cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Leveraging Network Properties for Trust Evaluation in Multi-agent Systems

In this paper, we present a collective classification approach for identifying untrustworthy individuals in multi-agent communities from a combination of observable features and network connections. Under the assumption that data are organized as independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.)samples, traditional classification is typically performed on each object independently, without considering the underlying network connecting the instances. In collective classification, a set of relational features, based on the connections between instances, is used to augment the feature vector used in classification. This approach can perform particularly well when the underlying data exhibits homophily, a propensity for similar items to be connected. We suggest that in many cases human communities exhibit homophily in trust levels since shared attitudes toward trust can facilitate the formation and maintenance of bonds, in the same way that other types of shared beliefs and value systems do. Hence, knowledge of an agent's connections provides a valuable cue that can assist in the identification of untrustworthy individuals who are misrepresenting themselves by modifying their observable information. This paper presents results that demonstrate that our proposed trust evaluation method is robust in cases where a large percentage of the individuals present misleading information.
Aerial detection surveys in the United States

Summary Aerial detection survey, also known as aerial sketchmapping, involves observing forest change events from an aircraft and documenting them manually onto a map. Data from aerial surveys have become an important component of the Forest Health Monitoring program, a national program designed to determine the status, changes and trends in indicators of forest condition. Aerial surveys are an effective and economical means of monitoring and mapping common forest disturbances such as tree damage and tree mortality caused by insects and disease. Information from aerial surveys can be considered the first stage in a multi-stage or multi-phase sampling design. Aerial sketchmap surveys have been used in the United States since the 1940s. Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection, together with other federal, state and county cooperators conducts annual sketchmap surveys across all land ownerships. Between 2002 and 2006 an an...
A kinematical approach to dark energy studies

We present and employ a new kinematical approach to cosmological 'dark energy' studies. We construct models in terms of the dimensionless second and third derivatives of the scalefactor a(t) with respect to cosmic time t, namely the present-day value of the deceleration parameter q0 and the cosmic jerk parameter, j(t). An elegant feature of this parametrization is that all � cold dark matter (� CDM) models have j(t) = 1 (constant), which facilitates simple tests for departures from theCDM paradigm. Applying our model to the three best available sets of redshift-independent distance measurements, from Type Ia supernova and X-ray cluster gas mass fraction measurements, we obtain clear statistical evidence for a late-time transition from a decelerating to an accelerating phase. For a flat model with constant jerk, j(t) = j, we measure q0 =− 0.81 ± 0.14 and j = 2.16 +0.81 −0.75 , results that are consistent withCDM at about the 1σ confidence level. A standard 'dynamical' analysis of the same data, employing the Friedmann equations and modelling the dark energy as a fluid with an equation-of-state parameter, w (constant), givesm = 0.306 +0.042 −0.040 and w =− 1.15 +0.14 −0.18, also consistent with � CDM at about the 1σ level. In comparison to dynamical analyses, the kinematical approach uses a different model set and employs a minimum of prior information, being independent of any particular gravity theory. The results obtained with this new approach therefore provide important additional information and we argue that both kinematical and dynamical techniques should be employed in future dark energy studies, where possible. Our results provide further interesting support for the concordanceCDM paradigm.
Rate-Adaptive Modulation and Coding for Optical Fiber Transmission Systems

We propose a rate-adaptive optical transmission scheme using variable-rate forward error correction (FEC) codes and variable-size constellations at a fixed symbol rate, quantifying how achievable bit rates vary with distance. The scheme uses serially concatenated Reed-Solomon codes and an inner repetition code to vary the code rate, combined with single-carrier polarization-multiplexed -ary quadrature amplitude modulation with variable and digital coherent detection. Employing , the scheme achieves a maximum bit rate of 200 Gb/s in a nominal 50-GHz channel bandwidth. A rate adaptation algorithm uses the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or the FEC decoder input bit-error ratio (BER) estimated by a receiver to determine the FEC code rate and constellation size that maximizes the information bit rate while yielding a target FEC decoder output BER and a specified SNR margin. We simulate single-channel transmission through long-haul fiber systems with or without inline chromatic dispersion compensation, incorporating numerous optical switches, evaluating the impact of fiber nonlinearity and bandwidth narrowing. With zero SNR margin, we achieve bit rates of 200/100/50 Gb/s over distances of 640/2080/3040 km and 1120/3760/5440 km in dispersion-compensated and dispersion-uncompensated systems, respectively. Compared to an ideal coding scheme, the proposed scheme exhibits a performance gap ranging from about 6.4 dB at 640 km to 7.6 dB at 5040 km in compensated systems, and from about 6.6 dB at 1120 km to 7.5 dB at 7600 km in uncompensated systems. We present limited simulations of three-channel transmission, showing that interchannel nonlinearities decrease achievable distances by about 10% and 7% for dispersion-compensated and dispersion-uncompensated systems, respectively.
Achievement Effects of Individual Performance Incentives in a Teacher Merit Pay Tournament

