cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spectrum sharing for unlicensed bands

We study a spectrum sharing problem in an unlicensed band where multiple systems coexist and interfere with each other. Due to asymmetries and selfish system behavior, unfair and inefficient situations may arise. We investigate whether efficiency and fairness can be obtained with self-enforcing spectrum sharing rules. These rules have the advantage of not requiring a central authority that verifies compliance to the protocol. Any self-enforcing protocol must correspond to an equilibrium of a game. We first analyze the possible outcomes of a one shot game, and observe that in many cases an inefficient solution results. However, systems often coexist for long periods and a repeated game is more appropriate to model their interaction. In this repeated game the possibility of building reputations and applying punishments allows for a larger set of self-enforcing outcomes. When this set includes the optimal operating point, efficient, fair, and incentive compatible spectrum sharing becomes possible. We present examples that illustrate that in many cases the performance loss due to selfish behavior is small. We also prove that our results are tight and quantify the best achievable performance in a non-cooperative scenario
Neutrino production in matter with time-dependent density or velocity

We show that neutrinos can be produced through standard electroweak interactions in matter with time-dependent density.
Enhancing precision in the prediction of voluntary turnover and retirement

Abstract The present research examines the differential validity of the facets of organizational commitment and job embeddedness to predict who will reenlist or retire from a branch of the armed services. We tested hypotheses with survey data from 1839 enlisted personnel in the U.S. Air Force. For personnel facing the decision to reenlist or separate, continuance commitment and organizational job embeddedness predicted reenlistment. For those eligible to retire, affective and normative commitment as well as organizational job embeddedness predicted who would reenlist rather than retire. However, unlike previous studies, for both criteria (reenlistment and retirement), people who were more embedded in their communities were more likely to voluntarily leave. This finding identifies an important boundary condition for job embeddedness theory.
Guidance Strategy for Hyperbolic Rendezvous

In cycler and semi-cycler Mars mission architectures a crew “taxi” docks with the interplanetary transfer vehicle on a hyperbolic flyby trajectory, hence the term “hyperbolic rendezvous.” An algorithm that guides the taxi to intercept the transfer vehicle is presented with a control law for final approach. When navigation and thrust uncertainties are included, the vehicles dock at a closing rate of a few cm/s with a misalignment of a few cm. Because this maneuver is critical to crew survival, we advocate redundant systems and propellant margin for 3-σ (~99.7%) reliability. These safety measures lead to marginal increases in taxi mass.
Subfactors of index less than 5, part 4: vines

We eliminate 39 infinite families of possible principal graphs as part of the classification of subfactors up to index 5. A number-theoretic result of Calegari–Morrison–Snyder, generalizing Asaeda–Yasuda, reduces each infinite family to a finite number of cases. We provide algorithms for computing the effective constants that are required for this result, and we obtain 28 possible principal graphs. The Ostrik d-number test and an algebraic integer test reduce this list to seven graphs in the index range (4,5) which actually occur as principal graphs.
Consistent warped-space Kaluza-Klein reductions, half-maximal gauged supergravities and CP n constructions

Abstract We obtain new consistent Kaluza–Klein embeddings of the gauged supergravities with half of maximal supersymmetry in dimensions D=7 , 6, 5 and 4. They take the form of warped embeddings in type IIA, type IIB, M-theory and type IIB, respectively, and are obtained by performing Kaluza–Klein circle reductions or T-duality transformations on Hopf fibres in S 3 submanifolds of the previously-known sphere reductions. The new internal spaces are in some sense “mirror manifolds” that are dual to the original internal spheres. The vacuum AdS solutions of the gauged supergravities then give rise to warped products with these internal spaces. As well as these embeddings, which have singularities, we also construct new non-singular warped Kaluza–Klein embeddings for the D=5 and D=4 gauged supergravities. The geometry of the internal spaces in these cases leads us to study Fubini–Study metrics on complex projective spaces in some detail.
The anodic behavior of ion beam mixed surface alloys

Abstract Surface alloys of several hundred angstroms thickness have been prepared by ion beam mixing Pd into titanium, Ti into iron, and Mo into aluminum. Each of these systems consists of a more noble component mixed into a more active substrate. The ion beam mixed Pd-Ti surface alloy has a corrosion rate of 1/400 that of unalloyed titanium in H 2 SO 4 at 100°C, whereas ion beam mixing of Ti into iron has a modest effect on the corrosion rate in 0.1 M NaCl at 25°C. In both cases the results are explained by superposition of the anodic and cathodic polarization curves for the pure constituents. In the Pd-Ti surface alloy in 1 M H 2 SO 4 at 100°C, the cathodic curve for Pd intersects the anodic curve for Ti in the passive region of Ti; but for the Ti-Fe surface alloy in 0.1 M NaCl, the cathodic curve for Ti intersects the anodic curve for iron in the active region of Fe. Ion beam mixed surface alloys of Mo-Al were prepared by either ion implanting or vapor depositing molybdenum on to an aluminum substrate and then mixing with an inert or reactive element. The pitting potentials of the ion beam mixed samples were 0.100 to 0.650 V higher than the pitting potential of pure aluminum and are also higher than for the corresponding unmixed alloys prepared either by ion implantation or vapor deposition of Mo. The improvement in pitting resistance of the Mo-Al surface alloys is explained in terms of the pH of zero charge model of passive film breakdown.
Probabilistic study of fluid structure interaction

