cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The current state of genetic counseling assistants in the United States

Genetic counseling assistants (GCAs) have the potential to address the high demand for genetic counselors by promoting task-sharing, increasing genetic counselor efficiency, and allowing for higher level duties to be optimized by genetic counselors. However, little research has been published on the role of GCAs. This study explored current tasks of GCAs in the United States, the appropriateness of those tasks, the perceived impact on the profession, and how these findings compared between genetic counselors with and without GCAs. Full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) with and without experience working with GCAs were recruited via the NSGC Student Research listserv to complete an online survey and 271 surveys were analyzed. Participants working in both clinical and laboratory settings and in all primary specialties reported working with GCAs (n = 131); GCAs were reported to frequently perform clerical tasks but were involved less often in clinical tasks such as calling patients with genetic test results. There was no difference between participants with GCAs and those without GCAs in tasks they reported GCAs are or may be performing, yet participants without GCAs believed GCAs performed more tasks on average than those with GCAs reported (p < 0.001). Participants did not differ on the appropriateness of tasks, reporting clerical tasks as more appropriate for GCAs than clinically involved tasks, with the exception of calling patients with variant of uncertain significance (VUS) results in which more participants working with GCAs reported it as an appropriate task (13%) than those without GCAs (4%; p < 0.05). Review of open-ended responses revealed themes pertaining to primary limitations, benefits, and concerns of the GCA role. The most commonly reported concern about GCAs was their poorly defined scope of practice (n = 182). Other reported limitations included a heavy workload, lack of training, and lack of experience for GCAs while the benefits of working with GCAs included increased time available for higher level duties, patient volumes, and efficiency. These data provide genetic counselors, their institutions, and the NSGC with a more generalizable understanding of current GCA roles on a national level, across specialties. Additionally, these data may help establish a scope of practice for GCAs by creating a baseline job description for genetic counselors and their institutions interested in implementing a GCA into their practice to increase patient access to genetic counseling services. It is recommended that further research objectively quantify the value added by GCAs using efficiency metrics and further clarify the role of laboratory GCAs.
Tunable low-field magnetoresistance properties in (La0.7Ca0.3MnO3)1−x:(CeO2)x vertically aligned nanocomposite thin films

Vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) (La0.7Ca0.3MnO3)1−x:(CeO2)x thin films have been deposited on SrTiO3 (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Enhanced low-field magnetoresistance properties and tunable metal-insulator transition temperature (TMI) have been demonstrated via modulating the composition of (La0.7Ca0.3MnO3)1−x:(CeO2)x (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2). By increasing the atomic percentage of the CeO2 phase to 20%, a maximum magnetoresistance value of 51.8% can be achieved and the TMI value can be tuned from 113 K to 210 K. The enhanced magnetoresistance properties are attributed to the disordered grain boundary and tunneling structure generated by the insulating CeO2 phase. The change in the TMI value is attributed to the strain state in the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 phase. Furthermore, high ferromagnetic anisotropy and enhanced magnetization have been demonstrated in the VAN system. This work demonstrates the power of multifunctionalities and property tuning in VAN thin films.
BPMR: Bayesian Probabilistic Multivariate Ranking.

Multi-aspect user preferences are attracting wider attention in recommender systems, as they enable more detailed understanding of users' evaluations of items. Previous studies show that incorporating multi-aspect preferences can greatly improve the performance and explainability of recommendation. However, as recommendation is essentially a ranking problem, there is no principled solution for ranking multiple aspects collectively to enhance the recommendation. In this work, we derive a multi-aspect ranking criterion. To maintain the dependency among different aspects, we propose to use a vectorized representation of multi-aspect ratings and develop a probabilistic multivariate tensor factorization framework (PMTF). The framework naturally leads to a probabilistic multi-aspect ranking criterion, which generalizes the single-aspect ranking to a multivariate fashion. Experiment results on a large multi-aspect review rating dataset confirmed the effectiveness of our solution.
Roles for Policy-Makers in Emerging Cyber Insurance Industry Partnerships

For years, insurers have urged government agencies to help the industry stabilize and expand its coverage for cybersecurity incidents by compiling aggregated data sets about those incidents and providing a federal backstop to help the private sector pay for especially devastating and widespread events. While policymakers have largely eschewed these roles, a wide range of security firms have stepped in to fill that void leading to a series of partnerships between insurers and information security providers, device manufacturers, incident response teams, law firms, and reinsurers that have aimed to meet these same goals of improving data quality and spreading especially large potential costs. In this paper, we review the partnerships established by five leading providers of cyberinsurance, using the firms’ marketing materials and a series of interviews conducted with representatives and actuaries at those firms. We identify three categories of these partnerships: (1) partnerships established to help insurers better assess and mitigate customers’ risk prior to the occurrence of any security breaches, (2) partnerships established to enable insurers to provide larger policies of up to $100 million to individual customers, and (3) partnerships established so insurers can help their customers better respond to and mitigate the costs of cybersecurity incidents after they do occur. We also identify three partnership models embraced by different insurance firms: (1) multiple, diverse partnerships with a variety of firms each of which offers a narrow, targeted security service; (2) partnerships with a select few firms each of which provides a wide variety of services; and (3) reliance on internal security expertise and in-house services rather than external partnerships. We consider the effectiveness and outcomes of these partnerships, relying primarily on interview data and public statements from the insurers and their partners, and find that partnerships focused on assessment and security controls are increasingly popular but have thus far shown no measurable results or improvements in customer security, while partnerships focused on breach response and cost mitigation are more common and have shown some reductions in ex-post customer costs tied to cybersecurity incidents, and partnerships focused on raising coverage limits are least frequent but insurers report that these programs enjoy considerable popularity with customers when offered.
AN INTERACTIVE HYBRID (SYMBOLIC-NUMERIC) SYSTEM APPROACH TO NEAR OPTIMAL DESIGN OF MECHANICAL COMPONENTS

