cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Octet: Online Catalog Taxonomy Enrichment with Self-Supervision

Taxonomies have found wide applications in various domains, especially online for item categorization, browsing, and search. Despite the prevalent use of online catalog taxonomies, most of them in practice are maintained by humans, which is labor-intensive and difficult to scale. While taxonomy construction from scratch is considerably studied in the literature, how to effectively enrich existing incomplete taxonomies remains an open yet important research question. Taxonomy enrichment not only requires the robustness to deal with emerging terms but also the consistency between existing taxonomy structure and new term attachment. In this paper, we present a self-supervised end-to-end framework, Octet, for Online Catalog Taxonomy EnrichmenT. Octet leverages heterogeneous information unique to online catalog taxonomies such as user queries, items, and their relations to the taxonomy nodes while requiring no other supervision than the existing taxonomies. We propose to distantly train a sequence labeling model for term extraction and employ graph neural networks (GNNs) to capture the taxonomy structure as well as the query-item-taxonomy interactions for term attachment. Extensive experiments in different online domains demonstrate the superiority of Octet over state-of-the-art methods via both automatic and human evaluations. Notably, Octet enriches an online catalog taxonomy in production to 2 times larger in the open-world evaluation.
A Note on Gaugino Masses in Kaluza-Klein/Radion Mediated SUSY Breaking

We review the equivalence of two approaches to study theories with gauge fields in extra spatial dimensions, namely the ``4D'' approach (with KK states) and the ``5D'' approach (with matching to the 4D theory at the compactification scale). In particular, we reiterate that there are two different power-law scalings of ``effective'' gauge couplings. In a supersymmetric framework with SUSY breaking in the radius modulus, i.e. the field which fixes the size of the extra dimensions, these two approaches seem to give gaugino masses at loop-level (with a possible enhancement due to large number of Kaluza-Klein states) [1], and tree-level [2], respectively. We show explicitly how this discrepancy can be resolved.
Exploring non-signalling polytopes with negative probability

Bipartite and tripartite EPR–Bell type systems are examined via joint quasi-probability distributions where probabilities are permitted to be negative. It is shown that such distributions exist only when the no-signalling condition is satisfied. A characteristic measure, the probability mass, is introduced and, via its minimization, limits the number of quasi-distributions describing a given marginal probability distribution. The minimized probability mass is shown to be an alternative way to characterize non-local systems. Non-signalling polytopes for two to eight settings in the bipartite scenario are examined and compared to prior work. Examining perfect cloning of non-local systems within the tripartite scenario suggests defining two categories of signalling. It is seen that many properties of non-local systems can be efficiently described by quasi-probability theory.
Serre weights for quaternion algebras

We study the possible weights of an irreducible two-dimensional mod p representation of which is modular in the sense that it comes from an automorphic form on a definite quaternion algebra with centre F which is ramified at all places dividing p , where F is a totally real field. In most cases we determine the precise list of possible weights; in the remaining cases we determine the possible weights up to a short and explicit list of exceptions.
$f(R)$ theory and geometric origin of the dark sector in Horava-Lifshitz gravity

Inclusion of f(R) term in the action of Hořava–Lifshitz quantum gravity with projectability but without detailed balance condition is investigated, where R denotes the 3-spatial dimensional Ricci scalar. Conditions for the spin-0 graviton to be free of ghosts and instability are studied. The requirement that the theory reduces to general relativity in the IR makes the scalar mode unstable in the Minkowski background but stable in the de Sitter. It is remarkable that the dark sector, dark matter and dark energy, of the universe has a naturally geometric origin in such a setup. Bouncing universes can also be constructed. Scalar perturbations in the FRW backgrounds with nonzero curvature are also studied.
Extraordinary wavelength reduction in terahertz graphene-cladded photonic crystal slabs

Photonic crystal slabs have been widely used in nanophotonics for light confinement, dispersion engineering, nonlinearity enhancement and other unusual effects arising from their structural periodicity. Sub-micron device sizes and mode volumes are routine for silicon-based photonic crystal slabs, however spectrally they are limited to operate in the near infrared. Here, we show that two single-layer graphene sheets allow silicon photonic crystal slabs with submicron periodicity to operate in the terahertz regime, with an extreme 100× wavelength reduction from graphene’s large kinetic inductance. The atomically thin graphene further leads to excellent out-of-plane confinement and consequently photonic-crystal-slab band structures that closely resemble those of ideal two-dimensional photonic crystals, with broad band gaps even when the slab thickness approaches zero. The overall photonic band structure not only scales with the graphene Fermi level, but more importantly scales to lower frequencies with reduced slab thickness. Just like ideal 2D photonic crystals, graphene-cladded photonic crystal slabs confine light along line defects, forming waveguides with the propagation lengths on the order of tens of lattice constants. The proposed structure opens up the possibility to dramatically reduce the size of terahertz photonic systems by orders of magnitude.
Planet-driven Spiral Arms in Protoplanetary Disks. I. Formation Mechanism

