cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Am I liable? The problem of defining falsity under the False Claims Act.

The Federal False Claims Act (FCA) creates civil liability for entities that falsely or fraudulently contract with the government to provide services or goods in exchange for federal funds. FCA cases often arise in healthcare contexts in which the government pays entities for providing products and services to eligible beneficiaries. With the growth of Medicare and Medicaid funding for healthcare services, there has been a corresponding increase of false claims and FCA cases, in the healthcare context. For instance, of the over 30 billion recovered by the government for FCA cases in the last fifteen years, recoveries from Health and Human Services constitutes over 20 billion. An FCA case may involve a false representation that a service has been provided when in fact it has not. Such a case may also involve a false representation of compliance with underlying governmental requirements for payment. Recently, there has been growing confusion as to how to address cases in which the defendant is not the party actually submitting the allegedly false claim, but the party that caused the false claim to be filed.
Non-Sooting, Low Flame Temperature Mixing-Controlled DI Diesel Combustion

Methods of producing non-sooting, low flame temperature diesel combustion were investigated in an optically-accessible, quiescent constant-volume combustion vessel under mixing-controlled diesel combustion conditions. Combustion and soot processes of single, isolated fuel jets were studied after auto-ignition and transient premixed combustion and while the injector was fully-open (i.e. during the mixing-controlled phase of heat release for diesel combustion). The investigation showed that small injector tip orifices could be used to produce non-sooting and low flame temperature combustion simultaneously. The use of small orifices was shown to enable non-sooting and low flame temperature combustion in two different ways as summarized below. A more detailed description of the experimental methods and results is provided in Ref. [1-3]. First, using an injector tip with a 50 micron orifice and ambient oxygen concentrations as low as 10% (simulating the use of extensive EGR), a fuel jet was non-sooting at typical diesel ambient temperatures (1000 K). Second, using the same injector tip at a reduced ambient gas temperature (850 K), but with 21% oxygen, it was shown that non-sooting, mixing-controlled combustion occurred at the lift-off length in a fuel-air mixture with a cross-sectional average equivalence ratio of approximately 0.6-suggesting that the quasi-steady combustion was fuel-lean andmore » thereby avoided the formation of a diffusion flame. The adiabatic flame temperature with reduced ambient oxygen concentration or fuel-lean combustion was approximately 2000 K, compared to typical diesel flame temperatures that exceed 2600 K. The 50 micron orifice results above were obtained using a No.2 diesel fuel. However, using an oxygenated fuel (20 wt% oxygen), the investigation showed that the same low temperature combustion, either with reduced ambient oxygen concentration or fuel-lean combustion, was realized with a 100 micron orifice. Although these single, isolated jets do not have jet-jet interactions that would occur in realistic engines, the results are useful for understanding limiting-case behavior of single-jet mixing and combustion during an injection event. The non-sooting and low flame temperature mixing-controlled combustion realized using small orifice tips suggests that the use of small orifices offers the potential for a simultaneous soot and NOx reduction in an engine, much like diesel HCCI combustion. However, further research is needed to determine whether these methods could be successfully implemented in real engines.« less
Adaptability in IT Sourcing: The Impact of Switching Costs.

IT sourcing decisions are increasingly becoming more strategic than in the past. As this occurs, firms should maintain a strategy of adaptability in order to mitigate the risks inherently associated with sourcing. A major influence on the adaptability of a firm in the short- and long-term are the switching costs associated with moving an activity from one source to another. As switching costs increase, firms may be “locked in” to one source. Firms should therefore work to decrease the switching costs so that they are more able to move an activity from one source to another if the market changes or an outsourcing relationship sours. Three strategies are presented for lowering switching costs which will ultimately help increase adaptability.
EDUCATION AND REDISTRIBUTION: The Limits of a Strategy

(1968). EDUCATION AND REDISTRIBUTION: THE LIMITS OF A STRATEGY. Equity & Excellence in Education: Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 13-19.
Functions with pick matrices having bounded number of negative eigenvalues

A class is studied of complex valued functions defined on the unit disk (with a possible exception of a discrete set) with the property that all their Pick matrices have not more than a prescribed number of negative eigenvalues. Functions in this class, known to appear as pseudomultipliers of the Hardy space, are characterized in several other ways. It turns out that a typical function in the class is meromorphic with a possible modification at a finite number of points, and total number of poles and of points of modification does not exceed the prescribed number of negative eigenvalues. Bounds are given for the number of points that generate Pick matrices that are needed to achieve the requisite number of negative eigenvalues. A result analogous to Hindmarsh's theorem is proved for functions in the class.
Generalized Ponderomotive Forces and Three-Wave Interaction

