cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Corporate governance in the 2007–2008 financial crisis: Evidence from financial institutions worldwide

Abstract This paper investigates the influence of corporate governance on financial firms' performance during the 2007–2008 financial crisis. Using a unique dataset of 296 financial firms from 30 countries that were at the center of the crisis, we find that firms with more independent boards and higher institutional ownership experienced worse stock returns during the crisis period. Further exploration suggests that this is because (1) firms with higher institutional ownership took more risk prior to the crisis, which resulted in larger shareholder losses during the crisis period, and (2) firms with more independent boards raised more equity capital during the crisis, which led to a wealth transfer from existing shareholders to debtholders. Overall, our findings add to the literature by examining the corporate governance determinants of financial firms' performance during the 2007–2008 crisis.
Evaluating the Forecasts of Risk Models

The forecast evaluation literature has traditionally focused on methods for assessing point-forecasts. However, in the context of risk models, interest centers on more than just a single point of the forecast distribution. For example, value-at-risk (VaR) models which are currently in extremely wide use form interval forecasts. Many other important financial calculations also involve estimates not summarized by a point-forecast. Although some techniques are currently available for assessing interval and density forecasts, none are suitable for sample sizes typically available. This paper suggests an new approach to evaluating such forecasts. It requires evaluation of the entire forecast distribution, rather than a value-at-risk quantity. The information content of forecast distributions combined with ex post loss realizations is enough to construct a powerful test even with sample sizes as small as 100.
Total synthesis of (+)-streptazolin

The first chiral auxiliary mediated asymmetric synthesis of (+)-streptazolin has been accomplished in 13 steps and with a high degree of stereocontrol.
An Ontological Approach to Evaluating Standards in E-Commerce Platforms

This paper identifies and defines standards required for successful e-commerce (EC) platforms. It presents an ontology of standards and applications that can be used to evaluate any EC platform. Current platforms are limited in usefulness and development economy by lack of standards. We describe how the development and use of such standards could help improve EC platforms. We examine the current and emerging platforms and technologies in relation to the proposed ontology including electronic data interchange, e-procurement systems, business-to-business hubs, company WeWeb b sites, electronic business eXtensible markup language, Web services, the semantic Web, and universal business language. We conclude that no individual platform or technology provides complete support for every level of the ontology, and we suggest that combinations of features from various platforms and technologies may be of most value. We conclude that research is needed in three areas: the discovery phase of EC, participant incentives for standardization, and methods of combining useful aspects from different standards bodies.
Dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic tropic acid ethyl ester and its derivatives

Abstract The dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic mixtures of tropic acid ethyl ester under substrate racemizing conditions was studied using lipase PS with a ruthenium catalyst. Isopropenyl acetate was used as an acyl donor, since it was found to be compatible with both catalysts; this resulted in an efficient dynamic kinetic resolution. With this process, a variety of racemic tropic acid ethyl esters were transformed to optically active acetoxy-2-arylpropionic acid ethyl esters with 60–88% yields and 53–92% ee.
Multi-message broadcast with abstract MAC layers and unreliable links

We study the multi-message broadcast problem using abstract MAC layer models of wireless networks. These models capture the key guarantees of existing MAC layers while abstracting away low-level details such as signal propagation and contention.We begin by studying upper and lower bounds for this problem in a standard abstract MAC layer model---identifying an interesting dependence between the structure of unreliable links and achievable time complexity. In more detail, given a restriction that devices connected directly by an unreliable link are not too far from each other in the reliable link topology, we can (almost) match the efficiency of the reliable case. For the related restriction, however, that two devices connected by an unreliable link are not too far from each other in geographic distance, we prove a new lower bound that shows that this efficiency is impossible. We then investigate how much extra power must be added to the model to enable a new order of magnitude of efficiency. In more detail, we consider an enhanced abstract MAC layer model and present a new multi-message broadcast algorithm that (under certain natural assumptions) solves the problem in this model faster than any known solutions in an abstract MAC layer setting.
Hyperbolic geometry on noncommutative polyballs

In this paper, we study the noncommutative balls Cρ := {(X1, . . . , Xn) ∈ B(H) n : ωρ(X1, . . . , Xn) ≤ 1}, ρ ∈ (0, ∞), where ωρ is the joint operator radius for n-tuples of bounded linear operators on a Hilbert space. In particular, ω1 is the operator norm, ω2 is the joint numerical radius, and ω∞ is the joint spectral radius. We introduce a Harnack type equivalence relation on Cρ, ρ > 0, and use it to define a hyperbolic distance δρ on the Harnack parts (equiv- alence classes) of Cρ. We prove that the open ball (Cρ) 0, is the Harnack part containing 0 and obtain a concrete formula for the hyperbolic distance, in terms of the reconstruction operator associated with the right creation operators on the full Fock space with n gener- ators. Moreover, we show that the δρ-topology and the usual operator norm topology coincide on (Cρ)<1. While the open ball (Cρ)<1 is not a complete metric space with respect to the operator norm topology, we prove that it is a complete metric space with respect to the hyper- bolic metric δρ. In the particular case when ρ = 1 and H = C, the hyperbolic metric δρ coincides with the Poincare-Bergman distance on the open unit ball of C n .
Top Condensation as a Motivated Explanation of the Top Forward-Backward Asymmetry