Protoplanetary disk simulations show that a single planet can excite more than one spiral arm, possibly explaining the recent observations of multiple spiral arms in some systems. In this paper, we explain the mechanism by which a planet excites multiple spiral arms in a protoplanetary disk. Contrary to previous speculations, the formation of both primary and additional arms can be understood as a linear process when the planet mass is sufficiently small. A planet resonantly interacts with epicyclic oscillations in the disk, launching spiral wave modes around the Lindblad resonances. When a set of wave modes is in phase, they can constructively interfere with each other and create a spiral arm. More than one spiral arm can form because such constructive interference can occur for different sets of wave modes, with the exact number and launching position of the spiral arms being dependent on the planet mass as well as the disk temperature profile. Nonlinear effects become increasingly important as the planet mass increases, resulting in spiral arms with stronger shocks and thus larger pitch angles. This is found to be common for both primary and additional arms. When a planet has a sufficiently large mass (3 thermal masses for (h/r) p = 0.1), only two spiral arms form interior to its orbit. The wave modes that would form a tertiary arm for smaller mass planets merge with the primary arm. Improvements in our understanding of the formation of spiral arms can provide crucial insights into the origin of observed spiral arms in protoplanetary disks.
Study of the Composite Supernova Remnant MSH 11–62

We present the analysis of the X-ray data collected during an observation of the supernova remnant (SNR) MSH 11-62 by the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA). We show that MSH 11-62 is a composite remnant whose X-ray emission comes from two distinct contributions. Nonthermal, synchrotron emission, localized to a region of radius ~3' (consistent with a point source), dominates the total flux above 2 keV. A second contribution comes from a thermal component, extended up to a radius of ~6' and detected only at energies below 2 keV. The spatial and spectral analyses imply the presence of a neutron star losing energy at a rate of about ~1036-1037 ergs s-1. No pulsed emission is detected, and we set a limit on the pulsed fraction of ~10%. This is consistent with the lack of a radio pulsar in the remnant, which may indicate that the pulsed emission from the rapidly rotating compact object that should be powering the synchrotron nebula is beamed, and our viewing direction is unfavorable. In either event, the central neutron star deposits much of its spin-down energy into the surrounding synchrotron nebula where, through direct imaging with broadband satellites such as ASCA, it is possible to study the energetics and evolution of the compact remnant.
Endoreversible Otto Engines at Maximal Power

Despite its idealizations, thermodynamics has proven its power as a predictive theory for practical applications. In particular, the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency provides a benchmark for any real engine operating at maximal power. Here we further develop the analysis of endoreversible Otto engines. For a generic class of working mediums, whose internal energy is proportional to some power of the temperature, we find that no engine can achieve the Carnot efficiency at finite power. However, we also find that for the specific example of photonic engines the efficiency at maximal power is larger than the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency.
Matrix Completion with Quantified Uncertainty through Low Rank Gaussian Copula

Modern large scale datasets are often plagued with missing entries. For tabular data with missing values, a flurry of imputation algorithms solve for a complete matrix which minimizes some penalized reconstruction error. However, almost none of them can estimate the uncertainty of its imputations. This paper proposes a probabilistic and scalable framework for missing value imputation with quantified uncertainty. Our model, the Low Rank Gaussian Copula, augments a standard probabilistic model, Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis, with marginal transformations for each column that allow the model to better match the distribution of the data. It naturally handles Boolean, ordinal, and real-valued observations and quantifies the uncertainty in each imputation. The time required to fit the model scales linearly with the number of rows and the number of columns in the dataset. Empirical results show the method yields state-of-the-art imputation accuracy across a wide range of data types, including those with high rank. Our uncertainty measure predicts imputation error well: entries with lower uncertainty do have lower imputation error (on average). Moreover, for real-valued data, the resulting confidence intervals are well-calibrated.
Notes on the quantization of the complex linear superfield

Abstract The quantization of the complex linear superfield requires an infinite tower of ghosts. Using the Batalin–Vilkovisky technique, Grisaru, Van Proeyen, and Zanon have been able to define a correct procedure to construct a gauge-fixed action. We generalize their technique by introducing the Lagrange multipliers into the non-minimal sector and we study the BRST cohomology. We show how the physical subspace is singled out. Finally, we quantize the model in the presence of a background and of a quantum gauge superfield.
On the evolution of a Hermitian metric by its Chern-Ricci form

We consider the evolution of a Hermitian metric on a compact complex manifold by its Chern-Ricci form. This is an evolution equation first studied by M. Gill, and coincides with the Kahler-Ricci flow if the initial metric is Kahler. We find the maximal existence time for the flow in terms of the initial data. We investigate the behavior of the flow on complex surfaces when the initial metric is Gauduchon, on complex manifolds with negative first Chern class, and on some Hopf manifolds. Finally, we discuss a new estimate for the complex Monge-Ampere equation on Hermitian manifolds.
AirCode: Unobtrusive Physical Tags for Digital Fabrication