The subject of this article is a unified Hamiltonian approach to the theory of nonlinear interactions among waves and particles. The unifying feature of the approach is a generalization of the concept of “ponderomotive force”. The formulation can be said to retain the conceptual simplicity of the familiar ponderomotivepotential method [l–3], but to remove the approximations [4]. The essence of the approach is to replace the usual method of time-averaging by the performance of a canonical transformation. The transformation is designed to eliminate the terms in the Hamiltonian of a particle which are linear in the wave potentials, replacing them with bilinear terms at combination frequencies. The new entity (the “oscillation center”) thus has no first order uttering motion. The transformation formalism leads to explicit expressions for the required nonlinear currents, which can be decomposed into the current of oscillation centers and the “polarization” corrections [4]. The oscillation-center representation is thus quite analogous to the more familiar guiding-center representation in strong magnetic fields.
Learning Improved Entertainment Trading Strategies for the TAC Travel Game

For almost five years we continually operated a simulation testbed exploring strategies for the TAC Travel game. Building on techniques developed in our recent study of continuous double auctions, we performed an equilibrium analysis of our testbed data, and employed reinforcement learning in the equilibrium environment to derive a new entertainment strategy for this domain. A second iteration of this process led to further improvements. We thus demonstrate that interleaving empirical game-theoretic analysis with reinforcement learning in an effective method for generating stronger trading strategies in this domain.
Advanced computers and simulation

Accelerator physicists today have access to computers that are far more powerful than those available just 10 years ago. In the early 1980's, desktop workstations performed less than one million floating point operations per second (Mflops), and the realized performance of vector supercomputers was at best a few hundred Mflops. Today vector processing is available on the desktop, providing researchers with performance approaching 100 Mflops at a price that is measured in thousands of dollars. Furthermore, advances in Massively Parallel Processors (MPP) have made performance of over 10 gigaflops a reality, and around mid-decade MPPs are expected to be capable of teraflops performance. Along with advances in MPP hardware, researchers have also made significant progress in developing algorithms and software for MPPs. These changes have had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on the work of computational accelerator physicists. Now, instead of running particle simulations with just a few thousand particles, we can perform desktop simulations with tens of thousands of simulation particles, and calculations with well over 1 million particles are being performed on MPPs. In the area of computational electromagnetics, simulations that used to be performed only on vector supercomputers now run in several hours on desktop workstations, and researchers are hoping to perform simulations with over one billion mesh points on future MPPs. In this paper we will discuss the latest advances, and what can be expected in the near future, in hardware, software and applications codes for advanced simulation of particle accelerators. >
Conductors of l-adic representations

We give a new formula for the Artin conductor of an $\ell$-adic representation of the Weil group of a local field of residue characteristic $p\neq\ell$.
Lasting welfare effects of widowhood in a poor country

Little is known about the situation facing widows and their dependent children in West Africa especially after the widow remarries. Women in Malian society are vulnerable to the loss of husbands especially in rural areas. Households headed by widows have significantly lower living standards on average than male or other female headed households in both rural and urban areas; this holds both unconditionally and conditional on observable household and individual characteristics including age. Furthermore, the adverse welfare effects of widowhood appear to persist even after widows are absorbed into male headed households. An examination of individual measures of well-being further reveals that, relative to other women, worse outcomes for ever-widowed women persist through remarriage. These detrimental effects are passed on to children, indicating an intergenerational transmission of poverty stemming from widowhood.
A Photographic Composition Assistant for Intelligent Virtual 3D Camera Systems

A human photographer can frame an image and enhance its composition by visualizing how elements in the frame could be better sized or positioned. The photographer resizes elements in the frame by changing the zoom lens or by varying his or her distance to the subject. The photographer moves elements by panning. An intelligent virtual photographer can apply a similar process. Given an initial 3D camera view, a user or application specifies high-level composition goals such as Rule of Thirds or balance. Each objective defines either a One-D interval for image scaling or a Two-D interval for translation. Two-D projections of objects are translated and scaled in the frame according to computed optima. These Two-D scales and translates are mapped to matching changes in the 3D field of view (zoom), dolly-in or out varying subject distance, and rotating the aim direction to improve the composition.
Irregular Leadership Changes in 2014: Forecasts using ensemble, split-population duration models

Abstract We forecast Irregular Leadership Changes (ILCs)–unexpected leadership changes in contravention of a state’s established laws and conventions–for six months in mid-2014 using predictions from an ensemble of seven split-population duration regression models. The original forecasts were made in May 2014. Our approach allows us to aggregate models for different mechanisms leading to ILCs in one ensemble forecast, is sensitive to the overwhelming number of non-events (zeros) in the data, and allows us to make real-world forecasts with a lag of approximately five weeks. The data are based on 45 ILCs recorded for the period from March 2001 to March 2014, with monthly observations for up to 168 countries worldwide. The ensemble achieves in- and out-of-sample AUCs of ∼0.85, and we present the 10 highest forecasts, which include Thailand.
Polyhedral Methods for Space Curves Exploiting Symmetry Applied to the Cyclic n-roots Problem