A combustor liner was computationally simulated and probabilistically evaluated in view of the several uncertainties in the aerodynamic, structural, material and thermal variables that govern the combustor liner. The interconnection between the computational fluid dynamics code and the finite element structural analysis codes was necessary to couple the thermal profiles with structural design. The stresses and their variations were evaluated at critical points on the liner. Cumulative distribution functions and sensitivity factors were computed for stress responses due to the aerodynamic, mechanical and thermal random variables. It was observed that the inlet and exit temperatures have a lot of influence on the hoop stress. For prescribed values of inlet and exit temperatures, the Reynolds number of the flow, coefficient of thermal expansion, gas emissivity and absorptivity and thermal conductivity of the material have about the same impact on the hoop stress. These results can be used to quickly identify the most critical design variables in order to optimize the design and make it cost effective.
Volumetric medical image compression with three-dimensional wavelet transform and octave zerotree coding

Compression of 3D or 4D medical image data has now become imperative for clinical picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), telemedicine and telepresence networks. While lossless compression is often desired, lossy compression techniques are gaining acceptance for medical applications, provided that clinically important information can be preserved in the coding process. We present a comprehensive study of volumetric image compression with three-dimensional wavelet transform, adaptive quantization with 3D spatial constraints, and octave zerotree coding. The volumetric image data is first decomposed using 3D separable wavelet filterbanks. In this study, we adopt a 3-level decomposition to form a 22-band multiresolution pyramid of octree. An adaptive quantization with 3D spatial constraints is then applied to reduce the statistical and psychovisual redundancies in the subbands. Finally, to exploit the dependencies among the quantized subband coefficients resulting from 3D wavelet decomposition, an octave zerotree coding scheme is developed. The proposed volumetric image compression scheme is applied to a set of real CT medical data. Significant coding gain has been achieved that demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed volumetric image compression scheme for medical as well as other applications.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Evolving Producer-Packer-Customer Linkages in the Beef and Pork Industries

The U.S. pork and beef sectors are rapidly moving from traditional cash markets to formal vertical linkages. In 1999, 27% of hogs and 65% of cattle were traded in the cash market and packers owned 18% of hogs and 5% of cattle; the rest were procured via marketing contracts. Contrary to popular opinion that plant efficiency is the impetus for the change, packers clearly identified quality concerns as the dominant reason for using marketing contracts or self-production. Quality standards and procurement systems to achieve them will increase in importance with the introduction of more branded pork and beef products.
Sialyl Lex structures in O-glycans attached to lysosomal membrane glycoproteins, lamp-1 and lamp-2. Comparison to those in N-glycans.

Abstract Poly-N-acetyllactosamine extension has been found in O-glycans in addition to N-glycans and glycosphingolipids (Fukuda, M. (1994) In Molecular Glycobiology, (ed. M. Fukuda and O. Hindsgaul), pp. 1–52, Oxford University Press, Oxford). However, the extent of poly-N-acetyllactosamine formation between O-glycans and N-glycans in a given glycoprotein has not been determined. Attempts were made in HL-60 cells to determine the amount of sialyl Lex structures in O-glycans and N-glycans attached to the major lysosomal membrane glycoproteins, lamp-1 and lamp-2. Lamp molecules were immunoprecipitated from 3H-glucosamine labeled HL-60 cells. Glycopeptides were prepared by pronase or trypsin digestion, and O-glycan containing glycopeptides were isolated by affinity chromatography using Jacalin-Agarose. The glycopeptides bound to Jacalin-Agarose were treated with alkaline borohydride, and the released O-glycans were fractionated by Bio-Gel P-4 filtration. Similarly, the glycopeptides unbound to Jacalin-Agarose, which represent N-glycans, were isolated by Sephadex G-50 gel filtration. Sequential glycosidase digestion of the O- and N-glycans, with or without pretreatment by fucosidase or neuraminidase, revealed the following features: (1) each lamp-1 and lamp-2 molecule contains about 2 and 1 poly-N-acetyllactosaminyl O-glycan chains, (2) about 65% of these poly-N-acetyllactosaminyl O-glycans contain sialyl Lex termini, NeuNAcα2→3Galβ1→4(Fucα1→3)GlcNAcβ1→R, and (3) N-glycans and O-glycans are modified in almost equal efficiency to express sialyl Lex structures. These results indicate that in lamp molecules both O-glycans and N-glycans contribute to the expression of sialyl Lex structures.
E‐government diffusion: a comparison of adoption constructs