Abstract This paper examines the role of worker performance feedback and measurement precision in the design of incentive pay systems, specifically in the context of an individual teacher value-added merit pay tournament. We first build a model in which workers use proximity to an award threshold to update their beliefs about their own ability, which informs their expected marginal return to effort. The model predicts that effort will be maximized at some point proximal to but above the award threshold in order to maximize the likelihood of winning an award when effort translates into value-added with noise. As the noise in the value-added measure increases, teacher effort becomes less responsive to prior value-added because the value-added score becomes a less reliable measure of ability. Using administrative teacher-student linked data from Houston, we test the central prediction of the model that there should be excess achievement gains near award thresholds. The data strongly reject the existence of such excess gains. We argue that a likely reason for this lack of responsiveness is that the value-added measures used to determine awards were too noisy to provide informative feedback about one's ability.
RESOLVENTS OF CONE PSEUDODIFFERENTIAL OPERATORS, ASYMPTOTIC EXPANSIONS AND APPLICATIONS

We study the structure and asymptotic behavior of the resolvent of elliptic cone pseudodifferential operators acting on weighted Sobolev spaces over a compact manifold with boundary. We obtain an asymptotic expansion of the resolvent as the spectral parameter tends to infinity, and use it to derive corresponding heat trace and zeta function expansions as well as an analytic index formula.
An analytical model of Earth-observational remote sensing systems

The authors present a system model for the remote sensing process and some results that yield insight into the process. Key results include interrelations between the atmosphere, sensor noise, sensor view angle and scattered path radiance and their influence on classification accuracy of the ground cover type. Also included are results indicating the tradeoffs in ground cell size and surface spatial correlation and their effect on classification accuracy. >
Scalability in a secure distributed proof system

A logic-based language is often adopted in systems for pervasive computing, because it provides a convenient way to define rules that change the behavior of the systems dynamically. Those systems might define rules that refer to the users' context information to provide context-aware services. For example, a smart-home application could define rules referring to the location of a user to control the light of a house automatically. In general, the context information is maintained in different administrative domains, and it is, therefore, desirable to construct a proof in a distributed way while preserving each domain's confidentiality policies. In this paper, we introduce such a system, a secure distributed proof system for context-sensitive authorization and show that our novel caching and revocation mechanism improves the performance of the system, which depends on public key cryptographic operations to protect confidential information in rules and facts. Our revocation mechanism maintains dependencies among facts and recursively revokes across multiple hosts all the cached facts that depend on a fact that has become invalid. Our initial experimental results show that our caching mechanism, which maintains both positive and negative facts, significantly reduces the latency for handling a logical query.
Reference Dependence, Risky Projects and Credible Information Transmission

We consider a model in which an informed Sender (S) makes an announcement con- cerning the quality of a project that an uninformed Receiver (R) can undertake or not. We study the role that reference dependence and loss aversion may play in affecting S? communication strategy and we show that they may give rise to credible information transmission. This happens because in our model inaccurate information has two effects: it leads R to choose the action S prefers in the short run, but it also generates unrealistic expectations that, through their effect on reference point's formation, may induce R to take actions that hurt S in the long run. On the contrary, credible information transmis- sion is not possible if R is a standard expected utility maximizer (no reference dependence) or if his loss aversion is either too high or too low.
A Spectroscopic Survey of Faint Quasars in the SDSS Deep Stripe. I. Preliminary Results from the Co-added Catalog*

In this paper we present the first results of a deep spectroscopic survey of faint quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Southern Survey, a deep survey carried out by repeatedly imaging a 270 deg2 area. Quasar candidates were selected from the deep data with good completeness over 0 < z < 5 and 2-3 mag fainter than the SDSS main survey. Spectroscopic follow-up was carried out on the 6.5 m MMT with Hectospec. The preliminary sample of this SDSS faint quasar survey (SFQS) covers ~3.9 deg2, contains 414 quasars, and reaches g = 22.5. The overall selection efficiency is ~66% (~80% at g < 21.5); the efficiency in the most difficult redshift range (2 < z < 3) is better than 40%. We use the 1/Va method to derive a binned estimate of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) and model the QLF using maximum likelihood analysis. The best model fits confirm previous results showing that the QLF has steep slopes at the bright end and much flatter slopes (-1.25 at z 2.0 and -1.55 at z 2.0) at the faint end, indicating a break in the QLF slope. Using a luminosity-dependent density evolution model, we find that the quasar density at Mg < -22.5 peaks at z ~ 2, which is later in cosmic time than the peak of z ~ 2.5 found from surveys of more luminous objects. The SFQS QLF is consistent with the results of the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey, the SDSS, and the 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO Survey, but probes fainter quasars. We plan to obtain more quasars from future observations and establish a complete faint quasar sample with more than 1000 objects over 10 deg2.
Phase Transitions in the ISM a Source of Dissipative Behaviour

