cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What is the Future of Agricultural Economics Departments and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

The downward trends in Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) membership and faculty numbers nationwide have many departments wondering about the future of agricultural economics. The author examines trends in undergraduate and graduate enrollment, as well as trends in extension and experiment-station funding, to suggest what the prospects are for future survival and growth. Although there exist challenges like shrinking faculty numbers, agricultural economics programs still have a strong undergraduate element and address important research issues. Consequently, agricultural economics should remain viable for many years to come.
Incidental preclinical hyperparathyroidism identified during thyroid operations

The entity of preclinical hyperparathyroidism has never been clearly investigated. The authors believe that the incidence of pathologic abnormalities of the parathyroid glands before the development of any symptoms or hypercalcemia (serum calcium > 12.0 mg/dl) is more frequent than has been reported. Over a 14-year period, parathyroid glands were examined during thyroid operations in over 800 patients. Serum calcium and phosphorous levels were measured in all patients preoperatively. Thirty-six patients had additional parathyroid operations for a preclinical form of hyperparathyroidism, defined by abnormal appearing parathyroid glands at the time of thyroid surgery. None of the 36 patients had symptoms of hyperparathyroidism preoperatively. Nine patients had borderline hypercalcemia (serum calcium 10.6 to 12.0 mg/dl), and the remainder were considered normocalcemic. The average age was 53 (range 21 to 75) with a male to female ratio of 1:3. Nine of the 36 patients had thyroid cancer. There were eight patients with parathyroid adenoma and 28 patients with parathyroid hyperplasia. Of 13 patients who had a history of neck irradiation, five had parathyroid adenoma and eight had parathyroid hyperplasia. Only two patients with parathyroid hyperplasia remain on calcium medication. Since preoperative normocalcemia does not preclude the presence of parathyroid pathology, the authors urge careful identification and examination of the parathyroid glands during thyroid operations. It adds little time to the procedure. Excision of parathyroid disease along with the thyroid gland can be performed safely and prevents the need for further operation with its associated morbidity.
A Search for “Dwarf'' Seyfert Nuclei. III. Spectroscopic Parameters and Properties of the Host Galaxies

We have completed an optical spectroscopic survey of the nuclear regions (r < 200 pc) of a large sample of nearby galaxies. Although the main objectives of the survey are to search for low-luminosity active galactic nuclei and to quantify their luminosity function, the database can be used for a variety of other purposes. This paper presents measurements of the spectroscopic parameters for the 418 emission-line nuclei, along with a compilation of the global properties of all 486 galaxies in the survey. Stellar absorption generally poses a serious obstacle to obtaining accurate measurement of emission lines in nearby galactic nuclei. We describe a procedure for removing the starlight from the observed spectra in an efficient and objective manner. The main parameters of the emission lines (intensity ratios, fluxes, profile widths, equivalent widths) are measured and tabulated, as are several stellar absorption-line and continuum indices useful for studying the stellar population. Using standard nebular diagnostics, we determine the probable ionization mechanisms of the emission-line objects. The resulting spectral classifications provide extensive information on the demographics of emission-line nuclei in the local universe. This new catalog contains over 200 objects showing spectroscopic evidence for recent star formation and an equally large number of active galactic nuclei, including 46 which show broad H-alpha emission. These samples will serve as the basis of future studies of nuclear activity in nearby galaxies.
Optimization of Organolithium Reactions

Over the last several decades, research directed at optimization of reactions involving organolithium reagents has led to the recognition that a variety of experimental parameters may affect the outcome and viability of such reactions. Investigation of the factors that influence organolithium-mediated reactions on a large scale is a requirement for development of a feasible and practical process. This contribution critically reviews selected examples, taken from the literature, in which adjustment of the reaction medium, order of addition, temperature, the presence of additives, and judicious choice of base, substrate and/or electrophile resulted in optimization of processes involving organolithium reactions.
Continuous/discrete modeling and analysis of elastic planar multi-body systems

Abstract The modeling and analysis of continuous/discrete multi-body systems are described, with emphasis on applications to elastic planar closed-loop systems. Whereas the continuous formulations presented can be applied to simplified models (with less effort) to help isolate the dominant factors for parametric evaluations in preliminary analysis studies, on the other hand, the finite element formulations described are, in general, applicable for more complex geometries and larger problems. In this regard, an explicit self-starting velocity-based time integration architecture is employed for the numerical simulation of multi-body dynamics with several inherent attractive features. Numerical test cases for planar multi-body dynamic situations employing the Timoshenko beam theory are presented from a generalized viewpoint in conjunction with the present formulations to validate the applicability of the proposed formulations.
Graceful exit in extended inflation and implications for density perturbations

Abstract Two qualitatively different modes of ending superluminal expansion are possible in extended inflation. One mode, different from the one envoked in most extended models to date, easily avoids making big bubbles that distort the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). In this mode, the spectrum of density fluctuations is found to be scale-free, P(k) ∝ kn, where n might lie anywhere between 0.5 and 1.0 (whereas, previously, it appeared that the range 1.0>n⪆0.84 was disallowed).
On the surface currents of the Caribbean Sea