Purpose – E‐government adoption is the focus of many research studies. However, few studies have compared the adoption factors to identify the most salient predictors of e‐government use. The purpose of this paper is to compare popular adoption constructs to identify the most influential.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administered to elicit citizen perceptions of e‐government services.Findings – The results of stepwise regression indicate perceived usefulness, trust of the internet, previous use of an e‐government service and perceived ease of use all have a significant impact on one's intention to use an e‐government service. Perceived usefulness emerges as the most important factor in predicting e‐government adoption. This factor alone explains 74.8 percent of the variance in intention to use.Research limitations/implications – In light of these findings, researchers should still explore the role of adoption factors in e‐government diffusion. The proposed model is a robust, yet parsimonious ...
The role of polar, lamdba (Λ)-shaped building units in noncentrosymmetric inorganic structures.

A methodology for the design of polar, inorganic structures is demonstrated here with the packing of lambda (Λ)-shaped basic building units (BBUs). Noncentrosymmetric (NCS) solids with interesting physical properties can be created with BBUs that lack an inversion center and are likely to pack into a polar configuration; previous methods to construct these solids have used NCS octahedra as BBUs. Using this methodology to synthesize NCS solids, one must increase the coordination of the NCS octahedra with maintenance of the noncentrosymmetry of the bulk. The first step in this progression from an NCS octahedron to an inorganic NCS solid is the formation of a bimetallic BBU. This step is exemplified with the compound CuVOF4(H2O)7: this compound, presented here, crystallizes in an NCS structure with ordered, isolated [Cu(H2O)5]2+ cations and [VOF4(H2O)]2– anions into Λ-shaped, bimetallic BBUs to form CuVOF4(H2O)6·H2O, owing to the Jahn–Teller distortion of Cu2+. Conversely, the centrosymmetric heterotypes wit...
Intraoperative radiation therapy in gynecologic cancer: Update of the experience at a single institution

Purpose: To update the Mayo Clinic experience with intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) in patients with gynecologic cancer. Methods and Materials: Between January 1983 and June 1991, 39 patients with recurrent or locally advanced gynecologic malignancies received intraoperative radiation therapy with electrons. The anatomical area treated was pelvis (side walls or presacrum) or periaortic nodes or a combination of both. In addition to intraoperative radiation therapy, 28 patients received external beam irradiation (median dose, 45 Gy; range, 0.9 to 65.7 Gy), and 13 received chemotherapy preoperatively. At the time of intraoperative radiation therapy and after maximum debulking operation, 23 patients had microscopic residual disease and 16 had gross residual disease up to 5 cm in thickness. Median follow-up for surviving patients was 43.4 months (range, 27.1 to 125.4 months). Results: The 5-year actuarial local control with or without central control was 67.4%, and the control within the IORT field (central control) was 81%. The risk of distant metastases at 5 years was 52% (82% in patients with gross residual disease and 33% in patients with only microscopic disease postoperatively). Actuarial 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival was 31.5 and 40.5%, respectively. Patients with microscopic disease had 5-year disease-free and overall survival of 55 and 50%, respectively. Grade 3 toxicity was directly associated with IORT in six patients (15%). Conclusion: Patients with local, regionally recurrent gynecologic cancer may benefit from maximal surgical debulking and IORT with or without external beam irradiation, especially those with microscopic residual disease.
Multiplicity at the stellar/substellar boundary in Upper Scorpius

We present the results of a high-resolution imaging survey of 12 brown dwarfs and very low mass stars in the closest (~145 pc) young (~5 Myr) OB association, Upper Scorpius. We obtained images with the Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Channel on HST through the F555W (V), F775W (i'), and F850LP (z') filters. This survey discovered three new binary systems, including one marginally resolved pair with a projected separation of only 4.9 AU, resulting in an observed binary fraction of 25% ± 14% at separations ≳4 AU. After correcting for detection biases assuming a uniform distribution of mass ratios for m_s/m_p > 0.6, the estimated binary fraction is 33% ± 17%. The binary fraction is consistent with that inferred for higher mass stars in Upper Sco, but the separation and mass ratio distributions appear to be different. All three low-mass binary systems in Upper Sco are tight ( 10M_J at projected separations >20 AU or masses >5M_J at projected separations >40 AU orbiting any of the low-mass (0.04-0.10 M☉) objects in our sample.
Inflation Thresholds and Growth

This paper investigates inflation thresholds that lead to higher growth rates using five-year averages of standard variables for 84 countries from 1965 to 2004. The historical experience has important policy implications for developing countries: (i) the catch-up effect has worked only when inflation is below 12%; (ii) the positive effect of human capital on growth has been present and significant when inflation has been below 15%; (iii) financial development has been effective only when inflation has been below 10%; (iv) government size has negatively affected growth when inflation has been below 10%; (v) trade has positively affected growth when inflation has been below 8%.
An Introduction to the Inverse Quantum Bound State Problem in One Dimension

