cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Involving men in reproductive and fertility issues : insights from Punjab

Drawing on three sources, a 2013 qualitative study in four districts of Punjab province; a targeted analysis of the baseline and end line surveys of the Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH 2007-2012) project; and the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (PDHS) of 1990-1991 and of 2006-2007, this study explores Pakistani (especially Punjabi) couples' dynamics during their decision processes on fertility intentions and practices, along with community perceptions of male-focused interventions as well as men's suggestions for future intervention strategies. It finds that men in Punjab seem now more concerned about their fertility intentions and practices due to the financial challenges of raising large families. This concern has not only increased spousal communication about family size and contraceptive use but has also encouraged Punjabi men to practice family planning. Most men now realize that either they or their wives should use family planning. It is the next step, however, of translating intention into practice, which is a challenge. Supply-side issues, including absence or paucity of family planning services as well as poor quality of services (including service providers' lack of capability to manage side effects) are the main factors hindering couples' adoption of family planning. Perceived or experienced side effects of contraceptive methods are other factors. Men's positive attitudes and their readiness to be involved in family planning programs suggest that the efforts of convincing men to use contraceptives have been effective and this it is now time for direct reproductive health interventions for men in Punjab. Yet heavy spending on media campaigns may not be as effective as interpersonal interventions. A focused effort to mobilize men through male-specific interventions is likely to increase the demand for contraceptives. These interventions have to be backed up by improved supply of contraceptives and availability of family planning services in accessible facilities.
HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM AND HMO PENETRATION IN THE SMALL GROUP MARKET

This study uses data from several national employer surveys conducted between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s to investigate the effect of state-level underwriting reforms on HMO penetration in the small group health insurance market. We identify reform effects by exploiting cross-state variation in the timing and content of reform legislation and by using mid-sized and large employers, which were not affected by the legislation, as within-state control groups. While it is difficult to disentangle the effect of state reforms from other factors affecting HMO penetration in the small group markets, the results suggest a positive relationship between insurance market regulations and HMO penetration.
How's the parallel computing revolution going?

Two trends changed the computing landscape over the past decade: (1) hardware vendors started delivering chip multiprocessors (CMPs) instead of uniprocessors, and (2) software developers increasingly chose managed languages instead of native languages. Unfortunately, the former change is disrupting the virtuous-cycle between performance improvements and software innovation. Establishing a new parallel performance virtuous cycle for managed languages will require scalable applications executing on scalable Virtual Machine (VM) services, since the VM schedules, monitors, compiles, optimizes, garbage collects, and executes together with the application. This talk describes current progress, opportunities, and challenges for scalable VM services. The parallel computing revolution urgently needs more innovations.
Inferring Carbon Abatement Costs in Electricity Markets: A Revealed Preference Approach Using the Shale Revolution

Abstract This paper examines how carbon pricing would reduce emissions in the electricity sector. Both carbon prices and cheap natural gas reduce the historic cost advantage of coal plants. The shale revolution resulted in unprecedented variation in natural gas prices that we use to estimate the potential near-term effects of carbon prices. Estimates imply that a price of $20 ($70) per ton of CO2 would reduce emissions by 5 (10) percent. Carbon prices are most effective at reducing emissions when natural gas prices are low, but have negligible effects when gas prices are at levels seen prior to the shale revolution. (JEL L94, L98, Q35, Q38, Q54, Q58)
Some(what) grand challenges for information retrieval

Although we see the positive results of information retrieval research embodied throughout the Internet, on our computer desktops, and in many other aspects of daily life, at the same time we notice that people still have a wide variety of difficulties in finding information that is useful in resolving their problematic situations. This suggests that there still remain substantial challenges for research in IR. Already in 1988, on the occasion of receiving the ACM SIGIR Gerard Salton Award, Karen Sparck Jones suggested that substantial progress in information retrieval was likely only to come through addressing issues associated with users (actual or potential) of IR systems, rather than continuing IR research’s almost exclusive focus on document representation and matching and ranking techniques. In recent years it appears that her message has begun to be heard, yet we still have relatively few substantive results that respond to it. In this talk, I identify a few challenges for IR research which fall within the scope of association with users, and which I believe, if properly addressed, are likely to lead to substantial increases in the usefulness, usability and pleasurability of information retrieval.
ON FOOTLOOSE INDUSTRIES, ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION,AND WAGE BARGAINING

If capital becomes internationally mobile but labor does not, is the bargaining outcome for workers worsened? In this paper we show that the answer to this question depends critically on the information structure of the bargaining process. In particular, we demonstrate a hitherto underappreciated informational role of capital mobility in determining the distribution of output between workers and employers. In doing so we bring together three strands of literature not often seen together--incentive compatible contracting, union-employer bargaining, and the consequences of capital mobility.
Psychotropic Medications in Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period