We present AirCode, a technique that allows the user to tag physically fabricated objects with given information. An AirCode tag consists of a group of carefully designed air pockets placed beneath the object surface. These air pockets are easily produced during the fabrication process of the object, without any additional material or postprocessing. Meanwhile, the air pockets affect only the scattering light transport under the surface, and thus are hard to notice to our naked eyes. But, by using a computational imaging method, the tags become detectable. We present a tool that automates the design of air pockets for the user to encode information. AirCode system also allows the user to retrieve the information from captured images via a robust decoding algorithm. We demonstrate our tagging technique with applications for metadata embedding, robotic grasping, as well as conveying object affordances.
Modeling Translation in Protein Synthesis with TASEP: A Tutorial and Recent Developments

The phenomenon of protein synthesis has been modeled in terms of totally asymmetric simple exclusion processes (TASEP) since 1968. In this article, we provide a tutorial of the biological and mathematical aspects of this approach. We also summarize several new results, concerned with limited resources in the cell and simple estimates for the current (protein production rate) of a TASEP with inhomogeneous hopping rates, reflecting the characteristics of real genes.
Homological vanishing for the Steinberg representation

For a field , we prove that the th homology of the groups , , , , and with coefficients in their Steinberg representations vanish for .
The effect of pure state structure on nonequilibrium dynamics

Motivated by short-range Ising spin glasses, we review some rigorous results and their consequences for the relation between the number/nature of equilibrium pure states and nonequilibrium dynamics. Two of the consequences for spin glass dynamics following an instantaneous deep quench to a temperature with broken spin flip symmetry are: (1) almost all initial configurations lie on the boundary between the basins of attraction of multiple pure states; (2) unless there are uncountably many pure states with almost all pairs having zero overlap, there can be no equilibration to a pure state as time t →∞. We discuss the relevance of these results to the difficulty of equilibration of spin glasses. We also review some results concerning the 'nature versus nurture' problem of whether the large-t behavior of both ferromagnets and spin glasses following a deep quench is determined more by the initial configuration (nature) or by the dynamics realization (nurture).
Hamiltonian structure of the guiding center plasma model

The guiding center plasma model (also known as kinetic MHD) is a rigorous sub-cyclotron-frequency closure of the Vlasov-Maxwell system. While the model has been known for decades and it plays a fundamental role in describing the physics of strongly magnetized collisionless plasmas, its Hamiltonian structure has never been found. We provide explicit expressions for the model's Poisson bracket and Hamiltonian and thereby prove that the model is an infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian system. The bracket is derived in a manner which ensures that it satisfies the Jacobi identity. We also report on several previously unknown circulation theorems satisfied by the guiding center plasma model. Without knowledge of the Hamiltonian structure, these circulation theorems would be difficult to guess.
Improving the $$\frac{1}{3} - \frac{2}{3}$$ Conjecture for Width Two Posets

Extending results of Linial (1984) and Aigner (1985), we prove a uniform lower bound on the balance constant of a poset P of width 2. This constant is defined as δ(P) = max(x,y)∈P2 min{ℙ(x ≺ y), ℙ(y ≺ x)}, where ℙ(x≺y) is the probability x is less than y in a uniformly random linear extension of P. In particular, we show that if P is a width 2 poset that cannot be formed from the singleton poset and the three element poset with one relation using the operation of direct sum, then $$\delta \left( P \right) \ge \frac{{ - 3 + 5\sqrt {17} }}{{52}} \approx 0.33876....$$ This partially answers a question of Brightwell (1999); a full resolution would require a proof of the $$\frac{1}{3} - \frac{2}{3}$$ Conjecture that if P is not totally ordered, then $$\delta \left( P \right) \ge \frac{1}{3}$$ . Furthermore, we construct a sequence of posets Tn of width 2 with δ(Tn) → β ≈ 0.348843…, giving an improvement over a construction of Chen (2017) and over the finite posets found by Peczarski (2017). Numerical work on small posets by Peczarski suggests the constant β may be optimal.
Exploiting Ultralow Loss Multimode Waveguides for Broadband Frequency Combs

