cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The all-sky extragalactic X-ray foreground

Observations of galaxies in the IR and optical (Lynden-Bell et al. 1989) suggest that the 600 km/s peculiar velocity of the LG (Local Group of galaxies) arises mainly from a foreground of anisotropically distributed mass within z = 0.013 (i.e., HR 0.013 considered by Lahav et al. (1989) is relatively small compared with that inferred from the only three clusters at lower redshifts. Since the local space density of AGN (Active Galactic Nuclei) is about two orders of magnitude greater than rich clusters, however, such compact sources have the potential of providing a vastly improved statistical sample for tracing mass in the low-redshift region of particular interest. Furthermore, recent dipole analysis of the X-ray flux from bright AGN observed with HEAO-1 A2 indicates that they are indeed strong tracers of this matter (Miyaji and Boldt 1990). The implications of this for the very pronounced large-scale foreground anisotropies to be measured via low-redshift AGN resolved in more sensitive all-sky surveys are explored.
Surabaya Indonesia: Options in Solid Waste Management

The Government of Indonesia requested assistance from the United States Trade and Development Program (TDP) regarding improvements to the solid waste management system of the City of Surabaya. TDP retained the author to prepare a Preliminary Feasibility Study which will enable TDP to make an informed decision on the desirability of funding further engineering work leading to solid waste projects.
Housing Adequacy Gap for Minorities and Immigrants in the U.S.: Evidence from the 2009 American Housing Survey

Home adequacy for different groups in the United States has not been adequately studied in recent times, particularly for immigrants and female-headed households. Using data from the 2009 American ...
Search frictions and asset price volatility

We examine the quantitative effect of search frictions in product markets on asset price volatility. We combine several features from Shi (1997) and Lagos and Wright (2002) in a model without money. Households prefer special goods and general goods.
The effects of scale in economic development: Tourism in Bali

Abstract Eric E. Rodenburg, The Effects of Scale in Economic Development: Tourism in Bali. Annals of Tourism Research 1980, VII(2):177–196. Planners promote tourism to meet the objectives of economic development. Different scales of enterprise, however, meet the objectives of planners in different ways. Data from Bali, Indonesia, illustrate the differential social and economic effects of three scales of tourism enterprise; large industrial, small industrial and craft tourism. A comparison of these segments of the continuum of tourism enterprises in Bali shows that the objectives of economic planners (increased earnings, foreign exchange, investment, job opportunities, production, entreprenuership, infrastructure, and the minimization of adverse social and cultural effects) are not best met through the promotion of large, industrially scaled enterprises.
Pulmonary diffusing capacity in healthy African-American and Caucasian children.

Summary Previous studies of pulmonary diffusing capacity in healthy children primarily focused upon Caucasian (C) subjects. Since lung volumes in African-Americans (AA) are smaller than lung volumes in C subjects of the same height, diffusing capacity values in AA children might be interpreted as low or abnormal using currently available equations without adjusting for race. Healthy AA (N = 151) and C (N = 301) children between 5 and 18 years of age performed acceptable measurements of single breath pulmonary diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) and alveolar volume (VA) according to current ATS/ERS guidelines. The natural log of DLCO and VA were associated with height, gender, age, and race; AA children had lower DLCO and VA compared to C children. Adjustment of DLCO for Hemoglobin (Hgb) resulted in no significant difference in DLCO among these healthy subjects with normal Hgb. In summary, we report prediction equations for DLCO and VA that include adjustment for race (C; AA) demonstrating that AA have lower DLCO and VA compared to C children for the same height, gender, and age. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:84–88. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Fracture Toughness of Thin Plates by the Double-Torsion Test Method

Double torsion testing can produce fracture toughness values without crack length measurement that are comparable to those measured via standardized techniques such as the chevron-notch, surface-crack-in-flexure and precracked beam if the appropriate geometry is employed, and the material does not exhibit increasing crack growth resistance. Results to date indicate that 8 2 are required if crack length is not considered in stress intensity calculations. At L/W = 2, the normalized crack length should be 0.35 80) nonlinear effects were encountered.
Shift-Invariant dynamic texture recognition

We address the problem of recognition of natural motions such as water, smoke and wind-blown vegetation. Such dynamic scenes exhibit characteristic stochastic motions, and we ask whether the scene contents can be recognized using motion information alone. Previous work on this problem has considered only the case where the texture samples have sufficient overlap to allow registration, so that the visual content of the scene is very similar between examples. In this paper we investigate the recognition of entirely non-overlapping views of the same underlying motion, specifically excluding appearance-based cues. We describe the scenes with time-series models—specifically multivariate autoregressive (AR) models—so the recognition problem becomes one of measuring distances between AR models. We show that existing techniques, when applied to non-overlapping sequences, have significantly lower performance than on static-camera data. We propose several new schemes, and show that some outperform the existing methods.
Automatic energy saving (AES) modelto boost ubiquitous wireless sensor networks (WSNs)