By considering a simple fluid model, we investigate the role of phase transitions in the ISM on the galaxy- scale gas dynamics. Cooling and heating timescales in the ISM are typically shorter than typical galactic rotation timescales, so the individual phases in the ISM can be assumed to be in temperature equilibrium with the radiation field. Using this approximation we can construct an equation of state which depends upon the average density and mass fractions in the individual phases. Previous studies suggest that there is an equilibrium phase fraction as a function of pressure. We incorporate evolution towards this equilibrium state as a relaxation term with a time to obtain equilibrium τ. We derive a condition in terms of a critical Mach number when one dimensional shocks should be continuous. For small values of the relaxation time τ we show that the relaxation term acts like a viscosity. We show with one dimensional simulations that increasing τ causes shocks to become smoother. This work suggests that phase changes can strongly effect the gas dynamics of the ISM across spiral arms and bars.
The relationship between financial performance and other measures of learning on a simulation exercise

Analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between financial performance on a business simulation exercise and various other measures of student learning. Financial performance was represented by a composite performance score that rated student companies based on net income, return on investment (ROI), and return on assets (ROA) achieved in a competitive, computer-based management simulation. (Although highly intercorrelated, a 1988 study by House and Napier found the combination of these measures provided the best overall measure of a company's financial performance.) Little or no relationship was found between the performance score and the other measurements used to assess student learning.
Selection in Insurance Markets: Theory and Empirics in Pictures

Government intervention in insurance markets is ubiquitous and the theoretical basis for such intervention, based on classic work from the 1970s, has been the problem of adverse selection. Over the last decade, empirical work on selection in insurance markets has gained considerable momentum. This research finds that adverse selection exists in some insurance markets but not in others. And it has uncovered examples of markets that exhibit "advantageous selection"—a phenomenon not considered by the original theory, and one that has different consequences for equilibrium insurance allocation and optimal public policy than the classical case of adverse selection. Advantageous selection arises when the individuals who are willing to pay the most for insurance are those who are the most risk averse (and so have the lowest expected cost). Indeed, it is natural to think that in many instances individuals who value insurance more may also take action to lower their expected costs: drive more carefully, invest in preventive health care, and so on. Researchers have taken steps toward estimating the welfare consequences of detected selection and of potential public policy interventions. In this essay, we present a graphical framework for analyzing both theoretical and empirical work on selection in insurance markets. This graphical approach provides both a useful and intuitive depiction of the basic theory of selection and its implications for welfare and public policy, as well as a lens through which one can understand the ideas and limitations of existing empirical work on this topic.
Supraventricular Tachycardia Associated with Postpartum Metoclopramide Administration

A case report is presented of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) associated with metoclopramide administration in the early postpartum period in a 37-year-old woman. The patient was scheduled for elective laparoscopic tubal ligation 4 hours after an uncomplicated spontaneous vaginal delivery. The preoperative evaluation revealed that the patients only significant past medical history was a total of 4 spontaneous vaginal deliveries. A review of systems was noncontributory and the patient denied any untoward effects from drugs. Metoclopramide 10 mg was administered intravenously to facilitate gastric emptying and as an anti-emetic. Within 1 minute the heart rate rose to 170 bpm. She was in no distress being unaware of any change in her status. Arterial blood pressure remained in the 130-140 mmHg (systolic) range throughout the ensuing period. Various approaches i.e. valsalva carotid sinus massage ocular pressure were used to increase vagal tone without a decrease in the heart rate. After determining that the PR interval was grossly normal she received 2 boluses of verapamil (10 mg intravenously) over a 10-minute period without change in heart rate. She then was given alphaprodine and droperidol for sedation. The patient then was administered Digoxin approximately 20 minutes after the administration of metoclopramide. This was followed by a gradual decrease in her heart rate to 130 bpm over the next 5 minutes. The patient was transferred to a telemetry unit for a 24-hour period where her arterial blood pressure remained stable and her heart rate was noted to be in the 90-110 range. 12-lead EKG revealed sinus tachycardia with "nonspecific" ST changes. PR QRS and QTC intervals were within normal limits. Chest radiograph was without pathology. The patient was reinterviewed on several occasions and continued to deny a history of SVT palpitations syncope or any other cardiac symptomatology. 2 days following the initial episode she underwent successful laparoscopic tubal ligation under spinal anesthesia and sedation. In sum a stable postpartum patient without history of SVT or evidence of structural heart disorder developed SVT immediately following metoclopramide administration. This may be because of the cardioactive properties of metoclopramide or to an underlying predisposition from her peripartum state or a combination of factors.
Bacterial cheating drives the population dynamics of cooperative antibiotic resistance plasmids