[1] Velocity observations from near surface drifters made between 1996 and 2001 were used to construct surface circulation maps of the Caribbean Sea. In the Venezuela Basin the strongest westward currents (0.3 ms−1) are found south of 14°N and at 17°N. Two jets occur over the deep gaps of the Jamaica Ridge and move northwestward across the Cayman Basin. The two jets feed a current that impinges on Yucatan, slows down while turning north and accelerates again to become the Yucatan Current. A cyclonic gyre occurs in the southern Colombia Basin, with mean currents along the south coast in excess of 0.7 m s−1. To the east, the gyre is highly variable. Eddy motions dominate most of the Eastern Caribbean as well as the eastern Yucatan Basin, where the average surface circulation is not well defined.
MHD ballooning instability in the plasma sheet

[1] Based on the ideal MHD model the stability of ballooning modes is investigated by employing realistic 3D magnetospheric equilibria for the substorm growth phase. Our results show that without making compressibility approximations the ballooning modes are unstable for the entire plasma sheet where the equatorial βeq ≥ 1, and the most unstable modes are located in the strong cross-tail current sheet region in the near-Earth plasma sheet, which maps to the initial brightening location of the breakup arc in the ionosphere. However, the MHD βeq threshold is too low in comparison with observations by AMPTE/CCE, which show that prior to substorm onset a low frequency instability is excited only when βeq > 50. The difficulty can be mitigated by including kinetic effects, which greatly increase the stabilizing effects of field line tension and can enhance the βeq threshold to limit the unstable region to the cross-tail current sheet region.
Binary Populations in Milky Way Satellite Galaxies: Constraints from Multi-epoch Data in the Carina, Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

We introduce a likelihood analysis of multi-epoch stellar line-of-sight velocities to constrain the binary fractions and binary period distributions of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. This method is applied to multi-epoch data from the Magellan/MMFS survey of the Carina, Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans dSph galaxies, after applying a model for the measurement errors that accounts for binary orbital motion. We find that the Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans dSphs are consistent with having binary populations similar to that of Milky Way field binaries to within 68% confidence limits, whereas the Carina dSph is remarkably deficient in binaries with periods less than ~10 yr. If Carina is assumed to have a period distribution identical to that of the Milky Way field, its best-fit binary fraction is , and is constrained to be less than 0.5 at the 90% confidence level; thus it is unlikely to host a binary population identical to that of the Milky Way field. By contrast, the best-fit binary fraction of the combined sample of all four galaxies is , consistent with that of Milky Way field binaries. More generally, we infer probability distributions in binary fraction, mean orbital period, and dispersion of periods for each galaxy in the sample. Looking ahead to future surveys, we show that the allowed parameter space of binary fraction and period distribution parameters in dSphs will be narrowed significantly by a large multi-epoch survey. However, there is a degeneracy between the parameters that is unlikely to be broken unless the measurement error is of order ~0.1 km s–1 or smaller, presently attainable only by a high-resolution spectrograph.
Design and Signaling Mechanism of Light-Regulated Histidine Kinases

Signal transduction proteins are organized into sensor (input) domains that perceive a signal and, in response, regulate the biological activity of effector (output) domains. We reprogrammed the input signal specificity of a normally oxygen-sensitive, light-inert histidine kinase by replacing its chemosensor domain by a light-oxygen-voltage photosensor domain. Illumination of the resultant fusion kinase YF1 reduced net kinase activity by approximately 1000-fold in vitro. YF1 also controls gene expression in a light-dependent manner in vivo. Signals are transmitted from the light-oxygen-voltage sensor domain to the histidine kinase domain via a 40 degrees -60 degrees rotational movement within an alpha-helical coiled-coil linker; light is acting as a rotary switch. These signaling principles are broadly applicable to domains linked by alpha-helices and to chemo- and photosensors. Conserved sequence motifs guide the rational design of light-regulated variants of histidine kinases and other proteins.
Highly efficient iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of unprotected β-enamine esters

A highly efficient and enantioselective hydrogenation of unprotected β-enamine esters catalyzed by Ir-(S,S)-f-Binaphane complex has been developed. This methodology provides straightforward access to free β-amino acids in high yields with excellent enantioselectivities up to 97% ee and high reactivities (TON > 5000).
Travel Choices in Pedestrian Versus Automobile Oriented Neighborhoods

The New Urbanism movement calls for redesigning American neighborhoods so that they are less oriented toward automobile travel and more conducive to walking, bicycling and transit riding, especially for non-work trips. New Urbanism calls for a return to compact neighborhoods with grid-like street patterns, mixed land uses and pedestrian amenities. This paper investigates the effects of New Urbanism design principles on both non-work and commuting travel by comparing modal splits between two distinctly different neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area. The neo-traditional neighborhood, Rockridge, and the nearby conventional suburban community, Lafayette, were chosen as case sites because they have similar income profiles, freeway and transit service levels, and geographical locations. Rockridge residents averaged around a 10 percentage point higher share of non-work trips by non-automobile modes than did residents of Lafayette, controlling for relevant factors like income and transit service levels. The greatest differences were for shop trips under one mile. Rockridge residents also averaged substantially higher rates of non-work walk trips per day, matched by lower rates of daily auto travel, suggesting that walking substitutes for motorized travel, at the margin. Modal splits were more similar for work trips, confirming the proposition that neighborhood design practices exert their greatest influence on local shopping trips and other non-work purposes. For work trips, compact, mixed-use, and pedestrian-oriented development appears to have the strongest effect on access trips to rail stations, in particular inducing higher shares of access trips by foot and bicycle.
Free vibration of thick generally laminated cantilever quadrilateral plates

