extra spatial dimension. The interaction is localized at the boundary of AdS and leads to partial transmission into the additional space. The transmission coecient is computed in the planar limit and perturbatively in the coupling constant. Evaporation of the large black hole corresponds to cooling down the CFT by transferring energy to an external sector.
Laboratory Investigation of Vapor Shielding for Lithium-Coated Molybdenum in Devex

To investigate the effect of lithium on a molybdenum target, a triple Langmuir probe diagnostics and target temperature measurements are carried out. Several experimental scenarios are tested to optimize the device for the vapor shielding experiment. A lithium sputtering system is used to deposit lithium on a molybdenum target. A triple Langmuir probe is placed near the target at various pressures to estimate change of plasma density and electron temperature and their effects on vapor shielding. Temperature increase at the target is measured by a thermocouple and its relationship with plasma parameters and lithium is discussed in detail.
Neutron capture on 130Sn during r-process freeze-out

We examine the role of neutron capture on 130Sn during r-process freeze-out in the neutrino-driven wind environment of the core-collapse supernova. We find that the global r-process abundance pattern is sensitive to the magnitude of the neutron capture cross section of 130Sn. The changes to the abundance pattern include not only a relative decrease in the abundance of 130Sn and an increase in the abundance of 131Sn, but also a shift in the distribution of material in the rare earth and third peak regions.
Every diassociative A-loop is Moufang

An A-loop is a loop in which every inner mapping is an automorphism. A problem which had been open since 1956 is settled by showing that every diassociative A-loop is Moufang.
Discrete bidding games

We study variations on combinatorial games in which, instead of alternating moves, the players bid with discrete bidding chips for the right to determine who moves next. We consider both symmetric and partisan games, and explore differences between discrete bidding games and Richman games , which allow real-valued bidding. Unlike Richman games, discrete bidding game variations of many familiar games, such as chess, Connect Four, and even Tic-Tac-Toe, are suitable for recreational play. We also present an analysis of Tic-Tac-Toe for both discrete and real-valued bidding.
Catalytic Z-Selective Cross-Metathesis with Secondary Silyl- and Benzyl-Protected Allylic Ethers: Mechanistic Aspects and Applications to Natural Product Synthesis†

Citation Mann, Tyler J., Alexander W. H. Speed, Richard R. Schrock, and Amir H. Hoveyda. “Catalytic Z-Selective Cross-Metathesis with Secondary Silyland Benzyl-Protected Allylic Ethers: Mechanistic Aspects and Applications to Natural Product Synthesis.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 52, no. 32 (August 5, 2013): 8395-8400. As Published http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201302538 Publisher Wiley Blackwell
Scaling Properties of an Inviscid Mean-Motion Fluid Model

An inviscid two-dimensional fluid model with nonlinear dispersion that arises simultaneously in coarse-grained descriptions of the dynamics of the Euler equation and in the description of non-Newtonian fluids of second grade is considered. The scaling of the equilibrium states of this model for conserved energy and enstrophy retains the corresponding scaling for the Euler equations on the large scales and at the same time greatly deemphasizes the importance of small scales. This is the first clear demonstration of the beneficial effect of nonlinear dispersion in the model, and should highlight its utility as a subgrid model in more realistic situations.
Economic Analysis and Efficiency in Public Expenditure

This chapter explores property-compatible and state transfers as alternative approaches to social insurance. It covers both the rationales advanced in support of the different approaches and the actual operation of those programs.
Broadening the scope of 1,2,4-triazine synthesis by the application of microwave technology

By the application of microwave technology, a general protocol has been developed for the rapid synthesis of diverse 3,5,6-trisubstituted 1,2,4-triazines in excellent yield and purity, including many previously unknown 3-heterocyclic-1,2,4-triazines.
Protein degradation with photoactivated enediyne-amino acid conjugates

A series of photoactivated enediynes was prepared, and successfully employed for the selective degradation of target proteins.
Semiparametric exponential families for heavy-tailed data

