cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Validation of commonly used immunostains on cell-transferred cytologic specimens.

BACKGROUND Immunocytochemical staining (ICC) is often limited by the lack of cell blocks that contain diagnostic cells or by the unavailability of smear materials. The cell-transfer technique, in which original smear material is divided into several pieces and then transferred to multiple slides, can facilitate multiple ICC on limited materials. However the reliability of the staining results has not been systematically evaluated. METHODS The authors validated 21 commonly used antibodies (cytokeratin [CK] 7, CK 20, TTF-1, panCK, vimentin, HMB-45, Mart-1, leukocyte common antigen, chromogranin, synaptophysin, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, prostate-specific antigen, prostatic acid phosphatase, calretinin, CK5/6, WT-1, BerEP4, MOC-31, p63, and thyroglobulin) on the cell-transferred materials of various tumor samples (n = 20) and reactive effusion samples (n = 2). The staining results were compared with the previously available ICC results (performed either on cell block sections or on smears) of the same specimens. RESULTS One hundred pieces of transferred materials were immunostained, of which 5 (5%) were lost during the staining procedure. Of the remaining 95 pieces, 92 (97%) showed staining results that agreed with those of the previous ICC, whereas 3 (3%) showed results that disagreed. The original ICC in the latter three specimens was performed on cell block sections and showed focally positive synaptophysin staining in a sample with a neuroendocrine tumor, focally positive CK5/6 staining in a pleural effusion sample with mesothelioma, and positive TTF-1 staining in a lymph node sample with metastatic lung carcinoma. Their corresponding ICC of cell-transferred materials showed negative results. An increase in background staining was observed in 1 of the 95 tissue pieces, but no false-positive results were observed. CONCLUSIONS In general, ICC can be reliably performed on cell-transferred tissue specimens for markers tested. However, caution should be taken when interpreting ICC results in tissue specimens with limited cellularity and heavy background staining. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.
Vanadium-catalyzed deoxydehydration of glycols

A survey of several metavandate (VO3−) and chelated dioxovanadium derivatives shows that tetrabutylammonium dioxovanadium(V)dipicolinate most effectively catalyzes the deoxydehydration (DODH) of glycols to olefins in moderate to excellent yields with triphenylphosphine or sodium sulfite as reductants.
Analysis of helical waveguide

The dispersion characteristics of the large-diameter helical waveguide are calculated using Pierce's small-signal theory. The backward wave oscillation poses a serious problem for the development of this circuit as a broad-band high-gain amplifier. The gain of the backward waves is in general higher than the gain of the forward waves. For the first space harmonic (m = 1) mode, the forward and the backward wave gains are, respectively, 2.17 and 2.24 dB/cm. The bandwidth is 40 percent for a total gain of 30 dB if the backward waves are ignored. The onset of the backward wave oscillation limits the bandwidth to 5 percent for such high gain. The threshold interaction length for the onset of oscillation is also calculated. If the oscillations are not suppressed, the total gain of the circuit is limited to about 12 dB. At this low gain, the bandwidth can be as high as 57 percent. The device performs better with the low-order space-harmonic modes. Not only are the gain and the bandwidth larger for the low-order modes, but the ratio of the backward to forward wave gains and the number of backward waves excited are also smaller.
Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the U.S. Steel Industry ∗

We measure the impact of a drastic new technology for producing steel—the minimill—on industry-wide productivity in the US steel industry, using unique plant-level data between 1963 and 2002. The sharp increase in the industry’s productivity is linked to this new technology through two distinct mechanisms: (i ) the mere displacement of the older technology (vertically integrated producers) was responsible for a third of the increase in the industry’s productivity, and (ii ) increased competition, due the minimill expansion, drove a productivity resurgence at the surviving vertical integrated producers and, consequently, the productivity of the industry as a whole. (JEL D24, L13, L23, L61, M11, O31, O33)
E+A Galaxies with Blue Cores: Active Galaxies in Transition

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS images reveal blue cores in four E+A, or post-starburst, galaxies. Follow-up spectroscopy shows that these cores have LINER spectra. The existence of LINERs, consistent with those in many elliptical galaxies, is yet one more piece of evidence that these postmerger, post-starburst, bulge-dominated galaxies will evolve into normal elliptical galaxies. More interestingly, if LINERs are powered by low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs), their presence in these E+A's suggests that any rapid growth phase of the central black hole ended in rough concert with the cessation of star formation. This result emphasizes the importance of E+A's for exploring how the evolution of black holes and AGNs may be tied to that of galactic bulges.
Big bang nucleosynthesis in the new cosmology

