cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Concordance Picture of FRB 121102 as a Flaring Magnetar Embedded in a Magnetized Ion–Electron Wind Nebula

The fast radio burst FRB 121102 has repeated multiple times, enabling the identification of its host galaxy and of a spatially-coincident, compact, steady (`quiescent') radio synchrotron source. It was proposed that FRB 121102 is powered by a young flaring magnetar, embedded within a decades-old supernova remnant. Using a time-dependent one-zone model, we show that a single expanding magnetized electron-ion nebula (powered by the same outbursts likely responsible for the FRBs) can explain all the basic properties of the quiescent source (size, flux, self-absorption constraints) and the large but decreasing rotation measure (RM) of the bursts. The quiescent emission is powered by relativistic thermal electrons heated at the termination shock of the magnetar wind, while the RM originates from non-relativistic electrons injected earlier in the nebula's evolution and cooled through expansion and radiative losses. The model contains few free parameters, which are tightly constrained by observations: the total energy injected into the nebula over its history, $\sim 10^{50}-10^{51}$ erg, agrees with the magnetic energy of a millisecond magnetar; the baryon loading of the magnetar outflow (driven by intermittent flares) is close to the neutron star escape speed; the predicted source age $\sim 10-40$ years is consistent with other constraints on the nebula size. For an energy input rate $\dot{E} \propto t^{-\alpha}$ following the onset of magnetar activity, we predict secular decay of the RM and quiescent source flux, which approximately follow ${\rm RM} \propto t^{-(6+\alpha)/2}$ and $F_{\nu} \propto t^{-(\alpha^2+7\alpha-2)/4}$, respectively.
Implications of Higgs discovery for the strong CP problem and unification

A Z2 symmetry that extends the weak interaction, SU(2)L → SU(2)L ×SU(2)′, and the Higgs sector, H(2) → H(2, 1) + H′(1, 2), yields a Standard Model quartic coupling that vanishes at scale v′ = 〈H′〉 ≫ 〈H〉. Near v′, theories either have a “prime” sector, or possess “Left-Right” (LR) symmetry with SU(2)′ = SU(2)R. If the Z2 symmetry incorporates spacetime parity, these theories can solve the strong CP problem. The LR theories have all quark and lepton masses arising from operators of dimension 5 or more, requiring Froggatt-Nielsen structures. Two-loop contributions to $$ \overline{\theta} $$ are estimated and typically lead to a neutron electric dipole moment of order 10−27e cm that can be observed in future experiments. Minimal models, with gauge group SU(3) × SU(2)L × SU(2)L × U(1)B−L, have precise gauge coupling unification for v′ = 1010±1 GeV, successfully correlating gauge unification with the observed Higgs mass of 125 GeV. With SU(3) × U(1)B−L embedded in SU(4), the central value of the unification scale is reduced from 1016−17 GeV to below 1016 GeV, improving the likelihood of proton decay discovery. Unified theories based on SO(10) × CP are constructed that have H + H′ in a 16 or 144 and generate higher-dimensional flavor operators, while maintaining perturbative gauge couplings.
Improving The Effectiveness of Automatically Generated Test Suites Using Metamorphic Testing

Automated test generation has helped to reduce the cost of software testing. However, developing effective test oracles for these automatically generated test inputs is a challenging task. Therefore, most automated test generation tools use trivial oracles that reduce the fault detection effectiveness of these automatically generated test cases. In this work, we provide results of an empirical study showing that utilizing metamorphic relations can increase the fault detection effectiveness of automatically generated test cases.
Existence of an endogenously complete equilibrium driven by a diffusion

The existence of complete Radner equilibria is established in an economy whose parameters are driven by a diffusion process. Our results complement those in the literature. In particular, we work under essentially minimal regularity conditions and treat the time-inhomogeneous case.
Eleven-dimensional supergravity in 4D, N = 1 superspace

We give a formulation of linearized 11D supergravity in 4D, N = 1 superspace keeping all eleven bosonic coordinates. The fields are fluctuations around M = R4|4 × Y, where Y is a background Riemannian 7-manifold admitting a G2 structure. We embed the 11D fields into superfield representations of the 4D, N = 1 superconformal algebra. These consist of the conformal graviton superfield, seven conformal gravitino superfields, a tensor hierarchy of superfields describing the 11D 3-form, and a non-abelian Kaluza-Klein vector multiplet gauging the tensor hierarchy by diffeomorphisms on Y. The quadratic action consists of the linearization of a superspace volume term and a Chern-Simons action for the gauged hierarchy coupled to the supergravity and gravitino superfields, and the full structure is fixed by superconformal and gauge invariance. When this action is projected to components, we recover the full linearized action of 11D supergravity.
SmartTrack: efficient predictive race detection

