cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive

The basic hypothesis is that, while the total supply of entrepreneurs varies among societies, the productive contribution of the society's entrepreneurial activities varies much more because of their allocation between productive activities such as innovation and largely unproductive activities such as rent seeking or organized crime. This allocation is heavily influenced by the relative payoffs society offers to such activities. This implies that policy can influence the allocation of entrepreneurship more effectively than it can influence its supply. Historical evidence from ancient Rome, early China, and the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Europe is used to investigate the hypotheses.
Standards of Time and Frequency at the Outset of the 21st Century

After 50 years of development, microwave atomic clocks based on cesium have achieved fractional uncertainties below 1 part in 10 15 , a level unequaled in all of metrology. The past 5 years have seen the accelerated development of optical atomic clocks, which may enable even greater improvements in timekeeping. Time and frequency standards with various levels of performance are ubiquitous in our society, with applications in many technological fields as well as in the continued exploration of the frontiers of basic science. We review state-of-the-art atomic time and frequency standards and discuss some of their uses in science and technology.
Rough path analysis via fractional calculus

Using fractional calculus we define integrals of the form b a f(x t )dy t , where x and y are vector-valued Holder continuous functions of order p ∈ (1/3, 1/2) and f is a continuously differentiable function such that f' is A-Holder continuous for some A > 1/β - 2. Under some further smooth conditions on f the integral is a continuous functional of x, y, and the tensor product x ⊗ y with respect to the Holder norms. We derive some estimates for these integrals and we solve differential equations driven by the function y. We discuss some applications to stochastic integrals and stochastic differential equations.
On the sensitivity of transversal RLS algorithms to random perturbations in the filter coefficients

The author investigates the sensitivity of the RLS algorithm to random perturbations about the optimum filter coefficients. Expressions are derived for the mean and variance of the deviation from the optimum error power for the prewindowed growing memory and the experimentally windowed ( lambda >
Lewis Base Catalysis in Organic Synthesis

The legacy of Gilbert Newton Lewis (1875-1946) pervades the lexicon of chemical bonding and reactivity. The power of his concept of donor-acceptor bonding is evident in the eponymous foundations of electron-pair acceptors (Lewis acids) and donors (Lewis bases). Lewis recognized that acids are not restricted to those substances that contain hydrogen (Bronsted acids), and helped overthrow the "modern cult of the proton". His discovery ushered in the use of Lewis acids as reagents and catalysts for organic reactions. However, in recent years, the recognition that Lewis bases can also serve in this capacity has grown enormously. Most importantly, it has become increasingly apparent that the behavior of Lewis bases as agents for promoting chemical reactions is not merely as an electronic complement of the cognate Lewis acids: in fact Lewis bases are capable of enhancing both the electrophilic and nucleophilic character of molecules to which they are bound. This diversity of behavior leads to a remarkable versatility for the catalysis of reactions by Lewis bases.
Discovery of lake-effect clouds on Titan

Images from instruments on Cassini as well as from telescopes on the ground reveal the presence of sporadic small-scale cloud activity in the cold late-winter north polar region of Saturn's large moon Titan. These clouds lie underneath the previously discovered uniform polar cloud attributed to a quiescent ethane cloud at similar to 40 km and appear confined to the same latitudes as those of the largest known hydrocarbon lakes at the north pole of Titan. The physical properties of these clouds suggest that they are due to methane convection and condensation. Such convection could be caused by a process in some ways analogous to terrestrial lake-effect clouds. The lakes on Titan could be a key connection between the surface and the meteorological cycle.
Curves-on-Surface: A General Shape Comparison Framework

We develop a new surface matching framework to handle surface comparisons based on the mathematical analysis of curves on surfaces, and propose a unique signature for any closed curve on a surface. The signature describes not only the shape of the curve , but also the intrinsic relationship between the curve and its embedding surface; and furthermore, the signature metric is stable across surfaces sharing similar Riemannian geometry metrics. Based on this theoretical advance, we analyze and align features defined as closed curves on surfaces using their signatures. These curves segment a surface into different regions which are mapped onto canonical domains for the matching purpose. The experimental results are very promising, demonstrating that the curve signatures and the comparison framework are robust and discriminative for the effective shape comparison. Besides its utility in our current framework, we believe the curve signature will also serve as a powerful shape segmentation/mapping tool and can be used to aid in many existing techniques towards effective shape analysis.
Obesity as a risk factor for antipsychotic noncompliance