We present a polyhedral algorithm to manipulate positive dimensional solution sets. Using facet normals to Newton polytopes as pretropisms, we focus on the first two terms of a Puiseux series expansion. The leading powers of the series are computed via the tropical prevariety. This polyhedral algorithm is well suited for exploitation of symmetry, when it arises in systems of polynomials. Initial form systems with pretropisms in the same group orbit are solved only once, allowing for a systematic filtration of redundant data. Computations with cddlib, Gfan, PHCpack, and Sage are illustrated on cyclic n-roots polynomial systems.
A grey-box approach to automated mechanism design

This paper presents an approach to automated mechanism design in the domain of double auctions. We describe a novel parameterized space of double auctions, and then introduce an evolutionary search method that searches this space of parameters. The approach evaluates auction mechanisms using the framework of the TAC Market Design Game and relates the performance of the markets in that game to their constituent parts using reinforcement learning. Experiments show that the strongest mechanisms we found using this approach are able to win the Market Design Game against known, strong opponents.
A probabilistic approach to the asymptotics of the length of the longest alternating subsequence

Let $LA_{n}(\tau)$ be the length of the longest alternating subsequence of a uniform random permutation $\tau\in\left[ n\right] $. Classical probabilistic arguments are used to rederive the asymptotic mean, variance and limiting law of $LA_{n}\left( \tau\right) $. Our methodology is robust enough to tackle similar problems for finite alphabet random words or even Markovian sequences in which case our results are mainly original. A sketch of how some cases of pattern restricted permutations can also be tackled with probabilistic methods is finally presented.
On a Natural Solution for the Hierarchy Problem Using Dimensional Regularization

This brief report suggests a straightforward solution for the hierarchy problem of the Standard Model using dimensional regularization of quantum field theory (QFT). Our viewpoint breaks away from traditional approaches to the hierarchy problem based on supersymmetry (SUSY), Technicolor, extra-dimensions, anthropic arguments, fine-tuning or gauge unification near the Planck scale.
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS: An Update

A survey of developments over the last forty years suggests that little progress has been made in the development of comparative religious ethics as a discipline. While authors working in this field have produced a number of interesting works, the field lacks structure, including an agreement on the basic purpose, terms, and approaches by which contributions may be evaluated as better or worse. I provide an account of this history, suggesting that a way forward will involve marrying ethicists' interest in arguments with close attention to the more and less formal structures by which groups of people organize the giving and taking of reasons.
Mismatch repair proteins recruit DNA methyltransferase 1 to sites of oxidative DNA damage

At sites of chronic inflammation, epithelial cells are exposed to high levels of reactive oxygen species and undergo cancer-associated DNA methylation changes, suggesting that inflammation may initiate epigenetic alterations. Previously, we demonstrated that oxidative damage causes epigenetic silencing proteins to become part of a large complex that is localized to GC-rich regions of the genome, including promoter CpG islands that are epigenetically silenced in cancer. However, whether these proteins were recruited directly to damaged DNA or during the DNA repair process was unknown. Here we demonstrate that the mismatch repair protein heterodimer MSH2-MSH6 participates in the oxidative damage-induced recruitment of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) to chromatin. Hydrogen peroxide treatment induces the interaction of MSH2-MSH6 with DNMT1, suggesting that the recruitment is through a protein-protein interaction. Importantly, the reduction in transcription for genes with CpG island-containing promoters caused by oxidative damage is abrogated by knockdown of MSH6 and/or DNMT1. Our findings provide evidence that the role of DNMT1 at sites of oxidative damage is to reduce transcription, potentially preventing transcription from interfering with the repair process. This study uniquely brings together several factors that are known to contribute to colon cancer, namely inflammation, mismatch repair proteins, and epigenetic changes.
On self‐similar singular solutions of the complex Ginzburg‐Landau equation

We address the open problem of existence of singularities for the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation. Using a combination of rigorous results and numerical computations, we describe a countable family of self-similar singularities. Our analysis includes the supercritical nonlinear Schrodinger equation as a special case. We also consider the problem of stability of these singularities. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Co-administration of ethanol and nicotine: the enduring alterations in the rewarding properties of nicotine and glutamate activity within the mesocorticolimbic system of female alcohol-preferring (P) rats.