Free vibration of plate structures of various material systems has been vastly studied. Transverse shear can play an important role even in thin laminated structures and therefore must be included in the analysis. A method applicable to the study of generally laminated, thick, skew, trapezoidal plates is developed as there appears to be limited information available in this area. Using Chebychev polynomials as displacement functions in the Rayleigh-Ritz method, the first-order shear deformation theory is utilized to account for the transverse shear effects. All appropriate inertia terms are retained. Boundary conditions are enforced by the appropriate use of distributed linear and rotational springs along the edges. Thus, the method is applicable to any supported quadrilateral plate but is applied to cantilever plates in this study. After the validity of the method is established through comparison to published results, an extensive study is made of thick, symmetrically laminated and unsymmetrically laminated, cantilever, skew, trapezoidal plates.
CONSERVATIVE SELF-ORGANIZED EXTREMAL MODEL FOR WEALTH DISTRIBUTION

We present an extensive numerical study of the modified version of a conservative self-organized extremal model introduced by Pianegonda et al. (Physica A 322 (2003) 667–675) in the context of wealth distribution of the people in a society. Here the trading process has been modified by the stochastic bipartite trading rule. More specifically in a trade one of the agents is necessarily the one with the globally minimal value of wealth, the other one being selected randomly from the neighbors of the first agent. The pair of agents then randomly re-shuffle their entire amount of wealth without saving. This model has most of the characteristics similar to the self-organized critical Bak-Sneppen model of evolutionary dynamics. Numerical estimates of a number of critical exponents indicate this model is likely to belong to a new universality class different from the well known models in the literature. In addition the persistence time, which is the time interval between two successive updates of wealth of an agent has been observed to have a non-trivial power law distribution. An opposite version of the model has also been studied where the agent with maximal wealth is selected instead of the one with minimal wealth, which however, exhibits similar behavior as the Minimal Wealth model.
ON THE LACK OF TIME DILATION SIGNATURES IN GAMMA-RAY BURST LIGHT CURVES

We examine the effects of time dilation on the temporal profiles of gamma-ray burst (GRB) pulses. By using prescriptions for the shape and evolution of prompt gamma-ray spectra, we can generate a simulated population of single-pulsed GRBs at a variety of redshifts and observe how their light curves would appear to a gamma-ray detector here on Earth. We find that the observer frame duration of individual pulses does not increase with redshift as 1 + z, which one would expect from cosmological expansion. This time dilation is masked by an opposite and often stronger effect: with increasing redshift and decreasing signal-to-noise ratio only the brightest portion of the light curve can be detected. The results of our simulation are consistent with the fact that the simple time dilation of GRB light curves has not materialized in either the Swift or Fermi detected GRBs with known redshift. We show that the measured durations and associated E iso estimates for GRBs detected near the instrument's detection threshold should be considered lower limits to the true values. Furthermore, we conclude that attempts at distinguishing between long and short GRBs, at even moderate redshifts, cannot be done based on a burst's temporal properties alone.
A better fitness measure of a text-document for a given set of keywords

Abstract We present a new fitness measure B W ( D ) for a text-document D against a set of keywords W . The fitness evaluation forms a basic operation in information retrieval. The measure B W ( D ) differs from other measures in that it accounts for both the frequency of the keywords and their clustering characteristics. It also satisfies the important properties of monotonicity and super-additivity , which do not hold for either of the well-known Paice-measure and the mixed-max–min measure. We give efficient algorithms for computing B W ( D ) and a generalized form B α W ( D ) of it.
Use of catalytic fluoride under neutral conditions for cleaving silicon-oxygen bonds.

This Article describes the development of conditions for cleaving silicon–oxygen bonds using catalytic quantities of fluoride at neutral pH in mixed organic–aqueous solutions that contain buffer. A variety of silicon protecting groups can be removed under these conditions, which show tolerance for acid- and base-sensitive groups. A modified procedure also is presented using catalytic fluoride in anhydrous dimethyl sulfoxide–methanol, which generates primarily volatile silicon byproducts.
Domain-Wall Fermions at Strong Coupling

The DWF formulation becomes increasingly problematic at gauge couplings for which a −1 m res ). This problem becomes especially severe for sufficiently strong coupling where the underlying 4-dimensional Wilson theory is in the Aoki phase. We review our attempts to find a suitable modification of the gauge and/or the fermion action which would allow the DWF method to work reliably at stronger coupling.
Accelerated fractionation radiotherapy and concomitant chemotherapy in patients with stage IV inoperable head and neck cancer

