cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Time to build and aggregate fluctuations

Abstract This paper studies the contribution of time to build to the explanation of business-cycle phenomena. Using a simple version of the neoclassical model, the analysis shows that it is not evident that multiperiod construction is crucial to the theory of fluctuations.
State of The Art Unit Root Tests and Purchasing Power Parity

Although the question of whether Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) holds in the long run has been extensively studied, the answer is still controversial. Some of the strongest evidence is provided by Taylor (The Review of Economics and Statistics 84[[2002] 139-150), who concludes that long-run PPP held over the 20th century. We argue that this conclusion is quite sensitive to the use of sub-optimal lag selection in unit root tests. Using superior lag selection methods, we find that long-run PPP held for the real exchange rates of only 9 out of the 16 industrialized countries in Taylor's sample with the U.S. dollar as the base currency.
Dehydrocyclooctatetraene. Photoelectron Spectroscopy of the C8H6 Anion

The photoelectron spectrum of the dehydrocyclooctatetraene negative ion, C8H6-, is reported. The spectrum strongly resembles that previously reported for the cyclooctatetraene anion, indicating that the structure of C8H6- is very similar to that of C8H8-. Two electronic states of dehydrocyclooctatetraene are observed in the photoelectron spectrum. The lowest energy feature is assigned to singlet 1,3,5-cyclooctatrien-7-yne, while the higher energy band corresponds to a triplet state of dehydrocyclooctatetraene. The electron affinity of C8H6 is found to be 1.044 ± 0.008 eV, and the energy difference between the singlet and triplet states is 0.708 ± 0.006 eV. Vibrational activity is observed in the photoelectron spectrum and assigned using a simple potential energy surface. Stretching of the triple bond in cyclooctatrienyne is found to have a frequency of 2185 cm-1, essentially what is expected for a triple bond within an eight-membered ring. Ab initio and density functional molecular orbital calculations on...
Specific Experience, Household Structure, and Intergenerational Transfers: Farm Family Land and Labor Arrangements in Developing Countries

Data from Indian rural household survey was used to test th hypothesis that the coexistence in traditional rural societies of extended intergenerational families infrequent land sales and high reliance on family members as farm laborers is the result of the economic advantages which accrue from the knowledge gained by farming a particular ploy of land over a long period of time. The land specific experience of elderly members of a intergenerational household who farmed the land as a child and then as an adult are expecially critical in adverse weather years. Most previous investigators attributed the existence of multigenerational households the use of family members rather than hired laboreds and the infrequency of land sales to deficiencies in the market i.e. labor market imperfections and an absence of capital insurance and asset markets. In the present investigations these same characteristics are viewed as having an economic advantages. A model for estimating the contribution of the experience of the elderly household members to agricultural profits was developed and applied to data from a 3-year panel study of 2900 Indian rural farm households. The data was collected between 1968-71 by the National Council of Applied Economic Research. The survey collected information on farm profits farm inputs demographic characteristics and the effects of weather conditions on profits. A major limitation of the study was a lack of information on the duration of land ownership. Age of household members was substituted as a proxy for duration of ownership. Findings were consistent withe the hypothesis. In poor agricultural years gross returns for households which contained an elderly household member were greater than the gross returns for comparable households which did not contain an elderly member. The economic advantages of specific knowledge embodied in the experienced elderly farmer were comparable to the economic advantages which accrued to households whose members were more educated. The hypothesis cannot fully explain the existence of intergenerational families since there is a relatively large proportion of such families among nonfarm families in many countries including India. Findings suggest that intergenerational families may provide for more occupational diversity and thereby reduce income risks. The specific experience hypothesis has policy implications. If technological changes are introduced the value of specific experience may be lost and the frequency of intergenerational households may decline. The hypothesis may also explain why farmers are reluctant to agree to land redistribution and consolidation schemes. This reluctance may disappear after sufficient technological change has occurred.
A Dynamic Model of the Housing Market: The Role of Vacancies

While the hedonic property value model and recently developed computable general equilibrium urban models assume the housing market is in equilibrium, recent years have witnessed extreme circumstances such as large changes in housing prices, high levels of mortgage default, and high levels of foreclosure that bring into question this assumption. This highlights the need for a better understanding of the dynamics of the housing market and the mechanisms that drive and sustain periods of disequilibrium. In this analysis, I develop a dynamic model of the housing market where vacancies naturally arise as the error correction mechanism. I estimate this model using annual U.S. panel data at the MSA level for 1990–2011. The results show that when there is excess demand, prices rise when vacancies fall but prices do not fall when there is excess supply and vacancies rise. This is consistent with the belief that prices are sticky downwards and hence prolong housing downturns. On the other hand, when there is excess supply, there is a relatively stronger decline in new housing in response to a rise in vacancies and much less of a new housing reaction when there is excess demand and vacancies fall. Furthermore, when I allow for a structural shift in the housing market brought on by the Great Recession (2006–2011), I find that the housing market became more responsive on both sides – excess supply and demand – during this period.
Which Takeover Targets Overinvest