We propose a semiparametric method for fitting the tail of a heavy-tailed population given a relatively small sample from that population and a larger sample from a related background population. We model the tail of the small sample as an exponential tilt of the better-observed large-sample tail, using a robust sufficient statistic motivated by extreme value theory. In particular, our method induces an estimator of the small-population mean, and we give theoretical and empirical evidence that this estimator outperforms methods that do not use the background sample. We demonstrate substantial efficiency gains over competing methods in simulation and on data from a large controlled experiment conducted by Facebook.
Attitudes regarding privacy of genomic information in personalized cancer therapy

Objective To evaluate attitudes regarding privacy of genomic data in a sample of patients with breast cancer. Methods Female patients with breast cancer (n=100) completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes regarding concerns about privacy of genomic data. Results Most patients (83%) indicated that genomic data should be protected. However, only 13% had significant concerns regarding privacy of such data. Patients expressed more concern about insurance discrimination than employment discrimination (43% vs 28%, p<0.001). They expressed less concern about research institutions protecting the security of their molecular data than government agencies or drug companies (20% vs 38% vs 44%; p<0.001). Most did not express concern regarding the association of their genomic data with their name and personal identity (49% concerned), billing and insurance information (44% concerned), or clinical data (27% concerned). Significantly fewer patients were concerned about the association with clinical data than other data types (p<0.001). In the absence of direct benefit, patients were more willing to consent to sharing of deidentified than identified data with researchers not involved in their care (76% vs 60%; p<0.001). Most (85%) patients were willing to consent to DNA banking. Discussion While patients are opposed to indiscriminate release of genomic data, privacy does not appear to be their primary concern. Furthermore, we did not find any specific predictors of privacy concerns. Conclusions Patients generally expressed low levels of concern regarding privacy of genomic data, and many expressed willingness to consent to sharing their genomic data with researchers.
On the Welfare Consequences of the Increase in Inequality in the United States

We investigate the welfare consequences of the stark increase in wage and earnings inequality in the US over the last 30 years. Our data stems from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which is the only US data set that contains information on wages, hours worked, earnings and consumption for the same cross section of US households. We first document that, while the cross-sectional variation in wages and disposable earnings has significantly increased, the overall dispersion in consumption has not significantly changed. We also show that households at the bottom of the consumption distribution have increased their working hours to a larger extent than the rest of the population. In order to assess the magnitude and the incidence of the welfare consquences of these trends we estimate stochastic processes for earnings, consumption and leisure that are consistent with observed cross-sectional variability (both within and between education groups) and with household mobility patterns. In a standard lifetime utility framework, using consumption and leisure processes, as opposed to earnings processes, results in fairly robust estimates of these consequences. We find that about 60 percent of US households face welfare losses and that the size of these losses ranges from one to six percent of lifetime consumption for different groups.
Effects of pipelines on spectral induced-polarization surveys

The formal electromagnetic coupling solution for a dipole-dipole electrode array configuration has been modified to include cultural coupling in a uniform conducting half‐space. Solutions are obtained for survey lines oriented at an arbitrary position and angle with respect to a cylindrical structure. The convergence properties of the general mutual impedance solution are analyzed using a low‐frequency approximation which is useful in predicting cultural anomalies in the frequency range of spectral IP surveys as long as all significant dimensions are less than one skin depth. Both interfacial polarization and induced currents in the cylindrical conductor are considered in examining the behavior of the overall spectrum as seen by an external observer. Spectral responses for dipole-dipole arrays oriented perpendicular and parallel to the buried conductor show that the phase shift is the most diagnostic parameter for pipe depth and survey data distortion. The results also show that field survey procedures ca...
The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries

Is the high degree of gender inequality in developing countries—in education, personal autonomy, and more—explained by underdevelopment itself? Or do the societies that are poor today hold certain cultural views that lead to gender inequality? This article discusses several mechanisms through which gender gaps narrow as countries grow. I argue that although much of the GDP/gender-inequality relationship can be explained by the process of development, society-specific factors are also at play: Many countries that are poor today have cultural norms that exacerbate favoritism toward males. Norms such as patrilocality and concern for women’s “purity” help explain the male-skewed sex ratio in India and China and low female employment in India, the Middle East, and North Africa, for example. I also discuss why the sex ratio has become more male-skewed with development. Finally, I lay out some policy approaches to address gender inequality.
Coding for parallel links to maximize expected decodable-message value