The co-abuse of ethanol (EtOH) and nicotine (NIC) increases the likelihood that an individual will relapse to drug use while attempting to maintain abstinence. There is limited research examining the consequences of long-term EtOH and NIC co-abuse. The current experiments determined the enduring effects of chronic EtOH, NIC, or EtOH + NIC intake on the reinforcing properties of NIC and glutamate (GLU) activity within the mesocorticolimbic (MCL) system. Alcohol-preferring (P) rats self-administered EtOH, Sacc + NIC, or EtOH + NIC combined for 10 weeks. The reinforcing properties of 0.1–3.0 μM NIC within the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) were assessed following a 2–3-week drug-free period using intracranial self-administration (ICSA) procedures. The effects of EtOH, Sacc, Sacc + NIC, or EtOH + NIC intake on extracellular levels and clearance of glutamate (GLU) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were also determined. Binge intake of EtOH (96–100 mg%) and NIC (21–27 mg/mL) were attained. All groups of P rats self-infused 3.0 μM NIC directly into the AcbSh, whereas only animals in the EtOH + NIC co-abuse group self-infused the 0.3 and 1.0 μM NIC concentrations. Additionally, self-administration of EtOH + NIC, but not EtOH, Sacc or Sacc + NIC, resulted in enduring increases in basal extracellular GLU levels in the mPFC. Overall, the co-abuse of EtOH + NIC produced enduring neuronal alterations within the MCL which enhanced the rewarding properties of NIC in the AcbSh and elevated extracellular GLU levels within the mPFC.
Essentials for sustainable urban transport in Brazil's large metropolitan areas

Before financing major urban transport projects, decisionmakers should attempt to put in place the basic elements for long-term sustainability of the sector. Specifically, the author contends that each large metropolitan area in Brazil should incorporate into its urban transport strategy, and pursue vigorously, the following four-point agenda: 1) create a regional transport coordination commission in charge of coordinating policies among federal, state, and municipal governments, giving highest priority to major urban transport investments in the metropolitan region and promoting modal integration - all to the end of improving the sector's economic efficiency and long-term sustainability; 2) adopt an integrated land use, urban transport, and air quality strategy that provides a framework in which the community and decisionmakers can evaluate future urban transport investments and policies; 3) enact into law formal financing mechanisms that would ensure that long-run variable costs of urban transport systems are covered by operating and non-operating revenues from the systems and by appropriate user charges; and 4) promote private sector participation in the operation, maintenance, and construction of urban transport systems - through concessions or management contracts - as a way to lessen the financial burden on the government.
Choosing Electoral Rules in the Presence of Corruption

Corruption is a problem that has been shown to adversely affect a country’s development. Recent studies have shown that a country’s electoral system can affect its corruption level. But if that is the case, then electoral rules could be chosen to maximize opportunities for corruption. This paper uses the recent wave of democratization and the resulting writing of new constitutions, which entailed in many cases the adoption of a new electoral system, to analyze the choice of electoral rules. Results suggest that more corrupt countries are more likely to adopt a plurality system than less corrupt ones.
Developing Countries and Monitoring WTO Commitments in Response to the Global Economic Crisis

This paper examines the role of the public sector in providing additional information to exporters in developing countries as they seek to monitor and keep open their access to foreign markets by using the rules of the WTO system. It highlights new information generation and dissemination initiatives undertaken by the WTO Secretariat, Global Trade Alert, and the World Bank in response to the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. Given trends in the imposition of new crisis-era trade barriers that these initiatives have identified, the paper describes ways in which the new sources of rich and detailed data may be used to further assist developing country exporters that may lack the capacity to sufficiently monitor their trading interests by relying solely on private resources.
Series-parallel gradiometers for monopole detectors

Abstract We outline a new scheme for designing large planar gradiometers used in monopole searches by induction. With this scheme, the signal falls as 1 √L rather than as 1 L , where L is the inductance of the detector loop. The signal coupling in this scheme is better than is achievable in practice with conventional matching transformers. Also, segmentation facilitates the manufacture of bigger gradiometers. Results from prototype tests are reported and agree with calculation.
Response surface methodology in quality improvement

Recent work has lead to development of robust parameter design which alleviates criticisms of the Taguchi approach. A dual response surface approach is discussed and illustrated.
Epithelioid Angiomyolipoma of the Kidney. A Report of Five Cases With a Prominent and Diagnostically Confusing Epithelioid Smooth Muscle Component

We report five angiomyolipomas with a prominent component of epithelioid smooth muscle cells that occurred in patients from 20 to 48 (mean, 36) years of age. The tumors often posed problems in diagnosis, particularly with regard to distinction from renal cell carcinoma. Two patients had tuberous sclerosis. Two patients with more than 5 years' follow-up are alive and well. The epithelioid smooth muscle cells typically formed sheets that in two tumors were traversed by hyaline cords. The epithelioid cells ranged from medium sized and polygonal with slightly pleomorphic nuclei and eosinophilic cytoplasm to giant cells with prominent nucleoli. Hemorrhage, necrosis, and clusters of foamy macrophages were present in three tumors. Mitotic figures were easy to find in two of the tumors, but they were absent in the others. Obvious elements of typical angiomyolipoma were present in two tumors. The others contained only scattered, thick-walled blood vessels or a few fat cells suggestive of typical angiomyolipoma. None of the tumors was positive for low- or high-molecular-weight cytokeratins or epithelial membrane antigen. Actin was detected in the epithelioid areas in four tumors. Melanoma-associated antigens related to the gp100-cl gene product, HMB-45 and HMB-50, were present in all the tumors. Another melanoma-associated antigen, CD63 (NKI/C3), also was present in all the tumors, a finding suggesting that angiomyolipoma has features in common with melanoma beyond premelanosomal structures.
Magnetohydrodynamic processes in the solar corona: Flares, coronal mass ejections, and magnetic helicity*