We deploy BT node (sensor) that offers passive and active sensing capability to save energy. BT node works in passive mode for outdoor communication and active for indoor communication. The BT node is supported with novel automatic energy saving (AES) mathematical model to decide either modes. It provides robust and faster communication with less energy consumption. To validate this approach, we use two types of simulations: Test bed simulation is performed to automate the server through mobile phone using AES model. Ns2 simulation is done to simulate the behavior of network with supporting mathematical model. The main objective of this research is to access remotely available several types of servers, laptops, desktops and other static and moving objects. This prototype is initially deployed to control MSCS [13] & [14] from remote place through mobile device. The prototype can further be implemented to handle several objects simultaneously in university and other organizations consuming less energy and resources.
The contest between simplicity and efficiency in asynchronous byzantine agreement

In the wake of the decisive impossibility result of Fischer, Lynch, and Paterson for deterministic consensus protocols in the aynchronous model with just one failure, Ben-Or and Bracha demonstrated that the problem could be solved with randomness, even for Byzantine failures. Both protocols are natural and intuitive to verify, and Bracha's achieves optimal resilience. However, the expected running time of these protocols is exponential in general. Recently, Kapron, Kempe, King, Saia, and Sanwalani presented the first efficient Byzantine agreement algorithm in the asynchronous, full information model, running in polylogarithmic time. Their algorithm is Monte Carlo and drastically departs from the simple structure of Ben-Or and Bracha's Las Vegas algorithms. In this paper, we begin an investigation of the question: to what extent is this departure necessary? Might there be a much simpler and intuitive Las Vegas protocol that runs in expected polynomial time? We will show that the exponential running time of Ben-Or and Bracha's algorithms is no mere accident of their specific details, but rather an unavoidable consequence of their general symmetry and round structure. We view our result as a step toward identifying the level of complexity required for a polynomial-time algorithm in this setting, and also as a guide in the search for new efficient algorithms.
Rhodium-Catalyzed Alkene Hydrosilylation via a Hydride Shuttle Process by Diene Ligands: Dramatic Enhancement of Regio- and Diastereoselectivity

A cooperative ligand-assisted, Rh-catalyzed intramolecular alkene hydrosilylation of homoallylic silyl ethers (1) was developed to provide 1,3-trans-oxasilacyclopentanes (trans-2) in a highly regio- and diastereoselective manner. The modification of metal-ligand architecture employing an inner-sphere functional diene ligand (1,3-cyclohexadiene) and a supporting phosphine ligand (BINAP) was identified as responsible for dramatic enhancement of selectivities. Mechanistic details of a diene ligand-mediated hydride shuttle process are presented as the potential mechanistic driving force behind the high level of the selectivities.
Lower bounds for asynchronous consensus

Consensus is usually expressed in terms of agreement among a set of processes. Instead, we characterize it in terms of three classes of agents: Proposers A proposer can propose values. Acceptors The acceptors cooperate in some way to choose a single proposed value. Learners A learner can learn what value has been chosen.
The Role of Microenterprises in Economic Growth: A Panel Study of Wisconsin Counties 1977 to 1997

In this study I examine the role of microenterprises (firms with between one and four employees) in Wisconsin economic growth. Using a panel of Wisconsin counties from 1977 to 1997 I estimate an expanded Carlino-Mills type model of growth. Results suggest that nearly 50 percent of all businesses in Wisconsin are microenterprises and this share is relatively stable over time. Results also indicate that a higher percentage of businesses classified as microenterprises tend to be associated with counties with lower population levels, slower population growth, but higher levels of employment and income growth. Results also vary by type of industry. These results suggest that care must be taken when promoting microenterprises as a major engine of economic growth: results vary by measure of economic growth as well as type of industry.
Two Proposals to Improve Freeway Traffic Flow

The first proposal organizes vehicles in platoons with manually driven lead car and the rest under automatic spacing control. A plausible model of the resulting traffic flow indicates that for an average platoon size of 20, the freeway capacity increases by a factor of four. The second proposal begins with a macroscopic model of freeway congestion and then presents a control law for reducing congestion. Simulation of the resulting closed loop model indicates dramatic reduction in congestion.
Counting matters: implications of undercounting in the BLS survey of occupational injuries and illnesses.