Background. Stage IV inoperable head and neck cancer has a 2-year mortality rate of greater than 70% when treated with conventional radiotherapy. A Phase II study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of concomitant chemotherapy and accelerated, interrupted, twice-a-day radiotherapy on tumor response, locoregional control, survival, and morbidity. Methods. Thirty-four patients with Stage IV inoperable squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and a minimum follow-up of 36 months were evaluated. Concomitant chemoradiotherapy was administered during weeks 1, 3, and 5 (with planned breaks during weeks 2 and 4), consisting of cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on Day 1, continuous 5-day infusion of 5-fluorouracil, 750 mg/m2 per day, and radiotherapy, 2 Gy twice a day, more than 6 hours apart, followed by 3 days of radiation therapy alone (final “boost”) in week 6, for a total dose of 70 Gy and treatment duration of 5½ weeks (38 days). Results. Twenty-seven patients achieved a clinical complete response (82%). Actuarial locoregional control at 3 years was 73% and the actuarial 3-year survival probability, including all deaths, was 38%. All locoregional recurrences were manifested within 12 months. Of the 20 deaths, 12 were tumor related (locoregional and/or metastatic), 3 were treatment related, and 5 were due to other causes. Acute toxicity consisted of grade 3 mucositis and dysphagia and grade 2–3 leukopenia, not requiring treatment interruption or cessation. Conclusion. Concomitant accelerated radiation therapy and chemotherapy is a feasible treatment approach in this prognostically poor patient population, yielding dramatic tumor responses and impressive locoregional control at the cost of somewhat increased acute toxicity. Although serious late complications have not been observed, caution should be exercised in view of the relatively short follow up. Cancer 1995; 76:1655–61.
Type-I intermittency for the Hénon-map family.

Type-I intermittency was defined as the precursor quasiregular behavior to every tangent bifurcation for the one-dimensional (1D) quadratic-map family. We have extended the definition to the two-dimensional H\'enon-map family with the following results. The gradual increase of bistability and multistability that accompanies the reduction of dissipation from the 1D limit carries with it the eventual decrease and disappearance of the intermittency associated with the occurrence of each stable periodic orbit. Numerically we observe qualitative changes in the invariant orbit density and the Lyapunov exponent in the transition region, the latter showing a discontinuous, or first-order, rather than the usual continuous phase transition. A hysteretic response of the dynamics to slow parameter change, which usually accompanies a first-order transition, is also noted. The changes associated with various periodic orbits, which are tabulated, show both similarities and differences. A considerable understanding of these phenomena is achieved by an in-depth study of the topology of, and dynamics in, the phase plane of the H\'enon system. Heuristic pictures are developed for some surprising bifurcation structures.
Clay catalyzed rearrangement of substituted allyl phenyl ethers: Synthesis of ortho-allyl phenols, chromans and coumarans

Abstract Montmorillonite clays catalyze the rearrangement of substituted allyl phenyl ethers to provide ortho -allyl phenols, chromans and coumarans under mild conditions.
THE ROLE OF VALUE ADDED IN BENEFIT/COST ANALYSIS

The problem is to determine the role of value-added information in obtaining a measure of the benefits of public investment. Net benefit in a benefit/cost analysis is the change in economic surplus, i.e., the sum of the increase in consumer surplus and economic rent. An increase in productivity causes an increase in economic surplus. Thus, a productivity index is necessary but not sufficient information needed to measure the change in economic surplus. Information on value added can be used to establish productivity. Diewert's quadratic lemma is used to derive an index of productivity as the difference between indexes of value added and its primary components in the context of a non-homothetic production function. It is concluded that this same procedure should be used to measure productivity in either a taut or a slack economy.
Shock leakage through an unsteady vortex-laden mixing layer: application to jet screech

In an under-expanded supersonic jet, the interaction between shock-cell structure and vortices in a mixing layer generates intense tonal noise, called jet screech. This noise generation can be explained as a shock-leakage process through an unsteady vortex-laden mixing layer. This paper studies the shock-leakage mechanism based on a geometrical theory and direct numerical simulation (DNS) in two dimensions. In the limit of weak shocks, the analysis becomes analogous to geometrical acoustics: the eikonal equation demonstrates that shock waves tend to leak near the saddle points between vortices. Analysing the wavenumber vector, it is shown that the local vorticity behaves as a barrier against shocks. Using the unsteady DNS data, trajectories of the shock fronts are computed with the time dependent eikonal equation. Furthermore, the interaction between unsteady vortices and a compression wave is solved using DNS. The geometrical theory shows good agreement with DNS for shock-front evolution, but the amplitude of the leaked waves agrees only qualitatively. This study also investigates the effects of a temperature difference across the mixing layer. The analysis based on total internal reflection and the numerical results of both geometrical acoustics and DNS indicate that the direction of the radiated shock noise tends to rotate downstream as the jet temperature increases.
Natural course following pediatric tracheostomy.