Models of top condensation can provide both a compelling solution to the hierarchy problem as well as an explanation of why the top-quark mass is large. The spectrum of such models, in particular topcolor-assisted technicolor, includes top-pions, top-rhos and the top-Higgs, all of which can easily have large top-charm or top-up couplings. Large top-up couplings in particular would lead to a top forward-backward asymmetry through t-channel exchange, easily consistent with the Tevatron measurements. Intriguingly, there is destructive interference between the top-mesons and the standard model which conspire to make the overall top pair production rate consistent with the standard model. The rate for same-sign top production is also small due to destructive interference between the neutral top-pion and the top-Higgs. Flavor physics is under control because new physics is mostly confined to the top quark. In this way, top condensation can explain the asymmetry and be consistent with all experimental bounds. There are many additional signatures of topcolor with large tu mixing, such as top(s) + jet(s) events, in which a top and a jet reconstruct a resonance mass, which make these models easily testable at the LHC.
Epigenetic modifications are associated with inter-species gene expression variation in primates

Background: Changes in gene regulation have long been thought to play an important role in evolution and speciation, especially in primates. Over the past decade, comparative genomic studies have revealed extensive inter-species differences in gene expression levels, yet we know much less about the extent to which regulatory mechanisms differ between species. Results: To begin addressing this gap, we perform a comparative epigenetic study in primate lymphoblastoid cell lines, to query the contribution of RNA polymerase II and four histone modifications, H3K4me1, H3K4me3, H3K27ac, and H3K27me3, to inter-species variation in gene expression levels. We find that inter-species differences in mark enrichment near transcription start sites are significantly more often associated with inter-species differences in the corresponding gene expression level than expected by chance alone. Interestingly, we also find that first-order interactions among the five marks, as well as chromatin states, do not markedly contribute to the degree of association between the marks and inter-species variation in gene expression levels, suggesting that the marginal effects of the five marks dominate this contribution. Conclusions: Our observations suggest that epigenetic modifications are substantially associated with changes in gene expression levels among primates and may represent important molecular mechanisms in primate evolution.
Rewriting queries using views with access patterns under integrity constraints

We study the problem of rewriting queries using views in the presence of access patterns, integrity constraints, disjunction and negation. We provide asymptotically optimal algorithms for (1) finding minimally containing and (2) maximally contained rewritings respecting the access patterns (which we call executable) and for (3) deciding whether an exact executable rewriting exists. We show that rewriting queries using views in this case reduces (a) to rewriting queries with access patterns and constraints without views and also (b) to rewriting queries using views under constraints without access patterns. We show how to solve (a) directly and how to reduce (b) to rewriting queries under constraints only (semantic optimization). These reductions provide two separate routes to a unified solution for problems 1, 2 and 3 based on an extension of the relational chase theory to queries and constraints with disjunction and negation. We also handle equality and arithmetic comparisons. We also show that in an information integration setting, maximally contained rewritings are given by the certain answers (under the usual semantics) for a set of constraints derived from the binding patterns. That is, except for defining the appropriate constraints, binding patterns do not need special treatment. Finally, we show that if there is an exact executable rewriting, there is an executable rewriting which is a union of conjunctive queries with negation.
Electrostatics of nanowire transistors

The charge transfer doping in metal wire-carbon nanotube junctions has been demonstrated to be important before. In this paper, we investigate the effect of contact geometry, metal work function and insulator dielectric constant on the charge transfer doping into a nanowire channel. We then explore the effect of charge transfer doping on the operation of nanowire transistors. We show that the nanowire transistors with large gate underlap can still deliver an appreciable amount of on-current, which provides a possible explanation for a recent experiment by Javey et al. At the same time, charge transfer doping also imposes constraints on the transistor design.
Thermal Oxidation of Sputter‐Coated Reaction‐Bonded Silicon Nitride

Ceramic coatings prepared by sputtering and reactive sputtering were applied to reaction-bonded silicon nitride surfaces to prevent extensive oxidation of the underlying material. The high-density nitride-based coatings retard the oxidation of the substrate by forming an oxygen diffusion barrier which seals the open porosity while maintaining dimensional and thermal stability. The oxidation kinetics of the coated and uncoated reaction-bonded silicon nitride substrates were compared at T =1000° to 1200°C. Oxidation of the underlying material in this temperature range was substantially reduced when suitable coatings were used and the crystalline oxidation product (cristobalite) was essentially eliminated.
Novel branches of (0, 2) theories