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) describes the production of the lightest elements in the first minutes of cosmic time. We review the physics of cosmological element production, and the observations of the primordial element abundances. The comparison between theory and observation has heretofore provided our earliest probe of the universe, and given the best measure of the cosmic baryon content. However, BBN has now taken a new role in cosmology, in light of new precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Recent CMB anisotropy data yield a wealth of cosmological parameters; in particular, the baryon-to-photon ratio η = n B/n γ is measured to high precision. The confrontation between the BBN and CMB “baryometers” poses a new and stringent test of the standard cosmology; the status of this test is discussed. Moreover, it is now possible to recast the role of BBN by using the CMB to fix the baryon density and even some light element abundances. This strategy sharpens BBN into a more powerful probe of early universe physics, and of galactic nucleosynthesis processes. The impact of the CMB results on particle physics beyond the Standard Model, and on non-standard cosmology, are illustrated. Prospects for improvement of these bounds via additional astronomical observations and nuclear experiments are discussed, as is the lingering “lithium problem.”
Evolving Patterns of North American Merchandise Trade and Foreign Direct Investment, 1960–1990

HIS paper is intended to be an in-depth empirical analysis of the salient changes that have taken place in the commodity and geographic structure of North American merchandise trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the three decades spanning 1960-1990. We will highlight the important changes that may be observed in the data and identify, in so far as possible, some of the key considerations that may help to explain these changes. Our hope is that our data presentation and analysis can provide some perspective on the economic consequences of the Canada-US Trade Agreement (CUSTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and other trading arrangements. We begin with the presentation and discussion of the changes in the commodity and geographic structure of North American merchandise trade. The changes in FDI are covered in Section 3, and the conclusions and implications follow in Section 4.
The impact of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme on US aviation

Abstract We estimate the economic impacts on US airlines that may arise from the inclusion of aviation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme from 2012 to 2020. We find that the Scheme would only have a small impact on US airlines and emissions, and that aviation operations would continue to grow. If carriers pass on all additional costs, including the opportunity costs associated with free allowances, to consumers, profits for US carriers will increase. Windfall gains from free allowances may be substantial because, under current allocation rules, airlines would only have to purchase about a third of the required allowances. However, an increase in the proportion of allowances auctioned would reduce windfall gains and profits for US airlines may decline.
BANKING RELATIONSHIPS AND THE EFFECT OF MONITORING ON LOAN PRICING

In a sample of bank loans to small firms we find a positive relation between the bank's monitoring effort and the loan's interest rate. We also observe an inverse relation between the closeness of banking relationships and interest rates. Further, we see that banks less frequently monitor firms with whom they have closer relationships. We conclude that banking relationships are valuable because firms can significantly reduce their costs of capital by establishing and maintaining close ties to a particular bank. As firms successfully complete loan transactions with banks, banks monitor them less frequently and, ultimately, charge them lower interest rates.
Recent fermilab results on hadroproduction of heavy flavors

Recent results from various Fermilab experiments on the hadroproduction of states containing charm, bottom, and top quarks are discussed. These include observation of the spectra, lifetimes, and production characteristics of charmonium, open charm states, and bottom particle production with both high-energy fixed target and\(\bar p - p\) collider facilities. The status of the search for the top quark by the Fermilab collider experiments is updated.
Effect of uniaxial stress on the superconducting transition temperature of monocrystalline Nb3Sn

Abstract Measurements have been made of the stress dependence of the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of single crystals of Nb3Sn oriented in the (001) direction. The magnitude of the stress dependence of Tc is about 1,000 times larger than that generally observed for elemental superconductors. The results further imply that below the tetragonal transformation temperature (Tm), the crystal consists of tetragonal domains with variable orientation of the c axis and that the domain configuration and Tc depend on the applied stress at Tm.
Transient analysis of packed-bed thermal storage systems☆

Abstract A one-dimensional single-phase conductivity model of packed beds in which air and rock are at the same temperature is used to develop closed-form analytical solutions for the transient responses produced by time-varying air inlet temperatures. In particular, the single-blow or step response of this simple conductivity model is compared with the classical Schumann two-phase model which ignores axial conductivity. The close agreement exhibited at sufficiently large time justifies the development of approximate equivalent models that combine the effects of air rock heat transfer and axial conductivity.
Evaluation of Features Detectors and Descriptors based on 3D Objects

We explore the performance of a number of popular feature detectors and descriptors in matching 3D object features across viewpoints and lighting conditions. To this end we design a method, based on intersecting epipolar constraints, for providing ground truth correspondence automatically. These correspondences are based purely on geometric information, and do not rely on the choice of a specific feature appearance descriptor. We test detector-descriptor combinations on a database of 100 objects viewed from 144 calibrated viewpoints under three different lighting conditions. We find that the combination of Hessian-affine feature finder and SIFT features is most robust to viewpoint change. Harris-affine combined with SIFT and Hessian-affine combined with shape context descriptors were best respectively for lighting change and change in camera focal length. We also find that no detector-descriptor combination performs well with viewpoint changes of more than 25---30?.
Large / complex antenna performance validation for spaceborne radar / radiometeric instruments