Inactivation of β-lactam antibiotics by resistant bacteria is a ‘cooperative' behavior that may allow sensitive bacteria to survive antibiotic treatment. However, the factors that determine the fraction of resistant cells in the bacterial population remain unclear, indicating a fundamental gap in our understanding of how antibiotic resistance evolves. Here, we experimentally track the spread of a plasmid that encodes a β-lactamase enzyme through the bacterial population. We find that independent of the initial fraction of resistant cells, the population settles to an equilibrium fraction proportional to the antibiotic concentration divided by the cell density. A simple model explains this behavior, successfully predicting a data collapse over two orders of magnitude in antibiotic concentration. This model also successfully predicts that adding a commonly used β-lactamase inhibitor will lead to the spread of resistance, highlighting the need to incorporate social dynamics into the study of antibiotic resistance.
Bargaining: separately or together?

This paper explores conditions under which economic agents will want to bargain collectively instead of individually with a common third party—when, for example, two firms (or unions), who are bargaining with the same, indispensable, outside party, will want to merge and bargain as one. I use a non-cooperative sequential bargaining model to analyze this question. Previous work has shown that agents prefer to bargain collectively if they are substitutes for each other in production. This result, however, depends on an exogenously fixed sequence of bargaining. I allow the bargaining sequence to be determined endogenously and investigate how incentives for collective bargaining vary with heterogeneity when delay is costly. The previous results are not robust when the agents are substitutes. In particular, substitute agents prefer individual to collective bargaining if they are heterogeneous and sufficiently patient. In the presence of transaction costs, substitutability of agents is no longer the sole determinant of collectivization. Rather, the degree of heterogeneity in production, in conjunction with the degree of substitutability between agents determine the incentives for collective action.
The Fertile Field of Meta-analysis: Cumulative Progress in Agricultural Forecasting

A substantial effort has been devoted to agricultural forecasting over the past half century. Allen's quantitative review provides a powerful way to examine that research. The quantitative review (or "meta-analysis" as it is commonly called since. Glass (1976) is a formal study of studies. Meta-analyses sometimes reveal conclusions that were not obvious to those who view research findings in an impressionistic manner. Such a systematic review of the evidence should be superior to a subjective appraisal. After all, we do not trust researchers to merely look at a mass of data and decide what conclusions to draw. For those that prefer empirical evidence on the value of meta-analysis, see Cooper and Rosenthal (1980). Allen's meta-analysis is based on sound procedures. He conducted a systematic and extensive search. Given the vast amount of research on this topic, an extensive effort was required to collect these studies and then to analyze them. The research was summarized in an impartial manner. By providing the original sources and by showing how the papers were coded, the paper provides a firm basis for further research to build upon. Although I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the coding, it would have been useful to ask the authors of the original research to check the codings used to represent their research in the meta-analysis. At the same time, one could ask about additional studies, published or unpublished, that might have been overlooked. Such a procedure would have added to our confidence about the conclusions of this meta-analysis. I list what seem to be the most surprising findings from Allen's meta-analysis. Then I discuss an overlooked contribution to the forecasting field. Finally, I describe an opportunity that I anticipate for this field. Comments Postprint version. Published in International Journal of Forecasting, Volume 10, Issue 1, June 1994, pages 147-149. Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-2070(94)90056-6 This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/marketing_papers/65 Published in International Journal of Forecasting , 10 (1994), pp. 147-140. The Fertile Field of Meta-Analysis: Cumulative Progress in Agricultural Forecasting J. Scott Armstrong The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Highly active, air-stable palladium catalysts for Kumada–Tamao–Corriu cross-coupling reaction of inactivated aryl chlorides with aryl Grignard reagents

Palladium(II) chlorides possessing phosphinous acid ligands have proved to be remarkably active and efficient catalysts for cross-coupling reactions of inactivated aryl chlorides with aryl Grignard reagents (Kumada–Tamao–Corriu reaction) at room temperature to yield the corresponding biaryls with isolated product yields ranging from 51 to 99%. 1H- and 31P-NMR studies argue that these phosphinous acid ligands in the complexes can be deprotonated to yield electron-rich anionic species, which is anticipated not only to accelerate the rate-determining oxidative addition of aryl chlorides in the catalytic cycle, but also to stabilize the transition-metal complexes.
Solid-State Nanopore Recognition and Measurement Using Shannon Entropy