A technique to reconstruct one-dimensional, reflectionless potentials and the associated quantum wave functions starting from a finite number of known energy spectra is discussed. The method is demonstrated using spectra that scale like the lowest energy states of standard problems encountered in the undergraduate curriculum, such as the infinite square well and the simple harmonic oscillator.
Turbulence modeling for the axially rotating pipe from the viewpoint of analytical closures

A single-point model eddy viscosity model of rotation effects on the turbulent flow in an axially rotating pipe is developed based on two-point closure theories. Rotation is known to impede energy transfer in turbulence; this fact is reflected in the present model through a reduced eddy viscosity, leading to laminarization of the mean velocity profile and return to a laminar friction law in the rapid rotation limit. This model is compared with other proposals including linear redistribution effects through the rapid pressure-strain correlation, Richardson number modification of the eddy viscosity in a model of non-rotating turbulence, and the reduction of turbulence through the suppression of near-wall production mechanisms.
The SYNGEN approach to synthesis design

Abstract In a systematic approach to the synthesis tree, the SYNGEN program first finds all convergent assembly plans for the target skeleton, i.e., all possible bondsets with no more than six bonds cut, from actual starting material skeletons. For each of these it then generates all possible sequential construction routes from real starting materials. These are “ideal syntheses”, the shortest synthetic routes. The output is displayed in graphics format with a flexible variety of modes for pruning to find the optimal choices in terms of real chemistry, with an interface to reaction databases (REACCS, SYNLIB) to locate literature precedents.
Dying in America — An Examination of Policies that Deter Adequate End-of-life Care in Nursing Homes

The quality of end-of-life care in this country is often poor. There is abundant literature indicating that dying individuals do not receive adequate pain medication or palliative care, are tethered to machines and tubes in a way that challenges their dignity and autonomy, and are not helped to deal with the emotional grief and psychological angst that may accompany the dying process. While this is true for individuals in many settings, it seems to be especially true for individuals in nursing homes. This is somewhat puzzling given that (1) considerable resources have been devoted to bringing public attention to this problem, (2) we have the knowledge and expertise to provide such care, and (3) we have a government-financed benefit that covers this type of care - the Medicare hospice benefit (MHB). While utilization of hospice care has increased during the last decade, there is considerable evidence that hospice care remains underutilized particularly in the long term care setting.
PROMPT OBSERVATIONS OF THE EARLY-TIME OPTICAL AFTERGLOW OF GRB 060607A

Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes (PROMPT) observed the early-time optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060607A and obtained a densely sampled multiwavelength light curve that begins only tens of seconds after the GRB. Located at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, PROMPT is designed to observe the afterglows of γ-ray bursts using multiple automated 0.4 m telescopes that image simultaneously in many filters when the afterglow is bright and may be highly variable. The data span the interval from 44 s after the GRB trigger to 3.3 hr in the Bgri filters. We observe an initial peak in the light curve at approximately 3 minutes, followed by re-brightenings peaking around 40 minutes and again at 66 minutes. Although our data overlap with the early Swift γ-ray and X-ray light curves, we do not see a correlation between the optical and high-energy flares. We do not find evidence for spectral evolution throughout the observations. We model the variations in the light curves and find that the most likely cause of the re-brightening episodes is a refreshment of the forward shock preceded by a rapidly fading reverse shock component, although other explanations are plausible.
A relation between the anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients in asymptotic free field theories

Abstract In asymptotic free field theories we show that part of the OPE of the trace of the stress-energy tensor and an arbitrary composite field is determined by the anomalous dimension of the composite field. We take examples from the two-dimensional O( N ) non-linear sigma model.
Iron-Catalyzed Asymmetric Epoxidation of β,β-Disubstituted Enones

The combination of Fe(OTf)2 and novel phenanthroline ligands enables the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of acyclic β,β-disubstituted enones, which have been a heretofore inaccessible substrate class. The reaction provides highly enantioenriched α,β-epoxyketones (up to 92% ee) that can be further converted to functionalized β-ketoaldehydes with an all-carbon quaternary center.
Secrecy in cascade networks

We consider a cascade network where a sequence of nodes each send a message to their downstream neighbor to enable coordination, the first node having access to an information signal. An adversary also receives all the communication as well as additional side-information. The performance of the system is measured by a payoff function over all actions produced by the nodes as well as the adversary. The challenge is to maintain secrecy from the adversary in order thwart his attempt to reduce the payoff. We obtain inner and outer bounds on performance, and give examples where they are tight. From these bounds, we also derive the optimal equivocation that can be achieved in this setting, as a special case.
Silver-Catalyzed Alkyne Activation: The Surprising Ligand Effect