Over the past decade, Earth observing missions which employ spaceborne combined radar & radiometric instruments have been developed and implemented. These instruments include the use of large and complex deployable antennas whose radiation characteristics need to be accurately determined over 4p steradians. Given the size and complexity of these antennas, the performance of the flight units cannot be readily measured. In addition, the radiation performance is impacted by the presence of the instrument's service platform which cannot easily be included in any measurement campaign. In order to meet the system performance knowledge requirements, a two pronged approach has been employed. The first is to use modeling tools to characterize the system and the second is to build a scale model of the system and use RF measurements to validate the results of the modeling tools. This paper demonstrates the resulting level of agreement between scale model and numerical modeling for two recent missions: (1) the earlier Aquarius instrument currently in Earth orbit and (2) the upcoming Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. The results from two modeling approaches, Ansoft's High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) and TICRA's General RF Applications Software Package (GRASP), were compared with measurements of ~1/10th scale models of the Aquarius and SMAP systems. Generally good agreement was found between the three methods but each approach had its shortcomings as will be detailed in this paper.
The Cosmological Constant and Volume-Preserving Diffeomorphism Invariants

Abstract Observables in the quantum field theories of (D − 1)-form fields, A , on D-dimensional, compact and orientable manifolds, M, are computed. Computations of the vacuum value of the energy-momentum tensor, 〈Tab〉, on manifolds without boundaries, find it to be the metric times a function of the volume of spacetime, Ω(M). Whereas, on manifolds with boundaries, 〈Tab〉 is of the form due to a cosmological constant. The correlation functions of another set of operators give intersection numbers on M. Furthermore, a similar computation for products of Wilson area operators results in a function of the volumes of the intersections of the submanifolds the operators are defined on. In addition, scalar field couplings are introduced and potentials are induced after integrating out the A -field. Lastly, the thermodynamics of the pure theories is found to be analogous to the zero-point motion of a scalar particle.
Legislative organization and congressional review of agency regulations

Although researchers have demonstrated that legislators possess a variety of instruments with which to limit bureaucratic discretion, it is not clear to what extent these instruments are used by legislators whose preferences are representative of chamber majorities. This article examines the role that committee membership, preferences, and other factors play in legislators' use of congressional review, a new instrument through which agency regulations can be nullified by joint resolutions of disapproval. It uses logistic regression to demonstrate that in the 105th House of Representatives, legislators were more likely to seek to disapprove agency regulations the greater the divergence of their preferences from the median member of the committee of jurisdiction. Committee membership, however, did not affect the use of congressional review. These results, which diverge from previous research in several respects, underscore that it is not yet possible to draw definitive conclusions about the connection between the organization of Congress and legislative-executive relations that hold across policy areas and instruments of political control. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.
Effects of Sweepback on Unsteady Separation in Mach 5 Compression Ramp Interactions

Fluctuating wall pressure measurements have been made upstream of the corner line in Mach 5 compression ramp interactions generated by unswept and 10-, 20-, 25-, 30-, 40-, and 50-deg swept models. The streamwise ramp angle was 28 deg in all cases. The results show the following: 1) In highly swept interactions the rms distributions of pressure fluctuations as well as the mean distributions are essentially quasiconically symmetric. The rms levels decrease globally with increasing sweep as does the maximum rms generated by the translating separation shock. 2) The length of the intermittent region, over which the separation shock foot translates, decreases with increasing sweep. In a given interaction, the length of the intermittent region grows spanwise. 3) Dominant separation shock frequencies increase from about 0.3-0.5 kHz in unswept flows to about 2-7 kHz in highly swept flows. In a given interaction, shock frequencies decrease spanwise. 4) The higher frequencies are shown to be a direct result of the decrease in the length scale of the separation shock motion.
Multiaxial and Thermomechanical Fatigue of Materials: A Historical Perspective and Some Future Challenges

Many engineering components in aircraft gas turbine engines, reusable space propulsion systems, and automotive engines must endure cyclic mechanical forces and deformations in multiple directions and non-isothermal conditions. For the design and safety of such engineering components, durability needs to be estimated with robust multiaxial fatigue life prediction models that are validated under such non-isothermal conditions. In this paper, a historical review is presented on the evolution of uniaxial fatigue (thermal, isothermal, bithermal, and thermomechanical) and isothermal, multiaxial fatigue leading to multiaxial, thermomechanical fatigue with several examples on testing techniques and fatigue life prediction methodologies. The necessity for multiaxial, thermomechanical fatigue testing of structural and engine materials, additional cyclic hardening and reduction in fatigue life observed under such service conditions, and ramifications of estimating multiaxial, thermomechanical fatigue life with isothermal multiaxial fatigue data at the greatest temperature of the cycle are discussed. Finally, some of the potential future challenges associated with experimental characterization of materials and fatigue life estimation under these complex but realistic service conditions are highlighted.
Nagata compactification for algebraic spaces