Widely used data race detectors, including the state-of-the-art FastTrack algorithm, incur performance costs that are acceptable for regular in-house testing, but miss races detectable from the analyzed execution. Predictive analyses detect more data races in an analyzed execution than FastTrack detects, but at significantly higher performance cost. This paper presents SmartTrack, an algorithm that optimizes predictive race detection analyses, including two analyses from prior work and a new analysis introduced in this paper. SmartTrack incorporates two main optimizations: (1) epoch and ownership optimizations from prior work, applied to predictive analysis for the first time, and (2) novel conflicting critical section optimizations introduced by this paper. Our evaluation shows that SmartTrack achieves performance competitive with FastTrack—a qualitative improvement in the state of the art for data race detection.
Feature extraction for universal hypothesis testing via rank-constrained optimization

This paper concerns the construction of tests for universal hypothesis testing problems, in which the alternate hypothesis is poorly modeled and the observation space is large. The mismatched universal test is a feature-based technique for this purpose. In prior work it is shown that its finite-observation performance can be much better than the (optimal) Hoeffding test, and good performance depends crucially on the choice of features. The contributions of this paper include: (i) We obtain bounds on the number of e-distinguishable distributions in an exponential family. (ii) This motivates a new framework for feature extraction, cast as a rank-constrained optimization problem. (iii) We obtain a gradient-based algorithm to solve the rank-constrained optimization problem and prove its local convergence.
Experimental analysis of the achromatic performance of a vector vortex coronagraph

The vector vortex coronagraph is an instrument designed for direct detection and spectroscopy of exoplanets over a broad spectral range. Our team is working towards demonstrating contrast performance commensurate with imaging temperate, terrestrial planets orbiting solar-type stars using the High Contrast Imaging Testbed facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To date, the best broadband performance achieved is ~10-8 raw contrast over a bandwidth of Δλ/λ=10% in the visible regime (central wavelengths of 550 nm-750 nm), while monochromatic tests yield much deeper contrast (~10-9 or better). In this study, we analyze the main performance limitations on the testbeds so far, focusing on the quality of the focal plane mask manufacturing. We measure the polarization properties of the masks and the residual electric field in the dark hole as a function of wavelength. Our results suggest that the current performance is limited by localized defects in the in the focal plane masks. A new generation of masks is under test that have fewer defects and promise performance improvements.
Second generation readout for large format photon counting microwave kinetic inductance detectors

We present the development of a second generation digital readout system for photon counting microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) arrays operating in the optical and near-infrared wavelength bands. Our system retains much of the core signal processing architecture from the first generation system but with a significantly higher bandwidth, enabling the readout of kilopixel MKID arrays. Each set of readout boards is capable of reading out 1024 MKID pixels multiplexed over 2 GHz of bandwidth; two such units can be placed in parallel to read out a full 2048 pixel microwave feedline over a 4 GHz-8 GHz band. As in the first generation readout, our system is capable of identifying, analyzing, and recording photon detection events in real time with a time resolution of order a few microseconds. Here, we describe the hardware and firmware, and present an analysis of the noise properties of the system. We also present a novel algorithm for efficiently suppressing IQ mixer sidebands to below -30 dBc.
Distributionally robust profit opportunities

Abstract This paper expands the notion of robust profit opportunities in financial markets to incorporate distributional ambiguity using Wasserstein distance as the ambiguity measure. Financial markets with risky and risk-free assets are considered. The infinite dimensional primal problems are formulated, leading to their simpler finite dimensional dual problems. A principal motivating question is how distributional ambiguity helps or hurts the robustness of the profit opportunity. Towards answering this question, some theory is developed and computational experiments are conducted. Finally some open questions and suggestions for future research are discussed.
DER Information Unaware Coordination via Day-ahead Dynamic Power Bounds

Reliability and voltage quality in distribution networks have been achieved via a combination of transformer power rating satisfaction and voltage management asset control. To maintain reliable operation under this paradigm, however, future grids with deep DER penetrations would require costly equipment upgrades. These upgrades can be mitigated via judicious coordination of DER operation. Earlier work has assumed a hierarchical control architecture in which a global controller (GC) uses detailed power injection and DER data and knowledge of DER owners' objectives to determine setpoints that local controllers should follow in order to achieve reliable and cost effective grid operation. Having such detailed data and assuming knowledge of DER owners' objectives, however, are often not desirable or possible. In an earlier work, a 2- layer DER coordination architecture was shown to achieve close to optimal performance despite infrequent (e.g., once per day) communication to a global controller. Motivated by this work, this paper proposes a day-ahead coordination scheme that uses forecasted power profile ranges to generate day-ahead dynamic power rating bounds at each transformer. Novel features of this scheme include: (i) the GC knows only past node power injection data and does not impose or know DER owner objectives, (ii) we use bounds that ensure reliable operation to guide the local controllers rather than setpoint tracking, and (iii) we consider electric vehicle (EV) charging in addition to storage. Simulations using the IEEE 123-bus network show that with random placements of 50% solar, 50% EVs and only 10% storage penetrations, the uncoordinated approach incurs rating violations at nearly all 86 transformers and results in 10 times higher voltage deviation, while our approach incurs only 12 rating violations and maintains almost the same voltage deviations as before the addition of solar and EVs.
Embedding of Walsh Brownian motion