Objective: To describe the hospital course of pediatric posttracheostomy patients, their underlying diagnosis, and their demographic characteristics. Design: Retrospective, descriptive record review. Settings: Academic tertiary Pediatric Critical Care Unit. Methods and Results: One hundred and forty-one patients 1 month to 20 years old identified and included in the study. The length of in-hospital stay ranged from 14 to 280 days. The most common indications for tracheostomy were ventilation of chronic lung disease (CLD), subglottic stenosis, or combination at 44.7% of the cases followed by neurological cases 26.2%. Patients requiring prolonged stay were more likely to have pulmonary hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 5.43), gastrointestinal reflux (OR = 2.09), prior episodes of failure to thrive (OR = 4.17), feeding failure requiring feeding tube (OR = 3.32), and tracheitis (OR = 4.17). The chances for home ventilation requirement increased with long preoperative in-hospital ventilation time and high ventil...
Enolate free α-alkoxyvinyllithium reagents: Improved preparation and reaction with N,N-dialkylcarboxamides

Abstract The titled lithium reagents add to a variety of N,N-dialkylcarboxamides furnishing the enol ethers of α-dicarbonyl compounds.
Sumsets of dense sets and sparse sets

R. Jin showed that whenever A and B are sets of integers having positive upper Banach density, the sumset A+B:= «a+b: a ∈ A, b ∈ B» is piecewise syndetic. This result was strengthened by Bergelson, Furstenberg, and Weiss to conclude that A+B must be piecewise Bohr. We generalize the latter result to cases where A has Banach density 0, giving a new proof of the previous results in the process.
The MLC tongue-and-groove effect on IMRT dose distributions.

We have investigated the tongue-and-groove effect on the IMRT dose distributions for a Varian MLC. We have compared the dose distributions calculated using the intensity maps with and without the tongue-and-groove effect. Our results showed that, for one intensity-modulated treatment field, the maximum tongue-and-groove effect could be up to 10% of the maximum dose in the dose distributions. For an IMRT treatment with multiple gantry angles (> or = 5), the difference between the dose distributions with and without the tongue-and-groove effect was hardly visible, less than 1.6% for the two typical clinical cases studied. After considering the patient setup errors, the dose distributions were smoothed with reduced and insignificant differences between plans with and without the tongue-and-groove effect. Therefore, for a multiple-field IMRT plan (> or = 5), the tongue-and-groove effect on the IMRT dose distributions will be generally clinically insignificant due to the smearing effect of individual fields. The tongue-and-groove effect on an IMRT plan with small number of fields ( 5% of maximum dose) in some cases, especially when the patient setup uncertainty is small (< or = 2 mm).
Comparison of amplitude noise of a fiber-optical parametric oscillator and a supercontinuum source

Fiber-based optical parametric oscillators (FOPOs) are an alternative to supercontinuum light sources for nonlinear optical microscopy. In nonlinear microscopy implementations such as stimulated Raman scattering and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, the signal noise is proportional to the second or third order of the input intensity noise. It is not yet known how FOPO intensity noise levels compare with supercontinuum sources. We measure excess noise for a FOPO and a supercontinuum source as a function of input power and wavelength. We find that the FOPO sideband excess noise can be as low as 5 dB above the shot noise limit of −150 dBc [Hz]−1. This FOPO can reach excess noise levels 50 dB below that of spectral slices of supercontinuum output in a comparable spectral range.
IFA-2 Collective Ion Accelerator Experiments

Ion acceleration has now been demonstrated with the IFA-2 collective ion accelerator system. The IFA-2 system is described, photoionization experiments are summarized, and ion results are presented. Using a 1 MeV electron beam and a 30 cm acceleration length, IFA-2 has produced 5 MeV H+, 10 MeV D+, and 20 MeV He++. This means that accelerating fields of 33 MV/m over 30 cm have been achieved with a controlled collective accelerator for the first time.
THE SH LIE STRUCTURE OF POISSON BRACKETS IN FIELD THEORY

A general construction of an sh Lie algebra (L∞-algebra) from a homological resolution of a Lie algebra is given. It is applied to the space of local functionals equipped with a Poisson bracket, induced by a bracket for local functions along the lines suggested by Gel'fand, Dickey and Dorfman. In this way, higher order maps are constructed which combine to form an sh Lie algebra on the graded differential algebra of horizontal forms. The same construction applies for graded brackets in field theory such as the Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky bracket of the Hamiltonian BRST theory or the Batalin-Vilkovisky antibracket.
‘Not to depart from Christ’: Augustine between ‘Manichaean’ and ‘Catholic’ Christianity

The North African Manichaean community provided the setting in which Augustine reaffirmed a commitment to Christ and to ‘Christianity’ that he had largely abandoned in the years of his secular education, and it cultivated in him a positive relationship to ‘religion’ in addition to his personal fondness for ‘philosophy’. In both ways, his time with the Manichaeans formed an essential background to his later commitment to the ‘Catholic’ Christian community, and he continued to wrestle with that debt through his endeavours to convince Manichaeans that the Catholic Church could successfully address their earnest ‘Christian’ spiritual aspirations in a way Manichaean doctrine and practice never could.
Causality in futures markets