We prove the Nagata compactification theorem for any separated map of finite type between quasi-compact and quasi-separated algebraic spaces, generalizing earlier results of Raoult. Along the way we also prove (and use) absolute noetherian approximation for such algebraic spaces, generalizing earlier results in the case of schemes.
Elinor Wylie: The glass chimaera and the minotaur

The poet-novelist Elinor Wylie (1885-1928) shows a marked preference for certain imagery: she loves figurines and other beautiful objects made from gems, porcelain, ivory, Venetian glass, and especially crystal, her symbol of purity. Her fondness for these treasures has affected --perhaps distorted--not only her literary reputation, but the world's image of her personality. The essay "Jewelled Bindings" (1923) states her artistic credo in terms of this predilection. She likens most contemporary poets, including herself, to "careful lapidaries," all busy inlaying their work with moonstones and blue chalcedonies; they Work "in metal and glass, in substances hard and brittle." For a minor poet, she reasons, this tendency is preferable to being "soft and opulently luscious." She and her confreres, cultivating "a small clean technique," contrive each poem like a musical snuff-box: two or three polished stanzas make "a small jewelled receptacle" for a gilded bird. "Our work," she adds, "is notoriously brittle, and I have no fear that its forms will ever imprison an authentic genius." If she dared suspect that her own bird was a live eagle or a nightingale, she would let him out of the snuff-box. A writer, like any other person, is accepted largely upon his own estimate of himself. With "Jewelled Bindings" efore him, a critic might be disposed to see Elinor Wylie as "a hard, jewellike nature, [which] reflected the world coldly and glitteringly," as if all were "snow and ice, metallic and gleaming"; her artistry as "a sword, intricately carved, magnificently polished, and terribly effective"; her woman's form as cold, though within it "burned a high, proud heart, and a rebellious spirit beat itself into concentrated and exquisitely finished poetry." This account of her, drawing somewhat upon Louis Untermeyer's Modern American Poetry (1925), appeared in a widely adopted textbook, Contemporary American Literature (1929), by John Matthews Manly and Edith Rickert. Subsequent critics have tended to use the same adjectives. But even a reader without preconceptions will soon see for himself that
Hill's small systems nanothermodynamics: a simple macromolecular partition problem with a statistical perspective.

Using a simple example of biological macromolecules which are partitioned between bulk solution and membrane, we investigate T.L. Hill’s phenomenological nanothermodynamics for small systems. By introducing a system size-dependent equilibrium constant for the bulk-membrane partition, we obtain Hill’s results on differential and integral chemical potentials μ and $\hat{\mu}$ from computations based on standard Gibbsian equilibrium statistical mechanics. It is shown that their difference can be understood from an equilibrium re-partitioning between bulk and membrane fractions upon a change in the system’s size; it is closely related to the system’s fluctuations and inhomogeneity. These results provide a better understanding of nanothermodynamics and clarify its logical relation with the theory of statistical mechanics.
On SIC-POVMs in prime dimensions

The generalized Pauli group and its normalizer, the Clifford group, have a rich mathematical structure which is relevant to the problem of constructing symmetric informationally complete POVMs (SIC-POVMs). To date, almost every known SIC-POVM fiducial vector is an eigenstate of a 'canonical' unitary in the Clifford group. I show that every canonical unitary in prime dimensions p > 3 lies in the same conjugacy class of the Clifford group and give a class representative for all such dimensions. It follows that if even one such SIC-POVM fiducial vector is an eigenvector of such a unitary, then all of them are (for a given such dimension). I also conjecture that in all dimensions d, the number of conjugacy classes is bounded above by 3 and depends only on dmod9, and I support this claim with computer computations in all dimensions <48.
Development and application of a new general method for the asymmetric synthesis of syn- and anti-1,3-amino alcohols.

A general method is described for asymmetric synthesis of both syn- and anti-1,3-amino alcohols. The first application of metalloenamines derived from N-sulfinyl imines is reported for the highly diastereoselective addition to aldehydes. The reduction of the product β-hydroxy N-sulfinyl imines 2 with catecholborane and LiBHEt3 provides syn- and anti-1,3-amino alcohols with very high diastereomeric ratios. This method was found to be effective for a variety of substrates incorporating either aromatic or various aliphatic substituents. The convergent and efficient asymmetric syntheses of the two natural products, (−)-8-epihalosaline and (−)-halosaline, were also accomplished.
ARE PLANETARY SYSTEMS FILLED TO CAPACITY? A STUDY BASED ON KEPLER RESULTS