Abstract Objective: Weight gain is a common side effect of antipsychotic medications and is of particular concern with most of the newer “atypical” antipsychotics. It is, therefore, increasingly important to understand the impact of obesity and perceived weight problems on compliance with these medications. Methods: A survey of treatment and health issues was mailed to local chapters of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and National Mental Health Association (NMHA), who distributed them to people with schizophrenia. Noncompliance was defined as a self-report of missing any antipsychotic medication in the previous month. The primary independent variables were (1) body mass index (BMI; weight [kg]/height [m2])—categorized as normal ( 30, n=100)—and (2) subjective distress over weight gain. Other independent variables included demographics, medication attitudes, and treatment satisfaction. Result: BMI status and subjective distress from weight gain were predictors of noncompliance. Obese individuals were more than twice as likely as those with a normal BMI to report missing their medication (OR=2.5; CI 1.1–5.5). A comprehensive model suggested that the primary mediator of noncompliance was distress over weight gain. Conclusions: There appears to be a significant, positive association between obesity and subjective distress from weight gain and medication noncompliance, even when accounting for other possible confounding factors.
Tight Upper Bounds for Streett and Parity Complementation

Complementation of finite automata on infinite words is not only a fundamental problem in automata theory, but also serves as a cornerstone for solving numerous decision problems in mathematical logic, model-checking, program analysis and verification. For Streett complementation, a significant gap exists between the current lower bound 2^{Omega(n*log(n*k))} and upper bound 2^{O(n*k*log(n*k))}, where n is the state size, k is the number of Streett pairs, and k can be as large as 2^{n}. Determining the complexity of Streett complementation has been an open question since the late 80's. In this paper we show a complementation construction with upper bound 2^{O(n*log(n)+n*k*log(k))} for k=O(n) and 2^{O(n^{2}*log(n))} for k=Omega(n), which matches well the lower bound obtained in the paper arXiv:1102.2963. We also obtain a tight upper bound 2^{O(n*log(n))} for parity complementation.
Three-dimensional moment and stiffness summation for muscles sharing a common tendon

This study examined the hypothesis that muscles operating in the normal physiological state act as independent actuators. This hypothesis was tested by measuring the nonlinearities associated with three-dimensional (3D) moment and stiffness summation for three muscle groups crossing the cat ankle joint. Our results indicate that the nonlinearities associated with joint moment and stiffness summation are small (<5%), even between muscles having extensive myofascial interconnections.
THE PROBLEM OF TWO STICKS

Abstract Let l = [ l 0 , l 1 ] be the directed line segment from l 0 ∈ R n to l 1 ∈ R n . Suppose that l = [ l 0 , l 1 ] is a second segment of equal length such that l , l satisfy the “two sticks condition”: ‖ l 1 − l 0 ‖ ≥ ‖ l 1 − l 0 ‖ , ‖ l 1 − l 0 ‖ ≥ ‖ l 1 − l 0 ‖ . Here ‖ ⋅ ‖ is a norm on R n . We explore the manner in which l 1 , l 1 are then constrained when assumptions are made about “intermediate points” l t ∈ l , l t ∈ l . Roughly speaking, our most subtle result constructs parallel planes separated by a distance comparable to ‖ l t − l t ‖ and whose normal is nearly orthogonal to l 1 − l 0 such that both l 1 and l 1 must lie between these planes, provided that ‖ ⋅ ‖ is “geometrically convex” and “balanced”, as defined herein. Moreover, given a family of “sticks” which pairwise satisfy the two sticks condition, all with intermediate points in a fixed small ball, the planes can be chosen to contain the terminal points of all the sticks in the family. The standard p -norms are shown to be geometrically convex and balanced. Other results estimate ‖ l 1 − l 1 ‖ in a Lipschitz or Holder manner by ‖ l t − l t ‖ . All these results have implications in the theory of eikonal equations, from which this “problem of two sticks” arose.
Versatile Pathways for In Situ Polyolefin Functionalization with Heteroatoms: Catalytic Chain Transfer

Chain-transfer processes represent highly effective chemical means to achieve selective, in situ d- and f-block-metal catalyzed functionalization of polyolefins. A diverse variety of electron-poor and electron-rich chain-transfer agents, including silanes, boranes, alanes, phosphines, and amines, effect efficient chain termination with concomitant carbon-heteroelement bond formation during single-site olefin-polymerization processes. High polymerization activities, control of polyolefin molecular weight and microstructure, and selective chain functionalization are all possible, with distinctly different mechanisms operative for the electron-poor and electron-rich reagents. A variety of metal centers (early transition metals, lanthanides, late transition metals) and single-site ancillary ligand arrays (metallocene, half-metallocene, non-metallocene) are able to mediate these selective chain-termination/functionalization processes.
Scale-space from nonlinear filters

Decomposition by extrema is put into the context of linear vision systems and scale-space. It is proved that discrete one-dimensional, M- and N-sieves neither introduce new edges as the scale increases nor create new extrema. They share this property with diffusion based filters. They are robust and preserve edges of large scale features.
Application of multirate digital filter banks to wideband all-digital phase locked loops design