Many pregnant women suffer from mental health conditions while pregnant. As providers and patients make decisions about risks of the conditions and treatments during pregnancy, information to populate those discussions is needed. Taking into account the physiologic changes in pregnancy, we may need to optimize medication therapy. This article reviews and summarizes some of the most common mental health conditions suffered in pregnancy: depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and psychosis. It further discusses the different medications used to treat them, as well as risks associated with these medications.
DrillSim: a simulation framework for emergency response drills

Responding to natural or man-made disasters in a timely and effective manner can reduce deaths and injuries, contain or prevent secondary disasters, and reduce the resulting economic losses and social disruption. Appropriate IT solutions can improve this response. However, exhaustive and realistic validation of these IT solutions is difficult; proofs are not available, simulations lack realism, and drills are expensive and cannot be reproduced. This paper presents DrillSim: a simulation environment that plays out the activities of a crisis response (e.g., evacuation). It has capabilities to integrate real-life drills into a simulated response activity using an instrumented environment with sensing and communication capabilities. IT solutions can be plugged in the simulation system to study their effectiveness in disaster management and response. This way, by using a simulation coupled with an on-going drill, IT solutions can be tested in a less expensive but realistic scenario.
Vaginal metastases from adenocarcinoma of the corpus uteri

Abstract In 245 cases of adenocarcinoma of the corpus uteri seen, 35 cases showed disease in the vagina. These vaginal metastatic lesions were present in 15 cases when the patients were first seen, without prior treatment. In the remaining 20 who had previous treatment, 16 had had hysterectomy outside; 2 had hysterectomy in this institution without radium therapy to the vagina, out of a group of 10 so treated; and 2 out of a group of 139 treated with radium, 95 of whom had a hysterectomy also. Forty-two patients have a minimum of 4 years' follow-up. Because of the fact that the majority of vaginal metastases appear within one year and also that 42 cases have been followed for 4 years, the 1.5 per cent incidence, compared with that given in other reports, seems to point to the effectiveness of prophylactic radium therapy to the uterus and vagina. This justifies carrying out such prophylactic irradiation. Longer follow-up will determine how low this incidence will stay.
New techniques for dual system encryption and fully secure HIBE with short ciphertexts

We construct a fully secure HIBE scheme with short ciphertexts. The previous construction of Boneh, Boyen, and Goh was only proven to be secure in the selective model, under a non-static assumption which depended on the depth of the hierarchy. To obtain full security, we apply the dual system encryption concept recently introduced by Waters. A straightforward application of this technique is insufficient to achieve short ciphertexts, since the original instantiation of the technique includes tags that do not compress. To overcome this challenge, we design a new method for realizing dual system encryption. We provide a system in composite order groups (of three primes) and prove the security of our scheme under three static assumptions.
Attitudes in ICT acceptance and use

Information and communication technology (ICT) acceptance and use is a prolific research stream in the information systems (IS) field. One major theoretical influence is the Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior (TRA/TPB). While the research stream achieved high consensus and validation in IS, the interest in attitude, an important concept in TRA/TPB, has gone through ups and downs over the past decades due to the lack of predictability of attitude for behavioral intention. In this paper, we clarify both conceptual and operational confusions by providing clear definitions of two different types of attitudes and detailing their relationships to each other and to behavioral intention. Empirical data confirms that attitude toward behaviors is a better prediction of intention than attitude toward objects (ICT); attitude toward objects has positive influence on attitude toward behaviors. Attitudes toward a previous version of the software and its use have significant impacts on the current attitudes.
Path planning under time-dependent uncertainty

Standard algorithms for finding the shortest path in a graph require that the cost of a path be additive in edge costs, and typically assume that costs are deterministic. We consider the problem of uncertain edge costs, with potential probabilistic dependencies among the costs. Although these dependencies violate the standard dynamic-programming decomposition, we identify a weaker stochastic consistency condition that justifies a generalized dynamic-programming approach based on stochastic dominance. We present a revised path-planning algorithm and prove that it produces optimal paths under time-dependent uncertain costs. We test the algorithm by applying it to a model of stochastic bus networks, and present empirical performance results comparing it to some alternatives. Finally, we consider extensions of these concepts to a more general class of problems of heuristic search under uncertainty.
Spatial Information in Entropy-Based Image Registration