Existing research finds little evidence of overinvestment by successfully acquired targets. This paper shows how samples drawn from completed takeovers are biased against finding overinvestment and documents evidence of overinvestment in targets that use a highly lever? aged transaction to avoid a takeover. The evidence also suggests that these restructurings create value by mitigating the targets' overinvestment problems. I. Introduction Jensen's (1986) free cash flow theory implies that some firms become takeover targets because their managers inefficiently allocate free cash flow to unprofitable investments. Empirical studies of completed takeovers by Morck, Shleifer, and Vishny (1988), Bhagat, Shleifer, and Vishny (1990), and Servaes (1994), among others, however, do not support this prediction. Nonetheless, these studies do not mean that free cash flow is unimportant in the market for corporate control. Both Jensen (1986) and Stulz (1990) suggest the threat of a disciplinary takeover can prompt firms to curtail overinvestment of free cash flow. Therefore, the absence of overinvestment in successfully acquired firms does not rule out the possibility that this problem characterizes many takeover targets. It is plausible that the threat of takeover systematically leads overinvesting firms to reduce investment. In this paper, I examine firms that use leveraged restructurings to thwart takeover attempts. Jensen (1986), (1989) argues that increased leverage bonds managers to pay out their excess cash flow instead of overinvesting. I begin with a simple model to show how takeover bids can lead to leveraged restructurings. This model suggests that successful acquisitions will be associated with bidder, but not target, overinvestment. The intuition is simple: a leveraged restructuring commits a firm to paying out its excess cash flow, eliminating the need for a disciplinary takeover. To the extent that these restructurings defeat takeover attempts, studies *Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053. An earlier version of this paper was titled, "What Role Does Overinvestment Play in the Market for Corporate Control?" I am grateful to Rene Stulz, David Mayers, John Persons, and Ralph Walkling for their helpful guidance. Thanks are also due to Jonathan Karpoff (the editor), Henri Servaes (the referee), Yaron Brook, Patric
The mechanization of letter mail sorting

Why mechanize the storing of letter mail? After all, billions of letters are mailed and delivered every month for just a few cents each.
The Transition from Communism: A Diagrammatic Exposition of Obstacles to the Demand for the Rule of Law

In earlier work we presented a mathematical exposition of a theory that demonstrated that mass privatization without institutions to limit asset-stripping may not lead to a demand for the rule of law. The present note makes the same argument in terms of simple diagrams. The central idea is that economic actions (to build value or strip assets) and political positions of individuals are interdependent. Big Bang privatization may give individuals an interest in taking what they can quickly, rather than waiting for the establishment of property rights protection that would permit them to build more valuable assets. Asset stripping gives some of these individuals an interest in prolonging the absence of the rule of law so that they can enjoy the fruits of stripping without the constraint of government enforcement of property rights. Each individual, in attempting to influence society’s choice of the environment, focuses on the impact on himself, not the impact on others. In choosing their economic actions, individuals ignore the effect of their economic decisions on how they themselves vote, how other people believe the system will evolve, and thus how others invest and vote. Thus two distortions of individual behavior are associated with the public good nature of votes. The functionalist position that if the rule of law is good for the group, then a political constituency for it will always emerge, is misleading because the argument abstracts from spillovers mediated by the political environment. We use this framework to make one further point. Because of the interdependence between individuals’ economic and political choices, demand for and opposition to the rule of law cannot be sepa rated from macroeconomic policy. A too stringent macroeconomic policy can lower the returns to building value relative to stripping assets and thereby weaken the e quilibrium demand for the rule of law. Macroeconomic policies and institutional evolution are not independent issues. * We have benefited from comments of two anonymous referees and from discussions of the formal models on which this paper is based at seminars at Berkeley, Harvard (PIEP), the NEUDC, the Oslo Meetings of the ABCDE 2002, Pennsylvania State University, Princeton, UCLA, the World Bank, and meetings of the American Political Science Association and the MacArthur Research Network on Inequality and Economic Performance.
Application of cascade processes toward heterocyclic synthesis