A new class of architecture for all-digital phase locked loops (DPLLS) is presented. This architecture, referred to as parallel DPLL (PDPLL), is based on employing multirate digital filter banks (DFBs) to track signals with a lower processing rate than the Nyquist rate, without reducing the input (Nyquist) bandwidth. The PDPLL basically trades complexity versus hardware processing speed by introducing parallel processing in the receiver. A reduced complexity DFB that is ideal for implementation of the PDPLL is introduced. It is demonstrated that the PDPLL performance is identical to that of a DPLL for both steady state and transient behavior. Various Doppler characteristics are used to compare the performance of the DPLL with the PDPLL. >
Diverging Populations and Endogenous Growth in a Model of Meaningless Trade

The endogenous growth literature raises the possibility that countries may grow without bound in terms of per capita income, and that they may do so at different rates. This possibility also exists in neoclassical growth models with diverging populations—populations that grow at different rates. In both cases, however, this means that international inequality of per capita incomes will not only exist but also get worse over time. This paper examines that possibility within a very simple one-sector model that allows for both diverging populations and endogenous growth.
Quantifying Consumer Perception of a Financially Distressed Company

To measure how consumers respond to negative information about the financial health of a durable-goods producer, I use the prices at which vehicles sell in secondary markets to quantify consumer perception of the Chrysler Corporation during the period surrounding the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act of 1979. I focus on Chrysler’s July 31, 1979 announcement of financial distress and request for assistance from the U.S. government. The trend in the prices of used Chrysler vehicles relative to those of its American competitors provides strong support for the claim that consumers reduce their willingness to pay for the goods of a financially distressed company.
Visual learning for science and engineering

This survey looks at visualization techniques used in science and engineering education to enhance student learning and encourage underrepresented students to pursue technical degrees. This article aims to encourage faculty in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines to use visual methods to communicate to their students. Visual learning is an important method for exploiting students' visual senses to enhance learning and engage their interest. This methodology also has the potential to increase the number of students in STEM fields, especially of women and minority students. A visual approach to science and engineering enhances communication. This visualization revolution shows that letting scientists engage the higher cognitive parts of the brain by thinking and communicating visually improved how they performed their research.
Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers

The authors' empirical analysis suggests that older and more educated suicide bombers are being assigned by their terror organization to more important targets. They find that more educated and older suicide bombers are less likely to fail in their mission and are more likely to cause increased casualties when they attack.
The exploration of outer space with an earth satellite

Sometime during the coming geophysical year (July, 1957 to December, 1958) an attempt will be made to launch an artificial satellite in an orbit around the earth. The Office of Naval Research has been assigned the responsibility to perform this task and has established Project VANGUARD in the Naval Research Laboratory to carry it out. The Department of Defense turned to the Navy to manage this triservice project because of its extensive experience in upper-atmosphere research with rockets. The satellite which Project VANGUARD intends to launch in an orbit is a small one, yet must be a research vehicle. The National Committee for the IGY of the National Academy of Sciences has established a panel which is concerned with the nature of the scientific experiments to be done in the vehicle. Work is in progress not only on the vehicles, but on the experiments to be done in the satellite. Experiments conducted in an artificial earth satellite circling the earth in the outer tenuous region of our atmosphere can greatly increase our knowledge of the atmosphere-its structure, its constituents, and the powerful radiations both electromagnetic and corpuscular that impinge upon it and help determine its state.
Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Synthetic Tetrahedrites

Electrical and thermal transport properties of synthetic tetrahedrites Cu10TM2Sb4S13 (TM = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) and the solid solution Cu12–xMnxSb4S13 (0 ≤ x ≤ 2) have been studied in the context of thermoelectric performance. Among these materials, the parent compound Cu12Sb4S13 exhibits the highest power factor, which is primarily derived from a high electrical conductivity. All substituted derivatives display a significant and uniform reduction in thermal conductivity. Within the TM series, the Mn-substituted sample displays the highest ZT (0.8 at 575 K). Changing the Mn concentration to Cu11MnSb4S13 produces the highest ZT, i.e., 1.13 at 575 K. The relatively high value derives from a favorable balance of low thermal conductivity and a relatively high power factor.
NASA Climatological Data for Renewable Energy Assessment

This article presents the latest parameters and delivery methods that provide global solar energy and meteorological resources on the Interuet. Over the past several years the number of parameters in the Surface meteorology and Solar Energy Data Set has tripled. The newest parameters include solar geometry, a suite of wind speed and wind direction data, diffuse, direct normal and tilted surface solar irradiance. Requests by users and recommendations by the renewable energy industry have prompted the growth.
Consensus in distributed estimation with inconsistent beliefs

Two agents sequentially revise and exchange their estimates of the same random variable. The agents are Bayesian and may have different models of the underlying probability structure. It is shown that either the two sets of estimates will converge to the same value or the agents will realize that their beliefs are inconsistent.
Adaptive local searching and caching strategies for on-demand routing protocols in ad hoc networks