Information-theoretic approaches (e.g. mutual information) have yielded accurate and robust similarity measures for multi-modal and mono-modal image registration. However, recent research suggests that registration based on mutual information has room for improvement. The paper proposes a method for including spatial information in this approach by using spatial feature vectors obtained from the images. A minimum spanning tree algorithm is employed to compute an estimate of the conditional entropy in higher dimensions. The paper includes the theory to motivate the proposed similarity measure. Experimental results indicate that the suggested method can achieve a more robust and accurate registration compared to similarity measures that don’t include spatial information.
HodgeRank Is the Limit of Perron Rank

In the context of pairwise comparison ranking, we show that HodgeRank (row geometric mean), is the limit of Perron Rank (ranking with principal eigenvector) as a certain parameter k goes to 0. This result provides a novel mathematical link between two important pairwise ranking methods. It complements the known result that as k approaches infinity, Perron Rank converges to Tropical Rank. Thus, these three pairwise ranking methods belong to the same parametrized family. Our proof technique is useful for mathematical comparison of these methods. As a sample application, we show that for ranking models with i.i.d noise, HodgeRank is a linear approximation of Perron Rank. In this particular setup, for large numbers of items with sufficiently large score differences, the two methods yield identical ordinal rankings.
A directed metalation route to the zwitterionic indole alkaloids: synthesis of sempervirine

Abstract A synyhesis protocol involving beta-lithiation of 2-(2-pyridinyl)indoles (4 → 5) and subsequent reaction with bromoacetaldehyde leads to the indol[2,3-a]quinolzine(1)ring system. Application of this methodology to 2-(2-pyridinyl)indole 17, which is prepered via Taylor-Boger triazine Dieis-Alder annulation chemistry, affords the zwitterionic indole alkaloid sempervirine (3).
Equilibrium Search and Tax Credit Reform

An empirical equilibrium job search model with wage posting is developed to analyze the labor market impact of UK tax reforms. The model allows for a rich characterization of the labor market, with hours responses, accurate representations of the tax and transfer system, and both worker and firm heterogeneity. The model is estimated with pre-reform longitudinal survey data using a semi-parametric estimation technique, and the impact of actual tax reform policies is simulated. The model predicts that the British Working Families? Tax Credit and contemporaneous reforms increased employment, with equilibrium effects found to play a relatively minor role.
FV-MSB: A Scheme for Reducing Transition Activity on Data Buses

Power consumption becomes an important issue for modern processors. The off-chip buses consume considerable amount of total power [9,7]. One effective way to reduce power is to reduce the overall bus switching activities since they are proportional to the power. Up till now, the most effective technique in reducing the switching activities on the data buses is Frequent Value Encoding (FVE) that exploits abundant frequent value locality on the off-chip data buses. In this paper, we propose a technique that exploits more value locality that was overlooked by the FVE. We found that a significant amount of non-frequent values, not captured by the FVE, share common high-ordered bits. Therefore, we propose to extend the current FVE scheme to take bit-wise frequent values into consideration. On average, our technique reduces 48% switching activity. The average energy saving we achieved is 44.8%, which is 8% better than the FVE.
A sensitivity analysis of pathfinder: a follow-up study

At last year's Uncertainty in AI Conference, we reported the results of a sensitivity analysis study of Pathfinder. Our findings were quite unexpected--slight variations to Pathfinder's parameters appeared to lead to substantial degradations in system performance. A careful look at our first analysis, together with the valuable feedback provided by the participants of last year's conference, led us to conduct a follow-up study. Our follow-up differs from our initial study in two ways: (i) the probabilities 0.0 and 1.0 remained unchanged, and (ii) the variations to the probabilities that are close to both ends (0.0 or 1.0) were less than the ones close to the middle (0.5). The results of the follow-up study look more reasonable--slight variations to Pathfinder's parameters now have little effect on its performance. Taken together, these two sets of results suggest a viable extension of a common decision analytic sensitivity analysis to the larger, more complex settings generally encountered in artificial intelligence.
A connection algorithm on the problem of EM scattering from arbitrary cavities

A connection algorithm is presented for analyzing the electromagnetic scattering from arbitrarily shaped open cavities. This approach allows different sections of the cavity to be analyzed independently of one another. The aperture admittance matrix representation of each region is generated using the boundary-integral method. Applying the concept of input and load admittance, a connection algorithm is developed to cascade all the aperture admittance matrices together to form the aperture admittance matrix of the entire cavity. Finally, the aperture electric field can be found from the generalized network formulation and the backscattered field can be determined. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of this algorithm that include modeling flexibility and reduced computational resources.
ClassNet: Managing the Virtual Classroom