We used a sample of Kepler candidate planets with orbital periods less than 200 days and radii between 1.5 and 30 Earth radii (R ⊕) to determine the typical dynamical spacing of neighboring planets. To derive the intrinsic (i.e., free of observational bias) dynamical spacing of neighboring planets, we generated populations of planetary systems following various dynamical spacing distributions, subjected them to synthetic observations by the Kepler spacecraft, and compared the properties of observed planets in our simulations with actual Kepler detections. We found that, on average, neighboring planets are spaced 21.7 mutual Hill radii apart with a standard deviation of 9.5. This dynamical spacing distribution is consistent with that of adjacent planets in the solar system. To test the packed planetary systems hypothesis, the idea that all planetary systems are dynamically packed or filled to capacity, we determined the fraction of systems that are dynamically packed by performing long-term (108 years) numerical simulations. In each simulation, we integrated a system with planets spaced according to our best-fit dynamical spacing distribution but containing an additional planet on an intermediate orbit. The fraction of simulations exhibiting signs of instability provides an approximate lower bound on the fraction of systems that are dynamically packed; we found that ≥31%, ≥35%, and ≥45% of two-planet, three-planet, and four-planet systems are dynamically packed, respectively. Such sizeable fractions suggest that many planetary systems are indeed filled to capacity. This feature of planetary systems is another profound constraint that formation and evolution models must satisfy.
Efficiently estimating the error distribution in nonparametric regression with responses missing at random

This article considers nonparametric regression models with multivariate covariates and with responses missing at random. We estimate the regression function with a local polynomial smoother. The residual-based empirical distribution function that only uses complete cases, i.e. residuals that can actually be constructed from the data, is shown to be efficient in the sense of Hajek and Le Cam. In the proofs we derive, more generally, the efficient influence function for estimating an arbitrary linear functional of the error distribution; this covers the distribution function as a special case. We also show that the complete case residual-based empirical distribution function admits a functional central limit theorem. This is done by applying the transfer principle for complete case statistics developed by Koul et al. [(2012), ‘The Transfer Principle: a Tool for Complete Case Analysis’, Annals of Statistics, 40, 3031–3049], which makes it possible to adapt known results for fully observed data to the missin...
Synthesis of star-shaped polystyrenes via nitroxide-mediated stable free-radical polymerization

High molecular weight star-shaped polystyrenes were prepared via the coupling of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) terminated polystyrene oligomers with divinylbenzene (DVB) in m-xylene at 138 °C. The optimum ratio of the coupling solvent (m-xylene) to divinylbenzene was determined to be 9 to 1 based on volume. Linear polystyrene oligomers (M n = 19,300 g/mol, M w /M n = 1.10) were prepared in bulk styrene using benzoyl peroxide in the presence of TEMPO at approximately 130 °C under an inert atmosphere. Coupling of the TEMPO-terminated oligomers under optimum conditions resulted in a product with a number average molecular weight exceeding 300,000 g/mol (M w /M n = 3.03) after 24 h, suggesting the formation of relatively well-defined star-shaped polymers. Additionally, the intrinsic viscosities of the star-shaped products were lower than calculated values for linear analogs of equivalent molecular weight, which further supported the formation of a star-shaped architecture.
Effects of fiber nonlinearities in lightwave communication systems

It is well known that the information capacity of a lightwave communication system is ultimately limited by the nonlinear interactions between the information signals and the fiber medium. These optical non-linear interactions can lead to interference, distortion, and attenuation of the signals, resulting in system degradation. There are four types of non-linear interactions in optical fibers. (1) stimulated Raman scattering (SRS); (2) stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS); (3) self-and cross phase modulation (SPM and CPM), and (4) four-photon mixing (FPM). These nonlinear effects degrade both the single channel and multichannel systems in different ways. The SBS and FPM effects depend on the signal modulation format and detection schemes (direct or coherent) respectively and whereas the SPM and CPM effects are of concern in angle modulated systems. The effects of SRS, CPM, and FPM induce interchannel crosstalk in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems and affects the system capacity. In this paper, the effects of nonlinearities in lightwave communication systems are reviewed with the emphasis on recent developments. Additionally, techniques to minimize the effects of nonlinearities are discussed.
CALIBRATION OF EQUILIBRIUM TIDE THEORY FOR EXTRASOLAR PLANET SYSTEMS. II

We present a new empirical calibration of equilibrium tidal theory for extrasolar planet systems, extending a prior study by incorporating detailed physical models for the internal structure of planets and host stars. The resulting strength of the stellar tide produces a coupling that is strong enough to reorient the spins of some host stars without causing catastrophic orbital evolution, thereby potentially explaining the observed trend in alignment between stellar spin and planetary orbital angular momentum. By isolating the sample whose spins should not have been altered in this model, we also show evidence for two different processes that contribute to the population of planets with short orbital periods. We apply our results to estimate the remaining lifetimes for short-period planets, examine the survival of planets around evolving stars, and determine the limits for circularization of planets with highly eccentric orbits. Our analysis suggests that the survival of circularized planets is strongly affected by the amount of heat dissipated, which is often large enough to lead to runaway orbital inflation and Roche lobe overflow.
The Average Temporal and Spectral Evolution of Gamma-Ray Bursts