Low propagation loss in high confinement waveguides is critical for chip-based nonlinear photonics applications. Sophisticated fabrication processes which yield sub-nm roughness are generally needed to reduce scattering points at the waveguide interfaces in order to achieve ultralow propagation loss. Here, we show ultralow propagation loss by shaping the mode using a highly multimode structure to reduce its overlap with the waveguide interfaces, thus relaxing the fabrication processing requirements. Microresonators with intrinsic quality factors (Q) of 31.8 $\pm$ 4.4 million are experimentally demonstrated. Although the microresonators support 10 transverse modes only the fundamental mode is excited and no higher order modes are observed when using nonlinear adiabatic bends. A record-low threshold pump power of 73 $\mu$W for parametric oscillation is measured and a broadband, almost octave spanning single-soliton frequency comb without any signatures of higher order modes in the spectrum spanning from 1097 nm to 2040 nm (126 THz) is generated in the multimode microresonator. This work provides a design method that could be applied to different material platforms to achieve and use ultrahigh-Q multimode microresonators.
Household finances, financial planning, and COVID-19

Abstract This article provides a brief summary and review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on household finances The stressors related to the pandemic are evaluated as either transitory or permanent shocks to both the practice of financial planning and client financial concerns Based on qualitative responses from practicing financial planners, changes in practice and client concerns as a result of the pandemic are outlined At the global level, respondents shared that the practice of financial planning has accelerated its adoption of communication technology while clients are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress related to changes in health, the economy, and the political landscape in the United States Insights and observations from the sample of practicing financial planners are used to inform recommendations for practice
Attack of the Genes: Finding Keys and Parameters of Locked Analog ICs Using Genetic Algorithm

Hardware intellectual property (IP) theft is a major issue in today’s globalized supply chain. To address it, numerous logic locking and obfuscation techniques have been proposed. While locking initially focused on digital integrated circuits (ICs), there have been recent attempts to extend it to analog ICs, which are easier to reverse engineer and to copy than digital ICs. In this paper, we use algorithms based on evolutionary strategies to investigate the security of analog obfuscation/locking techniques. We present a genetic algorithm (GA) approach which is capable of completely breaking a locked analog circuit by finding either its obfuscation key or its obfuscated parameters. We implement both the GA attack as well as a more naive satisfiability modulo theory (SMT)-based attack on common analog benchmark circuits obfuscated by combinational locking and parameter biasing. We find that GA attack can unlock all the circuits using only the locked netlist and an unlocked chip in minutes. On the other hand, while the SMT attack converges faster, it requires circuit specification to execute and it also returns multiple keys that need to be brute-forced by a post-processing step. We also discuss how the GA attack can generalize to other recent analog locking techniques not tested in the paper.
Period integrals in nonpositively curved manifolds

We provide an improvement of a half power of log to standard bounds on integrals of Laplace eigenfunctions over submanifolds of codimension 2 or more, where the ambient space is a compact Riemannian manifold with negative sectional curvature. We provide the same improvement for hypersurfaces whose second fundamental form differs sufficiently from that of spheres of infinite radius. This result extends previous ones obtained in the 2-dimensional setting by Chen and Sogge; Sogge, Xi, and Zhang; and the author.
On the choice of test statistic for conditional moment inequalities

Abstract This paper derives asymptotic approximations to the power of Cramer–von Mises (CvM) style tests for inference on a finite dimensional parameter defined by conditional moment inequalities in the case where the parameter is set identified. Combined with power results for Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) tests, these results can be used to choose the optimal test statistic, weighting function and, for tests based on kernel estimates, kernel bandwidth. The results show that, in the setting considered here, KS tests are preferred to CvM tests, and that a truncated variance weighting is preferred to bounded weightings.
Immigrant Networks and Their Implications for Occupational Choice and Wages

Abstract Occupational shares of various ethnic groups have grew tremendously in regional U.S. labor markets from 1980 to 2000. Using U.S. Census data, we examine the extent to which this growth is attributed to network effects by studying the relationship between the occupational choice of recently arrived immigrants with those of established immigrants from the same country, We find strong evidence of network effects. First, new arrivals are choosing the same occupations as their compatriots, a decision that is operating at the regional level. Second, individuals who choose the most common occupation of their compatriots enjoy a large and positive earnings effect.
A Divide-and-Conquer Algorithm for Two-Point L_1 Shortest Path Queries in Polygonal Domains.

Let $\mathcal{P}$ be a polygonal domain of $h$ holes and $n$ vertices. We study the problem of constructing a data structure that can compute a shortest path between $s$ and $t$ in $\mathcal{P}$ under the $L_1$ metric for any two query points $s$ and $t$. To do so, a standard approach is to first find a set of $n_s$ "gateways" for $s$ and a set of $n_t$ "gateways" for $t$ such that there exist a shortest $s$-$t$ path containing a gateway of $s$ and a gateway of $t$, and then compute a shortest $s$-$t$ path using these gateways. Previous algorithms all take quadratic $O(n_s\cdot n_t)$ time to solve this problem. In this paper, we propose a divide-and-conquer technique that solves the problem in $O(n_s + n_t \log n_s)$ time. As a consequence, we construct a data structure of $O(n+(h^2\log^3 h/\log\log h))$ size in $O(n+(h^2\log^4 h/\log\log h))$ time such that each query can be answered in $O(\log n)$ time.
Markov chains for modeling complex luminescence, absorption, and scattering in nanophotonic systems.