After a series of studies found that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injury and Illness (SOII) was undercounting injuries and illnesses at work, the BLS funded further research to explore these findings. These additional studies were conducted in Massachusetts, California and Washington and used varied methodologies. The overall conclusion, across the three jurisdictions and across methodologies, was that the SOII significantly undercounts – and therefore underestimates – the number of injuries, even when looking only at objectively verifiable and often serious injuries such as amputations. These findings were published together in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine in October 2014. This article, written as the introduction to this set of BLS-funded papers, explores the possible reasons for under reporting and the negative consequences that flow from unreliable data in this field. The authors note that the SOII relies on unaudited employer-reported data, and there are significant disincentives to report injuries and illnesses. Inappropriate pressure or fear of retaliation (particularly for workers), ignorance (on the part of health care providers and workers), disincentives for employers (including the possibility of increased regulatory oversight) all contribute to the problem. For a wide range of reasons, few occupational diseases are reported. Under reporting means that the magnitude of the public health and safety issues as well as the real economic and human costs of occupational morbidity and mortality are hidden from regulators, health care providers, employers, unions, workers and the public at large. The authors conclude by presenting several actions the BLS could take to ameliorate the problem of undercounting.
Welfare effects of intellectual property rights under asymmetric spillovers

We develop a model with one innovating northern firm and several heterogeneous Southern firms that compete in a final product market. We assume the southern firms differ in their ability to adapt technology and use this heterogeneity to study the differing incentives of southern governments to protect intellectual property rights. We find that governments representing more efficient firms have greater incentive to protect IPR than do those representing less efficient firms. However, efficiency considerations imply that, given policies resulting in the same overall innovation rate, it would be better to have weaker IPR protection for the more efficient southern firms.
Serial and parallel algorithms for the medial axis transform

The authors develop an O(n/sup 2/) time serial algorithm to obtain the medial axis transform (MAT) of an n*n image. An O(logn) time CREW PRAM algorithm and an O(log/sup 2/n) time SIMD hypercube parallel algorithm for the MAT are also developed. Both of these use O(n/sup 2/) processors. Two problems associated with the MAT are also studied. These are the area and perimeter reporting problem. The authors develop an O(logn) time hypercube algorithm for both of these problems. Here n is the number of squares in the MAT and the algorithms use O(n/sup 2/) processors. >
Strong faithfulness and uniform consistency in causal inference

A fundamental question in causal inference is whether it is possible to reliably infer manipulation effects from observational data. There are a variety of senses of asymptotic reliability in the statistical literature, among which the most commonly discussed frequentist notions are pointwise consistency and uniform consistency (see, e.g. Bickel, Doksum [2001]). Uniform consistency is in general preferred to pointwise consistency because the former allows us to control the worst case error bounds with a finite sample size. In the sense of pointwise consistency, several reliable causal inference algorithms have been constructed under the Markov and Faithfulness assumptions [Pearl 2000, Spirtes et al. 2001]. In the sense of uniform consistency, however, reliable causal inference is impossible under the two assumptions when time order is unknown and/or latent confounders are present [Robins et al. 20001. In this paper we present two natural generalizations of the Faithfulness assumption in the context of structural equation models, under which we show that the typical algorithms in the literature (in some cases with modifications) are uniformly consistent even when the time order is unknown. We also discuss the situation where latent confounders may be present and the sense in which the Faithfulness assumption is a limiting case of the stronger assumptions.
Three dimensional flows around airfoils with shocks

The present work describes a mathematical model and numerical scheme for the computer-aided calculation of two- and three-dimensional transonic flow over an isolated yawed wing with oblique shock waves and a trailing vortex sheet. The flow is modeled by the potential equation for irrotational flow which is hyperbolic at supersonic points and elliptic at subsonic points. A coordinate-invariant difference scheme is used in which retarded difference formulas are constructed to conform with the local flow direction. The resulting 'rotated' difference scheme allows complete flexibility in the choice of a coordinate system. Shock waves are located automatically in the form of compression bands spread over a few mesh widths. The scheme has proven to be stable and convergent throughout the transonic range. Calculations have been performed for Mach number up to 1.2 and yaw angles up to 60 deg, the likely operating range of a yawed-wing transport designed to fly at supersonic speeds. Calculations becomes less accurate towards upper end of range, because the difference scheme is first-order accurate in the supersonic range.
Do Risk Disclosures Affect Investment Choice

Examines the potential effects of different information disclosures regarding risk on retirement investing behavior.
Conversion of silicon carbide to crystalline diamond-structured carbon at ambient pressure

Synthetic diamond is formed commercially using high-pressure1, chemical-vapour-deposition2 and shock-wave3 processes, but these approaches have serious limitations owing to low production volumes and high costs. Recently suggested alternative methods of diamond growth include plasma activation4, high pressures5, exotic precursors6,7 or explosive mixtures8, but they suffer from very low yield and are intrinsically limited to small volumes or thin films. Here we report the synthesis of nano- and micro-crystalline diamond-structured carbon, with cubic and hexagonal structure, by extracting silicon from silicon carbide in chlorine-containing gases at ambient pressure and temperatures not exceeding 1,000 °C. The presence of hydrogen in the gas mixture leads to a stable conversion of silicon carbide to diamond-structured carbon with an average crystallite size ranging from 5 to 10 nanometres. The linear reaction kinetics allows transformation to any depth, so that the whole silicon carbide sample can be converted to carbon. Nanocrystalline coatings of diamond-structured carbon produced by this route show promising mechanical properties, with hardness values in excess of 50 GPa and Young's moduli up to 800 GPa. Our approach should be applicable to large-scale production of crystalline diamond-structured carbon.
Tempest in a K-Cup: Red flags on Green Mountain