We show that recently proposed linear sigma models with torsion can be ob- tained from unconventional branches of conventional gauge theories. This observation puts models with log interactions on rm footing. If non-anomalous multiplets are integrated out, the resulting low-energy theory involves log interactions of neutral elds. For these cases, we nd a sigma model geometry which is both non-toric and includes brane sources. These are heterotic sigma models with branes. Surprisingly, there are massive models with compact complex non-Kahler target spaces, which include brane/anti-brane sources. The simplest conformal models describe wrapped heterotic NS5-branes. We present examples of both types.
New dense fluoroalkyl-substituted imidazolium ionic liquids

New mono and polyfluoroalkyl-substituted ionic liquids have been synthesized and characterized. The neat reaction of 1-methylimidazole (1a) with 1,1,1-trifluoro-3-iodopropane (2a) at 80°C formed the quaternary salt, 1-methyl-3-trifluoropropylimidazolium iodide (3), in 90% yield. Similarly, sodium imidazole (1b) gave good yields of the quaternary salts, 1,3-bis(trifluoropropyl)imidazolium iodide (3b) with an excess of 2a, and 1,3-bis(monofluoropropyl)imidazolium bromide (3c) with an excess of 1-fluoro-3-bromopropane (2b). In water as solvent, metathesis reactions of 3 with KPF6, LiN(SO2CF3)2 and KSO3CF3, and of 3b and 3c with KPF6 and LiN(SO2CF3)2 led to 4a–c, 4d,e, and 4f,g, respectively, in good isolated yields. Some of the di(polyfluoroalkyl)imidazolium salts are liquids with densities in excess of 1.8 g/cm3.
Synthesis of some 4-substituted and 4,6-disubstituted dibenzothiophenes

The synthesis is described of various 4-substituted (1) and 4,6-disubstituted (2) dibenzothiophenes by lithiation reactions. The factors controlling the formation of 4,6-disubstituted dibenzothiophenes by the lithiation of 4-methyl- and 4-ethyl-dibenzothiophene at the 6-position versus lithiation at the α-carbon of the 4-substituent are examined.
Does Shortening the School Week Impact Student Performance? Evidence from the Four-Day School Week

AbstractSchool districts use a variety of policies to close budget gaps and stave off teacher layoffs and furloughs. More schools are implementing four-day school weeks to reduce overhead and transportation costs. The four-day week requires substantial schedule changes as schools must increase the length of their school day to meet minimum instructional hour requirements. Although some schools have indicated this policy eases financial pressures, it is unknown whether there is an impact on student outcomes. We use school-level data from Colorado to investigate the relationship between the four-day week and academic performance among elementary school students. Our results generally indicate a positive relationship between the four-day week and performance in reading and mathematics. These findings suggest there is little evidence that moving to a four-day week compromises student academic achievement. This research has policy relevance to the current U.S. education system, where many school districts must...
Syntheses of cis- and trans -7-Chloro- 7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyren-8-ol: A Remarkable Solvent Effect on Epoxide Hydrochlorination Diastereoselectivity

Abstract Cis- or trans-7-chloro-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene-8-ol were prepared from the corresponding epoxide in good selectivity and yield via LiCl hydrochlorination in different solvents. These preparations take advantage of a dramatic solvent effect on the hydrochlorination diastereoselectivity. Cis products strongly predominate in chlorinated hydrocarbons, and alternatively, trans chlorohydrin formation occurs in high selectivity in Et2O, THF, and acetone. This solvent effect was not significant for other halide salts.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: THE EFFECT OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME AND RACE/ETHNICITY ACROSS HOUSEHOLDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS ON CITY CRIME TRAJECTORIES*

This study tests the effect of the composition and distribution of economic resources and race/ethnicity in cities, as well as how they are geographically distributed within these cities, on crime rates over a 30-year period. Using data on 352 cities from 1970 to 2000 in metropolitan areas that experienced a large growth in population after World War II, this study theorizes that the effect of racial/ethnic or economic segregation on crime is stronger in cities in which race/ethnicity or income are more salient (due to greater heterogeneity or inequality). We test and find that higher levels of segregation in cities with high levels of racial/ethnic heterogeneity leads to particularly high overall levels of the types of crime studied here (aggravated assaults, robberies, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts). Similarly, higher levels of economic segregation lead to much higher levels of crime in cities with higher levels of inequality.
Forward kinematics of a class of parallel (Stewart) platforms with closed‐form solutions