We developed a method to model fluorescence, absorption, and scattering in nanophotonic systems using ergodic Markov chains. Past works have used absorbing Markov chains to find the long-run angle-dependent distribution of emitted photons. In contrast, we use ergodic Markov chains to focus on the steady state distribution of photons within various media, giving additional insight into the macroscopic optical response during illumination. We show that the method reproduces Beer-Lambert’s Law and Kirchhoff’s Law, and can quantify deviations from these laws when their assumptions are violated. We also use the method to model luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) based on semiconductor nanocrystals.
Maternal Employment and Overweight Children

This paper seeks to determine whether a causal relationship exists between maternal employment and childhood weight problems. We use matched mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and employ econometric techniques to control for observable and unobservable differences across individuals and families that may influence both children's weight and their mothers' work patterns. Our results indicate that a child is more likely to be overweight if his/her mother worked more hours per week over the child's life. Analyses by subgroups show that it is higher socioeconomic status mothers whose work intensity is particularly deleterious for their children's overweight status.
Flash Cookies and Privacy

This is a pilot study of the use of “Flash cookies” by popular websites. We find that more than 50% of the sites in our sample are using Flash cookies to store information about the user. Some are using it to “respawn” or re-instantiate HTTP cookies deleted by the user. Flash cookies often share the same values as HTTP cookies, and are even used on government websites to assign unique values to users. Privacy policies rarely disclose the presence of Flash cookies, and user controls for effectuating privacy preferences are lacking.
Health Care Reform, Wellness Programs and the Erosion of Informed Consent

Should employers be permitted to condition employees’ access to affordable health insurance on their willingness to undergo specific medical interventions? The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 seeks to reduce health care costs by promoting employer-sponsored “wellness programs” designed to motivate employees to improve their health. The Act allows employers to impose substantial penalties, in the form of increased insurance contributions, on employees who fail to meet specific health targets or adopt prescribed behaviors – including taking the medications recommended by their doctors. This approach to improving health conflicts with ethical requirements that patients must voluntarily consent to any course of treatment, and thereby threatens patients’ privacy, health, and autonomy. Accordingly, the provisions in the ACA designed to protect sick employees against discrimination should be expanded to protect patients’ voluntary consent to treatment as well.
Is Public Reason Counterproductive

The debate over the proper role of religion in public life has raged on for decades and shows little signs of slowing down. Proponents of restrictive accounts of public reason have proceeded under the assumption that religious and deep moral disagreement constitutes a threat to social stability that must be tamed. In contrast to this "scary story" linking pluralism with the threat of instability, there exists within political theory a competing, "happy story" according to which pluralism affirmatively contributes to stability by creating incentives for groups to moderate their demands. Whether the scary story or happy story is a more accurate reflection of our reality is a difficult empirical question, but one that ought to matter a great deal to discussions of public reason. Acting as if the scary story were true when the happy story is in fact operating will lead proponents of public reason to stifle the healthful effects of robust pluralism, degrading the quality of public deliberation and ultimately undermining stability. In other words, if the happy story turns out to be the right one, restrictive accounts of public reason may turn out to be counterproductive, hastening the very deliberative and social harms they aim to forestall.
The Doctrinal Unity of Alternative Liability and Market-Share Liability

Market-share liability has been one of the most controversial doctrines in tort law, with a strong plurality of courts rejecting the doctrine on the ground that it radically departs from the fundamental tort principle of causation. Courts that have adopted this liability rule, though, believe they are adhering to the principle of causation. In the first case to adopt market-share liability, the California Supreme Court claimed that the liability rule is grounded upon an extension of alternative liability, a doctrine that has been accepted by virtually all jurisdictions. The court never adequately explained how alternative liability can be modified to yield market-share liability, and the only explanation provided by torts scholars involves redefining the tort right to permit compensation for tortious risk, conditional upon the occurrence of injury, rather than for the injury itself. However, courts do not conceptualize the tort right in these terms, for otherwise the doctrine of market-share liability would be uncontroversial. As this Article shows, marketshare liability can be derived from alternative liability in a manner that neither redefines the tort right nor departs from the principle of causation. Alternative liability permits the plaintiff to prove causation against the group of defendants. This characterization of the causal rule has been recognized by some torts scholars, but has never been justified. The Article shows that evidential grouping is a defensible principle implicit in numerous cases involving analogous causal problems, including the asbestos cases. Evidential grouping not only explains the doctrine of alternative liability, it shows how a modification of that liability rule yields market-share liability largely for reasons given by the California Supreme Court. This conceptualization of alternative liability and market-share liability also explains the otherwise puzzling liability rule adopted by courts in the asbestos
IFRS and the Accounting Consensus