The reactions of N-acyliminium ions with tethered π-bonds are among the most important methods for preparing complex nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Pummerer- based cyclizations are also finding widespread application in both carbo- and heterocyclic syntheses. As part of a program concerned with new methods for alkaloid synthesis, we became interested in using a linked Pummerer/N-acyliminium ion cyclization sequence since we felt that this combination offers unique opportunities for the assemblage of complex tar- get molecules. A synthetic method that combines transformations of different reaction types significantly broadens the scope of such procedures in synthetic chemistry. α-Thiocarbocations generated from the Pummerer reaction of β-phenylsulfinylmethyl- α,β-unsaturated amides can be intercepted by the adjacent amido group to produce transient amino-substituted furans, which undergo subsequent Diels-Alder cycloadditions. Using this domino amido-Pummerer/Diels-Alder cascade, we were able to assemble novel polycyclic systems in a single operation. The key step in the process involves the generation of a reac- tive N-acyliminium ion by fragmentation of an amino-substituted (4+2)-cycloadduct. The successful synthesis of a number of alkaloids by this sequence of reactions reveals the use- fulness and importance of this unique domino cascade.
Toward Guaranteed Illumination Models for Non-convex Objects

Illumination variation remains a central challenge in object detection and recognition. Existing analyses of illumination variation typically pertain to convex, Lambertian objects, and guarantee quality of approximation in an average case sense. We show that it is possible to build models for the set of images across illumination variation with worst-case performance guarantees, for nonconvex Lambertian objects. Namely, a natural verification test based on the distance to the model guarantees to accept any image which can be sufficiently well-approximated by an image of the object under some admissible lighting condition, and guarantees to reject any image that does not have a sufficiently good approximation. These models are generated by sampling illumination directions with sufficient density, which follows from a new perturbation bound for directional illuminated images in the Lambertian model. As the number of such images required for guaranteed verification may be large, we introduce a new formulation for cone preserving dimensionality reduction, which leverages tools from sparse and low-rank decomposition to reduce the complexity, while controlling the approximation error with respect to the original model.
Approximation Algorithm for Non-boolean MAX k-CSP

In this paper, we present a randomized polynomial-time approximation algorithm for MAX k-CSP d . In MAX k-CSP d , we are given a set of predicates of arity k over an alphabet of size d. Our goal is to find an assignment that maximizes the number of satisfied constraints.
Cooperative multiplexing in the multiple antenna half duplex relay channel

Cooperation between terminals has been proposed to improve the reliability and throughput of wireless communication. While recent work has shown that relay cooperation provides increased diversity, increased multiplexing gain over that offered by direct link has largely been unexplored. In this work we show that cooperative multiplexing gain can be achieved by using a half duplex relay. We capture relative distances between terminals in the high SNR diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) framework. The DMT performance is then characterized for a network having a single antenna half-duplex relay between a single-antenna source and two-antenna destination. Our results show that the achievable multiplexing gain using cooperation can be greater than that of the direct link and is a function of the relative distance between source and relay compared to the destination. Moreover, for multiplexing gains less than 1, a simple scheme of the relay listening 1/3 of the time and transmitting 2/3 of the time can achieve the 2 by 2 MIMO DMT.
A Welfare Criterion For Models With Distorted Beliefs

This paper proposes a welfare criterion for economies in which agents have heterogeneously distorted beliefs. Instead of taking a stand on whose belief is correct, our criterion asserts an allocation to be belief-neutral ine¢ cient if it is ine¢ cient under any convex combination of agents’beliefs. While this criterion gives an incomplete ranking of social allocations, it can identify negative-sum speculation in a broad range of prominent models with distorted beliefs.
Geophysical limits to global wind power

Wind power is a near-zero-emissions source of energy. Although at present wind turbines are placed on the Earth’s surface, high-altitude winds offer greater possibilities for power generation. This study uses a climate model to estimate power generation for both surface and high-altitude winds, and finds that the latter provide much more power, but at a possible climate cost. However, there are unlikely to be substantial climate effects in meeting the present global demand.
The Evolving Object of Software Development

This paper contributes to an ongoing debate on the effects of bureaucratic rationalization on relatively non-routine, knowledge-work activities. It focuses on the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM®) for software development. In particular, it explores how the CMM affects the object of software developers’ work and thereby affects organization structure. Empirical evidence is drawn from interviews in four units of a large software consulting firm. First, using contingency theory, I address the technical dimensions of the development object. Here CMM implementation reduced task uncertainty and helped master task complexity and interdependence. Second, using institutional theory, I broaden the focus to include the symbolic dimensions of the object. Adherence to the CMM involved the sampled organizations in efforts to ensure certification, and these symbolic conformance tasks interacted in both disruptive and productive ways with technical improvement tasks. Finally, using cultur...
Centralized vs. Decentralized Ambulance Diversion: A Network Perspective