Abstract Let ( Z , κ ) be a Walsh Brownian motion with spinning measure κ . Suppose μ is a probability measure on R n . We first provide a necessary and sufficient condition for μ to be a stopping distribution of ( Z , κ ) . Then if the stopped process is required to be uniformly integrable, we show that such a stopping time exists if and only if μ is balanced. Next, under the assumption of being balanced, we identify the minimal stopping times with those τ such that the stopped process Z τ is uniformly integrable. Finally, we generalize Vallois’ embedding, and prove that it minimizes the expectation E [ Ψ ( L τ Z ) ] among all the admissible solutions τ , where Ψ is a strictly convex function and ( L t Z ) t ≥ 0 is the local time of the Walsh Brownian motion at the origin.
Connectivity Lower Bounds in Broadcast Congested Clique

We prove three new lower bounds for graph connectivity in the 1-bit broadcast congested clique model, BCC(1). First, in the KT-0 version of BCC(1), in which nodes are aware of neighbors only through port numbers, we show an Ω(log n) round lower bound for Connectivity even for constant-error randomized Monte Carlo algorithms. The deterministic version of this result can be obtained via the well-known "edge-crossing" argument, but, the randomized version of this result requires establishing new combinatorial results regarding the indistinguishability graph induced by inputs. In our second result, we show that the Ω(log n) lower bound result extends to the KT-1 version of the BCC(1) model, in which nodes are aware of IDs of all neighbors, though our proof works only for deterministic algorithms. This result substantially improves upon the existing Ω(log^* n) deterministic lower bound (Jurdzinski et el., SIROCCO 2018) for this problem. Since nodes know IDs of their neighbors in the KT-1 model, it is no longer possible to play "edge-crossing" tricks; instead we present a reduction from the 2-party communication complexity problem Partition in which Alice and Bob are given two set partitions on [n] and are required to determine if the join of these two set partitions equals the trivial one-part set partition. While our KT-1 Connectivity lower bound holds only for deterministic algorithms, in our third result we extend this Ω(log n) KT-1 lower bound to constant-error Monte Carlo algorithms for the closely related ConnectedComponents problem. We use information-theoretic techniques to obtain this result. All our results hold for the seemingly easy special case of Connectivity in which an algorithm has to distinguish an instance with one cycle from an instance with multiple cycles. Our results showcase three rather different lower bound techniques and lay the groundwork for further improvements in lower bounds for Connectivity in the BCC(1) model.
Codimension one minimizers of highly amphiphilic mixtures

Abstract We present a modified form of the Functionalized Cahn–Hilliard (FCH) functional which models highly amphiphilic systems in solvent. A molecule is highly amphiphilic if the energy of a molecule isolated within the bulk solvent molecule is prohibitively high. For such systems once the amphiphilic molecules assemble into a structure it is very rare for a molecule to exchange back into the bulk. The highly amphiphilic FCH functional has a well with limited smoothness and admits compactly supported critical points. In the limit of molecular length e → 0 we consider sequences with bounded energy whose support resides within an e -neighborhood of a fixed codimension one interface. We show that the FCH energy is uniformly bounded from below, independent of e > 0 , and identify assumptions on tangential variation of sequences that guarantee the existence of subsequences that converge to a weak solution of a rescaled bilayer profile equation, and show that sequences with limited tangential variation enjoy a lim inf inequality. For fixed codimension one interfaces we construct bounded energy sequences which converge to the bilayer profile and others with larger tangential variation which do not converge to the bilayer profile but whose limiting energy can violate the lim inf inequality, depending upon the energy parameters.
Transient Weighted Moving Average Model of Photovoltaic Module Back-Surface Temperature