SYNOPSIS: A broad consensus in accounting favors principles over rules to guide creation of a uniform high-quality set of standards for use everywhere, and granting monopoly power to a single body for this purpose. If implemented into policy, this consensus will discourage discovery of and evolution toward better methods of financial reporting, make it difficult to conduct comparative studies of the consequences of using alternative methods of accounting, promote substitution of analysis and thinking by rote learning in accounting classes, help discourage talented youth from collegiate programs in accounting, and probably endanger the place of accounting discipline in university curricula. Because the presumed benefits in the form of increased comparability of financial reports internationally or stateside are unlikely to be realized, the wisdom of undertaking these burdens remains questionable. The paper calls for a re-examination of the accounting consensus.
Private Standards, Public Governance: A New Look at the Financial Accounting Standards Board

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) presents a puzzle: How has this private standard setter managed simultaneously (1) to remain independent, (2) to achieve institutional stability and legitimacy, and (3) to operate in a politicized context in the teeth of opposition from its own constituents? This Article looks to governance design to account for this institutional success. The FASB’s founders made a strategic choice to create a regulatory agency that sought independence rather than political responsiveness. The FASB also set out a coherent theory of accounting, the “Conceptual Framework,” to contain and direct its decisions. The Conceptual Framework contributed to the FASB’s institutional success by disavowing a neutral posture, explicitly privileging the interests of the users of anancial reports (investors and market intermediaries) over the interests of the reports’ preparers (large audit arms and their managers). Nonetheless, the FASB remains vulnerable to the allegation that its complex, rules-based standards serve the audit arms’ interest in lowering the risk of liability while sacriacing the users’ interest in “fairly” stated anancials. This Article endorses the rejoinder position. What some see as capture also can be characterized as “responsiveness,” and the FASB serves a public interest in taking seriously the accounting arms’ need for auditable standards. Although detailed rules can distort the overall story told by a report’s bottom line, they also make it easier to see what preparers are doing, easing veriacation and making audit failures and scandals less likely. The FASB emerges as a generator of suboptimal but institutionally defensible standards.
Poking Holes in L.A.’s New Condom Requirement: Pornography, Barebacking, and Speech

In November 2012, California voters approved the County of Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, known as “Measure B”. The law mandates the use of condoms during the production of adult films and effectively functions as an outright ban on the filming of unprotected, or bareback, sex scenes, infringing on protected speech. Since Measure B’s strict requirements do not leave open alternative channels of communication, the law will fail constitutional scrutiny under a content-neutral standard. This conclusion, however, may be difficult to reach if the value of barebacking as speech and the alternative means of expression are only evaluated through a traditional heteronormative lens. Queer theory offers a distinctive platform from which to challenge the law, and a careful analysis of bareback sex within the gay community brings the importance of this speech into sharper relief. Barebacking constitutes a unique identity within the gay community, namely hypermasculinity. Forcing a gay porn star to cover his penis during filming is tantamount to sheathing his sword, blunting his masculinity, power, and speech. This article shows that Measure B is an impermissible infringement on protected speech.
A NAASTy alternative to RAND pricing commitments

Voluntary standard setting organizations (SSOs) typically require participants to disclose their patents during the standard-setting process, and will endorse a standard only if patent holders commit to license them on reasonable and non-discriminatory or RAND terms. This policy is unworkable-the RAND standard is ambiguous and thus extremely hard to adjudicate. As an alternative, a policy of Non-Assertion After Specified Time, or NAAST pricing, is proposed. Under NAAST, technology vendors commit not to assert their patent after some previous specified time, but would be free to collect royalties as they wish up until that point. Under this proposal, technology producers would be compensated, vendors would have quick and eventually free access to standards and a large element of uncertainty due to litigation would be eliminated.
A Rhetoric for Ratification: The Argument of the Federalist and its Impact on Constitutional Interpretation