On-demand routing protocols are widely used in mobile ad hoc networks due to their capability of adjusting to frequent network topology changes within acceptable routing overhead. In this paper, we reinvestigate two techniques, route caching and searching localisation, in particular their joint effect on reducing routing overhead. We first analyse and present the optimal value for two essential parameters: route caching validation probability and local searching radius. We then propose a new routing strategy that adapts to the current caching availability and is self-tunable towards the optimal performance. Simulation shows that routing overhead is thus greatly reduced.
Mixing on rank-one transformations

We prove mixing on rank-one transformations is equivalent to “the uniform convergence of ergodic averages (as in the mean ergodic theorem) over subsequences of partial sums”. In particular, all polynomial staircase transformations are mixing.
Two-Way Feedback Interaction between the Thermohaline and Wind-Driven Circulations

The thermohaline circulation (THC) affects the meridional atmospheric temperature gradient and therefore the atmospheric wind and the wind-driven ocean circulation. The wind-driven circulation (WDC), in turn, affects the THC by the advection of salinity anomalies into deep-water formation sites. This paper considers this two-way coupling between the WDC and THC using a simple box-type model and analysis tools from engineering feedback control. The two-way feedback can have a significant effect on the dynamics of the coupled system. For a reasonable choice of parameters, the feedback destabilizes the THC equilibrium for low freshwater forcing. For higher freshwater forcing, the feedback results in a new stable equilibrium instead of the large amplitude oscillation that develops without feedback. It is expected that the analysis approach used here may be broadly applicable to the study of feedback interconnections of other climate systems as well.
Jet Shapes with the Broadening Axis

Broadening is a classic jet observable that probes the transverse momentum structure of jets. Traditionally, broadening has been measured with respect to the thrust axis, which is aligned along the (hemisphere) jet momentum to minimize the vector sum of transverse momentum within a jet. In this paper, we advocate measuring broadening with respect to the “broadening axis”, which is the direction that minimizes the scalar sum of transverse momentum within a jet. This approach eliminates many of the calculational complexities arising from recoil of the leading parton, and observables like the jet angularities become recoil-free when measured using the broadening axis. We derive a simple factorization theorem for broadening-axis observables which smoothly interpolates between the thrust-like and broadening-like regimes. We argue that the same factorization theorem holds for two-point energy correlation functions as well as for jet shapes based on a “winner-take-all axis”. Using kinked broadening axes, we calculate event-wide angularities in e + e − collisions with next-to-leading logarithmic resummation. Defining jet regions using the broadening axis, we also calculate the global logarithms for angularities within a single jet. We find good agreement comparing our calculations both to showering Monte Carlo programs and to automated resummation tools. We give a brief historical perspective on the broadening axis and suggest ways that broadening-axis observables could be used in future jet substructure studies at the Large Hadron Collider.
Frequency-domain tests for validation of linear fractional uncertain models

A frequency domain approach is adopted in this paper to tackle the problem of validating uncertainty models described by linear fractional transforms. This problem amounts to verifying the consistency of certain given mathematical models to experimental information obtained from a physical plant, using either input-output, frequency-domain measurements or frequency samples of the plant. Linear fractional models with both unstructured and structured uncertainties are considered. The problem is resolved in the former case and solved approximately in the latter. Both results lead to tests that are readily computable via convex optimization methods and can be implemented using standard algorithms. In comparison to previously available algorithms based on time-domain information, the main advantage of these tests is that they have a considerably lower level of computational complexity. It is shown that the validation problem reduces to one of Nevanlinna-Pick boundary interpolation, and it can be solved by computing independently a sequence of convex programs of a lower dimension, each of which corresponds to only one frequency sample.
Radiometric sensitivity to soil moisture at 1.4 GHz through a corn crop at maximum biomass

[1] Radiometric sensitivity to soil moisture at 1.4 GHz through a corn canopy at a maximum biomass of 8.0 kg m � 2 (water column density of 6.3 kg m � 2 ) was much higher than expected. The magnitude of the measured sensitivity of horizontally polarized brightness temperature to the 0–3 cm volumetric soil water content was at least 1.5 K per 0.01 m 3 m � 3 and could have been as high as 2.5 K per 0.01 m 3 m � 3 . Vertically polarized brightness temperature was 0.5 K per 0.01 m 3 m � 3 less sensitive than horizontally polarized brightness temperature. A widely used radiative transfer model that assumes a uniform distribution of vegetation in the canopy underestimated this soil moisture sensitivity at horizontal polarization by over 1 K per 0.01 m 3 m � 3 . Given an appropriate emission model that correctly accounts for the differences in transparency between heterogeneous canopies (as compared to the wavelength) such as corn and relatively homogeneous canopies such as grass, it appears that there will be practical sensitivity to soil moisture through corn (and most, if not all, row crops) throughout the growing season. INDEX TERMS: 1866 Hydrology: Soil moisture; 6969 Radio Science: Remote sensing; 1894 Hydrology: Instruments and techniques; 6994 Radio Science: Instruments and techniques; KEYWORDS: field experiment, hydrology, microwave radiometry, radiative transfer, remote sensing, soil moisture
Trainable videorealistic speech animation