Solid-state nanopores are structures that can be fabricated using the electron beam of a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Nanopores can be used to electrically detect individual DNA molecules, and they have the potential to be applied to genomic sequencing. Current nanofabrication methods are manual and time-consuming, and thus, they do not allow for the fabrication of large-scale nanopore arrays. One of the requirements in the development of an efficient fabrication process is the automated recognition and measurement of nanopore dimension in real time. Here, we present a method for nanopore edge detection that uses Shannon entropy to identify nanopores in electron microscopy images. The nanostructure edges are determined by applying a Shannon entropy filter. This entropy image is segmented, and the texture-defined edges are determined. The diameters of nanopores as small as 3 nm are directly measured.
Triangulating a simple polygon in linear time

We give a deterministic algorithm for triangulating a simple polygon in linear time. The basic strategy is to build a coarse approximation of a triangulation in a bottom-up phase and then use the information computed along the way to refine the triangulation in a top-down phase. The main tools used are the polygon-cutting theorem, which provides us with a balancing scheme, and the planar separator theorem, whose role is essential in the discovery of new diagonals. Only elementary data structures are required by the algorithm. In particular, no dynamic search trees, of our algorithm.
The Effects of Canvassing, Telephone Calls, and Direct Mail on Voter Turnout: A Field Experiment

We report the results of a randomized field experiment involving approximately 30,000 registered voters in New Haven, Connecticut. Nonpartisan get-out-the-vote messages were conveyed through personal canvassing, direct mail, and telephone calls shortly before the November 1998 election. A variety of substantive messages were used. Voter turnout was increased substantially by personal canvassing, slightly by direct mail, and not at all by telephone calls. These findings support our hypothesis that the long-term retrenchment in voter turnout is partly attributable to the decline in face-to-face political mobilization.
Effects of Information about Invasive Species on Risk Perception and Seafood Demand by Gender and Race

In this paper we consider the effects of negative and positive risk information on perceived seafood risks and seafood consumption by gender and race. The data is from a Mid-Atlantic survey of coastal seafood consumers. We elicit risk perceptions in three risk scenarios with a dichotomous choice with a follow-up question format. We elicit continuous revealed and stated preference seafood consumption in nine risk and price scenarios. Analysis in four gender and race categories indicates that demographic groups respond to the positive and negative information in different ways. Communication of risk information as risk mitigation policy is a challenge.
'And we were tired': fatigue and aircrew errors

It is argued, on the basis information obtained by the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), that the majority of errors made by aircrew members are cognitive errors, not control errors, and that a major contributing factor is fatigue. The ASRS incident reports indicate some aircrews often receive less than six hours of sleep, experience desynchronosis, and lack proper nutrition. The ways in which all these factors affect both individual performance and group (crew) performance are discussed. >
What can be done with an uncalibrated stereo system

Over the last several years, there has been an increasing appreciation of the impact of control architecture on the accuracy of visual servoing systems. In particular, it is generally acknowledged that so-called image-based methods provide the highest guarantees of accuracy on inaccurately calibrated hand-eye systems. Less clear is the impact of the control architecture on the set of tasks which the system can perform. In this article, we present a formal analysis of control architectures for hand-eye coordination. Specifically, we first state a formal characterization of what makes a task performable under three possible encoding methods. Then, for the specific case of cameras modeled using projective geometry, we relate this characterization to notions of projective invariance and demonstrate the limits of achievable performance in this regard.
Results of the ALS booster ring RF system upgrade for top-off mode of operation

ALS, one of the first third generation synchrotron light sources which has been operating since 1993 at Berkeley Lab has been upgraded from its present operation scenario of injecting the 1.5 GeV electron beam from the Booster ring into the Storage ring every 8 hours, where it is accelerated to the final energy of 1.9 GeV, to full energy (1.9 GeV) injection from the Booster ring into the Storage ring every 3 seconds for filling and every 30-35 seconds for "Top-Off" mode. Additionally the beam current will be increased from the time averaged value of 250 mA to 500 mA to increase the brightness. In this paper we will present the final design of the Booster RF power source and control system upgrades and the performance results of the new ALS injector RF system set-up for Top-Off mode of operation.
Turbulence Statistics from Spectral Line Observations

Turbulence is a crucial component of dynamics of astrophysical fluids dynamics, including those of ISM, clusters of galaxies and circumstellar regions. Doppler shifted spectral lines provide a unique source of information on turbulent velocities. We discuss Velocity-Channel Analysis (VCA) and its offspring Velocity Coordinate Spectrum (VCS) that are based on the analytical description of the spectral line statistics. Those techniques are well suited for studies of supersonic turbulence. We stress that a great advantage of VCS is that it does not necessary require good spatial resolution. Addressing the studies of mildly supersonic and subsonic turbulence we discuss the criterion that allows to determine whether Velocity Centroids are dominated by density or velocity. We briefly discuss ways of going beyond power spectra by using of higher order correlations as well as genus analysis. We outline the relation between Spectral Correlation Functions and the statistics available through VCA and VCS.
A convenient procedure for the direct conversion of terminal alkenes into carboxylic acids

Abstract Alkylboronic acids, readily synthesized from a variety of representative terminal alkenes via hydroboration with dibromoborane-methyl sulfide, undergo a facile oxidation with chromium trioxide in 90% aqueous acetic acid to provide carboxylic acids in 80–97% isolated yields, without rearrangement or loss of carbon.
Decoherence in Josephson qubits from dielectric loss.