Courts, lawyers, and scholars have long assumed that The Federalist Papers supply important information for use in constitutional argument and interpretation. In recent years, commentators have questioned this view. Their skepticism grows out of two major concerns. First, Justice Scalia's challenge to the use of legislative history in the statutory context casts a cloud over judicial use of background texts such as The Federalist in seeking the meaning of the Constitution. Second, even if courts may rely on some background materials in interpreting the Constitution, there is reason to conclude that The Federalist does not qualify as the sort of material that provides useful guidance. The basic difficulty is that the authors of The Federalist wrote their essays as advocacy documents for publication in local newspapers, rather than as scholarly texts designed to lay out in neutral fashion the purposes and terms of the Constitution. Building on this historical reality, analysts have properly asked why courts should view a series of editorials, churned out to help win a heated political battle, as a key modern-day source of constitutional interpretation. Copyright © 2006 by Dan T. Coenen. f University Professor & J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law, University of Georgia. The author thanks Kay Bramlett, Peter C. Buck, Jason Bumette, Nathan Chapman, Meghan Dougherty, and William Todd for helpful editorial assistance. The article also profited from comments from four outstanding legal scholars, Milner Ball, Randy Beck, Walter Hellerstein, and Jay Tidmarsh, and three distinguished historians, John Inscoe, Randy Reid, and Michael Winship. Quotations from The Federalist are set forth without alteration, complete with Publius's own misspellings and outmoded style of punctuation. 470 DUKE LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 56:469 This Article explores the proper role of The Federalist in the search for constitutional meaning. It demonstrates that the essays were in fact sophisticated advocacy documents that wove together different styles of rhetoric designed to win over readers to the cause of ratification. This reality requires courts to approach the papers with a measure of caution. At the same time, the Article rejects the view that the campaign-literature purpose of The Federalist disqualifies it from serving as an important touchstone of constitutional interpretation. This is the case primarily because the authors of The Federalist, in conceiving and structuring their argument, focused on making a highly rational and highly comprehensive appeal to a broad and diverse audience. Against this backdrop, The Federalist should be viewed as setting forth something akin to a consensus understanding of the Constitution.
Equal Protection Unmodified: Justice John Paul Stevens and the Case for Unmediated Constitutional Interpretation

In one of his first major writings on the United States Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens famously argued that "[t]here is only one Equal Protection Clause." In the ensuing three decades, that quotation has become something of a battle cry for commentators critical of tiered equal protection review, many of whom not only seek to dismantle tiered equal protection scrutiny but also to replace it with an alternative (usually more complicated) doctrinal super-structure. This Article argues that his association with these commentators has partially obscured Justice Stevens's unique equal protection methodology. While he shares (indeed inspired) their critique of the current tiered methodology, Justice Stevens has little interest in building a complicated alternative doctrinal super-structure. To the contrary, Justice Stevens advocates - and practices - an equal protection methodology that largely eschews mediating doctrine of any kind, instead focusing his energy on the unmediated application of the constitutional text to particular cases. This Article is both descriptive and evaluative, first demonstrating that Justice Stevens's equal protection methodology is largely unmediated, then assessing whether the results and consequences of his three-decade long experience with such a methodology reinforce or refute traditional scholarly criticisms about such an approach. The Article concludes cautiously, arguing that Justice Stevens has proven the plausibility of such an approach and has demonstrated that the traditional criticisms are at a minimum overstated, but that his approach has some disquieting consequences for the role of the Supreme Court within the American polity.
Can the Production Smoothing Model of Inventory Behavior be Saved

The production smoothing model of inventory behavior has a long and venerable history and theoretical foundations that seem very strong. Yet certain overwhelming facts seem not only to defy explanation within the production smoothing framework, but actually to argue that the basic idea of production smoothing is all wrong. Most prominent among these is the fact that the variance of detrended production exceeds the variance of detrended sales. This paper first documents the stylized facts. Then it derives the production smoothing model rigorously and explains how the model can be amended to make it consistent with the facts. Finally, it reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence and tries to draw some tentative conclusions.
Altitudinal dependence of meteor radio afterglows measured via optical counterparts

Utilizing the all-sky imaging capabilities of the LWA1 radio telescope along with a host of all-sky optical cameras, we have now observed 44 optical meteor counterparts to radio afterglows. Combining these observations we have determined the geographic positions of all 44 afterglows. Comparing the number of radio detections as a function of altitude above sea level to the number of expected bright meteors we find a strong altitudinal dependence characterized by a cutoff below ∼ 90 km, below which no radio emission occurs, despite the fact that many of the observed optical meteors penetrated well below this altitude. This cutoff suggests that wave damping from electron collisions is an important factor for the evolution of radio afterglows, which agrees with the hypothesis that the emission is the result of electron plasma wave emission.
Financial asset demand is elastic: Evidence from new issues of Federal Home Loan Bank debt.

Abstract We estimate the slope of the demand curve for newly auctioned FHLB discount notes and investigate the impacts of arbitrage risk and heterogeneity of investor beliefs on demand elasticity. Our unique dataset of roughly 2900 observations of two price-quantity pairs—the first from a pre-auction dealer survey, the second from actual auction results—provides the quantity shift necessary to identify demand. In contrast to previous findings of downward-sloping demand curves for equities, we show that demand for newly issued FHLB notes is nearly perfectly elastic during normal market conditions. We find, however, that frictions like arbitrage risk and, to a lesser extent, heterogeneity of investor beliefs negatively affect elasticity and explain the nearly 50% drop in elasticity observed during the recent financial crisis.
Gilbert A. Churchill Jr.'s Editorship of Journal of Marketing Research, 1979–1982