We describe how to create with machine learning techniques a generative, videorealistic, and speech animation module. A human subject is first recorded using a videocamera as he/she utters a pre-determined speech corpus. After processing the corpus automatically, a visual speech module is learned from the data that is capable of synthesizing the human subject's mouth uttering entirely novel utterances that were not recorded in the original video. The synthesized utterance is re-composited onto a background sequence, which contains natural head and eye movement. The final output is videorealistic in the sense that it looks like a video camera recording of the subject. At run time, the input to the system can be either real audio sequences or synthetic audio produced by a text-to-speech system, as long as they have been phonetically aligned.
APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. A REVIEW

(1991). APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. A REVIEW. Organic Preparations and Procedures International: Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 683-711.
Detecting the Cosmic Dipole Anisotropy in Large-Scale Radio Surveys

The detection of a dipole anisotropy in the sky distribution of sources in large-scale radio surveys can be used to constrain the magnitude and direction of our local motion with respect to an isotropically distributed extragalactic radio source population. Such a population is predicted to be present at cosmological redshifts in an isotropically expanding universe. The extragalactic radio source population is observed to have a median redshift of z ∼ 1, a much later epoch than the cosmic microwave background (z ∼ 1100). I consider the detectability of a velocity dipole anisotropy in radio surveys having a finite number of source counts. The statistical significance of a velocity dipole detection from radio source counts is also discussed in detail. I find that existing large-scale radio survey catalogs do not have a sufficient number of sources to detect the expected velocity dipole with statistical significance, even if survey masking and flux calibration complications can be completely eliminated (i.e., if both the surveys and observing instruments are perfect). However, a dipole anisotropy should be easily detectable in future radio surveys planned with next-generation radio facilities, such as the Low Frequency Array and the Square Kilometer Array; tight constraints on the dipole magnitude and direction should be possible if flux calibration problems can be sufficiently minimized or corrected and contamination from local sources can be eliminated.
Synthesis, single-crystal structure, and optical absorption of Rb2Th7Se15

Abstract The compound Rb2Th7Se15 has been synthesized by the solid-state reaction at 1273 K of Th, Rb2Se3, Se, and Ge, and its structure has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Red crystals of Rb2Th7Se15 crystallize at 100(2) K with four formula units in a new structure type in the monoclinic space group C 2 h 5 −P21/c. The structure is three-dimensional and comprises Rb and Th atoms coordinated by Se atoms to form nine-, eight-, and seven-coordinate polyhedra. Infinite channels that contain Rb atoms are present. Crystals of Rb2Th7Se15 are red in color; an indirect band gap of 1.83 eV was derived from single-crystal optical measurements.
Evaluating Polynomials in Several Variables and their Derivatives on a GPU Computing Processor

In order to obtain more accurate solutions of polynomial systems with numerical continuation methods we use multiprecision arithmetic. Our goal is to offset the overhead of double double arithmetic accelerating the path trackers and in particular Newton's method with a general purpose graphics processing unit. In this paper we describe algorithms for the massively parallel evaluation and differentiation of sparse polynomials in several variables. We report on our implementation of the algorithmic differentiation of products of variables on the NVIDIA Tesla C2050 Computing Processor using the NVIDIA CUDA compiler tools.
Effect of hospital volume on in-hospital mortality for renal artery bypass.

Background: A recent report determined that the nationwide mortality for renal artery bypass (RAB) is surprisingly high—10%. We hypothesized that operative mortality for RAB is related to the volume of such operations performed in each center. Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was analyzed to identify patients undergoing RAB for the years 2000-2005. In-hospital mortality for RAB was compared between hospitals. Results: During the study period, RAB was performed on 7413 patients with an overall in-hospital mortality of 9.6%. The multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that after adjusting for surgical risk, increasing hospital volume was significantly associated with decreased in-hospital mortality for RAB (odds ratio 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.96-0.99; P = .015). Conclusions: Patient risk profile and hospital volume are critical determinants of in-hospital mortality for RAB, which should be factored into decision making for patients requiring intervention for renovascular disease.
Real-Time Analysis of Sensory Dissonance

We describe a tool for real-time musical analysis based on a measure of roughness, the principal element of sensory dissonance. While most historical musical analysis is based on the notated score, our tool permits analysis of a recorded or live audio signal in its full complexity. We proceed from the work of Richard Parncutt and Ernst Terhardt, extending their algorithms for the psychoacoustic analysis of harmony to be used for the live analysis of spectral data. This allows for the study of a wider variety of timbrally-rich acoustic or electronic sounds which was not possible with previous algorithms. Further, the direct treatment of audio signal facilitates a wide range of analytical applications, from the comparison of multiple recordings of the same musical work to the real-time analysis of a live performance. Our algorithm is programmed in C as an external object for the program Max/MSP. Taking musical examples by Arnold Schoenberg, Gerard Grisey and Iannis Xenakis, our algorithm yields varying roughness estimates depending on instrumental orchestration or electronic texture, confirming our intuitive understanding that timbre affects sensory dissonance. This is one of the many possibilities this tool presents for analysis and composition of music that is timbrally-dynamic and microtonally-complex.
A sulfonate-based Cu(I) metal-organic framework as a highly efficient and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of propargylamines under solvent-free conditions