ABSTRACT: “Tempest in a K-Cup” chronicles financial reporting challenges faced by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. during a period of rapid growth following its acquisition of Keurig. The case ...
Chaos near the coulomb barrier? — nuclear molecules

The present work examines in detail the classical behavior of the ..cap alpha.. + /sup 14/C and the /sup 12/C + /sup 12/C(O/sup +/) collison at energies near the Coulomb barrier. The long-time motion of the compound nuclear system is identified in terms of its classical quasiperiodic and chaotic behavior. The consequences of this motion are discussed and interpreted in terms of the evolution of the system along a dynamical energy surface. 45 references.
Adaptive Functions of Man in Vehicle Control Systems

Inability of human pilots to introduce adequate adaptation of their control provided much of the motivation for the development of automatic adaptive control systems. The rapid change in vehicle system characteristics in high performance aircraft, which may climb from sea level to extremely high altitudes in minutes, required automatic adaptive control to relieve the burden on the operator.
Power spectra of fluid velocities measured by laser Doppler velocimetry

The power spectrum and the correlation of the laser Doppler velocimeter velocity signal obtained by sampling and holding the velocity at each new Doppler burst are studied. Theory valid for low fluctuation intensity flows shows that the measured spectrum is filtered at the mean sample rate and that it contains a filtered white noise spectrum caused by the steps in the sample and hold signal. In the limit of high data density, the step noise vanishes and the sample and hold signal is statistically unbiased for any turbulence intensity.
Estimation of the long-memory stochastic volatility model parameters that is robust to level shifts and deterministic trends

I provide conditions under which the trimmed FDQML estimator, advanced by McCloskey (2010) in the context of fully parametric short-memory models, can be used to estimate the long-memory stochastic volatility model parameters in the presence of additive low-frequency contamination in log-squared returns. The types of low-frequency contamination covered include level shifts as well as deterministic trends. I establish consistency and asymptotic normality in the presence or absence of such low-frequency contamination under certain conditions on the growth rate of the trimming parameter. I also provide theoretical guidance on the choice of trimming parameter by heuristically obtaining its asymptotic MSE-optimal rate under certain types of low-frequency contamination. A simulation study examines the finite sample properties of the robust estimator, showing substantial gains from its use in the presence of level shifts. The finite sample analysis also explores how different levels of trimming affect the parameter estimates in the presence and absence of low-frequency contamination and long-memory.
Molecular Gas in Quasar Hosts

The study of molecular gas in quasar host galaxies addresses a number of interesting questions pertaining to the hosts’ ISM, to unified schemes relating quasars and IR galaxies, and to the processes fueling nuclear activity. In this contribution I review observations of molecular gas in quasar hosts from z = 0.06 to z = 4.7. The Cloverleaf quasar at z = 2.5 is featured as a case where there are now enough detected transitions (four in CO, and one each in CI and HCN) to allow detailed modeling of physical conditions in the molecular ISM. We find that the CO-emitting gas is warmer, denser, and less optically thick than that found in typical Galactic molecular clouds. These differences are probably due to the presence of the luminous quasar in the nucleus of the Cloverleaf’s host galaxy.
A generalization of Springer theory using nearby cycles

Let g be a complex semisimple Lie algebra, and f : g --> g/G the adjoint quotient map. Springer theory of Weyl group representations can be seen as the study of the singularities of f. We give a generalization of Springer theory to visible, polar representations. It is a class of rational representations of complex reductive groups, for which the invariant theory works by analogy with the adjoint representations. Let G|V be such a representation, f : V --> V/G the quotient map, and P the sheaf of nearby cycles of f. We show that the Fourier transform of P is an intersection homology sheaf on V*. Associated to G|V, there is a finite complex reflection group W, called the Weyl group of G|V. We describe the endomorphism ring of P as a deformation of the group algebra of W.
Soft x-ray pumping of inner-shell excited levels for extreme ultraviolet lasers

When a 1.06-μm laser beam is focused onto a high-Z target at intensities of 1012–1014 W cm−2, a plasma is formed from which a burst of soft x rays is emitted with a conversion efficiency in excess of 10%. This burst of x rays can be used as an x-ray flashlamp to pump potential extreme UV laser systems.1,2
Marrying Words and Trees