This study tests causal hypotheses emanating from theories of futures markets by utilizing methods appropriate for disproving causal relationships with observational data. The hedging pressure theory of futures markets risk premiums, the generalized version of the normal backwardation theory of Keynes, is rejected. Theories predicting that the activity levels of speculators or uninformed traders affect levels of price volatility, either positively or negatively, are also rejected. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:1039–1057, 2006
CALF: a CORDIC adaptive lattice filter

CALF is a CORDIC processor implementation of an adaptive lattice filter. Unlike previously reported studies which simply used a CORDIC processor to implement the lattice algorithm formulated for conventional multiply-and-accumulate-type arithmetic units, the novel adaptive normalized lattice algorithm reported directly updates the rotation angles rather than the reflection coefficients. Thus, this angle updating lattice algorithm is derived specifically for implementation with a CORDIC processor. Moreover, the authors further modified this algorithm to a sign-sign algorithm to take advantage of the fact that the CORDIC processors only rotate a finite number of distinct rotation angles. Computer simulation results showed good converging properties even at rather coarsely quantized angles. >
Optimum energy absorption of a short-pulse laser in a doped dielectric slab

A model is used to calculate energy absorption efficiency when a short-pulse laser impinges on a dielectric slab doped with an impurity for which the electrons have a resonant line at the laser wavelength. The amount of the energy resonant absorption is due to the overlapping between laser spectrum and resonance spectrum. The energy absorption efficiency can be maximized for a certain degree of doping concentration (at a given pulselength) and also for a certain pulselength (at a given doping concentration). For a modest amount of impurity, the resonant absorption may increase the fraction of energy absorption up to tens of percent of laser energy at 100s optical cycles when the laser wavelength is tuned within 1% of the resonant line. Dimensionless parameters are constructed so that the scaling to various parameters: laser wavelength, laser pulselength, dielectric constant, slab thickness, impurity concentration, resonant linewidth, and separation between the laser wavelength and the line resonance, could easily be obtained.
Stress intensity factors as the fracture parameters for delamination crack growth in composite laminates

A “mutual integral” approach is used to calculate the mixed-mode stress intensity factors for a free-edge delamination crack in a laminate under tensile loading conditions. This “mutual integral” approach, for generalized plane strain conditions, is based on the application of the path-independent J integral to a linear combination of three solutions: one, the problem of the laminate to be solved using the quasi 3-D finite element method, the second, an “auxiliary” solution with a known asymptotic singular solution, and the third, the particular solution due to the out-of-plane loading. A comparison with the exact solutions is made to determine the accuracy and efficiency of this numerical method. With this “mutual integral” approach, it was found that the calculated mixed-mode stress intensity factors of the free-edge delamination crack remain relatively constant as the crack propagates into the laminate. It was also found that the fracture criterion based on the mixed-mode stress intensity factors is more consistent with the experimental observations than the criterion based on the total energy release rate, and hence demonstrates the importance of the ability to calculate each individual component of the stress intensity factors. Furthermore, it was found that the fracture toughness measurements from double cantilever beam specimens can be used directly to predict the onset of delamination crack growth between two dissimilar laminae. Using these fracture toughness measurements from the double cantilever beam specimens, some examples are given to show that the fracture criterion based on the mixed-mode stress intensity factors can accurately predict the failure load for various laminates under tensile loading conditions.
Natural Convection in a Porous Medium: Effects of Confinement, Variable Permeability, and Thermal Boundary Conditions

Two-dimensional numerical calculations are reported for natural convection of a fluid in a porous, horizontal layer heated from below. Effects of the following parameters are examined: rigid (impermeable) and constant-pressure (permeable) upper boundaries; isothermal and uniform heat flux at the lower boundary; and permeabilities which are constant, or which vary with depth to simulate compaction of a porous medium or property variations of real fluids within the medium. Steady-state results are presented for the heat flux distribution on the upper surface, as well as for flow and temperature fields in the interior.
Studies in the synthesis of a baccatin III-steroid hybrid : a remarkably rapid intramolecular Diels Alder reaction

A face selective intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction generates a 1-epi-baccatin III-steroid hybrid.
Model selection in high dimensions: a quadratic-risk-based approach

We propose a general class of risk measures which can be used for data-based evaluation of parametric models. The loss function is defined as the generalized quadratic distance between the true density and the model proposed. These distances are characterized by a simple quadratic form structure that is adaptable through the choice of a non-negative definite kernel and a bandwidth parameter. Using asymptotic results for the quadratic distances we build a quick-to-compute approximation for the risk function. Its derivation is analogous to the Akaike information criterion but, unlike the Akaike information criterion, the quadratic risk is a global comparison tool. The method does not require resampling, which is a great advantage when point estimators are expensive to compute. The method is illustrated by using the problem of selecting the number of components in a mixture model, where it is shown that, by using an appropriate kernel, the method is computationally straightforward in arbitrarily high data dimensions. In this same context it is shown that the method has some clear advantages over the Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion.
Correlations between topography and intraflow width behavior in Martian and terrestrial lava flows