Gil Churchill served at Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) during an important time of maturation for the field. Journal of Marketing (JM) and JMR were firmly established, and both encouraged articles across the realm of marketing (e.g., segmentation, pricing, channels, advertising). Whereas JM was positioned a bit more for immediate relevance to practitioners, JMR was oriented more toward methods of conducting research across those marketing realms. The balancing act was one that Gil handled brilliantly, as evidenced by the Tables of Contents across his issues. For example, consider the article by Aaker and Bagozzi (1979), “Unobservable Variables in Structural Equation Models with an Application in Industrial Selling,” which nicely melds a methodological contribution with one in a substantive area of inquiry. Naturally, most articles emphasize one facet more than the other, but Gil achieved balance within each issue. For example, in the November 1978 issue (Vol. 15), there are two articles on sales force issues and two on measurement; in the August 1979 issue (Vol. 16), there are four articles on advertising and four articles on statistical issues.
Technological Change, Depletion, and the U.S. Petroleum Industry

A common claim in the nonrenewable resource literature is that improvements in technology may largely offset the effects of increasing scarcity over time. This study provides perhaps the first empirical evidence on this issue by analyzing the determinants of the average finding cost for additional petroleum reserves in the United States over the 19671990 period. Using a new index of the level of technology, our analysis suggests that technological change played a major role in allaying what would otherwise have been a sharp rise in the average cost of finding additional reserves of natural gas. The impact of technological change on finding costs for U.S. crude oil reserves has been more modest. To place our work in context, we note that in recent years there has been renewed interest in the causes and consequences of technological change. At the macroeconomic level, a huge literature modeling the impact of technological innovation on economic growth and living standards has emerged [see, e.g., Paul Romer (1990) and Gene M. Grossman and Elhanan Helpman (1991)]. At the micro level, increasingly sophisticated methods are being used to assess the links between technological change, productivity, and average or marginal costs at the sectoral level [see, e.g., Samuel Kortum and Saul Lach (1995)]. The potential effects of technological change in alleviating the increasing scarcity of nonrenewable resources are widely discussed in the resource and environmental economics literature. The simplest variant of the Harold Hotelling (1931) model predicts that nonrenewable resource prices should rise at a rate equal to the real rate of interest. It is well known, however, that
Retributive Justice in the Real World

INTRODUCTION 816 I. SURVEYING THE OPTIONS 825 A. The Absolutist Model: Avoid All Failures of Desert 826 B. The Threshold Model: Avoid Serious Failures of Desert........ 830 C. Consequentialist Retributivism: Maximize Desert 833 D. Silence: A Limited Scope for Retributivism 836 E. The Nuclear Option: Abandon Retributivism Altogether ........ 840 II. APPLYING THE OPTIONS: MAKING RETRIBUTION REAL 842 A. Police Priorities 843 1. The Absolutist Model 848 2. The Threshold Model 850 3. Consequentialist Retributivism 851 B. Prosecutorial Discretion 853 1. The Absolutist Model 854 2. The Threshold Model 855 3. Consequentialist Retributivism 855 C. Feedback Effects on Legislative Action 856 III. WEIGHING THE OPTIONS 857 A. The Absolutist Model: A Practical Fiasco 857 B. The Threshold Model: A Conceptual Muddle 858 C. Consequentialist Retributivism: A Workable Balance? 861 CONCLUSION 870
Class Actions and State Authority

As experiments with class actions spread to more distant shores, especially in countries of civil law backgrounds, a recurring question arises: what is the relation of the private class action to the customary regulatory power of the state? The response offered here is that, in fact, the class action stands in three different postures to state authority: as a direct challenge, as a complement, and as a rival. Recent class action cases in the U.S. are analyzed to examine these three functions and to give a distinct justification for each. At bottom, each justification turns on a contested commitment to a diversity of regulatory authority—here termed “regulatory pluralism”—that lends coherence to all three forms of interaction between the state and private authority, claiming the mantle of the “private attorney general.”
Building the Stock of College-Educated Labor

Half of college students drop out without completing a degree. This paper establishes a causal link between college costs and degree completion. I use quasi-experimental methodology to analyze two state scholarship programs. The programs increase the share of the exposed population with a college degree by three percentage points, with stronger effects among women. A cost-benefit analysis indicates that the programs are socially efficient at rates of return to schooling as low as 5 percent. Even with the offer of free tuition, many students continue to drop out, suggesting tuition costs are not the only impediment to college completion.
Central bank independence and disinflationary credibility: a missing link?

Granting central banks independence is widely assumed to decrease inflation by increasing the credibility of commitments to price stability. This paper analyzes public- and private-sector behavior in a sample of 17 OECD countries for evidence of variations in disinflationary credibility with monetary institutions. The paper does not find evidence that the costs of disinflation are lower in countries with independent central banks. It also finds no evidence that independence inhibits collection of seignorage revenues or electoral manipulation of policy. These results raise questions about some explanations of the negative correlation between central bank independence and inflation.