This article studies the geometrical condition for closed-form solutions of forward kinematics of parallel platforms. It is shown that closed-form solutions are available if 1 rotational degree of freedom (dof) of the moving platform is decoupled from the other 5 dof. Geometrically, this condition is satisfied when five end-points at the moving platform (or at the base) are colinear. A general case that these five points do not coincide with each other is studied first and is shown to have 16 possible closed-form solutions. The variations of parallel platforms that satisfy the above-mentioned geometrical condition are then discussed. Some of them have the additional feature that the three rotational dof are fully decoupled from the 3 translational dof and their closed-form solutions are further simplified. One particular case has extremely simple forward kinematics and could be used as an alternative to the Stewart platform.
Computational Geometry Column 24

Open problems from the Tenth ACM Symposium on Computational Geometry and the Sixth Canadian Conference on Computational Geomerty listed tersely.The Tenth ACM Symposium on Computational Geometry was held June 6--8, 1994 in Stony Brook, New York, USA, and the Sixth Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry was held August 2--6, 1994 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The problems listed below were either suggested or referenced by the authors of the indicated papers. Papers are identified by the last names of the authors; the start page in the proceedings in indicated in brackets.
Atmospheric stability affects wind turbine power collection

The power generated by a wind turbine largely depends on the wind speed. During time periods with identical hub-height wind speeds but different shapes to the wind profile, a turbine will produce different amounts of power. This variability may be induced by atmospheric stability, which affects profiles of mean wind speed, direction and turbulence across the rotor disk. Our letter examines turbine power generation data, segregated by atmospheric stability, in order to investigate power performance dependences at a West Coast North American wind farm. The dependence of power on stability is clear, regardless of whether time periods are segregated by three-dimensional turbulence, turbulence intensity or wind shear. The power generated at a given wind speed is higher under stable conditions and lower under strongly convective conditions: average power output differences approach 15%. Wind energy resource assessment and day ahead power forecasting could benefit from increased accuracy if atmospheric stability impacts were measured and appropriately incorporated in power forecasts, e.g., through the generation of power curves based on a range of turbulence regimes.
Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy

Much of the current thinking about competitive strategy focuses on ways that firms can create imperfectly competitive product markets in order to obtain greater than normal economic performance. However, the economic performance of firms does not depend simply on whether or not its strategies create such markets, but also on the cost of implementing those strategies. Clearly, if the cost of strategy implementation is greater than returns obtained from creating an imperfectly competitive product market, then firms will not obtain above normal economic performance from their strategizing efforts. To help analyze the cost of implementing strategies, we introduce the concept of a strategic factor market, i.e., a market where the resources necessary to implement a strategy are acquired. If strategic factor markets are perfect, then the cost of acquiring strategic resources will approximately equal the economic value of those resources once they are used to implement product market strategies. Even if such strategies create imperfectly competitive product markets, they will not generate above normal economic performance for a firm, for their full value would have been anticipated when the resources necessary for implementation were acquired. However, strategic factor markets will be imperfectly competitive when different firms have different expectations about the future value of a strategic resource. In these settings, firms may obtain above normal economic performance from acquiring strategic resources and implementing strategies. We show that other apparent strategic factor market imperfections, including when a firm already controls all the resources needed to implement a strategy, when a firm controls unique resources, when only a small number of firms attempt to implement a strategy, and when some firms have access to lower cost capital than others, and so on, are all special cases of differences in expectations held by firms about the future value of a strategic resource. Firms can attempt to develop better expectations about the future value of strategic resources by analyzing their competitive environments or by analyzing skills and capabilities they already control. Environmental analysis cannot be expected to improve the expectations of some firms better than others, and thus cannot be a source of more accurate expectations about the future value of a strategic resource. However, analyzing a firm's skills and capabilities can be a source of more accurate expectations. Thus, from the point of view of firms seeking greater than normal economic performance, our analysis suggests that strategic choices should flow mainly from the analysis of its unique skills and capabilities, rather than from the analysis of its competitive environment.
Inorganic sensing using organofunctional sol-gel materials.

This Account describes recent work in the development and applications of sol–gel sensors for concentrated strong acids and bases and metal ions. The use of sol–gel films doped with organic indicators for the optical sensing of concentrated strong acids (HCl, 1–10 M) and bases (NaOH, 1–10 M) has been explored, and the development of dual optical sensor approaches for ternary systems (HCl–salt–H2O and NaOH–alcohol–H2O) to give acid and salt, as well as base and alcohol, concentrations is discussed. The preparation of transparent, ligand-grafted sol–gel monoliths is also described, and their use in the analysis of both metal cations (Cu2+) and metal anions [Cr(VI)] is presented. A new model using both metal ion diffusion and immobilization by the ligands in such monoliths has been developed to give metal concentrations using the optical monolith sensors. In addition to optical sensing, a method utilizing ligand-grafted sol–gel films for analyte preconcentration in the electrochemical determination of Cr(VI)...
Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of esters from ketenes.