Dielectric loss from two-level states is shown to be a dominant decoherence source in superconducting quantum bits. Depending on the qubit design, dielectric loss from insulating materials or the tunnel junction can lead to short coherence times. We show that a variety of microwave and qubit measurements are well modeled by loss from resonant absorption of two-level defects. Our results demonstrate that this loss can be significantly reduced by using better dielectrics and fabricating junctions of small area & 10 � m 2 . With a redesigned phase qubit employing low-loss dielectrics, the energy relaxation rate has been improved by a factor of 20, opening up the possibility of multiqubit gates and algorithms.
Comparison between various notions of conserved charges in asymptotically AdS spacetimes

We derive Hamiltonian generators of asymptotic symmetries for general relativity with asymptotic AdS boundary conditions using the 'covariant phase space' method of Wald et al. We then compare our results with other definitions that have been proposed in the literature. We find that our definition agrees with that proposed by Ashtekar et al, with the spinor definition, and with the background-dependent definition of Henneaux and Teitelboim. Our definition disagrees with that obtained from the 'counterterm subtraction method', but the difference is found to consist only of a 'constant offset' that is determined entirely in terms of the boundary metric. We finally discuss and justify our boundary conditions by a linear perturbation analysis, and we comment on generalizations of our boundary conditions, as well as inclusion of matter fields.
Understanding international crime trends: The legacy of preschool lead exposure

This study shows a very strong association between preschool blood lead and subsequent crime rate trends over several decades in the USA, Britain, Canada, France, Australia, Finland, Italy, West Germany, and New Zealand. The relationship is characterized by best-fit lags (highest R 2 and t-value for blood lead) consistent with neurobehavioral damage in the first year of life and the peak age of offending for index crime, burglary, and violent crime. The impact of blood lead is also evident in age-specific arrest and incarceration trends. Regression analysis of average 1985–1994 murder rates across USA cities suggests that murder could be especially associated with more severe cases of childhood lead poisoning. r 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reduced Order Models for Blade-To-Blade Damping Variability in Mistuned Blisks

A novel reduced order modeling methodology to capture blade-to-blade variability in damping in blisks is presented. This new approach generalizes the concept of component mode mistuning (CMM), which was developed to capture stiffness and mass mistuning (and did not include variability in damping among the blades). This work focuses on modeling large variability in damping. Such variability is significant in many applications and particularly important for modeling damping coatings. Similar to the CMM based studies, structural damping is used to capture the damping effects due to the mechanical energy dissipation caused by internal friction within the blade material. The steady state harmonic responses of the blades are obtained using the novel reduced order modeling methodology and are validated by comparison with simulation results obtained using a full order model in ANSYS with a maximum amplitude error of 0.3%. It is observed that there is no strong correlation between the engine order of excitation and both the variation in the response from blade to blade and the blade amplification factors. The effects of damping mistuning are studied statistically through Monte Carlo simulations. For this purpose, the blisk model is subjected to multiple traveling wave excitations. The uncertainty in the various mechanisms responsible for dissipation of energy and the uncontrollability of these dissipation mechanisms makes it difficult to assign a reliable value for the loss factor of each blade. Hence, large variations (up to ±80%) in the structural damping coefficients of the blades are simulated.
Delivery of Antibody Mimics into Mammalian Cells via Anthrax Toxin Protective Antigen

Antibody mimics have significant scientific and therapeutic utility for the disruption of protein–protein interactions inside cells; however, their delivery to the cell cytosol remains a major challenge. Here we show that protective antigen (PA), a component of anthrax toxin, efficiently transports commonly used antibody mimics to the cytosol of mammalian cells when conjugated to the N-terminal domain of LF (LFN). In contrast, a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) was not able to deliver any of these antibody mimics into the cell cytosol. The refolding and binding of a transported tandem monobody to Bcr-Abl (its protein target) in chronic myeloid leukemia cells were confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. We also observed inhibition of Bcr-Abl kinase activity and induction of apoptosis caused by the monobody. In a separate case, we show disruption of key interactions in the MAPK signaling pathway after PA-mediated delivery of an affibody binder that targets hRaf-1. We show for the first time that PA can deliver bioactive antibody mimics to disrupt intracellular protein–protein interactions. This technology adds a useful tool to expand the applications of these modern agents to the intracellular milieu.
THE EVOLUTIONARY STATUS OF Be STARS: RESULTS FROM A PHOTOMETRIC STUDY OF SOUTHERN OPEN CLUSTERS