The magnetized, million‐degree solar corona evolves in cycles of about 11 years, in dynamical response to newly generated magnetic fluxes emerging from below to eventually reverse the global magnetic polarity. Over the larger scales, the corona does not erupt violently all the time. Violent events like the flares and episodic ejections of material into interplanetary space occur frequently, several times a day, but they often originate in long‐lived magnetic structures that form continually throughout the solar cycle. In this paper, the creation, stability, and eventual eruption of these structures are discussed from basic principles, drawing on recent advances in observation and theory. A global view is offered in which different pieces of observation relate physically, with distinct roles for the conservation of magnetic helicity and the release of magnetic energy in dissipated and ordered forms.
Pixelation Effects in Weak Lensing

Weak gravitational lensing can be used to investigate both dark matter and dark energy but requires accurate measurements of the shapes of faint, distant galaxies. Such measurements are hindered by the finite resolution and pixel scale of digital cameras. We investigate the optimum choice of pixel scale for a space-based mission, using the engineering model and survey strategy of the proposed Supernova Acceleration Probe as a baseline. We do this by simulating realistic astronomical images containing a known input shear signal and then attempting to recover the signal using the Rhodes, Refregier, & Groth algorithm. We find that the quality of shear measurement is always improved by smaller pixels. However, in practice, telescopes are usually limited to a finite number of pixels and operational life span, so the total area of a survey increases with pixel size. We therefore fix the survey lifetime and the number of pixels in the focal plane while varying the pixel scale, thereby effectively varying the survey size. In a pure trade-off for image resolution versus survey area, we find that measurements of the matter power spectrum would have minimum statistical error with a pixel scale of 0.09 '' for a 0.14 '' FWHM point-spread function (PSF). The pixel scale could be increased to similar to 0.16 '' if images dithered by exactly half-pixel offsets were always available. Some of our results do depend on our adopted shape measurement method and should be regarded as an upper limit: future pipelines may require smaller pixels to overcome systematic floors not yet accessible, and, in certain circumstances, measuring the shape of the PSF might be more difficult than those of galaxies. However, the relative trends in our analysis are robust, especially those of the surface density of resolved galaxies. Our approach thus provides a snapshot of potential in available technology, and a practical counterpart to analytic studies of pixelation, which necessarily assume an idealized shape measurement method.
Modern Statistical Methods in Oceanography: A Hierarchical Perspective

Processes in ocean physics, air–sea interaction and ocean biogeochemistry span enormous ranges in spatial and temporal scales, that is, from molecular to planetary and from seconds to millennia. Identifying and implementing sustainable human practices depend critically on our understandings of key aspects of ocean physics and ecology within these scale ranges. The set of all ocean data is distorted such that three- and four-dimensional (i.e., time-dependent) in situ data are very sparse, while observations of surface and upper ocean properties from space-borne platforms have become abundant in the past few decades. Precisions in observations of all types vary as well. In the face of these challenges, the interface between Statistics and Oceanography has proven to be a fruitful area for research and the development of useful models. With the recognition of the key importance of identifying, quantifying and managing uncertainty in data and models of ocean processes, a hierarchical perspective has become increasingly productive. As examples, we review a heterogeneous mix of studies from our own work demonstrating Bayesian hierarchical model applications in ocean physics, air–sea interaction, ocean forecasting and ocean ecosystem models. This review is by no means exhaustive and we have endeavored to identify hierarchical modeling work reported by others across the broad range of ocean-related topics reported in the statistical literature. We conclude by noting relevant ocean-statistics problems on the immediate research horizon, and some technical challenges they pose, for example, in terms of nonlinearity, dimensionality and computing.
Determining marginal electricity for near-term plug-in and fuel cell vehicle demands in California: Impacts on vehicle greenhouse gas emissions

California has taken steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. One example is the recent adoption of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which aims to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels. To effectively implement this and similar policies, it is necessary to understand well-to-wheels emissions associated with distinct vehicle and fuel platforms, including those using electricity. This analysis uses an hourly electricity dispatch model to simulate and investigate operation of the current California grid and its response to added vehicle and fuel-related electricity demands in the near term. The model identifies the “marginal electricity mix” – the mix of power plants that is used to supply the incremental electricity demand from vehicles and fuels – and calculates greenhouse gas emissions from those plants. It also quantifies the contribution from electricity to well-to-wheels greenhouse gas emissions from battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles and explores sensitivities of electricity supply and emissions to hydro-power availability, timing of electricity demand (including vehicle recharging), and demand location within the state. The results suggest that the near-term marginal electricity mix for vehicles and fuels in California will come from natural gas-fired power plants, including a significant fraction (likely as much as 40%) from relatively inefficient steam- and combustion-turbine plants. The marginal electricity emissions rate will be higher than the average rate from all generation – likely to exceed 600 gCO2 equiv. kWh−1 during most hours of the day and months of the year – and will likely be more than 60% higher than the value estimated in the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. But despite the relatively high fuel carbon intensity of marginal electricity in California, alternative vehicle and fuel platforms still reduce emissions compared to conventional gasoline vehicles and hybrids, through improved vehicle efficiency.
A comparison of the cerebral protective effects of isoflurane and barbiturates during temporary focal ischemia in primates.