By building on elementary principles of Bronsted acid-base chemistry, a nucleophile-catalyzed method for the asymmetric synthesis of esters from ketenes has been transformed into a much more versatile and effective Bronsted acid-catalyzed process. The product aryl esters can be converted into useful derivatives, such as enantioenriched alcohols and carboxylic acids.
Does welfare play any role in female headship decisions

Abstract Previous studies have examined whether the welfare system has contributed to the dramatic increase in single-parent families. This paper explores why the results in this literature are sensitive to the presence of state fixed effects. It considers one natural explanation, namely that the composition of the population differs across states in ways that are related to welfare program generosity. After controlling for individual effects the results provide no evidence that welfare raises the propensity to form female-headed households for either whites or blacks. These results illustrate the potential pitfalls of assuming that state factors are fixed over a long period of time. They also suggest that previous studies may have overstated the effect of welfare programs on family structure.
WHERE DID THE MOON COME FROM

The current standard theory of the origin of the Moon is that Earth was hit by a giant impactor the size of Mars, causing ejection of iron-poor impactor mantle debris that coalesced to form the Moon. But where did this Mars-sized impactor come from? Isotopic evidence suggests that it came from 1 AU radius in the solar nebula, and computer simulations are consistent with its approaching Earth on a zero-energy parabolic trajectory. But how could such a large object form in the disk of planetesimals at 1 AU without colliding with Earth early on, before having a chance to grow large or before its or Earth's iron core had formed? We propose that the giant impactor could have formed in a stable orbit among debris at Earth's L4 (or L5) Lagrange point. We show that such a configuration is stable, even for a Mars-sized impactor. It could grow gradually by accretion at L4 (or L5), but eventually gravitational interactions with other growing planetesimals could kick it out into a chaotic creeping orbit, which we show would likely cause it to hit Earth on a zero-energy parabolic trajectory. We argue that this scenario is possible and should be further studied.
Mechanism of a flow-gated angiogenesis switch: early signaling events at cell–matrix and cell–cell junctions

A bias towards angiogenesis from the venous circulation has long been known, but its cause remains unclear. Here we explore the possibility that high interstitial pressure in tumors and the resultant net filtration pressure gradient that would induce flow from the interstitium into the venous circulation or lymphatics could also be an important mechanical regulator of angiogenesis. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that basal-to-apical (B-A) transendothelial flow promotes angiogenesis and to investigate potential mechanisms. Macro- and microvascular endothelial monolayers were cultured on type I collagen gels in a microfluidic cell culture device and subjected to apical-to-basal (A-B) and B-A transendothelial flows. Samples were perfusion fixed and analyzed for morphological responses, localization and degree of phosphorylation of certain signaling proteins. Application of B-A, but not A-B flow, to cultured endothelial monolayers was found to promote capillary morphogenesis and resulted in distinct localization patterns of VE-Cadherin and increased FAK phosphorylation. These results suggest that B-A flow triggers the transition of vascular endothelial cells from a quiescent to invasive phenotype and that the flow-mediated response involves signaling at cell-cell and cell-matrix interfaces. These results support the hypothesis that transendothelial pressure gradients resulting in B-A flow promotes sprouting angiogenesis and are consistent with early observations that tumor angiogenesis occurs from the venous side of the circulation.
A new reagent for the guanidination of proteins.

A reagent, 1-guanyl-3,5-dimethyl pyrazole nitrate, has been used for the guanidination of bovine serum albumin and β-lactoglobulin. The reagent is more stable and permits the guanidination to occur under more gentle conditions than the O-methyl isourea formerly employed. The modified albumin had the same sedimentation coefficient and electrophoretic mobility as the native protein. The guanidination of β-lactoglobulin required blocking of the sulphydryl groups by N-ethyl maleimide and iodoacetic acid. Guanidinated β-lactoglobulin had a lower sedimentation coefficient and greater negative electrophoretic mobility than native lactoglobulin.
Total Synthesis of Halipeptins: Isolation of Halipeptin D and Synthesis of Oxazoline Halipeptin Analogues

The isolation from the marine sponge Leiosella cf. arenifibrosa and structural elucidation of halipeptin D (5), a relative of the previously isolated halipeptins A–C (1–3), is described along with the total synthesis of a number of oxazoline analogues (7 a–d and epi-7 c–d). The developed synthetic strategy provides a flexible entry into the various isomers of the polyketide domain of the halipeptins and improvises for a late stage construction of the oxazoline ring after a macrolactamization process which secures the required macrocycle.
Testing Large CICC in Short Sample Configuration and Predicting Their Performance in Large Magnets