Be stars are a class of rapidly rotating B stars with circumstellar disks that cause Balmer and other line emission. There are three possible reasons for the rapid rotation of Be stars: they may have been born as rapid rotators, spun up by binary mass transfer, or spun up during the main-sequence (MS) evolution of B stars. To test the various formation scenarios, we have conducted a photometric survey of 55 open clusters in the southern sky. Of these, five clusters are probably not physically associated groups and our results for two other clusters are not reliable, but we identify 52 definite Be stars and an additional 129 Be candidates in the remaining clusters. We use our results to examine the age and evolutionary dependence of the Be phenomenon. We find an overall increase in the fraction of Be stars with age until 100 Myr, and Be stars are most common among the brightest, most massive B-type stars above the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS). We show that a spin-up phase at the terminal-age main sequence (TAMS) cannot produce the observed distribution of Be stars, but up to 73% of the Be stars detected may have been spun-up by binary mass transfer. Most of the remaining Be stars were likely rapid rotators at birth. Previous studies have suggested that low metallicity and high cluster density may also favor Be star formation. Our results indicate a possible increase in the fraction of Be stars with increasing cluster distance from the Galactic center (in environments of decreasing metallicity). However, the trend is not significant and could be ruled out due to the intrinsic scatter in our data. We also find no relationship between the fraction of Be stars and cluster density.
Interaction Between Value Line's Timeliness and Safety Ranks

The Value Line Investment Survey, with its well-known timeliness and safety rankings, has managed to generate a superior performance record over time. The authors9 findings show that Value Line9s timeliness ranks were significant predictors of success during our study period, even when several other key financial and market characteristics are considered. The timeliness ranks, however, appear to be biased toward the selection of securities with above-average market risk, even when controlling for safety level. The authors conclude that individual investors should not use Value Line9s safety ranks to assess risk, but should instead focus on security betas. Following Value Line9s recommended strategy would lead investors to large market-capitalization stocks with significant price and earnings growth momentum. Despite the “value” in its title, Value Line certainly does not recommend value stocks.
Ignition and Front Propagation in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Water produced in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell enhances membrane proton conductivity; this positive feedback loop can lead to current ignition. Gas-phase convection and membrane diffusion of water coupled with water production in a simplified two-dimensional PEM fuel cell leads to localized ignition and current density front propagation in the cell. Co-current gas flow in the anode and cathode channels causes ignition at the cell outlet, and membrane diffusion causes the front to slowly propagate toward the inlet; counter-current flow in the anode and cathode channels causes ignition in the interior of the cell, with the current density fronts subsequently spreading toward both inlets. The basic chemistry and physics of the spatiotemporal nonlinear dynamics of the two-dimensional fuel cell current can be captured by extending a simple one-dimensional stirred tank reactor model to a “tanks-in-series” model.
Sensorless direct torque control of five-phase interior permanent magnet motor drives

This paper presents the sensorless direct torque control (DTC) technique for five-phase interior permanent magnet (IPM) motors. By using the introduced technique fast torque response with low ripple in the stator flux and torque of the five-phase interior permanent magnet motor can be achieved. Having thirty-two space voltage vectors provides great flexibility in selecting the inverter switching states. Therefore, the stator flux and torque can be more precisely adjusted. Position information and speed are being estimated based on the position of the stator flux linkages. The mathematical model of the five-phase interior permanent magnet motor is first derived. Later, the speed sensorless direct torque control method of the five-phase IPM is introduced. A five phase interior permanent magnet motor and five leg IGBT based inverter were designed and fabricated in the laboratory. The control method is implemented on a TMS320C32 digital signal processor board.
MODULAR FORMS AND ELLIPTIC CURVES OVER THE CUBIC FIELD OF DISCRIMINANT –23

Let F be the cubic field of discriminant –23 and let be its ring of integers. By explicitly computing cohomology of congruence subgroups of , we computationally investigate modularity of elliptic curves over F.
Time-variable emission from transiently accreting neutron stars in quiescence due to deep crustal heating

Transiently accreting neutron stars in quiescence ðLX & 1034 erg s21Þ have been observed to vary in intensity by factors of few, over time-scales of days to years. If the quiescent luminosity is powered by a hot neutron star core, the core cooling time-scale is much longer than the recurrence time, and cannot explain the observed, more rapid variability. However, the non-equilibrium reactions which occur in the crust during outbursts deposit energy in isodensity shells, from which the thermal diffusion time-scale to the photosphere is days to years. The predicted magnitude of variability is too low to explain the observed variability unless – as is widely believed – the neutrons beyond the neutron-drip density are superfluid. Even then, the variability due to this mechanism in models with standard core neutrino cooling processes is less than 50 per cent – still too low to explain the reported variability. However, models with rapid core neutrino cooling can produce a variability by a factor as great as 20, on time-scales of days to years following an outburst. Thus, the factors of ,few intensity variability observed from transiently accreting neutron stars can be accounted for by this mechanism only if rapid core cooling processes are active.
The Effects of Inclusion on Classmates of Students with Special Needs: The Case of Serious Emotional Problems