We have averaged bright BATSE bursts to uncover the average overall temporal and spectral evolution of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We align the temporal structure of each burst by setting its duration to a standard duration, which we call TDur. The observed average "aligned TDur" profile for 32 bright bursts with intermediate durations (16-40 s) has a sharp rise (within the first 20% of TDur) and then a linear decay. Exponentials and power laws do not fit this decay. In particular, the power law seen in the X-ray afterglow (∝T -1.4) is not observed during the bursts, implying that the X-ray afterglow is not just an extension of the average temporal evolution seen during the gamma-ray phase. The average burst spectrum has a low-energy slope of -1.03, a high-energy slope of -3.31, and a peak in the νFν distribution at 390 keV. We determine the average spectral evolution. Remarkably, it is also a linear function, with the peak of the νFν distribution given by ~680-600(T/TDur) keV. Since both the temporal profile and the peak energy are linear functions, on average, the peak energy is linearly proportional to the intensity. This behavior is inconsistent with the external shock model. The observed temporal and spectral evolution is also inconsistent with that expected from variations in just a Lorentz factor. Previously, trends have been reported for GRB evolution, but our results are quantitative relationships that models should attempt to explain.
BENT-DOUBLE RADIO SOURCES AS PROBES OF INTERGALACTIC GAS

As the most common environment in the universe, groups of galaxies are likely to contain a significant fraction of the missing baryons in the form of intergalactic gas. The density of this gas is an important factor in whether ram pressure stripping and strangulation affect the evolution of galaxies in these systems. We present a method for measuring the density of intergalactic gas using bent-double radio sources that is independent of temperature, making it complementary to current absorption-line measurements. We use this method to probe intergalactic gas in two different environments, inside a small group of galaxies as well as outside of a larger group at a 2 Mpc radius, and measure total gas densities of 4 ± 1+6−2 × 10−3 cm−3 and 9 ± 3+10−5 × 10−4 cm−3 (random and systematic errors), respectively. We use X-ray data to place an upper limit of 2 × 106 K on the temperature of the intragroup gas in the small group.
Homotopical intersection theory, II: equivariance

This paper is a sequel to (Klein and Williams in Geom Topol 11:939–977, 2007). We develop here an intersection theory for manifolds equipped with an action of a finite group. As in Klein and Williams (2007), our approach will be homotopy theoretic, enabling us to circumvent the specter of equivariant transversality. We give applications of our theory to embedding problems, equivariant fixed point problems and the study of periodic points of self maps.
Convex covers of symmetric games

We consider a multi-player, cooperative, transferable-utility, symmetric game (N, v) and associated convex covers, i.e., convex games (N, v) such thatv≥ v. A convex cover isefficient iffv(∅)=v(∅) andv(N)=v(N); andminimal iff there is no convex coverv ≠ v such thatv ≤ v. Efficient and minimal convex covers are closely related to the core of (N, v); in fact, extreme points of the core are shown to correspond to efficient convex covers which are minimal and extreme. A necessary and sufficient condition is provided for minimality, and another for extremity. Construction of convex covers and a form of decomposition are treated in detail, and some useful properties are identified which may be recognized in terms of visibility of points on a graph of (N, v) and other elementary concepts.
Psychiatric evaluation of mental capacity in the general hospital: a significant teaching opportunity

Background Requests for evaluation of mental capacity in general hospitals have increased in frequency. Objective The authors sought to determine the interventions required to respond adequately and assess the initiating circumstances. Method Questionnaires completed by psychiatric consultants were analyzed, and chart reviews were completed. Results Capacity evaluation alone resolved 32% of the requests; 31% required an evaluation plus additional interventions; 37% did not require a capacity evaluation. Patients threatening to leave against advice, and/or refusing treatments or procedures represented 64% of requests. Consultants successfully resolved 88% of such cases. Conclusion A mental capacity evaluation alone was insufficient to resolve two-thirds of problems eliciting requests. Consultation–liaison psychiatrists can use these evaluations as teaching opportunities.
Minimal models with integrable local defects