Education continues to move on-line through the World Wide Web. Classrooms of students and teachers are no longer restricted by time or distance. ClassNet is a tool that manages these virtual classrooms; it automates many of the administrative tasks associated with global Internet classes. Through a simple interface of Web forms, students can perform activities such as class registration, assignment or test submission, and grade retrieval. Instructor activities include managing assignments, controlling class enrollment, communicating with students, and monitoring student progress. This paper highlights features of ClassNet's design and functionality and provides examples of its use. Topics discussed include: ClassNet design, underlying objects, and their functionality; requests and classes; assignments; class members--instructors, students, and proctors; organization of the ClassNet database; current uses at Iowa State University; and features and futures. (Author/DLS) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Web Islet 96 San Francisco, CA October 15-19, 1996 http://aace.virginia.edu/aace/conf/webnet/htm1/401.htm Class Net: Managing the Virtual Classroom Mark J. Van Gorp CNI Durham Center Iowa State University U.S.A. mvg@iastate.edu Dr. Pete Boysen Durham Center Iowa State University U.S.A. pboysen@iastate.edu
The Amino Acid Sequence of Scenedesmus Ferredoxin

The complete amino acid sequence of ferredoxin isolated from a green alga, Scenedesmus species, was determined by analyses of tryptic and chymotryptic digests, and cyanogen bromide cleavage of the S-carboxymethylcysteinylferredoxin. The total number of amino acid residues is 96, one less than for the higher plant ferredoxins. It is the first chloroplast-type ferredoxin found lacking in tryptophan and asparagine, and containing methionine. Evidently, neither tryptophan nor methionine can be essential for electron transfer activity. Six half-cystine residues were found in Scenedesmus ferredoxin as compared with only 5 in spinach and alfalfa ferredoxins. All of them were titratable with p-chloromercuribenzoate without prior reduction of the protein. Five are located in identical positions in all three ferredoxins. Similarity was observed between the ferredoxins of Scenedesmus, spinach, and alfalfa, with low values for minimum base differences per codon of 0.28 to 0.42. In the comparison of Scenedesmus and spinach ferredoxins there is a region which suggests a change produced by a frameshift mutation.
Trapped unitary two-component Fermi gases with up to ten particles

The properties of two-component Fermi gases with zero-range interactions are universal. We use an explicitly correlated Gaussian basis set expansion approach to investigate small equal-mass two-component Fermi gases under spherically symmetric external harmonic confinement. At unitarity, we determine the ground-state energy for systems with up to 10 particles interacting through finite-range two-body potentials for both even and odd numbers of particles. We extrapolate the energies to the zero-range limit using a novel scheme that removes the linear and, in some cases, also the quadratic dependence of the ground-state energies on the two-body range. Our extrapolated zero-range energies are compared with results from the literature. We also calculate the two-body Tan contact and structural properties.
THE IMPACTS OF EXPORT SUBSIDY REDUCTION COMMITMENTS IN THE AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE

The effectiveness of limits and reductions in both export volumes subsidized and value of export subsidies in agriculture is evaluated. A perspective on consumer versus producer financed export subsidies is given. We analyze factors affecting the effectiveness of volume versus value commitments. Statistical analysis of EU export subsidies analyzes the mean and variance of bindings.
Sorting by placement and shift

In sorting situations where the final destination of each item is known, it is natural to repeatedly choose items and place them where they belong, allowing the intervening items to shift by one to make room. (In fact, a special case of this algorithm is commonly used to hand-sort files.) However, it is not obvious that this algorithm necessarily terminates.We show that in fact the algorithm terminates after at most 2n-1-1 steps in the worst case (confirming a conjecture of L. Larson), and that there are super-exponentially many permutations for which this exact bound can be achieved. The proof involves a curious symmetrical binary representation.
A locking protocol for MLS databases providing support for long transactions

This paper presents a locking protocol for multilevel secure databases which produces schedules that are 1—copy serializable and satisfy the MLS property. It executes read downs on an old database snapshot; transactions accessing objects at their own level manipulate the most recently committed database, and are synchronized using weak and strong locks, somewhat like strict 2PL. At regular intervals, known as the version period, the old snapshot is upgraded to the most recently committed database version.
What is the Value of a Name? Conspicuous Consumption and House Prices

This is the first study to lend empirical support to anecdotal media reports that indicate that real property buyers pay price premiums based on property names. Using a standard hedonic price model...
Local cohomology modules with infinite dimensional socles

In this paper we prove the following generalization of a result of Hartshorne: Let T be a commutative Noetherian local ring of dimension at least two, R = T[x 1 ,...,x n ], and I = (x 1 ,...,x n ). Let f be a homogeneous element of R such that the coefficients of f form a system of parameters for T. Then the socle of H n I (R/fR) is infinite dimensional.
Judicial Integrity: A Call for its Re-Emergence in the Adjudication of Criminal Cases

Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/lsfp Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Courts Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, Judges Commons, Jurisdiction Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Society Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Legal Education Commons, Legal History, Theory and Process Commons, Legal Writing and Research Commons, Legislation Commons, Litigation Commons, and the Public Law and Legal Theory Commons
LDPC code design for transmission of correlated sources across noisy channels without CSIT

We consider the problem of transmitting correlated data after independent encoding to a central receiver through orthogonal channels. We assume that the channel state information is not known at the transmitter. The receiver has access to both the source correlation and the channel state information. We provide a generic framework for analyzing the performance of joint iterative decoding, using density evolution. Using differential evolution, we design punctured systematic LDPC codes to maximize the region of achievable channel conditions, with joint iterative decoding. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that properly designed LDPC can perform well simultaneously over a wide range of channel parameters.
The renormalization group and its finite lattice approximations

We investigate finite lattice approximations to the Wilson renormalization group in models of unconstrained spins. We discuss first the properties of the renormalization group transformation (RGT) that control the accuracy of this type of approximation and explain different methods and techniques to practically identify them. We also discuss how to determine the anomalous dimension of the field. We apply our considerations to a linear sigma model in two dimensions in the domain of attraction of the Ising fixed point using a Bell–Wilson RGT. We are able to identify optimal RGTs which allow accurate computations of quantities such as critical exponents, fixed-point couplings and eigenvectors with modest statistics. We finally discuss the advantages and limitations of this type of approach.
Solar air heaters and their applications

The solar air heater appears to be the most logical choice, as far as the ultimate application of heating air to maintain a comfortable environment is concerned. One disadvantage of solar air heaters is the need for handling larger volumes of air than liquids due to the low density of air as a working substance. Another disadvantage is the low thermal capacity of air. In cases where thermal storage is needed, water is superior to air. Design variations of solar air heaters are discussed along with the calculation of the efficiency of a flat plate solar air heater, the performance of various collector types, and the applications of solar air heaters. Attention is given to collectors with nonporous absorber plates, collectors with porous absorbers, the performance of flat plate collectors with finned absorbers, a wire mesh absorber, and an overlapped glass plate air heater.
Responsibility and blame: a structural-model approach

Causality is typically treated an all-or-nothing concept; either A is a cause of B or it is not. We extend the definition of causality introduced by Halpern and Pearl (2004a) to take into account the degree of responsibility of A for B. For example, if someone wins an election 11-0, then each person who votes for him is less responsible for the victory than if he had won 6-5. We then define a notion of degree of blame, which takes into account an agent's epistemic state. Roughly speaking, the degree of blame of A for B is the expected degree of responsibility of A for B, taken over the epistemic state of an agent.
Projectivity of modules for infinitesimal unipotent group schemes

In this paper, it is shown that the projectivity of a rational module for an infinitesimal unipotent group scheme over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic can be detected on a family of closed subgroups. Let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic p > 0 and G be an infinitesimal group scheme over k, that is, an affine group scheme G over k whose coordinate (Hopf) algebra k[G] is a finite-dimensional local k-algebra. A rational G-module is equivalent to a k[G]-comodule and further equivalent to a module for the finitedimensional cocommutative Hopf algebra k[G]∗ ≡ Homk(k[G], k). Since k[G]∗ is a Frobenius algebra (cf. [Jan]), a rational G-module (even infinite-dimensional) is in fact projective if and only if it is injective (cf. [FW]). Further, for any rational G-module M and any closed subgroup scheme H ⊂ G, if M is projective over G, then it remains projective upon restriction to H (cf. [Jan]). We consider the question of whether there is a “nice” collection of closed subgroups of G upon which projectivity (over G) can be detected. For an example of what we mean by a “nice” collection, consider the situation of modules over a finite group. Over a field of characteristic p > 0, a module over a finite group is projective if and only if it is projective upon restriction to a p-Sylow subgroup (cf. [Rim]). For a p-group (and hence for any finite group), L. Chouinard [Ch] showed that a module is projective if and only if it is projective upon restriction to every elementary abelian subgroup. If the module is assumed to be finite-dimensional, this result follows from the theory of varieties for finite groups (cf. [Ca] or [Ben]). Indeed, elementary abelian subgroups play an essential role in this theory. In work of A. Suslin, E. Friedlander, and the author [SFB1], [SFB2], a theory of varieties for infinitesimal group schemes was developed. In this setting, subgroups of the form Ga(r) (the rth Frobenius kernel of the additive group scheme Ga) play the role analogous to that of elementary abelian subgroups in the case of finite groups. Not surprisingly then, for finite-dimensional modules, one obtains the following analogue of Chouinard’s Theorem. Proposition 1 ([SFB2, Proposition 7.6]). Let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic p > 0, r > 0 be an integer, G be an infinitesimal group scheme over k of height ≤ r, and M be a finite-dimensional rational G-module. Then M is Received by the editors January 27, 1998 and, in revised form, March 24, 1998 and May 19, 1999. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 14L15, 20G05; Secondary 17B50. c ©2000 American Mathematical Society
Variability of Short Term Eddy-Correlation Estimates of Mass Exchange