Isoflurane has protective properties during experimental global brain ischemia or hypoxia. However, this has not been evaluated in the more common case of focal ischemia, e.g., as caused by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The authors therefore compared the effects of isoflurane, thiopental,
Research methodologies, observations and outcomes in (conversational) speech data collection

This paper presents research methodologies for collecting speech data and gives observations from a recent set of conversational speech collections before describing their outcomes. The presentation begins with a comparison of the relative challenges offered by broadcast news, telephone conversation and meeting recordings. The remainder of the discussion focuses on methods for collection of conversational data with special focus on two recent Switchboard collections. We identify method that have allowed for very cost-efficient collection of Switchboard data. We conclude with a summary of generally available resources that result from the efforts described herein.
Large Data Local Well-Posedness for a Class of KdV-Type Equations II

We consider the Cauchy problem for an equation of the form \partial_t+\partial_x^3)u=F(u,u_x,u_{xx}) where F is a polynomial with no constant or linear terms and no quadratic uu_{xx} term. For a polynomial nonlinearity with no quadratic terms, Kenig-Ponce-Vega proved local well-posedness in H^s for large s. In this paper we prove local well-posedness in low regularity Sobolev spaces and extend the result to certain quadratic nonlinearities. The result is based on spaces and estimates similar to those used by Marzuola-Metcalfe-Tataru for quasilinear Schrodinger equations.
Passivity preserving model reduction via interpolation of spectral zeros

Abstract An algorithm is developed for passivity preserving model reduction of linear time invariant systems. Implementation schemes are described for both medium scale (dense) and large scale (sparse) applications. The algorithm is based upon interpolation at selected spectral zeros of the original transfer function to produce a reduced transfer function that has the specified roots as its spectral zeros. These interpolation conditions are satisfied through the computation of a basis for a selected invariant subspace of a certain block matrix which has the spectral zeros as its spectrum. Explicit interpolation is avoided and passivity of the reduced model is established, instead, through satisfaction of the necessary conditions of the Positive Real Lemma. It is also shown that this procedure indirectly solves the associated controllability and observability Riccati equations and how to select the interpolation points to give maximal or minimal solutions of these equations. From these, a balancing transformation may be constructed to give a reduced model that is balanced as well as passive and stable.
On infinite-time nonlinear quadratic optimal control

Abstract This work presents an approximate solution method for the infinite-time nonlinear quadratic optimal control problem. The method is applicable to a large class of nonlinear systems and involves solving a Riccati equation and a series of algebraic equations. The conditions for uniqueness and stability of the resulting feedback policy are established. It is shown that the proposed approximation method is useful in determining the region in which the constrained and unconstrained optimal control problems are identical. A reactor control problem is used to illustrate the method.
Manganese-mediated alkene chloro-phosphinoylation

Abstract The Mn(II)/Mn(IV) system was used to achieve the bisfunctionalization of alkenes with phosphorus and chlorine in moderate to good yields. A variety of phosphinylidene-containing (P(O)H) compounds were examined. When the phosphorus reagent is limiting, the reaction yield is generally in the 40–50% range, although the structure of the organophosphorus starting material greatly influences it. The reaction is simple and inexpensive and the β-chloro-phosphinoyl products are versatile intermediates. For example, elimination with DBU gave the corresponding α,β-unsaturated phosphorus compound stereoselectively.
Better economic tools for evaluating health and development investments.

The methods employed in medical research and health economics are often not suitable for evaluating public health interventions in developing countries.
Investigation of cirrus clouds using the calipso lidar data

Cirrus clouds normally exist in the upper troposphere and sometimes extend into the stratosphere. Unlike low altitude clouds that have a cooling effect on solar radiation through scattering, cirrus clouds scatter only a small amount of solar radiation and prevent a large quantity of long-wave radiation from leaving the earth-atmosphere system. Cirrus clouds are globally distributed and are composed almost exclusively of non-spherical ice crystals. Tropopause cirrus tends to occur over regions of intense convective activity like equatorial Africa and South America, which are sites for vigorous continental convection, and the western Pacific, which is a site of significant oceanic convection. Few instruments can deduce the global presence of cirrus clouds. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite mission provides comprehensive observations of cloud vertical structure on a near-global scale.
Remarks on Seshadri constants