One of the most important operational challenges faced by emergency departments (EDs) in the United States is patient overcrowding. In periods of overcrowding, an ED can request the emergency medical services (EMS) agency to divert incoming ambulances to neighboring hospitals, a phenomenon known as “ambulance diversion.” The EMS agency may accept this request provided that at least one of the neighboring EDs is not on diversion. From an operations perspective, properly executed ambulance diversion should result in resource pooling and reduce the overcrowding and delays in a network of EDs. Recent evidence indicates, however, that this potential benefit is not always realized. In this paper, we provide one potential explanation for this discrepancy and suggest potential remedies. Using a queueing game between two EDs that aim to minimize their own waiting time, we find that decentralized decisions regarding diversion explain the lack of pooling benefits. Specifically, we find the existence of a defensive equilibrium, wherein each ED does not accept diverted ambulances from the other ED. This defensiveness results in a depooling of the network and, subsequently, in delays that are significantly higher than when a social planner coordinates diversion. The social optimum is itself difficult to characterize analytically and has limited practical appeal because it depends on problem parameters such as arrival rates and length of stay. Instead, we identify an alternative solution that does not require the exact knowledge of the parameters and may be used by the EMS agencies to coordinate diversion decisions when defensive diversion is present. We show that this solution is approximately optimal for the social planner's problem. Moreover, it is Pareto improving over the defensive equilibrium whereas the social optimum, in general, might not be. This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.
Dynamic range optimization of weakly nonlinear, fully balanced, Gm-C filters with power dissipation constraints

This paper presents an analytical algorithm for optimizing the dynamic range of continuous-time active filters under a fixed power dissipation constraint. Assuming weak third-order nonlinearities, we model distortion as a small signal disturbance of the linear solution and use linear techniques in the distortion analysis. Due to the generality of the formulation many important distortion phenomena can be described, e.g., the compression of the desired in-band signal due to large out-of-band interferers, intermodulation distortion, etc. Simple, closed-form expressions are derived for the noise and the distortion of the filter as functions of power dissipation. These expressions are used to optimize the noise, distortion and dynamic range, of the filter. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified with simulation.
Enyne‐Metathesis‐Based Tandem Processes

Enyne metathesis is a powerful synthetic tool for generating 1,3-dienes by redistributing unsaturated functionalities between an alkene and an alkyne via vinylalkylidene intermediates. Although less explored, enyne metathesis has a unique capacity for forming multiple C=C bonds and polycyclic systems in a tandem fashion. By exploiting these characteristics, various tandem reactions have been developed and applied to the synthesis of natural and unnatural products. This microreview recapitulates the recent advances in enyne-metathesis-based tandem processes under two main categories: Enyne metathesis/metathesis and enyne metathesis/nonmetathesis.
Asymptotic distribution of the numbers of vertices and arcs of the giant strong component in sparse random digraphs

Two models of a random digraph on n vertices, D(n; Prob(arc) = p) and D(n; number of arcs = m) are studied. In 1990, Karp for D(n;p) and independently T. Luczak for D(n;m = cn) proved that for c > 1, with probability tending to 1, there is an unique strong component of size of order n. Karp showed, in fact, that the giant component has likely size asymptotic to n 2 , where = (c) is the unique positive root of 1 = e c . In this paper we prove that, for both random digraphs, the joint distribution of the number of vertices and number of arcs in the giant strong component is asymptotically Gaussian with the same mean vector n (c), (c) := ( 2 ;c 2 ) and two distinct 2 2 covariance matrices, nB(c) and n B(c) +c( 0 (c)) T ( 0 (c))) . To this end, we introduce and analyze a randomized deletion process which determines the directed (1; 1)-core, the maximal digraph with minimum in-degree and out-degree at least 1. This (1; 1)-core contains all nontrivial strong components. However, we show that the likely numbers of peripheral vertices and arcs in the (1; 1)-core, those outside the largest strong component, are of polylog order, thus dwarfed by anticipated uctuations, on the scale of n 1=2 , of the giant component parameters. By approximating the likely realization of the deletion algorithm with a deterministic trajectory, we obtain our main result via exponential supermartingales and Fourier-based techniques.
Inalienable Rights: A Litmus Test for Liberal Theories of Justice

Liberal-contractarian philosophies of justice see the unjust systems of slavery and autocracy in the past as being based on coercion—whereas the social order in modern democratic market societies is based on consent and contract. However, the ‘best’ case for slavery and autocracy in the past were consent-based contractarian arguments. Hence, our first task is to recover those ‘forgotten’ apologia for slavery and autocracy. To counter those consent-based arguments, the historical anti-slavery and democratic movements developed a theory of inalienable rights. Our second task is to recover that theory and to consider several other applications of the theory. Finally, the liberal theories of justice expounded by John Rawls and by Robert Nozick are briefly examined from this perspective.
A combination of FD-TD and Prony's methods for analyzing microwave integrated circuits

It is demonstrated that, in applying the FD-TD (finite-difference time-domain) technique to analyze microwave integrated circuits, the long FD-TD time record required for generating accurate frequency-domain scattering parameters can be extrapolated from a relatively short FD-TD time record by using Prony's method. As shown by comparison with the direct FD-TD generated results, the approach using the combination of FD-TD and Prony's methods achieves the same accuracy with a time record computed over a much shorter time. >
A mechanism for combustive heating and explosive dispersal of plutonium