Future communication scenarios for NASA spacecraft may involve multiple communication links and relay nodes, so that there is essentially a network in which there may be multiple paths from a sender to a destination. The availability of individual links may be uncertain. In this paper, scenarios are considered in which the goal is to maximize a payoff that assigns weight based on the worth of data and the probability of successful transmission. Ideally, the choice of what information to send over the various links will provide protection of high value data when many links are unavailable, yet result in communication of significant additional data when most links are available. Here the focus is on the simple network of multiple parallel links, where the links have known capacities and outage probabilities. Given a set of simple inter-link codes, linear programming can be used to find the optimal timesharing strategy among these codes. Some observations are made about the problem of determining all potentially useful codes, and techniques to assist in such determination are presented.
A new solution method for the inverse kinematic joint velocity calculations of redundant manipulators

A new analytical method to resolve underspecified systems of algebraic equations is presented. The method is referred to as the full space parameterization (FSP) method and utilizes easily-calculated projected solution vectors to generate the entire space of solutions of the underspecified system. Analytic parameterizations for both the space of solutions and the null space of the system reduce the determination of a task-requirement-based single solution to a m-n dimensional problem, where m-n is the degree of underspecification, or degree of redundancy, of the system. An analytical solution is presented to directly calculate the least-norm solution from the parameterized space and the results are compared to solutions of the standard pseudo-inverse algorithm which embodies the (least-norm) Moore-Penrose generalized inverse. Application of the new solution method to a variety of systems and task requirements are discussed, and sample results using four-link planar manipulators with one or two degrees of redundancy and a seven degree-of-freedom manipulator with one or four degrees of redundancy are presented to illustrate the efficiency of the new FSP method and algorithm. >
Primary Dietary Prevention: Is the Fiber Story Over?

Colorectal cancer is a major cause of morbidity in developed countries, and epidemiological and experimental research suggests that environmental factors, particularly diet, may play a key etiologic role. Among the various dietary factors that have been proposed to affect the risk and progression of colon cancer, dietary fiber has been of greatest interest, due to the effects of fiber on the function of the large bowel. Dietary fiber is a heterogeneous group of compounds, consisting of the remnants of plant cells resistant to hydrolysis by human alimentary enzymes. Several case-control studies and a few cohort studies have linked higher fiber intake to reduced risk for colorectal cancer, although the results of these observational studies have been inconsistent. In the large European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition observational study, higher dietary fiber from foods was associated with an estimated 25% reduction in risk for large bowel cancer. However, no significant relationship between fiber intake (or major food sources of fiber) and risk for colorectal cancer was observed in a recently reported large pooled analysis of several cohort studies. Well-known limitations of observational studies, particularly relating to the collection and interpretation of dietary data, constrain conclusions from these studies. To date, intervention studies testing the relationship between dietary fiber and colon cancer have focused on whether fiber supplementation or diet modification can affect the risk for adenoma recurrence and growth in individuals with a history of adenomatous polyps. In four of these intervention studies, subjects in the intervention arm were prescribed dietary fiber supplements, and beneficial effects on adenoma recurrence were not observed over 3-5 years of follow-up. In a large randomized U.S. study, the Polyp Prevention Trial, the effect of prescribing diet modification (increased fiber and reduced fat intakes) was tested, and no effects on adenoma recurrence were observed, although dietary biomarker data suggest that the change in dietary intakes in the intervention arm was not substantial. The effect of increased dietary fiber intake on risk for colorectal cancer has not been adequately addressed in studies conducted to date. Longer-term trials and higher levels of fi- ber intake are strategies that have been suggested to increase knowledge in this area. Also, laboratory and clinical studies that continue to provide insight into biological mechanisms may help to better target intervention efforts.