It is well known that large Nb3Sn Cable-in-Conduit Conductors (CICC) do not always completely utilize current carrying capacity of the strands they are made of. The modern state of theory is not accurate enough to eliminate CICC full scale testing. Measuring properties of large CICC is not a simple task due to variety of parameters that need to be controlled, like temperature, exposure of all the strands to the peak magnetic field, mass flow and particular nonuniform current distribution. The paper presents some measurement issues of CICC testing in a short sample test facility, particularly, conditions for uniform current distribution and effect of twist pitches on the critical current.
The controllability of planar bilinear systems

Recent results concerning the controllability of planar bilinear systems are summarized. The results are then used to characterize the controllability behavior of the homogeneous and general bilinear system in R 2.
Low-power branch target buffer for application-specific embedded processors

In this paper we present a methodology for a low-power branch identification mechanism, which enables the design of extremely power efficient branch predictors for embedded processors. The proposed technique utilizes application-specific information regarding the control-flow structure of the program major loops. Such information is used to completely eliminate the power hungry branch target buffer (BTB) lookups which normally occur at every execution cycle. Exact application knowledge regarding the control-flow structure of the program obviates the power expensive BTB operations, thus enabling the utilization of contemporary branch predictors in high-end, yet power-sensitive embedded processors. The utilization of exact application knowledge results not only in the complete elimination of the power hungry BTB structure but also in a perfect branch and target address identification. Cost-efficient and programmable hardware architecture for capturing the control-flow structure of the program is presented thereafter. The hardware complexity of the proposed architecture is carefully analyzed in terms of power, performance and area overhead. The proposed technique delivers power reductions in excess of 90% for a set of embedded benchmarks.
Sensitivity Analysis of Unsteady Inviscid Flow Through Turbomachinery Cascades

We present a novel sensitivity analysis for predicting the effect of airfoil shape on the unsteady aerodynamic and aeroacoustic response of turbomachinery blading. The nominal steady and unsteady e ow in a cascade of turbomachinery blades is modeled using the steady Euler equations and the time-linearized Euler equations, respectively.BoththesteadyandunsteadyEulerequationsaresolvedusing atwo-stepe nite-volumeLax ‐Wendroff discretizationwithmultigrid acceleration.Wecomputetheunsteady aerodynamicloadsduetoboth incominggusts and plunging motion of the cascade airfoils. Once the nominal steady and unsteady e ows have been computed, a sensitivity analysis is performed using the discrete adjoint equations of the computational e uid dynamics scheme used to discretizetheEulerequations. For each objectivefunction (e.g., the amplitude peak of theaeroelastic blade motion),theresultingadjointequationsaresolvedusingtheadjointLax ‐Wendroffscheme,whichisalsoaccelerated using a multigrid technique. Once the adjoint equations have been solved, the computed adjoint variables may be used to compute rapidly the sensitivities of the aeroelastic and aeroacoustic objective functions due to arbitrary changes in geometry. The method is computationally efe cient, with similar convergence rate histories for both the nominal and the adjoint solutions. To demonstrate the utility of the present method, we use the sensitivity analysis to redesign the shape of the airfoils of a cascade for increased aeroelastic stability. We also redesign the shape of the airfoils of an exit guide vane for reduced downstream radiated noise.
How Optimal Inhomogeneity Produces High Temperature Superconductivity

Before Vic Emery's untimely death, we had the privilege of working closely with him on the role of Coulomb frustrated phase separation in doped Mott insulators, and on the consequences of the resulting local electronic structures on the "mechanism" of high temperature superconductivity. In the present article, we discuss the resulting perspective on superconductivity in the cuprates, and on the more general theoretical issue of what sorts of systems can support high temperature superconductivity. We discuss some of the general, qualitative aspects of the experimental lore which we think should constrain any theory of the mechanism, and show how they are accounted for within the context of our theory.
Death by survey: estimating adult mortality without selection bias from sibling survival data.

The widely used methods for estimating adult mortality rates from sample survey responses about the survival of siblings, parents, spouses, and others depend crucially on an assumption that, as we demonstrate, does not hold in real data. We show that when this assumption is violated so that the mortality rate varies with sib ship size, mortality estimates can be massively biased. By using insights from work on the statistical analysis of selection bias, survey weighting, and extrapolation problems, we propose a new and relatively simple method of recovering the mortality rate with both greatly reduced potential for bias and increased clarity about the source of necessary assumptions.
Staying Current after Graduation: A Survey of Social Work Alumni