An unexpected ligand effect was discovered in the silver(I)-catalyzed alkyne activation. For both aldehyde-alkyne-amine (A3) condensation and intermolecular alkyne hydroamination, the type B complex (P:Ag=1:1) effectively promoted the reaction, while no reaction occurred with either no ligand or excess ligands under the identical conditions.
Focused exhumation along megathrust splay faults in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Abstract Megathrust splay faults are a common feature of accretionary prisms and can be important for generating tsunamis during some subduction zone earthquakes. Here we provide new evidence from Alaska that megathrust splay faults have been conduits for focused exhumation in the last 5 Ma. In most of central Prince William Sound, published and new low-temperature thermochronology data indicate little to no permanent rock uplift over tens of thousands of earthquake cycles. However, in southern Prince William Sound on Montague Island, apatite (U–Th)/He ages are as young as 1.1 Ma indicating focused and rapid rock uplift. Montague Island lies in the hanging wall of the Patton Bay megathrust splay fault system, which ruptured during the 1964 M9.2 earthquake and produced ∼9 m of vertical uplift. Recent geochronology and thermochronology studies show rapid exhumation within the last 5 Ma in a pattern similar to the coseismic uplift in the 1964 earthquake, demonstrating that splay fault slip is a long term (3–5 my) phenomena. The region of slower exhumation correlates with rocks that are older and metamorphosed and constitute a mechanically strong backstop. The region of rapid exhumation consists of much younger and weakly metamorphosed rocks, which we infer are mechanically weak. The region of rapid exhumation is separated from the region of slow exhumation by the newly identified Montague Strait Fault. New sparker high-resolution bathymetry, seismic reflection profiles, and a 2012 M w 4.8 earthquake show this feature as a 75-km-long high-angle active normal fault. There are numerous smaller active normal(?) faults in the region between the Montague Strait Fault and the splay faults. We interpret this hanging wall extension as developing between the rapidly uplifting sliver of younger and weaker rocks on Montague Island from the essentially fixed region to the north. Deep seismic reflection profiles show the splay faults root into the subduction megathrust where there is probable underplating. Thus the exhumation and extension in the hanging wall are likely driven by underplating along the megathrust decollement, thickening in the overriding plate and a change in rheology at the Montague Strait Fault to form a structural backstop. A comparison with other megathrust splay faults around the world shows they have significant variability in their characteristics, and the conditions for their formation are not particularly unique.
A note on the topology of space–time in special relativity

We show that a topology can be defined in the four-dimensional space–time of special relativity so as to obtain a topological semigroup for time. The Minkowski 4-vector character of space–time elements as well as the key properties of special relativity are still the same as in the standard theory. However, the new topological structure allows the possibility of an intrinsic asymmetry in the time evolution of physical systems.
Soluble vascular adhesion protein-1 predicts incident major adverse cardiovascular events and improves reclassification in a finnish prospective cohort study.

Background—Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) associates to subclinical atherosclerotic manifestations in young people, but its association to incident major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) ...
Invariants for A4 fields and the Cohen–Lenstra heuristics

This article discusses deviations from the Cohen–Lenstra heuristics when roots of unity are present. In particular, we propose an explanation for the discrepancy between the observed number of cyclic cubic fields whose 2-class group is C2 × C2 and the number predicted by the Cohen–Lenstra heuristics, in terms of an invariant living in a quotient of the Schur multiplier group. We also show that, in some cases, the definition of the invariant can be simplified greatly, and we compute the invariant when the cubic field is ramified at exactly one prime, up to 108.
Poisson fiber bundles and coupling Dirac structures

Poisson fiber bundles are studied. We give sufficient conditions for the existence of a Dirac structure on the total space of a Poisson fiber bundle endowed with a compatible connection. We also provide some examples.
A Heterocycle-Forming Double Michael Reaction. [5 + 1] Annulation Route to Highly Substituted and Functionalized Piperidines

Nitrogen-containing tethered diacids, easily prepared by reductive alkylation of diethyl aminomalonate or ethyl cyanoglycinate, undergo double Michael reactions with 3-butyn-2-one to give highly functionalized and substituted piperidines (pipecolic acid derivatives) with surprisingly high stereoselectivity. The heterocyclic double Michael adducts can be induced to undergo further cyclizations to give a variety of azabicyclic and diazabicyclic compounds.
Mosaic-based 3D scene representation and rendering

In this paper we address the problem of fusing images from many video cameras or a moving video camera. The captured images have obvious motion parallax, but they will be aligned and integrated into a few mosaics with a large field-of-view (FOV) that preserve 3D information. We have developed a compact geometric representation that can re-organize the original perspective images into a set of parallel projections with different oblique viewing angles. In addition to providing a wide field of view, mosaics with various oblique views well represent occlusion regions that cannot be seen in a usual nadir view. Stereo mosaic pairs can be formed from mosaics with different oblique viewing angles. This representation can be used as both an advanced interface for interactive 3D video and a pre-processing step for 3D reconstruction. A ray interpolation approach for generating the parallel-projection mosaics is presented, and efficient 3D scene/object rendering based on multiple parallel-projection mosaics is discussed. Several real-world examples are provided, with applications ranging from aerial video surveillance/environmental monitoring, ground mobile robot navigation, to under-vehicle inspection.
EXTERNAL MEMORY ORTHOGONAL RANGE REPORTING WITH FAST UPDATES