Abstract A first-principles model is developed for defining the combustive explosion of ignited plutonium droplets during free-fall in air and for quantifying fractions of plutonium aerosolization. The model, which is based on literature data and a conceptual description of the combustion and explosion processes, determines heat accumulation and temperature of a droplet over time using the rates of oxidation and heat loss, as well as physical and thermochemical properties of plutonium metal and oxide. Self-heating during combustion leads to fusion of the oxide layer and pressurization of the droplet by plutonium vapor that ultimately vents through the molten oxide to produce fume aerosol and a hollow spherule of residual oxide. Observed dependencies of time-to-explosion and aerosolized fraction on droplet size are accurately calculated by the model. All ignited droplets with sizes greater than a threshold diameter (approximately 0.01 cm) explode with aerosolization of residual plutonium (68–75%), if the free-fall period or distance is sufficient for the droplet temperature to exceed 3300°C. A practical size window for explosion is bounded by the threshold value and by the diameter (about 0.13 cm) of a droplet that attains the explosion temperature during a free-fall distance of ten meters. Calculations show that a 1.0 cm-diameter drop heated initially to 1000°C is 0.3% oxidized after free-falling for this distance in 1000°C air and reaches a maximum temperature of 1560°C. Since minimum diameters of one centimeter are observed for naturally occurring plutonium drops during containment failures at 1000°C and the amount of dispersible plutonium is limited by the extent of oxidation, the reliability of large aerosol release fractions recommended in the literature for fuel-fire scenarios are questionable. Effects of independent variables on combustion and explosion are discussed and application of the model in predicting aerosol fractions released by plutonium fragments formed during highly energetic events is described.
A Fieldable-Prototype, Large-Area, Gamma-Ray Imager for Orphan Source Search

We have constructed a unique instrument for use in the search for orphan sources. The system uses gamma-ray imaging to ldquosee throughrdquo the natural background variations that effectively limit the sensitivity of current devices. The imager is mounted in a 4.9-m-long trailer and can be towed by a large personal vehicle. Source locations are determined both in range and along the direction of travel as the vehicle moves. A fully inertial platform coupled to a Global Positioning System receiver is used to map the gamma-ray images onto overhead geospatial imagery. The resulting images provide precise source locations, allowing rapid follow-up work. The instrument simultaneously searches both sides of the street to a distance of 50 m (100-m swath) for millicurie-class sources with excellent performance as determined using source injection studies and receiver-operator-characteristic techniques.
Constructing Graphs with No Immersion of Large Complete Graphs

In 1989, Lescure and Meyniel proved, for d=5,6, that every d-chromatic graph contains an immersion of Kd, and in 2003 Abu-Khzam and Langston conjectured that this holds for all d. In 2010, DeVos, Kawarabayashi, Mohar, and Okamura proved this conjecture for d=7. In each proof, the d-chromatic assumption was not fully utilized, as the proofs only use the fact that a d-critical graph has minimum degree at least d-1. DeVos, Dvořak, Fox, McDonald, Mohar, and Scheide show the stronger conjecture that a graph with minimum degree d-1 has an immersion of Kd fails for d=10 and di¾?12 with a finite number of examples for each value of d, and small chromatic number relative to d, but it is shown that a minimum degree of 200d does guarantee an immersion of Kd.In this paper, we show that the stronger conjecture is false for d=8,9,11 and give infinite families of examples with minimum degree d-1 and chromatic number d-3, d-2, or d-1 that do not contain an immersion of Kd. Our examples can be up to d-2-edge-connected. We show that two of Hajos' operations preserve immersions of Kd. We conclude with some open questions, and the conjecture that a 2-edge-connected graph G with minimum degree d-1 and more than |VG|md+1-d-2 vertices of degree at least md has an immersion of Kd.
Macrocyclic bisbinaphthyl fluorophores and their acyclic analogues: signal amplification and chiral recognition.

A series of optically active macrocyclic and acyclic bisbinaphthyls have been synthesized and characterized. The structure of one of the bisbinaphthyl macrocycles has been established by a single-crystal X-ray analysis. The UV and fluorescence spectra of these chiral compounds in various solvents and at different concentrations are studied. Formation of excimers is observed for the macrocyclic bisbinaphthyl compounds. Introduction of conjugated substituents to the 6,6‘-positions of the binaphthyl units in the macrocycles leads to greatly amplified fluorescence signals. Using the 6,6‘-substituted bisbinaphthyl macrocycles in place of the unsubstituted macrocycles allows a 2 orders of magnitude reduction in the sensor concentration for the fluorescence measurements. These macrocycles have exhibited highly enantioselective fluorescent enhancements in the presence of chiral α-hydroxycarboxylic acids and N-protected α-amino acids. They are useful as fluorescent sensors for chiral recognition. The macrocycles s...
Direct Asymmetric anti-Mannich-Type Reactions Catalyzed by a Designed Amino Acid