which is called the Seshadri constant of L at x. Here the infimum is taken over all irreducible curves C passing through x and mx(C) is the multiplicity of C at x. For example, if L is very ample then e(L, x) ≥ 1. There has been recant interest in trying to give lower bounds for this invariant at a general point. Ein and Lazarsfeld [EL] show that if X is a surface, then e(L, x) ≥ 1 for very general x ∈ X . In higher dimension (n ≥ 3) Ein, Kuchle and Lazarsfeld [EKL] prove that e(L, x) ≥ 1 n for a very general point. We say that a point x ∈ X is very general if x is in the complement X\Z of Z a countably union of proper subvarieties. Examples of Miranda show that e(L, x) can take arbitrarily small values in codimension two (i.e. codim Z = 2), even for an ample line bundle. One may expect that this general bounds are not optimal. An elementary observation (see Remark 1 below for the proof) shows that e(L, x) ≤ n √Ln. A natural question is, are there conditions which guarantee equality? Even in relative simple cases it turns out to be hard to give an answer. Recently, Xu [Xu] improved the surface bound given by Ein and Lazarsfeld. He showed that if L2 ≥ 3(4α − 4α + 5) for a given integer α > 1
High Spatial Resolution Observations of Two Young Protostars in the R Corona Australis Region

We present multiwavelength, high spatial resolution imaging of the IRS 7 region in the R Corona Australis molecular cloud. Our observations include 1.1 mm continuum and HCO+ J = 3 → 2 images from the Submillimeter Array (SMA), 12CO J = 3 → 2 outflow maps from the DesertStar heterodyne array receiver on the Heinrich Hertz Telescope (HHT), 450 and 850 μm continuum images from SCUBA, and archival Spitzer IRAC and MIPS 24 μm images. The accurate astrometry of the IRAC images allow us to identify IRS 7 with the centimeter source VLA 10W (IRS 7A) and the X-ray source XW. The SMA 1.1 mm image reveals two compact continuum sources that are also distinguishable at 450 μm. SMA 1 coincides with X-ray source CXOU J190156.4-365728 and VLA centimeter source 10E (IRS 7B) and is seen in the IRAC and MIPS images. SMA 2 has no infrared counterpart but coincides with centimeter source VLA 9. Spectral energy distributions constructed from SMA, SCUBA, and Spitzer data yield bolometric temperatures of 83 K for SMA 1 and ≤70 K for SMA 2. These temperatures along with the submillimeter to total luminosity ratios indicate that SMA 2 is a Class 0 protostar, while SMA 1 is a Class 0/Class I transitional object (L = 17 ± 6 L☉). The 12CO J = 3 → 2 outflow map shows one major and possibly several smaller outflows centered on the IRS 7 region, with masses and energetics consistent with previous work. We identify the Class 0 source SMA 2/VLA 9 as the main driver of this outflow. The complex and clumpy spatial and velocity distribution of the HCO+ J = 3 → 2 emission is not consistent with either bulk rotation, or any known molecular outflow activity.
Facile synthesis of a family of H8BINOL-amine compounds and catalytic asymmetric arylzinc addition to aldehydes.

A family of optically active H8BINOL-AM compounds containing 3,3′-bis-tertiary amine substituents are synthesized by using a one-step reaction of H8BINOL with amino methanols that were in situ generated from various cyclic or acyclic secondary amines and paraformaldehyde. The H8BINOL-AM compounds are used to catalyze the reaction of functional arylzincs, in situ prepared from the reaction of aryliodides with ZnEt2, with aldehydes to produce chiral diaryl carbinols and a few arylalkyl carbinols. Through this study, highly enantioselective catalysts were identified. It was found that the H8BINOL-AM compounds with sterically less congested cyclic or acyclic amino methyl substituents were more enantioselective than those with more bulky substituents. The pyrrolidinyl derivative (S)-12 in most cases showed greater enantioselectivity than other H8BINOL-AM compounds, especially for the challenging ortho-substituted aromatic aldehydes. A H8BINOL-AM with 3,3′-bis-sec-amine substituents, prepared by a multistep met...
NL-printable sets and nondeterministic Kolmogorov complexity

P-printable sets were defined by Hartmanis and Yesha and have been investigated by several researchers. The analogous notion of L-printable sets was defined by Fortnow et al.; both P-printability and L-printability were shown to be related to notions of resource-bounded Kolmogorov complexity. Nondeterministic logspace (NL)-printability was defined by Jenner and Kirsig, but some basic questions regarding this notion were left open. In this paper we answer a question of Jenner and Kirsig by providing a machine-based characterization of the NL-printable sets.In order to relate NL-printability to resource-bounded Kolmogorov complexity, the paper introduces nondeterministic space-bounded Kolmogorov complexity. We present some of the basic properties of this notion of Kolmogorov complexity.Using similar techniques, we investigate relationships among classes between NL and UL.
A JOINT MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC AND X-RAY IMAGING INVESTIGATION OF LINER GALAXIES