Accurate modeling of photovoltaic (PV) performance requires precise calculation of module temperature. Currently, most temperature models rely on steady-state assumptions that do not account for the transient climatic conditions and thermal mass of the module. This failure to account for thermal transients leads to temperature prediction inaccuracy at fine data intervals characterized by intermittent irradiance and wind. On the other hand, complex physics-based transient models that account for the thermal mass are computationally expensive and difficult to parameterize. In order to address this, a new approach to transient thermal modeling was developed, in which the steady-state predictions from previous time steps are weighted and averaged to accurately predict the module temperature at finer time scales. The parameters for this model are determined by detailed, three-dimensional finite element analyses that calculate the effect of wind speed and module unit mass on module temperature. These effects are represented as a weighted moving average that smooths out erroneous values that are a result of intermittency in solar resource. Validation of this moving-average model has shown that it can improve the overall PV energy performance model accuracy by as much as 0.58% over steady-state models based on mean absolute error improvements as high as 1.45°C. The model also significantly reduces the variability between the model predictions and measured temperature times series data.
On the Self-Repair Role of Astrocytes in STDP Enabled Unsupervised SNNs

Neuromorphic computing is emerging to be a disruptive computational paradigm that attempts to emulate various facets of the underlying structure and functionalities of the brain in the algorithm and hardware design of next-generation machine learning platforms. This work goes beyond the focus of current neuromorphic computing architectures on computational models for neuron and synapse to examine other computational units of the biological brain that might contribute to cognition and especially self-repair. We draw inspiration and insights from computational neuroscience regarding functionalities of glial cells and explore their role in the fault-tolerant capacity of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) trained in an unsupervised fashion using Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP). We characterize the degree of self-repair that can be enabled in such networks with varying degree of faults ranging from 50 to 90% and evaluate our proposal on the MNIST and Fashion-MNIST datasets.
Maximum likelihood estimation of stochastic differential equations with random effects driven by fractional Brownian motion

Abstract Stochastic differential equations and stochastic dynamics are good models to describe stochastic phenomena in real world. In this paper, we study N independent stochastic processes X i ( t ) with real entries and the processes are determined by the stochastic differential equations with drift term relying on some random effects. We obtain the Girsanov-type formula of the stochastic differential equation driven by Fractional Brownian Motion through kernel transformation. Under some assumptions of the random effect, we estimate the parameter estimators by the maximum likelihood estimation and give some numerical simulations for the discrete observations. Results show that for the different H , the parameter estimator is closer to the true value as the amount of data increases.
Light-induced modulation of DNA recognition by the Rad4/XPC damage sensor protein

Biomolecular structural changes upon binding/unbinding are key to their functions. However, characterization of such dynamical processes is difficult as it requires ways to rapidly and specifically trigger the assembly/disassembly as well as ways to monitor the resulting changes over time. Recently, various chemical strategies have been developed to use light to trigger changes in oligonucleotide structures, and thereby their activities. Here we report that photocleavable DNA can be used to modulate the DNA binding of the Rad4/XPC DNA repair complex using light. Rad4/XPC specifically recognizes diverse helix-destabilizing/distorting lesions including bulky organic adduct lesions and functions as a key initiator for the eukaryotic nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. We show that the 6-nitropiperonyloxymethyl (NPOM)-modified DNA is recognized by the Rad4 protein as a specific substrate and that the specific binding can be abolished by light-induced cleavage of the NPOM group from DNA in a dose-dependent manner. Fluorescence lifetime-based analyses of the DNA conformations suggest that free NPOM-DNA retains B-DNA-like conformations despite its bulky NPOM adduct, but Rad4-binding causes it to be heterogeneously distorted. Subsequent extensive conformational searches and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that NPOM in DNA can be housed in the major groove of the DNA, with stacking interactions among the nucleotide pairs remaining largely unperturbed and thus retaining overall B-DNA conformation. Our work suggests that photoactivable DNA may be used as a DNA lesion surrogate to study DNA repair mechanisms such as nucleotide excision repair.
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)": Literature and Language in the Academy

"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)": Literature and Language in the Academy. Reprint of the 1971 MLA Address by Louis Kampf. Preface by Paul Lauter. Postscript by Richard Ohmann
Authentication of Online State Primary Legal Resources as a Social Justice Issue: The Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act and How It Can Benefit Pro Se Litigants

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) has advocated for years for the adoption of standards to authenticate online state primary legal material. AALL's advocacy led to the enactment of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA), which, for the first time, provides a framework for and guidance about how state governments can ensure that their official electronic legal information is authenticated, preserved, and permanently accessible to the public. This article provides a brief history of the development of UELMA as context for the argument that the adoption of standards related to the authentication of electronic state legal resources can be considered a social justice issue, particularly for pro se litigants. This article argues that states should adopt UELMA to ensure that these vulnerable users of legal information have access to authentic and trustworthy electronic versions of the laws that govern them.
Fourteenth Amendment Concepts in the Antebellum Era