We discuss the model of nested wordsfor representation of data with both a linear ordering and a hierarchically nested matching of items. Examples of data with such dual linear-hierarchical structure include annotated linguistic data, executions of structured programs, and HTML/XML documents. Nested words generalize both words and ordered trees, and allow both word and tree operations. We define nested word automata--finite-state acceptors for nested words, and show that the resulting class of regular languages of nested words has all the appealing theoretical properties that the classical regular word languages enjoy such as determinization, closure under a variety of operations, decidability of emptiness as well as equivalence, and characterization using monadic second order logic. The linear encodings of nested words gives the class of visibly pushdown languagesof words, and this class lies between balanced languages and deterministic context-free languages. We argue that for algorithmic verification of structured programs, instead of viewing the program as a context-free language over words, one should view it as a regular language of nested words (or equivalently, as a visibly pushdown language), and this would allow model checking of many properties (such as stack inspection, pre-post conditions) that are not expressible in existing specification logics. We also study the relationship between ordered trees and nested words, and the corresponding automata: while the analysis complexity of nested word automata is the same as that of classical tree automata, they combine both bottom-up and top-down traversals, and enjoy expressiveness and succinctness benefits over tree automata. There is a rapidly growing literature related to nested words, and we will briefly survey results on languages infinite nested words, nested trees, temporal logics over nested words, and new decidability results based on visibility.
Real earnings and human migration in the United States.

This study seeks to fill a void in the empirical migration literature, namely, to allow expressly for geographic living-cost differentials. The study focuses upon net migration to SMSAs over the period 1960-1970. The analysis involves two alternative treatments of living costs, one being to deflate nominal income and the other being to express those living-cost levels as a separate variable. Both approaches work. Migrants are found to be attracted to SMSAs with higher real income levels and to be attracted to SMSAs with lower living costs.
On MMSE estimation from quantized observations in the nonasymptotic regime

This paper studies MMSE estimation on the basis of quantized noisy observations. It presents nonasymptotic bounds on MMSE regret due to quantization for two settings: (1) estimation of a scalar random variable given a quantized vector of n conditionally independent observations, and (2) estimation of a p-dimensional random vector given a quantized vector of n observations (not necessarily independent) when the full MMSE estimator has a subgaussian concentration property.
Basin-Wavelength Equatorial Deep Jet Signals across Three Oceans

Equatorial deep jets (EDJs) are equatorially trapped, stacked, zonal currents that reverse direction every few hundred meters in depth throughout much of the water column. This study evaluates their structure observationally in all three oceans using new high-vertical-resolution Argo float conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) instrument profiles from 2010 to 2014 augmented with historical shipboard CTD data from 1972 to 2014 and lower-vertical-resolution Argo float profiles from 2007 to 2014. The vertical strain of density is calculated from the profiles and analyzed in a stretched vertical coordinate system determined from the mean vertical density structure. The power spectra of vertical strain in each basin are analyzed using wavelet decomposition. In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, there are two distinct peaks in the power spectra, one Kelvin wave–like and the other entirely consistent with the dispersion relation of a linear, first meridional mode, equatorial Rossby wave. In the Atlantic Ocean, the first meridional mode Rossby wave signature is very strong and dominates. In all three ocean basins, Rossby wave–like signatures are coherent across the basin width and appear to have wavelengths the scale of the basin width, with periods of about 5 yr in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and about 12 yr in the Pacific Ocean. Their observed meridional scales are about 1.5 times the linear theoretical values. Their phase propagation is downward with time, implying upward energy propagation if linear wave dynamics hold.
Reasoning about secrecy for active networks

In this paper we develop a language of mobile agents called uPLAN for describing the capabilities of active (programmable) networks. We use a formal semantics for uPLAN to demonstrate how capabilities provided for programming the network can affect the potential flows of information between users. In particular, we formalize a concept of security against attacks on secrecy by an 'outsider' and show how basic protections are preserved in the presence of programmable network functions.
Economic Development and Sectoral Unions in China

Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in China's Guangdong and Zhejiang Provinces, the author asks how post- socialist unions respond to worker unrest and why the development of sectoral- level bargaining has been uneven in different regions of China. While Zhejiang has had relative success in establishing the organizational infrastructure for sectoral bargaining, Guangdong has had little success despite ongoing attempts by unions. The author explains variation in sectoral level bargaining through an analysis of the different models of economic development, which are characterized as local entrepreneurialism and global integration for Zhejiang and Guangdong, respectively. Despite having different organizational forms, unions in both places suffer from a lack of credibility and capacity to enforce contracts. Given the ACFTU's ongoing focus on sectoral- level bargaining, however, experiments will likely continue in various regions and industries throughout China.
Processing and Electromechanical Properties of (Bi0.5Na0.5)(1−1.5x)LaxTiO3 Ceramics