Abstract A new highly efficient and reusable Cu(I)-MOF has been developed for the synthesis of propargylamine compounds via the three-component reaction of secondary amines, alkynes, and aromatic aldehydes under solvent-free conditions. The desired propargylamines were obtained in good to excellent yields with a low catalyst loading. The catalyst may be recovered and reused for up to 5 cycles without major loss of activity. This protocol has the advantages of excellent yields, low catalyst loading, and catalyst recyclability.
Versatile method for the synthesis of 4-aminocyclopentenones: dysprosium(III) triflate catalyzed aza-piancatelli rearrangement.

The aza-Piancatelli rearrangement affords a single trans diastereomer from both aryl- and alkyl-substituted furylcarbinols.
Retiree Health Benefits as Deferred Compensation Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Are early retiree health benefits (RHBs) a form of deferred compensation that binds workers to an employer? Most employers who offer RHBs offer them only to workers who have 10 or more years of tenure with the firm and have reached age 55. Accordingly, workers in firms offering RHBs have an incentive to stay with a firm in the years before they attain eligibility for RHBs, and a greater incentive than otherwise to retire thereafter. We test for the existence of such a pattern of incentives by examining the age-specific relationship between workers’ eligibility for RHBs and retirement. The findings suggest that workers in RHB-offering firms are less likely to retire at ages 50 and 51 than similar workers in firms that do not offer RHBs. Also, RHB-eligible workers aged 60 and 61 are more likely to retire than similar RHB-ineligible workers. Such a pattern is consistent with RHBs acting as part of a delayed-payment contract of the kind described by Lazear (1979, 1981).
European lessons in imperialism: a letter to America

US neo-imperialism in Iraq and Afghanistan has its roots in European imperialism, which was closely tied with the rise of nationalism. Patriotism in many different cultural media has been crucial for the success of nationalism and thus for imperialism. Not only must intellectuals challenge the rhetoric of patriotism, but they must also offer political and social alternatives to the nation state. One example of such an alternative is the European Union, which has been designed to overcome the imperialism of Europe's past history.
High Resolution Mid-Infrared Imaging of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies*

Observations of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with an achieved resolution approaching the diffraction limit in the mid-infrared from 8 to 25 μm using the Keck Telescopes are reported. We find extremely compact structures, with spatial scales of less than 0."3 (diameter) in six of the seven ULIRGs observed. These compact sources emit between 30% and 100% of the mid-infrared energy from these galaxies. We have utilized the compact mid-infrared structures as a diagnostic of whether an AGN or a compact (100–300 pc) starburst is the primary power source in these ULIRGs. In Markarian 231, the upper limit on the diameter of the 12.5 μm source, 0."13, shows that the size of the infrared source must increase with increasing wavelength, consistent with AGN models. In IRAS 05189-2524 and IRAS 08572+3915 there is strong evidence that the source size increases with increasing wavelength. This suggests heating by a central source rather than an extended luminosity source, consistent with the optical classification as an AGN. The compact mid-infrared sources seen in the other galaxies cannot be used to distinguish the ultimate luminosity source. If these ULIRGs are powered by compact starbursts, the star formation rates seen in the central few hundred parsecs far exceed the global rates seen in nearby starburst galaxies, and approach the surface brightness of individual clusters in nearby starburst galaxies.
Agricultural growth and economic development: a view through the globalization lens

This article re-visits the age-old proposition that agriculture growth contributes to overall economic development, and asks whether the relationship still holds in an increasingly globalized world. There is overwhelming empirical support for the above proposition, indeed, it is hard to find exceptions, barring a few city states, where sustained economic development has not been preceded by robust agricultural growth. However, there are a large number of countries that have witnessed neither agricultural growth nor economic development. Even in countries where agricultural growth has been significant, dramatic inter-regional differences persist. This article examines the factors that contribute to or constrain the process of agricultural transformation. Does the process of globalization, and the resultant changes in agrifood systems, offer new opportunities for agriculture-led growth, or will it further marginalize excluded countries, regions, and groups? The factors that cause exclusion are examined both in terms of globalization forces and in terms of domestic shortcomings in policies and governance. Policy interventions that attempt to reduce the costs of transition to a globalized agricultural system are explored, including safety nets for those left behind.
The role of irrigation in determining the global land use impacts of biofuels