In this paper we describe data structures for two-dimensional orthogonal range reporting in external memory that support fast update operations. The query costs either match the query costs of the best previously known data structures or differ by a small multiplicative factor.
Comment: Classifier Technology and the Illusion of Progress

It is my pleasure to contribute to the discussion of this paper. David Hand has the credibility one needs to write such an article and not have it dismissed out of Hand. Along with publishing numerous papers and books on classification and data mining, he “works in the trenches” with real data. His contributions to credit modeling are particularly well known and respected, and his knowledge of that domain reaches far deeper into the substance than the casual illustration often chosen to show off a new methodology. He is a fascinating lecturer and I have learned a great deal by listening carefully to his ideas. When he writes that claims of the superiority of neural networks and support vector machines “fail to take account of important aspects of real problems,” I have to stop and think about my own research and experiences. The thrust of Hand’s paper is the argument that most recent developments in classification, say anything since Fisher’s linear discriminant function, offer little benefit in practice. The mismatch between theory and practice dwarfs incremental claims for superiority established in theorems. For instance, theory that shows that a support vector machine classifies better than a simple linear model is an “illusion,” bordering on sophistry. I have a great deal of sympathy for this point of view, but I doubt that many statisticians will change what they do after reading this paper. I agree with many of his criticisms, but I am already in the choir. I suspect that it will take quite a bit more to convince others, particularly along the lines of proposals
Delegation versus an approval process and the demand for talent

Abstract In many organizations, a principal uses simple decision rules or decision processes, as opposed to complete contingent monetary contracts, to regulate a more informed agent's behavior. This paper models two such rules: delegation and an approval process. We determine the principal's preferable rule under different conditions and characterize the optimal demand for talent. In addition, we describe the agent's expected welfare under these rules and characterize how different talent might sort into the rules. If the decision process is not a choice or if the principal chooses approval for private gain, the demand for talent can be tied to the magnitude of loss in the worst state, rather than the degree of discretion given to the manager. However, if the principal has discretion over the decision process and proper incentives, then more talent is demanded under delegation.
Characterization of an effective cleaning procedure for aluminum alloys: surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and zeta potential analysis.

We have developed a cleaning procedure for aluminum alloys for effective minimization of surface-adsorbed sub-micrometer particles and nonvolatile residue. The procedure consists of a phosphoric acid etch followed by an alkaline detergent wash. To better understand the mechanism whereby this procedure reduces surface contaminants, we characterized the aluminum surface as a function of cleaning step using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). SERS indicates that phosphoric acid etching re-establishes a surface oxide of different characteristics, including deposition of phosphate and increased hydration, while the subsequent alkaline detergent wash appears to remove the phosphate and modify the new surface oxide, possibly leading to a more compact surface oxide. We also studied the zeta potential of <5 μm pure aluminum and aluminum alloy 6061-T6 particles to determine how surface electrostatics may be affected during the cleaning process. The particles show a decrease in the magnitude of their zeta potential in the presence of detergent, and this effect is most pronounced for particles that have been etched with phosphoric acid.
A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SINGULAR TIME OF THE MEAN CURVATURE FLOW

In this note we investigate the behaviour at finite-time singulari-ties of the mean curvature flow of compact Riemannian submanifolds M t ↪ (N m+n , h). We show that they are characterized by the blow-up of a trace A = H · II of the square of the second fundamental form.
Chemical origin of thermally stimulated discharge currents in polyacrylonitrile

Thermally stimulated discharge has been used in the past to diagnose and estimate the magnitude of electrical polarization in polymers. Nevertheless, molecular characterization of operative phenomena by this technique alone is often a difficult task. In the present work, infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy has been used to investigate the origin of thermally stimulated discharge currents near 200°C in externally unpolarized films of polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Spectroscopic analysis of thermally degraded films reveals some unsaturation of the PAN backbone and possibly the generation of cyanide ions. Opposite surfaces in a solvent-cast film give different spectra, indicating a gradient in chemical degradation products across the film thickness. Data suggest that nonuniform generation of charged species and unsaturated bonds gives rise to internal potentials in PAN. The origin of thermally stimulated currents in PAN near 200°C is thus believed to be associated with the onset of chemical degradation.
Forward masking of the compound action potential: thresholds for the detection of the N1 peak