We present a comprehensive comparative high resolution mid-IR spectroscopic and X-ray imaging investigation of LINERs using archival observations from the ISO -SWS and the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer. Although the sample is heterogenous and incomplete, this is the first comprehensive study of the mid-infrared fine structure line emission of LINERs. These results have been compared with similar observations of starburst galaxies and AGN. We find that LINERs very clearly fall between starbursts and AGN in their mid-IR fine structure line spectra, showing $L_{\rm [OIV]26~{\mu}m}$/ L FIR and $L_{\rm [OIV]26~{\mu}m}$/$L_{\rm [NeII]12.8~{\mu}m}$ ratios, both measures of the dominant nuclear energy source in dust-enshrouded galaxies, intermediate between those of AGN and starbursts. Chandra imaging observations of the LINERs reveal hard nuclear point sources morphologically consistent with AGN in most (67%) of the sample, with a clear trend with IR-brightness. Most LINERs that show a single dominant hard compact X-ray core are IR-faint ( L FIR /$L_{B} < 1$), whereas most LINERs that show scattered X-ray sources are IR-bright. A comparative X-ray/mid-IR spectroscopic investigation of LINERs reveals some puzzling results. Objects that display strong hard nuclear X-ray cores should also display high excitation lines in the IR. However, we find two LINERs disagree with this expectation. The galaxy NGC 404 shows weak soft X-ray emission consistent with a starburst but has the most prominent highest excitation mid-IR spectrum of our entire sample. Using IR emission line diagnostics alone, this galaxy would be classified as hosting a dominant AGN. Conversely, the IR luminous LINER NGC 6240 has an extremely luminous binary AGN as revealed by the X-rays but shows weak IR emission lines. With the advent of SIRTF, and future IR missions such as Herschel and JWST, it is increasingly critical to determine the origin of these multiwavelength anomalies.
A new route to homochiral trans-disubstituted cyclopentanes

Abstract Asymmetric epoxidation of cyano-substituted allylic alcohols gave epoxides of high optical purity. Subsequent base-promoted cyclization produced diastereomerically pure cyclopentane derivatives in moderate yield.
Linear and non-linear dielectric spectroscopy on ammonium doped rochelle salt

Abstract In this work we present a thorough investigation of the mixed system of Rochelle salt doped with ammonium, with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 for [Na(K1-x(NH4)x)C4H4O6 · 4H2O]. This interesting system is known to exhibit a rich phase diagram with a variety of polar and non-polar phases. However, most of the earlier investigations date back many decades and the experimental advances made since then should enable new insight into the physical nature of its phase diagram. We studied single crystals of 18 doping concentrations using linear and non-linear frequency-dependent dielectric response spectroscopy. In the low field measurements a variety of relaxation features are detected and analyzed in detail. The results for two concentrations of x = 0 and x = 0.15 are described qualitatively with a simple model. The most important outcome of the present work is the detection of a new electrically ordered phase for concentrations 0.18 < x < 0.89.
Crystallization of a Cerium Phosphate Glass

Cerium phosphate glass containing 21 mol% cerium oxide and 79 mol% phosphorus oxide was prepared by melting a mixture of cerous oxalate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate under normal atmospheric conditions. A heat-treatment schedule was obtained from DTA of this glass. Specimens of heat-treated samples for TEM observations were prepared by chemical and mechanical polishing techniques to observe the progress of nucleation, phase separation, and crystallization of this glass. Phase separation in the glass foil was also followed by electron-beam heating in the microscope. The crystalline compounds separated were identified by using electron and X-ray diffraction techniques.
Slower recovery in space before collapse of connected populations

Slower recovery from perturbations near a tipping point and its indirect signatures in fluctuation patterns have been suggested to foreshadow catastrophes in a wide variety of systems. Recent studies of populations in the field and in the laboratory have used time-series data to confirm some of the theoretically predicted early warning indicators, such as an increase in recovery time or in the size and timescale of fluctuations. However, the predictive power of temporal warning signals is limited by the demand for long-term observations. Large-scale spatial data are more accessible, but the performance of warning signals in spatially extended systems needs to be examined empirically. Here we use spatially extended yeast populations, an experimental system with a fold bifurcation (tipping point), to evaluate early warning signals based on spatio-temporal fluctuations and to identify a novel spatial warning indicator. We found that two leading indicators based on fluctuations increased before collapse of connected populations; however, the magnitudes of the increases were smaller than those observed in isolated populations, possibly because local variation is reduced by dispersal. Furthermore, we propose a generic indicator based on deterministic spatial patterns, which we call 'recovery length'. As the spatial counterpart of recovery time, recovery length is the distance necessary for connected populations to recover from spatial perturbations. In our experiments, recovery length increased substantially before population collapse, suggesting that the spatial scale of recovery can provide a superior warning signal before tipping points in spatially extended systems.