How do our alumni stay current once they graduate and are away from academic information resources? Very few studies have addressed how alumni stay current in their field after graduation. This research surveyed the graduate and undergraduate Social Work alumni of The College at Brockport in asking key questions. Are you able to stay current with research, especially without access to article databases? Do you receive support from your employer to stay current? Does this include money/time off for participating in Continuing Education Programs (CEP), conferences or accessing article databases? This paper looks at the methods for, and importance of, staying current and analyzes results from a survey and makes recommendations for graduates, departments and librarians regardless of profession.
Modeling and analysis of systems with multimode components and dependent failures

A model for the reliability and performance analysis of systems where components can degrade in a statistically dependent manner is presented. This cause-based multimode model is based on the idea that deviations of components from the up state have underlying physical causes which can be explicitly identified and are statistically independent. The effects of several causes can be combined in a flexible manner. System reliability and performance measures can be computed approximately by considering the most probable states. Such states can be efficiently generated by algorithms developed for the earlier multimode, statistically independent failure model. >
Monetary Policy Adjustments on the Final Passage towards the Euro

This study reviews monetary policy options that are seemingly viable for adopting the euro by the new Member States of the European Union. A fully autonomous direct inflation targeting is believed to be suboptimal for convergence to the euro as it does not incorporate convergence parameters into the central bank reaction function and instrument rules. In an attempt to correct for such deficiency, this study advocates adopting a framework of relative inflation forecast targeting where a differential between the domestic and the eurozone inflation forecasts becomes the main objective of the central bank's decisions. At the same time, some attention to the exchange rate stability objective becomes necessary for facilitating the monetary convergence process. Foreign exchange market interventions, rather than interest rate adjustments, are viewed as a preferred way of achieving this objective.
Criss-crossing migration

The current perspective on the flow of people is almost exclusively focused on permanent migration from poorer to richer countries and on immigration policies in industrial countries. But international mobility of people should no longer be seen as a one-time event or one-way flow from South to North. The economic crisis has accentuated the longer-term shift in location incentives for people in industrial countries. As consumers, they could obtain better and cheaper access to key services -- such as care for the elderly, health, and education -- whose costs at home are projected to increase in the future, threatening standards of living. As workers, they could benefit from new opportunities created by the shift in economic dynamism from industrial to emerging countries. But subtle incentives to stay at home, such as lack of portability of health insurance and non-recognition of qualifications obtained abroad, inhibit North-South mobility and need to be addressed. Furthermore, if beneficiaries of movement abroad exert countervailing power against those who support immigration barriers at home, then that could lead to greater inflows of people, boosting innovation and growth in the North. Eventually, growing two-way flows of people could create the possibility of a grand bargain to reduce impediments to the movement of people at every stage in all countries and help realize the full benefits of globalization.
A Highly Reactive Dicationic Iridium(III) Catalyst for the Polarized Nazarov Cyclization Reaction

Pushing the Nazarov Envelope A new electrophilic complex [IrBr(CO)(diethylisopropylidene malonate)((R)-(+)-BINAP)](SbF6)2 (2) exhibits unusual activity in the catalysis of polarized Nazarov cyclization. Aryl vinyl ketones that show poor reactivity with well-known catalysts such as [Ir(CH3)(CO)(1,2-diiodobenzene)(dppe)](B(Arf)4−)2 (1), Sc(OTf)3 + LiClO4 and Cu(ClO4)2, can be cyclized with 2 + AgSbF6 (1:1) under mild conditions with concurrent AgBr precipitation.
Maximum-likelihood detection of nonlinearly distorted multicarrier symbols by iterative decoding

This paper proposes a new method for decoding multicarrier symbols with severe nonlinear distortion. The first part evaluates mutual information expressions for practical nonlinear models and shows the performance bounds for commonly used receiver structures. Then, we derive the maximum-likelihood (ML) sequence estimator, which unfortunately has an exponential complexity due to the nonlinear distortion. This extremely large complexity can be reduced with a simple algorithm that iteratively estimates the nonlinear distortion, thereby reducing the exponential ML to the standard ML without nonlinear distortion. The proposed method can be used to reduce the peak-to-average power ratio of multicarrier signals by clipping the transmit sequence. It can also be used to correct any nonlinear distortion present in transmitter/receiver amplifiers that are operating close to saturation.
On glacier retreat and drought cycles in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Canada

Abstract The enigma of why mountain glacier started to retreat in the 1850s in the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere remains unresolved. The most important factor affecting climate change presumably was a change in the mode of operation of the sun one or two decades earlier (from irregular periodicity and low output to regular periods and greater brightness). But the direct cause appears to have been the onset of drought in the 1830s. Interestingly, there is no obvious solar information in the drought narrative in Montana and southwestern Canada. The presence of tidal lines in the spectrum of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, together with the presence of lines that could be interpreted as beat periods between solar and tidal forcing in the drought series, suggests that the energy of solar variation is preempted for interference with tidal forcing, within the system of oscillations informing precipitation patterns in the region. The suggestion is supported by the presence of a strikingly dominant 12.5-year period in the drought series, which is interpreted as a difference tone between the main sunspot cycle (at 10.8) and a tidal period at 5.8. Also, this period is close to 2/3 of the nodal tide (at 18.61).
Carbon surface functionalities and SEI formation during Li intercalation.