Bismuth sodium titanate (Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3, BNT) with 0–6 at.% lanthanum was prepared by the conventional mixed oxide method. Each composition was calcined at 800–900°C for 2–5 h to form a pure perovskite phase. Green pellets were sintered at 1050–1150°C for 1–4 h to obtain dense ceramics with at least 95% of theoretical density. X–ray diffraction (XRD) showed phase distortion as lanthanum was added to this system. Meanwhile, a small amount of La was found to affect the grain size and had an influence on the poling conditions and electrical properties. The BNT–based composition with 1 at.% La doping provided a dielectric constant (K) of 560, a piezoelectric charge constant (d33) of 92 pC/N, and a hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficient (dh) of 72 pC/N.
Graph modeling and analysis of linear recursive queries

The authors study a class of complex linear recursive rules or blocks via the V-graph model. A block a linear recursive rule represented by a nontrivial 2-connected component (i.e. containing at least a cycle). It is first shown that a simple form of block, namely, the cycle, has a simple, periodic, variable connection in the expansions. Then it is shown that blocks also have a periodic variable connection in the expansions, and the period and connection can be algorithmically determined. This allows a query to be evaluated efficiently with an iterative algorithm. The effects of the static variable bindings in blocks on query evaluation are then discussed. >
ROSENTHAL-TYPE INEQUALITIES FOR MARTINGALES IN 2-SMOOTH BANACH SPACES ∗

Certain previously known upper bounds on the moments of the norm of martingales in 2-smooth Banach spaces are improved. Some of these improvements hold even for sums of independent real-valued random variables. Applications to concentration of measure on product spaces for separately Lipschitz functions are presented, including ones concerning the central moments of the norm of the sums of independent random vectors in any separable Banach space.
Models of public service reform : a problem-solving approach

This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century. It critically reviews their implementation, discussing them as attempted solutions to problems that have arisen in the policy process in different countries. The models are: public administration; decentralization; pay and employment reform; New Public Management; integrity and corruption reforms; and "bottom-up" reforms. The paper seeks an explanation for their disappointing performance in the political economy of reform, with an emphasis on how learning from failure can be the paradoxical foundation of future success.
Multiobjective meta level optimization of a load balancing evolutionary algorithm

For any optimization algorithm tuning the parameters is necessary for effective and efficient optimization. We use a meta-level evolutionary algorithm for optimizing the effectiveness and efficiency of a load-balancing evolutionary algorithm. We show that the generated parameters perform statistically better than a standard set of parameters and analyze the importance of selecting a good region on the Pareto Front for this type of optimization.
Regional disparities in labor market performance in Croatia : the role of individual and regional structural characteristics

The labor market performance in Croatia failed to keep pace with the moderately good overall macroeconomic development in the past few years. Youth, the less well-educated, and women face more difficulties in getting a job with a decent salary. A large part of the difference in regional labor market performance is associated with the difference in the human capital endowment. With a stagnant total employment rate, the large disparities in employment and earnings across individual groups and regions have become one of the concerns for the long-term sustainable development of the economy. Using Labor Force Survey (LFS) data from 2002-04, this paper studies the labor market performance in Croatia at the national and regional levels. The results show that both one's individual characteristics (including age, education and gender) and where he or she works plays a role in his or her employment and earnings. Regional differences in employment and earnings are reduced to a large extent when accounting for differences in individual characteristics. The simulations shed light on the effectiveness of the nationwide education policy and regional specific labor market policy, and suggest that improving human capital endowment and adjusting labor market structure are both important to rebalance regional development and enhance total welfare.
Extracting the equation of state of nuclear matter through hydrodynamical analysis

Predominantly preliminary single and double inclusive momentum spectra of 158 AGeV Pb+Pb collisions, recently measured by the NA44 and NA49 Collaborations, are reproduced using the relativistic hydrodynamical model HYLANDER-C. Two different equations of state, which both contain a phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma, can be used to reproduce the (preliminary) data. The space-time geometries in the two calculations differ strongly. However, the Bose-Einstein correlation functions of identical pion pairs do not show such a strong, but still a significant sensitivity to the effects of the equations of state.
Constraints, graphs, algebra, logic, and complexity

A large class of problems in AI and other areas of computer science can be viewed as constraint-satisfaction problems. This includes problems in database query optimization, machine vision, belief maintenance, scheduling, temporal reasoning, type reconstruction, graph theory, and satisfiability. All of these problems can be recast as questions regarding the existence of homomorphisms between two directed graphs. It is well-known that the constraint-satisfaction problem is NP-complete. This motivated an extensive research program to identify tractable cases of constraint satisfaction.
Importing the Poor: Welfare Magnetism and Cross-Border Welfare Migration