Much of the literature discussing the original understanding of section one the Fourteenth Amendment takes one of two basic positions. One group of scholars, perhaps best exemplified by William E. Nelson, argues that the language of the equal protection, due process, and privileges and immunities clauses was not understood as distinctively legal concepts, but rather as expressing general political principles. By contrast, another school of thought, which can be traced to the work of scholars such as Howard Jay Graham and Jacobus Ten Broek, takes the view that the language of the Fourteenth Amendment embodied legal concepts that were derived specifically from abolitionist legal thought.This article, first published in 1988 in the American Journal of Legal History and later incorporated into a book entitled The Fourteenth Amendment and the Law of the Constitution, takes a different view. The article contends that the language of section one was derived from distinctively legal concepts that evolved in connection with issues that were unrelated to the dispute over slavery, and that both proslavery and antislavery legal theorist had made use of these concepts in making their arguments during the antebellum era..
Challenges in Requirements Engineering: A Research Agenda for Conceptual Modeling

Domains for which information systems are developed deal primarily with social constructions—conceptual objects and attributes created by human intentions and for human purposes. Information systems play an active role in these domains. They document the creation of new conceptual objects, record and ascribe values to their attributes, initiate actions within the domain, track activities performed, and infer conclusions based on the application of rules that govern how the domain is affected when socially-defined and identified causal events occur. Emerging applications of information technologies evaluate such business rules, learn from experience, and adapt to changes in the domain. Conceptual modeling grammars aimed at representing their system requirements must include conceptual objects, socially-defined events, and the rules pertaining to them. We identify challenges to conceptual modeling research and pose an ontology of the artificial as a step toward meeting them.
Economics in Crisis: Severe and Logical Contradictions of Classical, Keynesian, and Popular Trade Models

The paper examines three popular models that form the foundation of modern economics. The author concludes that two of the three, the classical and the Keynesian, are seriously deficient in logic, whereas the third, dealing with gains from trade, is partially lacking in logic. Classical and neo–Keynesian approaches require desired investment to expand during recessions, whereas the trade model requires real GDP to rise without any rise in employment, capital stock, or technology. The paper offers an alternative macro framework that is free from the limitations of conventional models. Money is either neutral or non–neutral, depending on whether the economy is operating below or at full capacity. Wages are strictly determined in the labor market, yet employment is influenced by aggregate demand. The alternative model thus combines the attractive features of classical and Keynesian frameworks.
The Derogatory Representations of the Skin Bleaching Products Sold in Harlem

This study examines the contents of the images on the labels of 45 skin bleaching products sold in Harlem, New York, and whether or not these images were derogatory. This study is informed by social representation theory. A t-test was used to determine the difference in images (derogatory and non-derogatory) between the general American stores’ products (n=12) and an African beauty supply store’s products (n=33). Content analyses of the data on the labels were conducted to understand the content of the representations. There were no significant differences in images on the labels of the products between the stores, t (43) =0.86, p>0.05. The overwhelming majority of the images (95.6%) were derogatory images which devalued black skin. The contents of these images suggested that lightening the skin would not only make the user white but would also make their skin healthy, soft and glowingly beautiful. These images suggest that lightening the black physicality is socially acceptable because white skin is the superior and sought after ideal unlike black skin which is inferior. The persistence and resilience of the same images over many decades, and their contemporary manifestations on the labels of various skin products, which are manufactured overseas and sold in different stores in the United States, suggest that they are uniform, rigid and coercive hegemonic representations that drive the sale of skin bleaching products in Harlem.
Meetings and exposure before an arranged marriage: a probabilistic analysis

It is now common for parents and relatives of an individual seeking to have an arranged marriage to set up one or more meetings between this individual and prospective spouses. As a result of these meetings, prospective spouses get exposed to this marrying individual. Even though this exposure level has a significant bearing on the eventual likelihood of marriage, as best as can be told, the economics literature has paid no attention to the probabilistic attributes of meetings and the resultant level of exposure. As such, this note has three objectives. First, a simple stochastic model is analysed that focuses on the links between the trinity of meetings, exposure levels, and an arranged marriage. Next, the conditional density function of the exposure level random variable is derived under two assumptions about the eventual likelihood of marriage. Finally, an interesting property of a specific ratio of densities that is related to the above mentioned trinity is commented on.
Geometric complexity of embeddings in $${\mathbb{R}^{d}}$$