Abstract In this article, I examine the current policy of full inclusion of children receiving special education services in regular education classrooms. Specifically, I focus on the policy's effects on the classmates of children with special needs, with a particular focus on classmates of students with serious emotional problems. Results suggest that students with a classmate with a serious emotional problem experience reductions in first-grade test scores, especially students in low-income schools. Results that attempt to capture sorting across and within schools using school-level fixed effects specifications are qualitatively similar. The magnitude of the reduction in mathematics achievement is approximately 30–60 percent of the size of the adjusted black-white achievement gap. Since nearly 10 percent of the student population has a classmate with a serious emotional problem, the aggregate effect on test scores of the policy of including these students is potentially quite large.
Simulating the spread of influenza pandemic of 2009 considering international traffic

Pandemics have the potential to cause immense disruption and damage to communities and societies. In this paper, we model the influenza pandemic of 2009. We propose a hybrid model to determine how the pandemic spreads through the world. The model considers both SEIR-based model for local areas and the network model for global connection between countries referring to data on international travelers. Our interest is to reproduce the situation using the data of the early stage of the pandemic and to predict the future transition by extending the simulation cycle. Our simulation result predicts the second peak of the pandemic in the real world by considering the factors of tendency of seasonal influenza and people's reaction against the infection. Without considering these factors, the simulation does not predict the second peak of the pandemic in the real world. We conclude that the seasonal tendency and people's reaction are important factors for the spreading of the pandemic.
What Is Fever? Normal Temperature in Infants Less than 3 Months Old

To determine the normal temperature of healthy infants, we studied 691 infants less than 3 months of age being seen for regularly scheduled well-baby visits. All temperatures were taken rectally with an electronic thermometer. The mean temperature was 37.5 degrees C +/- 0.3 degrees C. Using a cutoff of 2 standard deviations (SD) above the mean, fever would be defined as a temperature > or = 38.1 degrees C. The 95th percentile was 38.0 degrees C, and > or = 38.1 degrees C would correspond to values above the 95th percentile. The most widely used definition of fever at present is a temperature > or = 38.0 degrees C; by this definition, 6.5% of these well infants would be considered to have a fever. A significant rise in temperature with age was noted. For infants from birth to 30 days old, 2 SD above the mean was 38.0 degrees C; for those 31 to 60 days old, it was 38.1 degrees C; and for those 61 to 91 days old, it was 38.2 degrees C. Similarly, the 95th percentile was 37.9 degrees C, 38.0 degrees C, and 38.1 degrees C, respectively. Temperature also varied significantly with the season of the year, being higher in the summer (2 SD above a mean = 38.3 degrees C) than in the winter (2 SD above a mean = 38.0 degrees C). Fever should be defined as a temperature > or = 38.0 degrees C in infants less than 30 days of age, > or = 38.1 degrees C in 1-month-olds, and > or = 38.2 degrees C in 2-month-olds.
A Tutorial on Bayesian Nonparametric Models

Abstract A key problem in statistical modeling is model selection, that is, how to choose a model at an appropriate level of complexity. This problem appears in many settings, most prominently in choosing the number of clusters in mixture models or the number of factors in factor analysis. In this tutorial, we describe Bayesian nonparametric methods, a class of methods that side-steps this issue by allowing the data to determine the complexity of the model. This tutorial is a high-level introduction to Bayesian nonparametric methods and contains several examples of their application.
Precipitating Condensation Clouds in Substellar Atmospheres

We present a method to calculate vertical profiles of particle size distributions in condensation clouds of giant planets and brown dwarfs. The method assumes a balance between turbulent diffusion and precipitation in horizontally uniform cloud decks. Calculations for the Jovian ammonia cloud are compared with previous methods. An adjustable parameter describing the efficiency of precipitation allows the new model to span the range of predictions from previous models. Calculations for the Jovian ammonia cloud are found to be consistent with observational constraints. Example calculations are provided for water, silicate, and iron clouds on brown dwarfs and on a cool extrasolar giant planet.
Formulating queries for assessing clinical trial eligibility

This paper introduces a system that processes clinical trials using a combination of natural language processing and database techniques. We process web-based clinical trial recruitment pages to extract semantic information reflecting eligibility criteria for potential participants. From this information we then formulate a query that can match criteria against medical data in patient records. The resulting system reflects a tight coupling of web-based information extraction, natural language processing, medical informatic approaches to clinical knowledge representation, and large-scale database technologies. We present an evaluation of the system and future directions for further system development.