The signals from sensors used to measure atmospheric scalar fluctuations ordinarily produce characteristic spectra and cospectra with vertical wind velocity that are strongly influenced by vertical transport processes. Unwanted signal noise generated by some of the fast response chemical sensors, however, distort the spectra and cospectra and increase run-to-run variability of eddy-correlation flux estimates. Instead of data collection periods of only 30 min needed to provide a precision of approximately 10–20% in each flux estimate obtained at heights of 5–10 m during ideal daytime conditions, an ensemble derived from several such runs is necessary with certain sensors in order to achieve comparable precision. This has been the practical experience obtained in numerous experiments above various natural surfaces, and is verified to a limited extent by both empirical and theoretical investigations.
Faster replacement paths

The replacement paths problem for directed graphs is to find for given nodes s and t and every edge e on the shortest path between them, the shortest path between s and t which avoids e. For unweighted directed graphs on n vertices, the best known algorithm runtime was O(n2.5) by Roditty and Zwick. For graphs with integer weights in {− M,..., M}, Weimann and Yuster showed that one can use fast matrix multiplication and solve the problem in O(Mn2.584) time, a runtime which would be O(Mn2.33) if the exponent ω of matrix multiplication is 2.We improve on both of these algorithms. Our new algorithm also relies on fast matrix multiplication and runs in Mnω+o(1) time. Our result shows that, at least for small integer weights, the replacement paths problem in directed graphs may be easier than the related all pairs shortest paths problem in directed graphs, as the current best runtime for the latter is Ω(n2.5) time even if ω = 2.
The formation of wage expectations in the effort and quit decisions of workers

Abstract This study develops models in which workers form expectations of average wages in choosing levels of effort and on-the-job search. It is assumed that information on lagged average wages is available at a low fixed cost, whilst acquiring other information requires an additional variable cost. Under reasonable conditions, workers' expectations are at least partly adaptive, and may be a mixture of rational and adaptive expectations. Microeconomic parameters determine the degree to which expectations are adaptive and the weights placed on various lags of wages. As a result of partly adaptive expectations, nominal demand shocks may have real effects.
A Better Good-Turing Estimator for Sequence Probabilities

We consider the problem of estimating the probability of an observed string drawn i.i.d. from an unknown distribution. The key feature of our study is that the length of the observed string is assumed to be of the same order as the size of the underlying alphabet. In this setting, many letters are unseen and the empirical distribution tends to overestimate the probability of the observed letters. To overcome this problem, the traditional approach to probability estimation is to use the classical Good-Turing estimator. We introduce a natural scaling model and use it to show that the Good-Turing sequence probability estimator is not consistent. We then introduce a novel sequence probability estimator that is indeed consistent under the natural scaling model.
A SUBSEQUENCE CHARACTERIZATION OF SEQUENCES SPANNING ISOMORPHICALLY POLYHEDRAL BANACH SPACES

Let (xn) be a sequence in a Banach space X which does not converge in norm, and let E be an isomorphically precisely norming set for X such that X n jx (xn+1 xn)j < 1; 8x 2 E: () Then there exists a subsequence of (xn) which spans an isomorphically polyhedral Banach space. It follows immediately from results of V. Fonf that the converse is also true: If Y is a separable isomorphically polyhedral Banach space then there exists a normalized M-basis (xn )w hich spans Yand there exists an isomorphically precisely norming set E for Y such that () is satised. As an application of this subsequence characterization of sequences spanning isomorphically polyhedral Banach spaces we obtain a strengthening of a result of J. Elton, and an Orlicz-Pettis type result.
Mixture Theory for Turbulent Diffusion of Heavy Particles

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the classical sedimentation problem in view of the continuum theory of mixture. The mixture theory offers a rigorous axiomatic framework for the dynamics of two-phase flow. This theory for a dilute suspension of small negatively buoyant particles provides a physically sound and intuitively satisfying interpretation of turbulent diffusion. The phenomenon can be identified with a correlation arising from decomposition and averaging applied to the drag interaction term in the momentum balances. The classical sedimentation problem, in which a balance of gravitational settling and diffusive fluxes is posed, is embodied in this theory. This chapter also describes the source of the diffusive flux that balances the gravitational settling flux of negatively buoyant particles in a steady, uniform mean flow.
Heat Pipe Development for the SPAR Space Power System