Given a simplicial complex K, we consider several notions of geometric complexity of embeddings of K in a Euclidean space $${\mathbb{R}^d}$$ : thickness, distortion, and refinement complexity (the minimal number of simplices needed for a PL embedding). We show that any n-complex with N simplices which topologically embeds in $${\mathbb{R}^{2n}, n > 2}$$ , can be PL embedded in $${\mathbb{R}^{2n}}$$ with refinement complexity $${O(e^{N^{4+{\epsilon}}})}$$ . Families of simplicial n-complexes K are constructed such that any embedding of K into $${\mathbb{R}^{2n}}$$ has an exponential lower bound on thickness and refinement complexity as a function of the number of simplices of K. This contrasts embeddings in the stable range, $${K\subset \mathbb{R}^{2n+k}, k > 0}$$ , where all known bounds on geometric complexity functions are polynomial. In addition, we give a geometric argument for a bound on distortion of expander graphs in Euclidean spaces. Several related open problems are discussed, including questions about the growth rate of complexity functions of embeddings, and about the crossing number and the ropelength of classical links.
The Same-Actor Inference of Nondiscrimination: Moral Credentialing and the Psychological and Legal Licensing of Bias

One of the most egregious examples of the tension between federal employment discrimination law and psychological science is the federal common law doctrine known as the same-actor inference. When originally elaborated by the Fourth Circuit in Proud v. Stone, the same-actor doctrine applied only when an “employee was hired and fired by the same person within a relatively short time span.” In the two decades since, the doctrine has widened and broadened in scope. It now subsumes many employment contexts well beyond hiring and firing, to scenarios in which the “same person” entails different groups of decision makers, and the “short time span” has been elastically extended over seven years. Per the same-actor doctrine, when a supervisor first behaves in a way that benefits an employee and then subsequently takes adverse action against that employee, many federal courts conclude that the supervisor’s adverse treatment is presumptively nondiscriminatory, adopting the strong inference that the supervisor’s negative employment decision was not motivated by bias.This Article concludes that this doctrine should be curtailed. Given the dearth of textual support and legislative history supporting the creation of the same-actor doctrine, the striking growth rate of this unjust doctrine in circuits that apply the strong-inference standard, and the psychological science amassed that powerfully reveals the errors laden within the doctrine, federal courts should reevaluate their existing jurisprudence on the same-actor inference. Ultimately, this Article recommends that federal courts resolve the existing circuit split by adopting the approach of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Fundamentally, same-actor evidence should be one evidentiary datum for the ultimate trier of fact to weigh along with all other possible evidence of discrimination.
Applying the Agency and Stakeholder Theories to the Enron Debacle: An Ethical Perspective

We examine the infamous Enron debacle from an ethical perspective by defining its theoretical underpinnings and analyzing the unethical conduct by top executives at the company in the areas of accounting, finance, and management. After discussing the Enron bankruptcy from the perspectives of various stakeholders, we evaluate the implications of the Enron case and unethical managerial behavior in light of the agency and stakeholder theories. The Enron case is important for a number of reasons. It was one of the largest bankruptcy cases in U.S. business history. In 2001, it was the fifth largest company on the Fortune 500, and the market leader in energy production, distribution, and trading. Despite Enron’s rating as “the most admired company” six years in a row by Fortune magazine, many shareholders and employees experienced considerable losses. The case shows how the outside auditing firm likely cooperated with Enron’s leadership in covering up in wrongdoings in a complex network of partnerships. Meanwhile, the government agencies and investment brokers failed to catch the financial Refik Culpan is a professor of Management and International Business, and John Trussel is an associate professor of Professional Accountancy, both at the Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg.
Sudden Deaths: Taking Stock of Geographic Ties

Analysis of a worldwide sample of sudden deaths of politicians reveals a market-adjusted 1.7% decline in the value of companies headquartered in the politician's hometown. The decline in value is followed by a drop in the rate of growth in sales and access to credit. Our results are particularly pronounced for family firms, firms with high growth prospects, firms in industries over which the politician has jurisdiction, and firms headquartered in highly corrupt countries.
The impact of food inflation on urban poverty and its monetary cost : some back-of-the-envelope calculations

This paper uses a sample of 73 developing countries to estimate the change in the cost of alleviating urban poverty brought about by the recent increase in food prices. This cost is approximated by the change in the poverty deficit, that is, the variation in financial resources required to eliminate poverty under perfect targeting. The results show that, for most countries, the cost represents less than 0.1 percent of gross domestic product. However, in the most severely affected, it may exceed 3 percent. In all countries, the change in the poverty deficit is mostly due to the negative real income effect of those households that were poor before the price shock, while the cost attributable to new households falling into poverty is negligible. Thus, in countries where transfer mechanisms with effective targeting already exist, the most cost-effective strategy would be to scale up such programs rather than designing tools to identify the new poor.
Segmentation approaches that differentiate consumption frequency from sensory preference