A two-interval forced-choice method was developed that provides a rapid and objective computerized measurement of the threshold for detection of the N1 peak of the compound action potential (CAP) recorded in response to a probe tone. The CAP was recorded at the round window of anesthetized chinchillas and several gerbils. An adaptive threshold-tracking procedure was verified by comparing measured thresholds to those obtained from neurometric functions, which plot the proportion of correct detections of the probe as a function of probe intensity. The adaptive procedure was applied in a forward masking paradigm to study the growth of masking of the CAP as a function of masker intensity. Results indicate that growth of masking of the CAP more closely corresponds to that observed psychophysically, than does forward masking observed in the response of a single neuron. Implications for neural encoding mechanisms are discussed.
Inlet Flow Distortion in Turbomachinery

A single stage axial compressor with distorted inflow is studied. The inflow distortion occurs far upstream and may be a distortion in stagnation temperature, stagnation pressure or both. The blade rows are modeled as semi-actuator disks. Losses, quasi-steady deviation angles, and reference incidence correlations are included in the analysis. Both subsonic and transonic relative Mach numbers are considered. A parameter study is made to determine the influence of such variables as Mach number and swirl angle on the attenuation of the distortion.
The reaction of ethyl chromone-2-carboxylates with 1,2-diaminobenzene

Ethyl chromone-2-carboxylate and all its benzoanalogs were prepared and caused to react with 1,2-diami-nobenzene to give 2-(2-hydroxybenzoyl)methinyl-3-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline and its benzo analogs. The condensation products of diethyl oxalate and methyl hydroxyaryl ketones which were required for the preparation of the starting esters, were found to be subject to ring chain tautomerism.
A computational model of economies of scale and market share instability

Replicator dynamics and computer simulation techniques are used to construct a reduced-form model which explores negative and positive feedback between the rate of a firm's cost reduction and its market share (‘dynamic’ returns to scale). Life-cycle phenomena are explored by combining positive and negative feedback in a firm's cost function. The objective of the model is to reproduce the patterns of concentration and instability found across a wide set of industries. Simulation results find that dynamic decreasing returns to scale produce instability and multiple equilibria in market shares, very different from the results generated from ‘static’ decreasing returns to scale.
Messenger sneutrinos as cold dark matter

In models where supersymmetry breaking is communicated into the visible sector via gauge interactions the lightest supersymmetric particle is typically the gravitino which is too light to account for cold dark matter. We point out that the lightest messenger sneutrinos with mass in the range of one to three TeV may serve as cold dark matter over most of the parameter space due to one-loop electroweak radiative corrections. However, in the minimal model this mass range has been excluded by the direct dark matter searches. We propose a solution to this problem by introducing terms that explicitly violate the messenger number. This results in low detection rate for both direct and indirect searches and allows messenger sneutrinos to be a valid dark matter candidate in a wide region of SUSY parameter space.
An Evidence-Based Incentive System for Medicare's End-Stage Renal Disease Program

Recent legislations directed Medicare to revamp its decades-old system for reimbursing dialysis treatments, with focus on the risk adjustment of payments and on the transition toward a pay-for-compliance system. To design an optimal payment system that incorporates these features, we develop an empirical method to estimate the structural parameters of the principal--agent model underlying Medicare's dialysis payment system. We use the model and parameter estimates to answer the following questions: Can a pay-for-compliance system based only on the intermediate performance measures currently identified by Medicare achieve first-best? How should patient outcomes be risk adjusted, and what welfare gains can be achieved by doing so? Our main findings are as follows: (1) the current set of intermediate measures identified by Medicare are not comprehensive enough for use alone in a pay-for-compliance system; (2) paying for risk-adjusted downstream outcomes instead of raw downstream outcomes can lengthen the hospital-free life of admitted patients by two weeks per patient per year without increasing Medicare expenditures. This paper was accepted by Christian Terwiesch, operations management.
Halo Star Lithium Depletion

The depletion of lithium during the pre-main-sequence and main-sequence phases of stellar evolution plays a crucial role in the comparison of the predictions of big bang nucleosynthesis with the abundances observed in halo stars. Previous work has indicated a wide range of possible depletion factors, ranging from minimal in standard (nonrotating) stellar models to as much as an order of magnitude in models that include rotational mixing. Recent progress in the study of the angular momentum evolution of low-mass stars permits the construction of theoretical models capable of reproducing the angular momentum evolution of low-mass open cluster stars. The distribution of initial angular momenta can be inferred from stellar rotation data in young open clusters. In this paper we report on the application of these models to the study of lithium depletion in main-sequence halo stars. A range of initial angular momenta produces a range of lithium depletion factors on the main sequence. Using the distribution of initial conditions inferred from young open clusters leads to a well-defined halo lithium plateau with modest scatter and a small population of outliers. The mass-dependent angular momentum loss law inferred from open cluster studies produces a nearly flat plateau, unlike previous models that exhibited a downward curvature for hotter temperatures in the 7Li-Teff plane. The overall depletion factor for the plateau stars is sensitive primarily to the solar initial angular momentum used in the calibration for the mixing diffusion coefficients. Uncertainties remain in the treatment of the internal angular momentum transport in the models, and the potential impact of these uncertainties on our results is discussed. The 6Li/7Li depletion ratio is also examined. We find that the dispersion in the plateau and the 6Li/7Li depletion ratio scale with the absolute 7Li depletion in the plateau, and we use observational data to set bounds on the 7Li depletion in main-sequence halo stars. A maximum of 0.4 dex depletion is set by the observed dispersion and 6Li/7Li depletion ratio, and a minimum of 0.2 dex depletion is required by both the presence of highly overdepleted halo stars and consistency with the solar and open cluster 7Li data. The cosmological implications of these bounds on the primordial abundance of 7Li are discussed.
Roll-to-roll manufacturing of electronic devices