ABSTRACT The SPAR space power system design is based on a high temperature fast spectrum nuclear reactor that furnishes heat to a thermoelectric conversion system to generate an electrical power output of 100 kW e. An important feature of this design is the use of alkali metal heat pipes to provide redundant, reliable, and low-loss heat transfer at high temperature. Three sets of heat pipes are used in the system. These include sodium/molybdenum heat pipes to transfer heat from the reactor core to the conversion system, potassium/niobium heat pipes to couple the conversion system to the radiator in a redundant manner, and potassium/titanium heat pipes to distribute rejected heat throughout the radiator surface. The designs of these units are discussed and fabrication methods and testing results are described.
Radiative Transport in a Periodic Structure

We derive radiative transport equations for solutions of a Schrodinger equation in a periodic structure with small random inhomogeneities. We use systematically the Wigner transform and the Bloch wave expansion. The streaming part of the radiative transport equations is determined entirely by the Bloch spectrum, and the scattering part by the random fluctuations.
Task-Based Variability in Children’s Singing Accuracy:

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of task demands on children’s singing accuracy. A 2 × 4 factorial design was used to examine the performance of fourth-grade children (N = 120) i...
Applied String Theory

This review contains a brief summary of the current status of the experimental constraints on the phenomena associated to the physics of extra dimensions. The emphasis is on those phenomenological ad hoc models that can be embedded into the fundamental framework of string theory. Keywords: string theory; ad hoc models; compactifications; orbifold theories; D-branes
Adsorption of organic molecules may explain growth of newly nucleated clusters and new particle formation

[1] New particle formation consists of homogeneous nucleation of thermodynamically stable clusters followed by growth of these clusters to a detectable size. For new particle formation to take place, these clusters need to grow sufficiently fast to escape coagulation with preexisting particles. Previous studies indicated that condensation of low-volatility organic vapor may play an important role in the initial growth of the clusters. However, due to the relatively high vapor pressure and partial molar volume of even highly oxidized organic compounds, the strong Kelvin effect may prevent typical ambient organics from condensing on these small clusters. Here we show that the adsorption of organic molecules onto the surface of clusters, not considered previously, may significantly reduce the saturation ratio required for the condensation of organics to occur and therefore may provide a physicochemical explanation for the enhanced initial growth by condensation of organics despite the strong Kelvin effect.
Quantum Design of Complex Nanostructured Electronic Materials

In this paper we present the results of three projects designed to engineer novel, nanostructured materials with tailored electronic properties. (i) We describe the design of a silicon/germanium nanowire based thermoelectric material whose performance is enhanced by suppressing thermal transport and enhancing electronic transport. (ii) We describe the design of a silicon-based laser, constructed from silicon nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous silicon nitride matrix. (iii) We describe the use of first principles models to predict the optical response of silicon nanowires. These predictions are used to interpret the results of optical scatterometry metrology, which can measure the size, and surface roughness of nanoscale electronic devices produced by a combination of lithography and etching.
Symplectic Three-Algebra and N = 6, Sp(2N) x U(1) Superconformal Chern-Simons-Matter Theory

We introduce an antisymmetric metric into a 3-algebra and call it a symplectic 3-algebra. The \(\mathcal{N}=6\), Sp(2N)×U(1) superconformal Chern–Simons-matter theory with SU(4) R-symmetry in three dimensions is constructed by specifying the 3-brackets in a symplectic 3-algebra. We also demonstrate that the \(\mathcal{N}=6\), U(M)×U(N) theory can be recast into this symplectic 3-algebraic framework.
New Syntheses and Structural Characterization of NH3BH2Cl and (BH2NH2)3 and Thermal Decomposition Behavior of NH3BH2Cl

New convenient procedures for the preparation of ammonia monochloroborane (NH3BH2Cl) and cyclotriborazane [(BH2NH2)3] are described. Crystal structures have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Strong H···Cl···H bifurcated hydrogen bonding and weak N–H···H dihydrogen bonding are observed in the crystal structure of ammonia monochloroborane. When heated at 50 °C or under vacuum, ammonia monochloroborane decomposes to (NH2BHCl)x, which was characterized by NMR, elemental analysis, and powder X-ray diffraction. Redetermination of the crystal structure of cyclotriborazane at low temperature by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis provides accurate hydrogen positions. Similar to ammonia borane, cyclotriborazane shows extensive dihydrogen bonding of N–H···H and B–H···H bonds with Hδ+···Hδ− interactions in the range of 2.00–2.34 A.
Energy-Efficient Resource Allocation for Fractional Frequency Reuse in Heterogeneous Networks