The development of catalysts for Mannich-type reactions that afford anti-products with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities under mild conditions and low catalyst loadings (1-5 mol %) is reported. Based on principles gained from the study of (S)-proline-catalyzed Mannich-type reactions that afford enantiomerically enriched syn-products, (3R,5R)-5-methyl-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid (RR35) has been designed to catalyze the direct enantioselective anti-selective Mannich-type reactions. Computational studies of the above reaction using HF/6-31G* level of theory suggested that this design would be highly effective. The catalyst was subsequently synthesized and studied in organocatalytic Mannich-type reactions between unmodified aldehydes and N-PMP-protected alpha-imino esters. In accord with the design principles and in quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions, reactions catalyzed by this catalyst afforded anti-products in good yields with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (anti:syn 94:6 to 98:2, >97 to >99% ee).
On broad-side delay test

A broad-side delay test is a form of a scan-based delay test, where the first vector of the pair is scanned into the chain, and the second vector of the pair is the combinational circuit's response to this first vector. This delay test form is called "broad-side" since the second vector of the delay test pair is provided in a broad-side fashion, namely through the logic. This paper concentrates on generation of broadside delay test vectors; shows the results of experiments conducted on the ISCAS sequential benchmarks, and discusses some concerns of the broad-side delay test strategy. >
Future directions for nuclear physics

I will summarize opportunities for nuclear science, particularly those given as priority recommendations by the DOEMSF nuclear science advisory committee in the 1996 document "Nuclear science: a long range plan", and mention selected new initiatives abroad.
International Politics and the Spread of Quotas for Women in Legislatures

Quotas to promote women's representation in the world's legislatures have spread to more than one hundred countries+ The diffusion of gender quotas poses a puzzle since they have often been adopted in countries where women have low status+ International influence and inducements best explain quota adoption in devel- oping countries+ Promoting gender equality, including through gender quotas, has become a key part of international democracy promotion+ The international legiti- macy of gender quotas leads them to be adopted through two causal pathways: directly, through postconflict peace operations, and indirectly, by encouraging countries, espe- cially those that depend on foreign aid, to signal their commitment to democracy by adopting quotas+ An event history analysis, which controls for other relevant factors, shows that the hypothesized relationships exist+ Further support comes from a process- tracing analysis of Afghanistan's 2004 quota+
Capacity Allocation in Vertically Integrated Railway Systems: A Rubinstein Sequential Bargaining Game Approach

The present paper proposes, for the first time, a game-theoretic bargaining based approach to allocating rail line capacity in the vertically integrated US rail system. A passenger rail agency (PRA) negotiates with a freight railroad (FRR) to obtain appropriate train paths. This market has specific features: FRR charges PRA a fee for access to the railroad; on the other hand, FRR compensates PRA for delayed services. In addition, by US Public Law 110-432 Amtrak passenger trains have priority over all freight trains. Passenger demand is elastic with respect to the service schedule convenience. With these features explicitly taken into account, a multi-step, game-theoretic bargaining model is put forward. We analytically solve this game and show that a schedule that maximizes the sum of utilities of PRA and FRR is the efficient one. We derive the equation yielding the net internal transfer between the two entities, and show that which player initiating the bargaining game does not change the equilibrium schedule, but alters the net internal transfer.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Space systems verification program and management process

Having a solid verification program that ensures a “system is built right” plays a crucial role in both government and commercial space programs, since even the smallest error in a requirement, design/analysis, test, or inspection at every level of a system development could cause a major system malfunction and would be almost impossible to troubleshoot and repair once in space. According to the space/launch vehicles (SV/LVs) failure related data that have been collected by Aerospace Corporation since the 1960s, almost all of the post-launch failures could have been prevented if their problems had been discovered prior to the shipment of these vehicles to their launch sites. In particular, it was found that the majority of these vehicles could have been successful if deficiencies were corrected during early phase (requirement and design phases) or lower system level of their systems development. In general, any latent problems discovered later on in system development would significantly impact cost and schedule of space programs, even if they were successfully corrected prior to launch. This paper presents a systematic approach to planning and executing verification of space systems based on a distributed-space system verification program. It enforces a standardized set of modular-management processes at every level and phase of space system development activities. This distributed verification program approach tries to enforce a standard set of management processes in order to prevent Total System Program Responsibility (TSPR) philosophy, a “faster, better, cheaper” approach, from being unintentionally adopted at any level of space system development due to schedule and cost pressures. This space systems verification approach is now explained in an U.S. DoD best practice document and also included in The Aerospace Corporation's specification and standard list. It has also been adopted as a compliance document in some major U.S. space programs, such as GPS Block III, and national security space programs. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng
Propositional defeasible logic has linear complexity