People can eat a food without having a strong preference for it, and people can prefer a food without eating it. Given this seeming disconnect between attitude and behavior, which type of measure or segment can best be used to profile or identify loyal consumer segments of a food, such as soy? This research compares a usage-based method (heavy-light-nonusers) with a new attitude-based method (seeker-neutral-avoider), and finds that the attitude-based method differentiates purchase-related intentions better than the usage-based method. Implications for profiling consumer taste patterns and consumer segments are provided.
The Evolving Role of the United States Sentencing Commission

This essay explores the way in which the United States Sentencing Commission’s policymaking role has changed over time. The agency has gone through three different phases in terms of its role (either actual or perceived) in federal sentencing. First was the role envisioned for the Commission at its inception, which was an expert agency that would be politically insulated. This role essentially saw the Commission as an independent policymaker. While this vision of the Commission never materialized, it is important to understand this conception of the Commission to appreciate why it was set up the way it was. The second and dominant phase, which lasted roughly two decades, from 1986 until 2007, is where the Commission played a weak supporting role to the political actors who oversaw its work, with Congress largely controlling its output. This was a period characterized by politically battering by Congress. Given the political climate of the time, that meant increases in sentences but little else from the Commission. The third phase is from 2007 until today. The Commission’s role now is as a respected supplier of data and it is given more deference in its judgments. In a sense, this role combines the first two. The Commission is recognized for its expertise, but that expertise is only valuable insofar as the information it generates has political value. In a time where there is bipartisan support for rolling back some of the excesses in sentencing, that information has value where it did not before. But the Commission is still on a relatively short leash in terms of how much it can accomplish. If we want to make the most of this current role, I think there are some things we can do to improve it, and this essay offers some suggestions.
On a Fundamental Advantage of Permits Over Taxes for the Control of Pollution

We extend the tax versus permits literature by considering permit supply functions and pollution tax functions that are generalizations of the usual constant permit supply and constant pollution tax rate. In our model, pollution is not uniformly mixed and the regulator is uncertain about the polluting firms’ abatement costs. We determine the optimal permit supply functions and the optimal pollution tax functions. Using these functions, we show that permits lead unambiguously to lower total expected costs than taxes. We analyze the magnitude of this difference for a simple model of climate change. By relating the optimal permit supply functions to Weitzman (Am Econ Rev 68:683–691, 1978) we provide a new interpretation of his results.
The (Un)Compelling Interest for Underrepresented Minority Students: Enhancing the Education of White Students Underexposed to Racial Diversity

Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003, represented a refinement of constitutional compelling interests and permissible means of achieving those ends, where racial classifications are a factor in the context of higher education admissions. In Grutter, the Supreme Court held that the University of Michigan School of Law may consider an applicant’s race in its admissions decisions, to enroll a “critical mass of underrepresented minority students,” as a means “in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.” A closer reading of the compelling interest in terms of the prospective educational rewards derived from exposure to racial diversity at the Law School, is to examine which students actually stand to gain from this enhanced educational benefit. In contrast, whether a student admitted with race as a factor gains the basic benefit of access to a college or graduate education, was not the concern of the Law School’s compelling interest. The thesis of this article is that the Grutter opinion upheld a constitutional admissions program of the University of Michigan School of Law, based on constitutionally suspect reasons. While ostensibly benefiting underrepresented racial minority groups by keeping the door ajar for their admission in critical masses, the opinion objectifies qualified applicants of color, whereby their individualized value as prospective students is held to be a measure of the degree to which each can contribute to the racial diversity of a school, and the corresponding educational benefits to fellow students, by virtue of his or her presence there. Key to this analysis is the dissection of the expert report of Patricia Gurin, into its methodology and findings underpinning the Law School's case for affirmative action. Also scrutinized is the testimony at trial of officials from the Law School, which reveals a distinctly standardized perspective of benefits of racial diversity to the Law School community.
Risk‐Relevance of Fair‐Value Income Measures for Commercial Banks

We investigate the risk relevance of the standard deviation of three performance measures: net income, comprehensive income, and a constructed measure of full‐fair‐value income for a sample of 202 U.S. commercial banks from 1996 to 2004. We find that, for the average sample bank, the volatility of full‐fair‐value income is more than three times that of comprehensive income and more than five times that of net income. We find that the incremental volatility in full‐fair‐value income (beyond the volatility of net income and comprehensive income) is positively related to marketmodel beta, the standard deviation in stock returns, and long‐term interest‐rate beta. Further, we predict and find that the incremental volatility in full‐fair‐value income (1) negatively moderates the relation between abnormal earnings and banks' share prices and (2) positively affects the expected return implicit in bank share prices. Our findings suggest full‐fair‐value income volatility reflects elements of risk that are not captu...
Equity Commitment under Uncertainty: A Hierarchical Model of Real Option Entry Mode Choices