I test for welfare-induced migration by comparing AFDC participation in border counties to interior counties in the same state. If migration costs are lower for border county residents, border counties on the high-benefit side of a state border should have higher welfare participation relative to the state's interior counties. Border counties on the low-benefit side should have lower welfare participation relative to the state's interior counties. The results obtained using county-level data from 1970-90 indicate that having a neighbor with benefits that are $100 lower increases AFDC expenditures in border counties by 4.0-6.8 percent relative to interior counties.
Principal–Agent Settings with Random Shocks

Using a gift-exchange experiment, we show that the ability of reciprocity to overcome incentive problems inherent in principal–agent settings is greatly reduced when the agent’s effort is distorted by random shocks and transmitted imperfectly to the principal. Specifically, we find that gift exchange contracts without shocks encourage effort and wages well above standard predictions. However, the introduction of random shocks reduces wages and effort, regardless of whether the shocks can be observed by the principal. Moreover, the introduction of shocks significantly reduces the probability of fulfilling the contract by the agent, the payoff of the principal, and total welfare. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that random shocks place an important bound on the ability of gift exchange to overcome principal–agent problems. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2177. This paper was accepted by John List, behavioral economics.
Multi-dimensional Point Process Models in R

A software package for fitting and assessing multidimensional point process models using the R statistical computing environment is described. Methods of residual analysis based on random thinning are discussed and implemented. Features of the software are demonstrated using data on wildfire occurrences in Los Angeles County, California and earthquake occurrences in Northern California.
Tanzania’s Coffee Sector : Constraints and Challenges in a Global Environment

Cotton is Tanzania's largest export crop after coffee. Most cotton is exported, contributing $90 million to export earnings. Labor is the major input - cotton provides employment to 500,000 rural households. Use of other inputs is limited. Before 1990 most cotton marketing and trade were handled by cooperative unions and the Tanzanian Cotton Board. Reform began slowly in 1990, with the biggest step coming in 1994 when the government eliminated the monopoly held by the board and unions and allowed competition in marketing and ginning. The reforms increased the producer's share of export prices, but official statistics show no evidence of a supply response. Several issues need to be addressed. The tax code could be simplified, and taxes substantially reduced. Taxes could also be consolidated and rationalized, making taxation of crop exports and merchandise exports more uniform. Better data is needed, along with better dissemination of information.
Sentencing severity with mock jurors: Predictive validity of three variable categories

Previous studies have identified three categories of variables which influence decisions of mock jurors: type of crime, defendant characteristics, and personal characteristics of jurors. This study manipulated the following variables towards the ends of assessing their influence on mock jurors' sentencing severity: premeditated vs. unpremeditated murder, black vs. white defendant, low SES vs. high SES defendant. Only defendant SES predicted sentencing severity: low SES defendants were assigned significantly longer sentences than high SES defendants. None of the measures of juror characteristics correlated with sentencing severity. Failure to replicate significant relationships with most of these variables and sentencing severity suggest that results of studies which manipulate only one variable dimension may overestimate the influence of these variable dimensions in mock jurors' decisions. Language: en
Multi-modal multi-fractal boundary encoding in object-based image compression

The compact representation of region boundary contours is key to efficient representation and compression of digital images using object-based compression (OBC). In OBC, regions are coded in terms of their texture, color, and shape. Given the appropriate representation scheme, high compression ratios (e.g., 500:1 ≤ CR ≤ 2,500:1) have been reported for selected images. Because a region boundary is often represented with more parameters than the region contents, it is crucial to maximize the boundary compression ratio by reducing these parameters. Researchers have elsewhere shown that cherished boundary encoding techniques such as chain coding, simplicial complexes, or quadtrees, to name but a few, are inadequate to support OBC within the aforementioned CR range. Several existing compression standards such as MPEG support efficient boundary representation, but do not necessarily support OBC at CR ≥ 500:1 . Siddiqui et al. exploited concepts from fractal geometry to encode and compress region boundaries based on fractal dimension, reporting CR = 286.6:1 in one test. However, Siddiqui's algorithm is costly and appears to contain ambiguities. In this paper, we first discuss fractal dimension and OBC compression ratio, then enhance Siddiqui's algorithm, achieving significantly higher CR for a wide variety of boundary types. In particular, our algorithm smoothes a region boundary B , then extracts its inflection or control points P , which are compactly represented. The fractal dimension D is computed locally for the detrended B . By appropriate subsampling, one efficiently segments disjoint clusters of D values subject to a preselected tolerance, thereby partitioning B into a multifractal. This is accomplished using four possible compression modes. In contrast, previous researchers have characterized boundary variance with one fractal dimension, thereby producing a monofractal. At its most complex, the compressed representation contains P , a spatial marker, and a D value for each monofractal boundary segment, with slight additional overhead indicating an encoding mode. The simplest representation contains P and a pointer into a database of region patterns. Each of these patterns has an associated fractal dimension, thus alleviating storage of segment-specific D values. Contour reconstruction during decompression is guided by the smoothed contour. Analysis of this procedure over a database of 73 images reveals 622:1 ≤ CR ≤ 1,720:1 is typical for natural scenes, demonstrating the utility of our approach.
The Angular Size and Proper Motion of the Afterglow of GRB 030329