Defeasible logic is a rule-based nonmonotonic logic, with both strict and defeasible rules, and a priority relation on rules. We show that inference in the propositional form of the logic can be performed in linear time. This contrasts markedly with most other propositional nonmonotonic logics, in which inference is intractable.
Planar lombardi drawings for subcubic graphs

We prove that every planar graph with maximum degree three has a planar drawing in which the edges are drawn as circular arcs that meet at equal angles around every vertex. Our construction is based on the Koebe---Andreev---Thurston circle packing theorem, and uses a novel type of Voronoi diagram for circle packings that is invariant under Mobius transformations, defined using three-dimensional hyperbolic geometry. We also use circle packing to construct planar Lombardi drawings of a special class of 4-regular planar graphs, the medial graphs of polyhedral graphs, and we show that not every 4-regular planar graph has a planar Lombardi drawing. We have implemented our algorithm for 3-connected planar cubic graphs.
Disparities in Adhd Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment

The regional study by Baumgardner and colleagues converges with existing literature to clearly show that the distribution of ADHD diagnosis falls along socioeconomic lines, according to the relative wealth of neighborhoods. This adds additional evidence that trends in the diagnosis and treatment for ADHD in children move in the exact opposite direction from those who are at highest risk for meeting criteria, for experiencing impairment, for and downstream socioeconomic sequelae. Contributing factors, such as marginal diagnoses (such as when parent and teacher symptom reports diverge), inadequate insurance coverage, limited time, and lack of familiarity and comfort with diagnostic and prescribing guidelines, may leave the door open to misdiagnosis and treatment. In some cases, this may take the form of over-diagnosis and over-treatment, in the form of false-positive diagnoses with ADHD, and treatments for it, or may alternatively take the form of false-negative diagnoses. If the social and epidemiological data are any indication, it is furthermore likely that such false-positive or false-negative outcomes may break along socioeconomic lines. Increased use of formal screening tools, increased curricular time for mental health in primary care residencies, support for physicians in the field in the form of referral options and remote consultation and support, may all serve to improve quality of care for individual patients, and may also serve to regularize treatment across socioeconomic and sociodemographic lines, hence reducing disparities. Further research is needed to study the root causes and dynamics that create such disparities, but the steps outlined above may help in the near term.
Expanding dialogues: from natural autoinducers to non-natural analogues that modulate quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria

Bacteria are capable of “communicating” their local population densities via a process termed quorum sensing (QS). Gram-negative bacteria use N-acylated L-homoserine lactones (AHLs), in conjunction with their cognate LuxR-type receptors, as their primary signalling circuit for QS. In this critical review, we examine AHL signalling in Gram-negative bacteria with a primary focus on the design of non-natural AHLs, their structure-activity relationships, and their application in chemical biological approaches to study QS (72 references).
Interconnection Networks for Scalable Quantum Computers

We show that the problem of communication in a quantum computer reduces to constructing reliable quantum channels by distributing high-fidelity EPR pairs. We develop analytical models of the latency, bandwidth, error rate and resource utilization of such channels, and show that 100s of qubits must be distributed to accommodate a single data communication. Next, we show that a grid of teleportation nodes forms a good substrate on which to distribute EPR pairs. We also explore the control requirements for such a network. Finally, we propose a specific routing architecture and simulate the Quantum Fourier Transform to demonstrate the impact of resource contention.
Crafting the Past: Mission Models and the Curation of California Heritage

AbstractSmall-scale representations of the California missions in the form of mission models and miniatures have circulated in public and private display contexts for close to a century. Produced by students, hobbyists, preservationists, and artists, this material culture constructs, in specific and codified ways, an ideal mission materiality. For almost a century the mission models have been consumed through the distinct discursive practices of crafting, collecting, displaying, and buying. The models allow me, therefore, to trace the production of cultural memory in daily life through the materialization of heritage constituted through formal and informal practices, across personal and public spheres, and over multiple generations. In their representation of landscape, labor, and Native Americans, these discursive cultural artifacts contribute to the construction of a highly politicized past that reinforces a romanticized and valorized presentation of colonialism. A postcolonial critique of the models al...
Synthesis of Functionalized Organotrifluoroborates via the 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of Azides

[reaction: see text] We have successfully prepared potassium azidoalkyltrifluoroborates from the corresponding halogen compounds in 94-98% yields through a nucleophilic substitution reaction with NaN(3). In the presence of various alkynes and Cu(I) as a catalyst, these azidotrifluoroborates easily formed 1,4-disubstituted organo-[1,2,3]-triazol-1-yl-trifluoroborates in 85-98% yields. This method was then developed into a facile one-pot synthesis for the preparation of various organo-[1,2,3]-triazol-1-yl-trifluoroborates using haloalkyltrifluoroborates as the starting materials.
Simplified composite micromechanics for predicting microstresses