Recent studies have evaluated the land use consequences of biofuel programs and the associated carbon fluxes. However, all of these studies have effectively ignored the distinction between rainfed and irrigated lands and neglected the facts that irrigated croplands typically have much higher yields than their rainfed counterparts in the same region and that expansion in irrigated crops are limited in some regions due to water scarcity and irrigation constraint. This paper shows that these omissions introduce systematic biases in the measurement of biofuel-induced land use change emissions. A new computable general equilibrium model which distinguishes irrigated and rainfed agriculture is developed. The new model is an enhanced version of the publicly available Global Trade Analysis Project model with Biofuels (GTAP-BIO) which has been widely used in this field frequently. To distinguish irrigated and rainfed agriculture, the biophysical component of the GTAP-BIO model is extensively modified using the most recent published data in this area. The economic component of the model is also modified to handle the distinction between irrigated and rainfed agriculture. We find that ignoring the irrigated-rainfed distinction modestly underestimates global land use change, but results in sharply different geographic patterns of cropland expansion, with stronger rainfed expansion in more carbon-rich environments. This points to a significant underestimate of land use emissions in earlier studies. To provide more accurate estimates of biofuel-induced land use emissions, it is critical to incorporate the role of irrigation in crop production, taking into account the fact that expansion in irrigation is constrained in some regions across the world.
KPD 0422+5421: a new short-period subdwarf B/white dwarf binary

The sdB star KPD 0422+5421 was discovered to be a single-lined spectroscopic binary with a period of P = 0.0901795±(3×10 −7 ) days (2 hours, 10 minutes). The U and B light curves display an ellipsoidal modulation with amplitudes of � 0.02 magnitudes. The sdB star contributes nearly all of the observed flux. This and the absence of any reflection effect suggest that the unseen companion star is small (i.e. Rcomp � 0.01 R⊙) and therefore degenerate. We modeled the U and B light curves and derived i = 78.05±0.50 ◦ and a mass ratio of q = Mcomp/MsdB = 0.87±0.15. The sdB star fills 69% of its Roche lobe. These quantities may be combined with the mass function of the companion (f(M) = 0.126±0.028 M⊙) to derive MsdB = 0.72±0.26 M⊙ and Mcomp = 0.62 ± 0.18 M⊙. We used model spectra to derive the effective temperature, surface gravity, and helium abundance of the sdB star. We found Teff = 25,000 ± 1500 K, log g = 5.4 ± 0.1, and [He/H] = 1.0. With a period of 2 hours and 10 minutes, KPD 0422+5421 has one of the shortest known orbital periods of a detached binary. This system is also one of only a few known binaries which contain a subdwarf B star and a white dwarf. Thus KPD 0422+5421 represents a relatively unobserved, and short-lived, stage of binary star evolution.
An Estimate of Lambda in Resummed Quantum Gravity in the Context of Asymptotic Safety and Planck Scale Cosmology: Constraints on SUSY GUTS

at a UV finite approach to quantum gravity. We show that we recover the UV fixed point recently claimed by the exact field-space renormalization group approach. We use our approach in the context of the attendant Planck scale cosmology formulation of Bonanno and Reuter to estimate the value of the cosmological constant as ρΛ = (0.0024eV)4. We show that the closeness of this estimate to experiment constrains susy GUT models.
Annihilation decays of bound states at the LHC

At the Large Hadron Collider, heavy particles may be produced in pairs close to their kinematic threshold. If these particles have strong enough attractive interactions they may form bound states. Consequently, the bound states may decay through annihilation back into the standard model. Such annihilation decays have the potential to provide much information about the bound particles, such as their mass, spin, or charges, in a manner completely complementary to standard single particle cascade decays. Many of the signatures, such as dijet resonances, will be challenging to find, but may be extremely helpful in unraveling the nature of the new physics. In the standard model, the only novel annihilation decays would be for toponium; these will be hard to see because of the relatively large width of the top quark itself. In models with supersymmetry, marginally visible annihilation decays may occur for example, from bound states of gluinos to dijets or tops. If new particles are bound through forces stronger than QCD, annihilation decays may even be the discovery mode for new physics. This paper presents various theoretical results about bound states and then addresses the practical question of whether any of their annihilation decays can be seen at the LHC.
tt* Geometry and Closed String Tachyon Potential

We propose a closed string tachyon action including kinetic and potential terms for non-supersymmetric orbifolds. The action is given in terms of solutions to tt* equations which captures the geometry of vacua of the corresponding N = 2 worldsheet theory. In certain cases the solutions are well studied. In case of tachyons of /n, solutions to affine toda equations determine the action. We study the particular case of /3→ in detail and find that the Tachyon action is determined in terms of a solution to Painleve III equation.
Sex Differences in Intellectual Performance Analysis of a Large Cohort of Competitive Chess Players

Only 1% of the world's chess grandmasters are women. This underrepresentation is unlikely to be caused by discrimination, because chess ratings objectively reflect competitive results. Using data on the ratings of more than 250,000 tournament players over 13 years, we investigated several potential explanations for the male domination of elite chess. We found that (a) the ratings of men are higher on average than those of women, but no more variable; (b) matched boys and girls improve and drop out at equal rates, but boys begin chess competition in greater numbers and at higher performance levels than girls; and (c) in locales where at least 50% of the new young players are girls, their initial ratings are not lower than those of boys. We conclude that the greater number of men at the highest levels in chess can be explained by the greater number of boys who enter chess at the lowest levels.
IMPACT OF TANDEM REPEATS ON THE SCALING OF NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCES

Techniques such as detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and its extensions have been widely used to determine the nature of scaling in nucleotide sequences. In this brief communication we show that tandem repeats which are ubiquitous in nucleotide sequences can prevent reliable estimation of possible long-range correlations. Therefore, it is important to investigate the presence of tandem repeats prior to scaling exponent estimation.
Migration and dynamical relaxation in crowded systems of giant planets

Abstract This paper explores the intermediate-time dynamics of newly formed solar systems with a focus on possible mechanisms for planetary migration. We consider two limiting corners of the available parameter space—crowded systems containing N = 10 giant planets in the outer solar system and solar systems with N = 2 planets that are tidally interacting with a circumstellar disk. Crowded planetary systems can be formed in accumulation scenarios—if the disk is metal rich and has large mass—and through gravitational instabilities. The planetary system adjusts itself toward stability by spreading out, ejecting planets, and sending bodies into the central star. For a given set of initial conditions, dynamical relaxation leads to a well-defined distribution of possible solar systems. For each class of initial conditions, we perform large numbers (hundreds to thousands) of N-body simulations to obtain a statistical description of the possible outcomes. For N = 10 planet systems, we consider several different planetary mass distributions; we also perform secondary sets of simulations to explore chaotic behavior and longer term dynamical evolution. For systems with 10 planets initially populating the radial range 5 AU ≤ a ≤ 30 AU, these scattering processes naturally produce planetary orbits with a ∼ 1 AU and the full range of possible eccentricity (0 ≤ e ≤ 1). Shorter period orbits (smaller a) are difficult to achieve. To account for the observed eccentric giant planets, we also explore a mechanism that combines dynamical scattering and tidal interactions with a circumstellar disk. This combined model naturally produces the observed range of semimajor axis a and eccentricity e. We discuss the relative merits of the different migration mechanisms for producing the observed eccentric giant planets.
Network Structure and the Aggregation of Information: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia

Abstract We use unique data from over 600 Indonesian communities on what individuals know about the poverty status of others to study how network structure influences information aggregation. We develop a model of semi-Bayesian learning on networks, which we structurally estimate using within-village data. The model generates qualitative predictions about how cross-village patterns of learning relate to network structure, which we show are borne out in the data. We apply our findings to a community-based targeting program, where citizens chose households to receive aid, and show that the networks that the model predicts to be more diffusive differentially benefit from community targeting. (JEL D14, D83, D85, I32, O12, Z13)
Inflammasome Sensor NLRP1 Controls Rat Macrophage Susceptibility to Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that infects a wide range of warm-blooded species. Rats vary in their susceptibility to this parasite. The Toxo1 locus conferring Toxoplasma resistance in rats was previously mapped to a region of chromosome 10 containing Nlrp1. This gene encodes an inflammasome sensor controlling macrophage sensitivity to anthrax lethal toxin (LT) induced rapid cell death (pyroptosis). We show here that rat strain differences in Toxoplasma infected macrophage sensitivity to pyroptosis, IL-1β/IL-18 processing, and inhibition of parasite proliferation are perfectly correlated with NLRP1 sequence, while inversely correlated with sensitivity to anthrax LT-induced cell death. Using recombinant inbred rats, SNP analyses and whole transcriptome gene expression studies, we narrowed the candidate genes for control of Toxoplasma-mediated rat macrophage pyroptosis to four genes, one of which was Nlrp1. Knockdown of Nlrp1 in pyroptosis-sensitive macrophages resulted in higher parasite replication and protection from cell death. Reciprocally, overexpression of the NLRP1 variant from Toxoplasma-sensitive macrophages in pyroptosis-resistant cells led to sensitization of these resistant macrophages. Our findings reveal Toxoplasma as a novel activator of the NLRP1 inflammasome in rat macrophages.
Unstable solitons on noncommutative tori and D-branes

We describe a class of exact solutions of super Yang-Mills theory on even-dimensional noncommutative tori. These solutions generalize the solitons on a noncommutative plane introduced in [7] that are conjectured to describe unstable D2p-D0 systems. We show that the spectrum of quadratic fluctuations around our solutions correctly reproduces the string spectrum of the D2p-D0 system in the Seiberg-Witten decoupling limit. In particular the fluctuations correctly reproduce the 0-0 string winding modes. For p = 1 and p = 2 we match the differences between the soliton energy and the energy of an appropriate SYM BPS state with the binding energies of D2-D0 and D4-D0 systems. We also give an example of a soliton that we conjecture describes branes of intermediate dimension on a torus such as a D2-D4 system on a four-torus.