The bright, nearby (z = 0.1685) gamma-ray burst (GRB) of 2003 March 29 has presented us with the first opportunity to directly image the expansion of a GRB. This burst reached flux density levels at centimeter wavelengths more than 50 times brighter than any previously studied event. Here we present the results of a VLBI campaign using the Very Long Baseline Array, Very Large Array, Green Bank, Effelsberg, Arecibo, and Westerbork telescopes that resolves the radio afterglow of GRB 030329 and constrains its rate of expansion. The size of the afterglow is found to be ~0.07 mas (0.2 pc) 25 days after the burst and 0.17 mas (0.5 pc) 83 days after the burst, indicating an average velocity of 3c-5c. This expansion is consistent with expectations of the standard fireball model. We measure the projected proper motion of GRB 030329 in the sky to less than 0.3 mas in the 80 days following the burst. In observations taken 52 days after the burst, we detect an additional compact component at a distance from the main component of 0.28 ± 0.05 mas (0.80 pc). The presence of this component is not expected from the standard model.
IMPLICIT METHOD FOR THE COMPUTATION OF UNSTEADY FLOWS ON UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS

An implicit method for the computation of unsteady flows on unstructured grids is presented. Following a finite difference approximation for the time derivative, the resulting nonlinear system of equations is solved at each time step by using an agglomeration multigrid procedure. The method allows for arbitrarily large time steps and is efficient in terms of computational effort and storage. Inviscid and viscous unsteady flows are computed to validate the procedure. The issue of the mass matrix which arises with vertex-centered finite volume schemes is addressed. The present formulation allows the mass matrix to be inverted indirectly. A mesh point movement and reconnection procedure is described that allows the grids to evolve with the motion of bodies. As an example of flow over bodies in relative motion, flow over a multi-element airfoil system undergoing deployment is computed.
Strand size and low-pressure deflagration limit in a composite propellant

The low-pressure deflagration limit, LPDL, has been determined for a composite ammonium perchlorate propellant over a range of pressures from 35 to 235 torr. The independent variable was strand cross section area. A linear relation was found between the LPDL and the inverse of the "hydraulic radius" of the strand. It was thus possible to extrapolate and determine the low-pressure limit for a strand of infinite extent. It can be argued that such an infinite strand is adiabatic. A possible mechanism to explain a finite extinguishing pressure for an adiabatic strand is the lack of sufficient oxidant in the gas phase due to differences in the rate of change of fuel and oxidizer gasification rates with decreasing pressure. I. Introduction S OME time ago we attempted to examine the structure of the combustion zone above a strand of composite solid propellant by means of interferometry. In order to increase spatial resolution we expanded the zone by burning propellant strands at subatmospheri c pressure in a chamber which could be continuously pumped and which was provided with windows for observation. For reasons that we probably should have anticipated we fell somewhat short of our primary objective. In the course of our experiments, however, we did obtain some data on the low-pressure deflagration limit, LPDL, for two composite propellant compositions. In particular, we determined the dependence of LPDL on strand size. It seems in order to record these results because they may provide some grist for the theorist's mills and shed
Set Constructors, Finite Sets, and Logical Semantics

Abstract The use of sets in declarative programming has been advocated by several authors in the literature. A representation often chosen for finite sets is that of scons, parallel to the list constructor cons. The logical theory for such constructors is usually tacitly assumed to be some formal system of classical set theory. However, classical set theory is formulated for a general setting, dealing with both finite and infinite sets, and not making any assumptions about particular set constructors. In giving logical-consequence semantics for programs with finite sets, it is important to know exactly what connection exists between sets and set constructors. The main contribution of this paper lies in establishing these connections rigorously. We give a formal system, called SetAx, designed around the scons constructor. We distinguish between two kinds of set constructors, scons(x, y) and dscons(x, y), where both represent {x} ∪ y, but x ϵ y is possible in the former, while x ∉ y holds in the latter. Both constructors find natural uses in specifying sets in logic programs. The design of SetAx is guided by our choice of scons as a primitive symbol of our theory rather than as a defined one, and by the need to deduce non-membership relations between terms, to enable the use of dscons. After giving the axioms SetAx, we justify it as a suitable theory for finite sets in logic programming by (i) showing that the set constructors indeed behave like finite sets; (ii) providing a framework for establishing the correctness of set unification; and (iii) defining a Herbrand structure and providing a basis for discussing logical consequence semantics for logic programs with finite sets. Together, these results provide a rigorous foundation for the set constructors in the context of logical semantics.