Roll-to-Roll (R2R) production of thin film based electronic devices (e.g. solar cells, activematrix TFT backplanes & touch screens) combine the advantages of the use of inexpensive, lightweight & flexible substrates with high throughput production. Significant cost reduction opportunities can also be found in terms of processing tool capital cost, utilized substrate area and process gas flow when compared with batch processing systems. Nevertheless, material handling, device patterning and yield issues have limited widespread utilization of R2R manufacturing within the electronics industry.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Delaunay triangulation for image object indexing: a novel method for shape representation

Recent research on image databases has been aimed at the development of content-based retrieval techniques for the management of visual information. Compared with such visual information as color, texture, and spatial constraints, shape is an important feature. Associated with those image objects of interest, shape alone may be sufficient to identify and classify an object completely and accurately. This paper presents a novel method, based on feature point histogram indexing for object shape representation in image databases. In this scheme, the feature point histogram is obtained by discretizing the angles produced by the Delaunay triangulation of a set of unique feature points, which characterize object shape in context, and then counting the number of times each discrete angle occurs in the resulting triangulation. The proposed shape representation technique is translation, scale, and rotation independent. Our various experiments concluded that the Euclidean distance performs well as the similarity measure function, in combination with the feature point histogram computed by counting the two largest angles of each individual Delauney triangle. Through further experiments, we also found evidence that an image object representation, using a feature point histogram, provides an effective cue for image object discrimination.
Synthesis of 3,5-isoxazolidinediones and 1H-2,3-benzoxazine-1,4(3H)-diones from aliphatic oximes and dicarboxylic acid chlorides.

The synthesis of the title compounds was carried out by reacting dicarboxylic acid chlorides with oximes in the presence of excess triethylamine. Disubstituted malonyl chlorides gave 2-alkenyl-4,4-dialkyl-3,5-isoxazolidinediones (8a–f) and 2,2′-ethylidene-bis[4,4-dialkyl-3,5-isoxazolidinedione]s (9a–f). Compounds 9 were formed from 8 and its N-unsubstituted 3,5-isoxazolidinedione decomposition product. Phthaloyl chlorides reacted with acetone oxime to yield 3-(1-methylethenyl)-1H-2,3-benzoxazine-1,4(3H)-diones (16a–e). Products 16 spontaneously decomposed to give N-unsubstituted 1H-2,3-benzoxazine-1,4(3H)-diones (17a–e) at rates that were dependent on temperature and solvent. Kinetic studies showed that two of the compounds decomposed by zero-order kinetics under neutral conditions. Butanedioyl chloride did not produce a cyclic product.
Incorporating Content Addressable Array Processors Into Computer Vision Systems

A design is presented for a Content Addressable Array Parallel Processor (CAAPP) which is both practical and feasible. Its practicality stems from an extensive program of research into real applications of content addressability and parallelism. The feasibility of the design stems from development under a set of conservative engineering constraints tied to limitations of VLSI technology. We then describe various procedures for image processing on the CAAPP. The first performs image convolutions very quickly. It is shown that this algorithm can be generalized to perform convolutions with increased mask size with only a moderate reduction in speed. The second uses the CAAPP to quickly and robustly decompose an optic flow field into its rotational and translational components to recover sensor motion parameters. We also briefly describe techniques for associating symbolic descriptions with extracted image structures in the CAAPP.© (1984) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Synthesis and evaluation of the cytotoxicity of apoptolidinones A and D.

Apoptolidins A−D are microbial secondary metabolites shown to be selectively cytotoxic against several cancer cell lines and noncytotoxic against normal cells. Total syntheses of apoptolidinones A and D are reported. The efficient synthetic strategy leading to the apoptolidinones features construction of the common 20-membered macrolactone by an intramolecular Suzuki reaction and stereocontrolled aldol reactions establishing the C19/C20 and C22/C23 stereocenters. In contrast to apoptolidin A, the aglycones apoptolidinone A and D were shown to be noncytotoxic when evaluated against human lung cancer cells (H292).