Local correlations between topography and width behavior within lava flows at Puu Oo, Mount Etna, Glass Mountain, Cerro Bayo, Alba Patera, Tyrrhena Patera, Elysium Mons, and Olympus Mons were investigated. For each flow, width and slope data were both referenced via downflow distance as a sequence of points; the data were then divided into collections of adjacent three-point features and two-point segments. Four discrete types of analyses were conducted: (1) Three-point analysis examined positional correlations between width and slope features, (2) two-point analysis did the same for flow segments, (3) mean slope analysis included segment slope comparisons, and (4) sudden width behavior analysis measured abruptness of width changes. The distribution of types of correlations compared to random combinations of features and segments does not suggest a significant correlation between flow widths and local underlying slopes and indicates that for these flows at least, other factors have more influence on changes in width than changes in underlying topography. Mean slopes underlying narrowing, widening, and constant flow width segments were calculated. An inverse correlation between slope and width was found only at Mount Etna, where slopes underlying narrowing segments were greater than those underlying widening in 62% of the examined flows. For the majority of flows at Mount Etna, Puu Oo, and Olympus Mons, slopes were actually greatest under constant width segments; this may imply a topographically dependent resistance to width changes. The rate of change of width was also examined. Sudden width changes are relatively common at Puu Oo, Mount Etna, Elysium Mons, and Tyrrhena Patera and relatively rare at Glass Mountain, Cerro Bayo, Olympus Mons, and Alba Patera. After correction for mapping scale, Puu Oo, Mount Etna, Olympus Mons, and Alba Patera appear to fall on the same trend; Glass Mount exhibits unusually small amounts of sudden width behavior, and Tyrrhena Patera exhibits a relatively large number of sudden width behavior occurrences.
Shape‐Persistent Arylene Ethynylene Organic Hosts for Fullerenes

Shape-persistent host molecules that are constructed solely through covalent bonds have been extensively investigated as alternatives to supramolecular architectures, which have shown interesting applications such as guest encapsulation and release, catalysis, and molecular recognition. Similar to the supramolecular self-assembly process, recent rapid development of dynamic covalent chemistry has enabled the covalent assembly of complex organic molecules that exhibit a finite cavity of well-defined shape and size. Alkyne metathesis represents an emerging dynamic covalent reaction, which provides rigid and linear acetylene linkages. In this account, we describe the dynamic assembly of shape-persistent arylene ethynylene cages with various shapes and sizes through one-step alkyne metathesis. The controlled cage–fullerene binding and the potential application of these cages in fullerene purification are also discussed.
On Seymour's Decomposition Theorem

Let \({\mathcal{M}}\) be a class of matroids closed under minors and isomorphism. Let M be a 3-connected matroid in \({\mathcal{M}}\) with an N-minor and let N have an exact k-separation (A, B). If there exists a k-separation (X, Y) of M such that \({A \subseteq X}\) and \({B \subseteq Y}\), we say the k-separation (A, B) of N is induced in M. In this paper we give new sufficient conditions to determine if an exact k-separation of N is induced in M.
An in Situ Infrared Study of the Reactivity of Adsorbed NO and CO on Rh Catalysts

The reactivity of adsorbed NO and CO has been investigated by combined in situ infrared (IR) and mass spectroscopy (MS) on Rh/SiO[sub 2], Ce-Rh/SiO[sub 2], and oxidized Rh/SiO[sub 2] at 298-423 K. Exposure of preadsorbed CO to a gaseous NO pulse on Rh/SiO[sub 2], and Ce-Rh/SiO[sub 2] resulted in the desorption of linear CO and formation of a low wavenumber NO[sup [minus]] (1650-1700 cm[sup [minus]1]) species on the reduced Rh site; exposure of preadsorbed CO on oxidized Rh/SiO[sub 2] to a gaseous NO pulse resulted in the displacement of the gem-dicarbonyl without formation of CO[sub 2] at 298-423 K. Increasing NO exposure time led to the desorption of all adsorbed CO and formation of NO[sup +] species, a high wavenumber NO[sup [minus]] (1740-1770 cm[sup [minus]1]) species, and a bidentate nitrato species. Prolonged exposure of preadsorbed NO to CO resulted in displacement of the adsorbed NO[sup +] and chemisorption of CO as gem-dicarbonyl and a linear CO on Rh[sup +]. Exposure of the catalyst to a mixture of NO-CO-He (1:1:3) at 373 K and 0.1 MPa resulted in the formation of CO[sub 2]. The formation of CO[sub 2] from the reaction of adsorbed CO with oxygen produced from dissociated NO wasmore » more rapid than the desorption of adsorbed CO. The linear CO adsorbed on a Rh site with oxidation state greater than +1 may be a precursor towards CO[sub 2] formation. The increase in the rate of CO[sub 2] formation may be related to the increased coverage and reactivity of adsorbed species in the presence of gaseous NO and CO. 51 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.« less
Neutralino Proton Cross Sections In Supergravity Models