We describe a general way of constructing integrable defect theories as perturbations of conformal field theory by local defect operators. The method relies on folding the system onto a boundary field theory of twice the central charge. The classification of integrable defect theories obtained in this way parallels that of integrable bulk theories which are a perturbation of the tensor product of two conformal field theories. These include local defect perturbations of all c < 1 minimal models, as well as of the coset theories based on SO(2n), obtained in this way. We discuss in detail the former case of all the Virasoro minimal models. In the Ising case our construction corresponds to having a spin field as a defect operator; in the folded formulation this is mapped onto an orbifolding of the boundary sine-Gordon theory at β2/8π = 18, or a version of the anisotropic Kondo model.
Branes at orbifolded conifold singularities and supersymmetric gauge field theories

We consider D3 branes at orbifolded conifold singularities which are not quotient singularities. We use toric geometry to study the moduli space of the gauge theories on the D3 branes. We find that topologically distinct phases are related by a flop transition. It is also shown how the conifold singularity is partially solved to an orbifold singularity in some phases if we give expectation values to some of the chiral fields.
Cosmic Ray Accelerators in the Large Magellanic Cloud

I point out a correlation between the ~100 MeV-10 GeV gamma-ray emissivity and the historical star formation rate (SFR) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) ~12.5 Myr ago. This correlation bolsters the view that cosmic rays (CRs) in the LMC may be accelerated by conglomerations of supernova remnants (i.e., superbubbles), although it cannot yet be ruled out that other objects—also residing in such high SFR regions—may be responsible for accelerating the particles: indeed, most energetic objects capable of accelerating CRs are expected to reside in high SFR regions.
Chameleon: A Color-Adaptive Web Browser for Mobile OLED Displays

Displays based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology are appearing on many mobile devices. Unlike liquid crystal displays (LCD), OLED displays consume dramatically different power for showing different colors. In particular, OLED displays are inefficient for showing bright colors. This has made them undesirable for mobile devices because much of the web content is of bright colors. To tackle this problem, we present the motivational studies, design, and realization of Chameleon, a color adaptive web browser that renders webpages with power-optimized color schemes under user-supplied constraints. Driven by the findings from our motivational studies, Chameleon provides end users with important options, offloads tasks that are not absolutely needed in real time, and accomplishes real-time tasks by carefully enhancing the codebase of a browser engine. According to measurements with OLED smartphones, Chameleon is able to reduce average system power consumption for web browsing by 41 percent and is able to reduce display power consumption by 64 percent without introducing any noticeable delay.
A simple FIFO-based scheme for differentiated loss guarantees

Today's Internet carries traffic from a broad range of applications with different requirements. This has stressed its original, one-class, best-effort model, and has been a major driver of the many efforts aimed at introducing QoS. These efforts have, however, been met with only limited success, in part because the complexity they add is often at odds with the scalability requirements of the Internet. This has motivated many investigations for solutions that offer a better trade-off between service differentiation and complexity. This paper shares similar goals and proposes a simple scheme, Bounded Random Drop (BRD), that supports multiple service classes and is implemented using a single FIFO queue and a basic random dropping mechanism. BRD focuses on loss differentiation, as although losses and delay are both important, the steady rise of Internet link speeds is progressively limiting the impact of delay differentiation. It offers strong loss differentiation capabilities, and does not require traffic profiles or admission controls. BRD guarantees each class losses that, when feasible, are no worse than a specified bound, while enforcing differentiation only when required to meet those bounds. The performance of BRD is investigated for a broad range of traffic mixes and shown to consistently achieve its design goals.
Consistent computation of first- and second-order differential quantities for surface meshes

Differential quantities, including normals, curvatures, principal directions, and associated matrices, play a fundamental role in geometric processing and physics-based modeling. Computing these differential quantities consistently on surface meshes is important and challenging, and some existing methods often produce inconsistent results and require ad hoc fixes. In this paper, we show that the computation of the gradient and Hessian of a height function provides the foundation for consistently computing the differential quantities. We derive simple, explicit formulas for the transformations between the first- and second-order differential quantities (i.e., normal vector and curvature matrix) of a smooth surface and the first- and second-order derivatives (i.e., gradient and Hessian) of its corresponding height function. We then investigate a general, flexible numerical framework to estimate the derivatives of the height function based on local polynomial fittings formulated as weighted least squares approximations. We also propose an iterative fitting scheme to improve accuracy. This framework generalizes polynomial fitting and addresses some of its accuracy and stability issues, as demonstrated by our theoretical analysis as well as experimental results.
Tight Bounds for Learning a Mixture of Two Gaussians

We consider the problem of identifying the parameters of an unknown mixture of two arbitrary d-dimensional gaussians from a sequence of independent random samples. Our main results are upper and lower bounds giving a computationally efficient moment-based estimator with an optimal convergence rate, thus resolving a problem introduced by Pearson (1894). Denoting by σ2 the variance of the unknown mixture, we prove that Θ(σ12) samples are necessary and sufficient to estimate each parameter up to constant additive error when d=1. Our upper bound extends to arbitrary dimension d>1 up to a (provably necessary) logarithmic loss in d using a novel---yet simple---dimensionality reduction technique. We further identify several interesting special cases where the sample complexity is notably smaller than our optimal worst-case bound. For instance, if the means of the two components are separated by Ω(σ) the sample complexity reduces to O(σ2) and this is again optimal.Our results also apply to learning each component of the mixture up to small error in total variation distance, where our algorithm gives strong improvements in sample complexity over previous work.
Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf

This article is reprinted by kind permission of the author.It first appeared on the eve of the first Gulf War in 1991. Metaphors can kill. The discourse over whether we should go to war in the Gulf is a panorama of metaphor. Secretary of State Baker sees Saddam as ‘sitting on our economic lifeline’. President Bush sees him as having a ‘stranglehold’ on our economy. General Schwartzkopf characterizes the occupation of Kuwait as a ‘rape’ that is ongoing. The President says that the US is in the Gulf to ‘protect freedom, protect our future, and protect the innocent’, and that we must ‘push Saddam Hussein back’. Saddam is seen as Hitler. It is vital, literally vital, to understand just what role metaphorical thought is playing in bringing us to the brink of war. Metaphorical thought, in itself, is neither good nor bad; it is simply commonplace and inescapable. Abstractions and enormously complex situations are routinely understood via metaphor. Indeed, there is an extensive, and mostly unconscious, system of metaphor that we use automatically and unreflectively to understand complexities and abstractions. Part of this system is devoted to understanding international relations and war. We now know enough about this system to have an idea of how it functions. The metaphorical understanding of a situation functions in two parts. First, there is a widespread, relatively fixed set of metaphors that structure how we think. For example, a decision to go to war might be seen as a form of cost-benefit analysis, where war is justified when the costs of going to war are less than the costs of not going to war. Second, there is a set of metaphorical definitions that allow one to apply such a metaphor to a particular situation. In this case, there must be a definition of ‘cost’, including a means of comparing relative ‘costs’. The use of a metaphor with a set of definitions becomes pernicious when it hides realities in a harmful way. It is important to distinguish what is metaphorical from what is not. Pain, dismemberment, death, starvation, and the death and injury of loved ones are not metaphorical. They are real and in a war, they could afflict tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of real human beings, whether Iraqi, Kuwaiti, or American.
Nuclear power and weapons proliferation — The thin link

“Proliferation” — the current shorthand buzzword which describes the potential international spread of the production capability for nuclear weapons — has been a matter of national concern in the US since the closing days of World War II. But this recently-popularized concern now appears to be causing a reversal of a quarter century of US policy regarding the best means of preventing proliferation. Stimulated by the last presidential campaign, the US has been moving toward prohibiting, or severely restricting, domestic use of the civilian fuel cycle including plutonium reprocessing and postponing consequently the US breeder reactor option. This is being advocated on the ground that, if the US foregoes civilian reprocessing and use of plutonium and delays the breeder, other countries — energy-hungry though they may be — will voluntarily deprive themselves of the full benefit of nuclear energy to follow our “moral leadership.”
Feedforward controller design by eigenvalue assignment

Active feedforward control algorithms have proved to be successful in the attenuation of stationary disturbances such as single, multiple frequencies, and random inputs. In feedforward control, the mean square value of a measurable response quantity induced by the disturbance input is minimized by coherent ‘‘secondary’’ control inputs. The traditional design procedure is to choose the location/number of control forces and error sensors upon a physical understanding of the response of the uncontrolled and controlled systems. Thus an analytical design procedure for feedforward controlled systems is nonexistent in contrast to feedback control where pole allocation, optimal control, etc. are extensively used. Recent analytical work has demonstrated that feedforward controlled systems have new eigenproperties. The controlled eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are only functions of the control input location and the error quantity to be minimized. Here, a design methodology for feedforward controllers is presented ...
Pd-Catalyzed Semmler–Wolff Reactions for the Conversion of Substituted Cyclohexenone Oximes to Primary Anilines

Homogeneous Pd catalysts have been identified for the conversion of cyclohexenone and tetralone O-pivaloyl oximes to the corresponding primary anilines and 1-aminonaphthalenes. This method is inspired by the Semmler-Wolff reaction, a classic method that exhibits limited synthetic utility owing to its forcing conditions, narrow scope, and low product yields. The oxime N-O bond undergoes oxidative addition to Pd(0)(PCy3)2, and the product of this step has been characterized by X-ray crystallography and shown to undergo dehydrogenation to afford the aniline product.
An upper limit on the neutrino rest mass

It is pointed out that the measurement of the deceleration parameter by Sandage (1972) implies an upper limit of a few tens of electron volts on the sum of the masses of all the possible light, stable particles that interact only weakly. In the discussion of the problem, it is assumed that the universe is expanding from an initially hot and condensed state as envisaged in the 'big-bang' theories.