Next generation wireless networks face the challenge of increasing energy consumption while satisfying the unprecedented increase in the data rate demand. To address this problem, we propose a utility-based energy-efficient resource allocation algorithm for the downlink transmissions in heterogeneous networks (HetNets). We consider the fractional frequency reuse (FFR) method in order to mitigate the intra- and inter-cell interference. The proposed algorithm divides the resource allocation problem into frequency and power assignment problems and sequentially solves them. The proposed power control algorithm uses the gradient ascent method to control the transmit power of macrocell base stations (MeNBs) as most of the power in the network is consumed there. We present the optimality conditions of the resource allocation problem and the convergence of the proposed algorithm. In order to mitigate the inter-cell interference further, we study the interference pricing mechanisms and obtain an upper bound to the maximum energy efficiency problem including the inter-cell interference contributions. The performance of the proposed algorithm is studied in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. Our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm provides substantial improvements in the energy efficiency and throughput of the network. It is also shown that interference pricing provides only marginal improvements over the proposed algorithm.
Energy loss of a high-charge bunched electron beam in plasma: Analysis

There has been much recent experimental and theoretical interest in the blowout regime of plasma wakefield acceleration, which features ultrahigh accelerating fields, linear transverse focusing forces, and nonlinear plasma motion. A quantitative understanding of the blowout regime including all these effects has, to this point, been available only through detailed simulations. This paper represents an initial step towards an analytical theory of this regime, in which the mechanism of energy loss in the drive beam is investigated. We find, first from examination of electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations, and then through analytical investigations, that under short pulse, high-charge conditions, the plasma electrons receive a strong initial push along the direction of beam motion. This nonlinear effect is unanticipated by linear theory, where the return current motion is in the opposite direction. In the limit of short pulses (the $\ensuremath{\delta}$-function limit), the beam energy loss is shown to be linear in charge even with a nonlinear plasma response dominated by relativistic, electromagnetic effects, despite the fact that the initial plasma electron response changes qualitatively from the familiar electrostatic, nonrelativistic limit.
Contact Transience during Slow Loading of Dense Granular Materials

AbstractThe irregularity of particle motions during quasi-static deformation is investigated using discrete element (DEM) simulations of sphere and sphere-cluster assemblies. A total of three types of interparticle movements are analyzed: relative motions of particle centers, relative motions of material points of two particles at their contact, and the traversal of contacts across the surfaces of particles. Motions are a complex combination of rolling, sliding, and elastic distortion at the contacts, and all motions are highly irregular and variant, qualities that increase with increasing strain. The relative motions of particle centers diverge greatly from those of an affine displacement of the particles. The motions of the nonconvex sphere-cluster particles were more regular that those of the spheres. The paper also investigates the effect of the distance between two remote particles and their pair-wise relative displacements. Even for particle pairs separated by more than six intermediate particles, t...
Does financial openness lead to deeper domestic financial markets

Advanced and emerging market economies have rapidly integrated into international capital markets and this growing globalization of financial markets has led to some important changes in the patterns of saving and investment across the world. The main goal of this paper is to test whether the cross-border asset trade has led to improvements in the intermediation of these savings -- that is, foster development of domestic financial markets. The authors have collected annual information on financial market development, financial openness, and other control variables for a sample of 145 countries for the period 1974-2007. Controlling for the likely endogeneity of financial openness, the analysis finds that rising financial openness expands private credit, bank assets, and stock market and private bond market development, and generates efficiency gains in the banking system. However, the impact of financial openness on domestic financial development may depend on the level of institutional quality, the extent of investor protection, and the degree of trade openness. In general, rising financial openness will enlarge the size and activity of financial intermediaries, improve efficiency in the banking system, and contribute to deepen private bond markets in countries with moderate to high levels of institutional quality and investor protection as well as in countries with high trade openness.
Entanglement, joint measurement, and state reduction

Entanglement is perhaps the most important new feature of the quantum world. It is expressed in quantum theory by the joint measurement formula. We prove the formula for projection valued observables from a plausible assumption, which for spacelike separated measurements is a consequence of causality. State reduction is simply a way to express the joint measurement formula after one measurement has been made, and its result known.
Global poverty and inequality : a review of the evidence

Drawing on a compilation of data from household surveys representing 130 countries, many over a period of 25 years, this paper reviews the evidence on levels and recent trends in global poverty and income inequality. It documents the negative correlations between both poverty and inequality indices, on the one hand, and mean income per capita on the other. It points to the dominant role of Asia in accounting for the bulk of the world's poverty reduction since 1981. The evolution of global inequality in the last decades is also described, with special emphasis on the different trends of inequality within and between countries. The statistical relationships between growth, inequality and poverty are discussed, as is the correlation between inequality and the growth elasticity of poverty reduction. Some of the recent literature on the drivers of distributional change in developing countries is also reviewed.