Abstract The neutralino–proton cross section is examined for supergravity models with R-parity invariance with universal and non-universal soft breaking. The region of parameter space that dark matter detectors are currently (or will be shortly) sensitive, i.e., (0.1−10)×10 −6 pb, is examined. For universal soft breaking (mSUGRA), detectors with sensitivity σ χ 1 0 −p ≥1×10 −6 pb will be able to sample parts of the parameter space for tan β≳25 . Current relic density bounds restrict m χ 1 0 ≤120 GeV for the maximum cross sections, which is below where astronomical uncertainties about the Milky Way are relevant. Nonuniversal soft breaking models can allow much larger cross sections and can sample the parameter space for tan β≳4 . In such models, m 0 can be quite large reducing the tension between proton decay bounds and dark matter analysis. We note the existence of two new domains where coannihilation effects can enter, i.e., for mSUGRA at large tan β , and for nonuniversal models with small tan β .
The Chemical Evolution of Helium

We report on measurements of the 4He abundance toward the outer Galaxy H II region S206 with the NRAO Green Bank Telescope. Observations of hydrogen and helium radio recombination lines between 8 and 10 GHz were made toward the peak radio continuum position in S206. We derive 4He/H = 0.08459 ± 0.00088 (random) ± 0.0010 (known systematic), 20% lower than optical recombination line results. It is difficult to reconcile the large discrepancy between the optical and radio values even when accounting for temperature, density, and ionization structure or for optical extinction by dust. Using only M17 and S206 we determine ΔY/ΔZ = 1.41 ± 0.62 in the Galaxy, consistent with standard chemical evolution models. High helium abundances in the old stellar population of elliptical galaxies can help explain the increase in UV emission with shorter wavelength between 2000 and 1200 A, called the "UV upturn" or UVX. Our lower values of ΔY/ΔZ are consistent with a normal helium abundance at higher metallicity and suggest that other factors, such as a variable red giant branch mass loss with metallicity, may be important. When combined with 4He abundances in metal-poor galaxy H II regions, Magellanic Cloud H II regions, and M17 that have been determined from optical recombination lines, including the effects of temperature fluctuations, our radio 4He/H abundance ratio for S206 is consistent with a helium evolution of ΔY/ΔZ = 1.6. A linear extrapolation to zero metallicity predicts a 4He/H primordial abundance ratio about 5% lower than that given by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and standard big bang nucleosynthesis. The measured 4He abundances may be systematically underestimated by a few percent if clumping exists in these H II regions.
Applied Decision Analysis: Utilizing Poliheuristic Theory to Explain and Predict Foreign Policy and National Security Decisions

In recent years, more than 40 articles and chapters have utilized Poliheuristic Theory to analyze critical decisions made by foreign leaders and U.S. presidents. In this paper, I introduce the Poliheuristic Procedure—a series of steps that one can use to explain or predict decisions by world leaders. Subsequent articles in this Symposium present examples of poliheuristic analyses of decisions made by Presidents Carter, Clinton, Gorbachev, Mussaref and Saddam Hussein. These case studies provide strong support for Poliheuristic Theory: leaders use a two-stage process in making decisions: they first use simple heuristics to eliminate alternatives based on the avoid-major-political-loss principle, and then use more analytic calculations in selecting an alternative from a subset of surviving alternatives.
Low-temperature birefringence in ordered GaInP alloy studied by polarized transmission spectroscopy

Abstract The low-temperature birefringence of spontaneously ordered GaInP is studied by using polarized transmission spectroscopy at 5 K. Refractive indexes n o , n e and the birefringence Δn oe = n o − n e are obtained by applying two independent techniques: (1) measuring the polarized transmission spectra with polarization parallel to each of the two cleaved edges individually; and (2) measuring one transmission spectrum with a cross-polarization configuration. The results of these two techniques are consistent, and both give Δn oe ≈ 0.02 near the band-gap of partially ordered GaInP. Exact and approximate formulae have been derived for analyzing the cross-polarization spectrum. A possible device-polarization rotator-is proposed based on the in-plane birefringence.
Real Places and Torus Bundles

If M is a hyperbolic once-punctured torus bundle over S 1, then the trace field of M has no real places.
Asymmetric synthesis of novel α-amino acids with β-branched side chains

An asymmetric synthesis of α-amino acids with novel β-branched side chains has been implemented. The syntheses feature a p-toluenesulfinylimine induced chiral Strecker approach and were found to be applicable to the introduction of both aliphatic and aromatic β-branched sidechains for preparation of previously unknown α-amino acids.
Speculative Asset Prices

Robert J. Shiller delivered his Prize Lecture on 8 December 2013 at Aula Magna, Stockholm University.
Spatially resolved ballistic electron spectroscopy of subsurface interfaces

Buried interfaces have traditionally been inaccessible to direct investigation by surface-sensitive techniques. A unique and novel electronic probe, which is sensitive to subsurface electronic structure, has been utilized to probe Schottky barrier interfaces. The method, ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM), is based on scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) techniques. A theoretical treatment has been developed to describe the ballistic electron spectra obtained by BEEM and this treatment is applied to data obtained on the Au-Si Schottky barrier interface system. Excellent agreement between experiment and theory is obtained. In addition, the treatment predicts nanometer spatial resolution for interface imaging by BEEM.