A unified set of composite micromechanics equations is summarized and described. This unified set is for predicting the ply microstresses when the ply stresses are known. The set consists of equations of simple form for predicting three-dimensional stresses (six each) in the matrix, fiber, and interface. Several numerical examples are included to illustrate use and computational effectiveness of the equations in this unified set. Numerical results from these examples are discussed with respect to their significance on microcrack formation and, therefore, damage initiation in fiber composites.
Testing of multiple-output domino logic (MODL) CMOS circuits

Multiple-output domino logic (MODL) is a dynamic CMOS logic in which complex gates can have multiple outputs for producing multiple functions. Techniques for testing MODL circuits are presented. It is shown that due to the greater observability of MODL circuits, their test sets can be considerably smaller than those derived for the conventional domino CMOS circuits. Tests for faults are derived from a comprehensive fault model which includes stuck-at, stuck-open, and stuck-on faults. Test sets for MODL circuits are inherently robust in the presence of circuit delays and timing-skews at the inputs. >
Global existence and convergence for a higher order flow in conformal geometry

An important problem in conformal geometry is the construction of conformal metrics for which a certain curvature quantity equals a prescribed function, e.g. a constant. In two dimensions, the uniformization theorem assures the existence of a conformal metric with constant Gauss curvature. Moreover, J. Moser [20] proved that for every positive function f on S2 satisfying f (x) = f(-x) for all x E S2 there exists a conformal metric on S2 whose Gauss curvature is equal to f. A natural conformal invariant in dimension four is 1 2 Q (AR R2+ 3 IRicI2), where R denotes the scalar curvature and Ric the Ricci tensor. This formula can also be written in the form
Cerebral Perfusion and Gray Matter Changes Associated With Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

PurposeTo investigate the longitudinal relationship between chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) symptoms (sx) and brain perfusion changes in patients with breast cancer. Interaction of CIPN-sx perfusion effects with known chemotherapy-associated gray matter density decrease was also assessed to elucidate the relationship between CIPN and previously reported cancer treatment–related brain structural changes.MethodsPatients with breast cancer treated with (n = 24) or without (n = 23) chemotherapy underwent clinical examination and brain magnetic resonance imaging at the following three time points: before treatment (baseline), 1 month after treatment completion, and 1 year after the 1-month assessment. CIPN-sx were evaluated with the self-reported Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group–Neurotoxicity four-item sensory-specific scale. Perfusion and gray matter density were assessed using voxel-based pulsed arterial spin labeling and morphometric analyses and tested fo...
Controlled Comparison of Percutaneous and Microsurgical Sperm Retrieval in Men With Obstructive Azoospermia

A controlled comparison of the efficacy and reliability of sperm retrieval by testicular fine needle aspiration (TFNA), percutaneous testicular needle biopsy (PercBiopsy) and microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) was performed in nine patients with obstructive azoospermia. During a planned MESA procedure, sperm retrieval was attempted on the same testis with TFNA and PercBiopsy. Spermatozoa were obtained from all patients using MESA and PercBiopsy. Spermatozoa were retrieved using TFNA from 6/9 (67%) men. The mean number of epididymal spermatozoa retrieved with MESA (15 x 106) was significantly higher (P = 0.003) than that retrieved percutaneously from the testis. The mean number of spermatozoa obtained by PercBiopsy was 0.116 x 10(6) while TFNA recovered 0.014 x 106 spermatozoa (P = 0.025). MESA is the optimal choice to retrieve the greatest number of spermatozoa with highest motility for assisted reproduction and subsequent cryopreservation. However, percutaneous testicular retrieval does not require microsurgical expertise and is less invasive. Our results suggest that the optimal percutaneous procedure for sperm retrieval from the testis involves percutaneous testicular needle biopsy with an automatic biopsy gun.
Search for a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying to b quarks and produced in association with Z/W bosons with the CMS detector

A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.1 fb−1 , recorded by the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a 7 TeV center-of-mass energy. The following modes are studied: W(μν )H, W(eν)H, Z(μμ )H, Z(ee)H and Z(νν )H, with the Higgs decaying to bb pairs. 95% C.L. upper limits on the VH production cross section are derived for a Higgs mass between 110 and 135 GeV. The expected (observed) upper limit at 115 GeV is found to be 5.7 (8.3) times the standard model expectation.
An Efficient Synthesis of (±)-Lycoricidine Featuring a Stille-IMDAF Cycloaddition Cascade

[reaction: see text] A highly efficient total synthesis of (+/-)-Lycoricidine is described. The synthesis features the ready preparation of the Lycoricidine skeleton by a Stille-IMDAF cycloaddition cascade. The resulting cycloadduct is then used for the stereocontrolled installation of the other functionality present in the C-ring of the target molecule.