Abstract This review aims to (1) briefly summarize the use of carbon as intercalation materials in electrochemical energy storage and the development of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the surface of the carbon electrode, (2) discuss the impacts of surface functional groups on the physical and electronic properties of carbon materials and the performance of electrochemical energy storage devices, (3) analyze the specific contributions that the most abundant oxygen and nitrogen carbon-surface functionality, in particular surface functional group hybridization and the influence that Lewis basicity/acidity, have towards promoting Li-ion charge storage and (4) examine the impact that those heteroatom functionalities have on the formation of the SEI layer.
Parametric dependence of fatigue of electronic adhesives

Adhesives used in electronic applications are subject to high cyclic shear stresses resulting from differential thermal expansion of the bonded materials. In this study, an attempt has been made to experimentally determine the dependence of the fatigue life of two packaging epoxy adhesives on: temperature, peak cycling stress as a fraction of adhesion strength, and cyclic frequency. Both epoxies were used to bond surfaces of aluminum and silicon. Tensile lap-shear specimens were used.
The tower of Babel meets web 2.0: user-generated content and its applications in a multilingual context

This study explores language's fragmenting effect on user-generated content by examining the diversity of knowledge representations across 25 different Wikipedia language editions. This diversity is measured at two levels: the concepts that are included in each edition and the ways in which these concepts are described. We demonstrate that the diversity present is greater than has been presumed in the literature and has a significant influence on applications that use Wikipedia as a source of world knowledge. We close by explicating how knowledge diversity can be beneficially leveraged to create "culturally-aware applications" and "hyperlingual applications".
Phase Speed Spectra and the Latitude of Surface Westerlies: Interannual Variability and Global Warming Trend

The extratropical annular-mode-like atmospheric responses to ENSO and global warming and the internal variability of annular modes are associated with similar, yet distinct, dynamical characteristics. In particular, La Nina, global warming, and the positive phase of annular modes are all associated with a poleward shift of midlatitude jet streams and surface westerlies. To improve understanding of these phenomena, the authors identify and compare patterns of interannual variability and global warming trends in the midlatitude surface westerlies and the space–time spectra of associated eddy momentum fluxes by analyzing simulations of the present climate in an atmosphere-only climate model, in which the ENSOinduced extratropical response is validated with that in reanalysis data, and by projection of future climate changes using a coupled atmosphere–ocean model. While the response to ENSO is consistent with the refraction of midlatitude eddies due to subtropical wind anomalies, the interannual internal variability of the annular modes marks a change in the eastward propagation speed of midlatitude eddies. In response to global warming, the dominant eddies exhibit a trend toward faster eddy phase speeds in both hemispheres, in a manner similar to the positive phase of interannual internal variability. These diagnoses suggest that the annular mode trend due to greenhouse gas increases may be more related to extratropical processes, especially in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, rather than being forced from the deep tropics.
J-Integral estimates for strain-hardening materials in ductile fracture problems

A finite-element procedure is developed to analyze plane ductile fracture problems in the presence of largescale yielding near the crack tip. Strain and stress singularities near the crack tip, corresponding to the strainhardening material model, are embedded in elements near the crack tip. The developed elastic-plastic incremental finite-element method is based on a hybrid displacement model. The results for the ./-integral at various load levels, for several standard fracture-toughness test specimens, are compared with available experimental results. The implication of the results in predicting initiation of crack growth, and its stability, in ductile materials is discussed.
Radiative Impacts of Free-Tropospheric Clouds on the Properties of Marine Stratocumulus

AbstractObservations from multiple satellites and large-eddy simulations (LESs) from the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) are used to determine the extent to which free-tropospheric clouds (FTCs) affect the properties of stratocumulus. Overlying FTCs decrease the cloud-top radiative cooling in stratocumulus by an amount that depends on the upper-cloud base altitude, cloud optical thickness, and abundance of moisture between the cloud layers. On average, FTCs increase the downward longwave radiative flux above stratocumulus clouds (at 3.5 km) by approximately 30 W m−2. As a consequence, this forcing translates to a relative decrease in stratocumulus cooling rates by about 20%. Overall, the reduced cloud-top radiative cooling decreases the turbulent mixing, vertical development, and precipitation rate in stratocumulus clouds at night. During the day these effects are greatly reduced because the overlying clouds shade the stratocumulus from strong solar radiation, thus reducing the net radiative e...