We develop a real option hierarchical model of entry mode choice and test predictions using a sample of US companies in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1980 and 2005. Probit results indicate that the choice between a real option non-equity mode and equity commitment is influenced by previous acquisition experience, R&D and advertising intensities, and country risk. The choice of the more flexible real option JV mode over WOEs is positively related to greater firm size and market-to-book ratio in countries with better infrastructure. In contrast, greater marketing intensity and lower country risk encourage WOEs.
Crucial Issues Concerning Central Bank Independence

Abstract This paper argues, first, that it is inappropriate to presume that central banks will, in the absence of any tangible precommitment technology, inevitably behave in a ‘discretionary’ fashion that implies an inflationary bias. Furthermore, there is no necessary tradeoff between ‘flexibility and commitment’. Second, to the extent that the absence of any precommitment technology is nevertheless a problem, it will apply to a consolidated central bank-plus-government entity as well as to the central bank alone. Thus, contracts between governments and central banks do not overcome the motivation for dynamic inconsistency, they merely relocate it. Several implications are discussed.
Contract Formation and the Entrenchment of Power

Conventional wisdom has it that modern contract law evolved at least in part to address problems created (or ignored) by the classical legal system. Consequently, modern contract law is different from classical contract in ways that make the current system work better than the regime it ostensibly replaced. For this to be true, however, the changes made by modern contract have to be effective in rectifying the problems engendered by the classical system. But herein lays the problem. Modern contract identified coercion in the bargaining process that produces a bad bargain as a problem serious enough to warrant a solution. The solution came in the form of “expanded” contract policing doctrines, like unconscionability, economic duress, and misrepresentation. But modern contract’s solution to the coercion/bad bargain problem has failed. Indeed, the modern system makes the coercion problem worse, because it only partially rejected classical contract, while retaining key parts of the older regime. More specifically, modern contract law leaves the core of classical contract - contract formation - completely intact. And contract formation, particularly in the doctrine of mutual assent, is where the power in contracting is created, embedded and, under modern contract law, largely immunized from effective challenge by the contract policing doctrines. Consequently, by leaving the core of contract intact, modern contract law has ensured that the expanded policing doctrines it adopted will not alleviate, let alone correct, the coercion problem. Instead, it will increase the coercive capacity of the party with superior bargaining power, particularly during contract formation, and incentivize that party to use its increased coercive capacity. So, the conventional wisdom is wrong. The differences between the classical and modern contract law systems are not the most important part of the evolutionary story. Instead, understanding the ways in which the two systems are the same is more critical in determining whether modern contract law is in fact, or will be, successful in tempering the harshest aspects of the classical contract law system.
Beyond Compensation: Using Torts to Promote Public Health

Personal injury litigation, or tort law, traditionally, has been viewed as antithetical to the goals of public health. The focus on individual compensation for injuries resulting from accidents, products, and international wrongdoing arguably does not serve the "greater good" or communitarian objectives of public health. This Article, originally presented on a January 2006 AALS Panel on Teaching Public Health In Law School, takes issue with the traditional view and will demonstrate ways that personal injury litigation and public health objectives may be complimentary and mutually reinforcing. Some areas of tort law, such as mass torts against tobacco companies, toxic polluters, gun manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and producers of dangerous chemicals, such as Agent Orange and asbestos, directly serve the public interest by sending a message to those defendants that public health and safety demand safer products. In addition, policy objectives underlying torts include not only compensating injured victims though an award of monetary damages but also loss-spreading, risk-allocation, and informal regulation of safety standards and norms. Moreover, utilitarian objectives serve the public good by addressing scarce resource allocation and assigning fault to the party best able to reduce the risk and bear the loss. The Article illustrates those points through specific examples in historical and recent case law and insight into the cultural background and judicial philosophy behind the decisions. Ultimately, the goal is to challenge traditional perceptions of, and perhaps hostility toward, tort law as undermining public health objective. Shifting readers' focus carries important policy implications for tort reform, public health regulation, and health care delivery.
Analysis of young neighborhood firms serving urban minority clients

Abstract This study empirically investigates Michael Porter's hypothesis that urban minority neighborhoods offer attractive opportunities to household-oriented businesses, such as retail firms ( 1995 ). Our analysis compares the traits and performance of firms serving predominantly minority clients to those selling their products largely to clients who are nonminority whites. Controlling statistically for applicable firm and owner characteristics, our findings indicate that the minority-neighborhood niche does not offer young firms an attractive set of opportunities. Relative to opportunities in the corresponding nonminority household niche and the broader regional marketplace, the neighborhood minority household market is associated with reduced business viability.