Abstract A hybrid (symbolic-numeric) system, referred to as OPTDEX, (OPTIMAL DESIGN EXPERT) for the optimal design or mechanical components and systems has been developed. The system is written in Golden Common LISP and IBM Professional (Ryan-McFarland) FORTRAN for execution on the IBM PC/AT microcomputer. Graphical output has been implemented using the Graphical Kernel System (GKS) standard. This microcomputer-based implementation makes the system particularly attractive as an easily accessible, low cost engineering analysis and design tool. Experience with the system indicates that the time required to achieve, at least, partially optimized engineering design solutions is similar to that which may be expected with standard, nonoptimization-based, microcomputer computation. Any added computational time may be justified and subsequently offset by increased long term design efficacy.
The Valley as the Border, the Border as a Dangerous, Faraway Place

This chapter begins to tell the national story of the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2010s, in which the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas is emblematic. The chapter argues that the national media and political actors discursively treat the Rio Grande Valley most often as an internal colony, effectively rebordering the Valley as the Global South. National renderings of the southern border draw from a deep history of place-making rhetorical techniques to characterize the southern border in need of external intervention and control. The chapter’s analysis is placed within research in border rhetorics, bordering, and place-making. Secondary data on unauthorized immigration and asylum seekers as well as public corruption challenge framing assumptions and generalizations. The media and political treatment of the Valley in the 2010s continues a long history of using “the border” as a rhetorical pawn that set the stage for the rise of Donald Trump and his political platform.
1562MO Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in cancer patients: A nationwide Veterans Affairs study

Background: Data is lacking about SARS-CoV-2 vaccination effectiveness in patients with cancer, particularly those on systemic therapy. This retrospective cohort study in the US national Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system reports the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in cancer patients on and off active therapy during the first 140 days following administration. Methods: This is a multicenter study of SARS-CoV-2 infection among vaccinated and unvaccinated Veterans vaccinated during the period from 12/15/2020 to 5/4/2021. Veterans with solid or hematologic malignancy who received systemic cancer-directed therapy at the VA at least one time between 8/15/2010 to 5/4/2021 were included. Vaccinated patients were exactly matched 1:1 to an unvaccinated control on race, VA facility, rurality of home address, cancer type, and treatment timing and modality with minimum distance matching on age. The primary exposure was receipt of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The primary outcome was laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccination effectiveness was defined as 1 minus the risk ratio of SARS-CoV-2 infection for vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated controls. Results: 184,485 patients met eligibility criteria and 113,796 were vaccinated during the study period. Of these, 29,152 vaccinated patients were matched 1:1 to 29,152 unvaccinated or not yet vaccinated controls. As of a median 47 days of follow-up, overall vaccine effectiveness in the matched cohort was 58% (95% CI, 39 to 72%) starting 14 days after the second dose. Patients on chemotherapy within three months prior to first vaccination dose exhibited a 14-day post-second dose effectiveness of 57% (95% CI -23 to 90%), versus 76% (95% CI 50 to 91%) for those on endocrine therapy and 85% (95% CI 29 to 100%) for those off systemic therapy for at least six months prior. Conclusions: Vaccination is an effective strategy for preventing COVID-19 in cancer patients. However, effectiveness may be reduced in patients actively receiving immunosuppressive systemic therapy. Future study is needed to determine if these patients would benefit from post-vaccination serologies and/or a booster vaccination following completion of therapy. Legal entity responsible for the study: Nathanael Fillmore. Funding: Has not received any funding. Disclosure: W. Branch-Elliman: Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding: Gilead. G. Parmigiani: Financial Interests, Personal, Leadership Role: Phaeno Biotechnology. M. Brophy: Financial Interests, Personal, Research Grant: Novartis. N. Munshi: Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Role: Celgene;Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Role: Janssen;Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Role: AbbVie;Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Role: Takeda;Financial Interests, Personal, Member of the Board of Directors: OncoPep. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
The Development and Testing of Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Models: A Review

No names are more closely associated with modern trade theory than Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin. The basic Heckscher-Ohlin proposition, according to which a country exports factors in abundant supply and imports factors in scarce supply, is a key component of modern trade theory. In this book, Robert Baldwin traces the development of the HO model, describing the historical twists and turns that have led to the basic modern theoretical model in use today. Baldwin not only presents a clear and cohesive view of the model's evolution but also reviews the results of empirical tests its various versions. Baldwin, who published his first theoretical article on the HO model in 1948, first surveys the development of the HO model and then assesses empirical tests of its predictions. Most discussions of empirical work on HO models confine themselves to the basic theorem, but Baldwin devotes a chapter to empirical tests of three related propositions: the Stolper-Samuelson theorem; the Rybczynski theorem; and the factor price equalization theorem. He concludes that the formulation and testing of these later models have improved economists' understanding of the forces shaping international trade, but that many empirical trade economists (himself included) were so enamored of the elegant but highly unrealistic factor price equalization models developed from the insights of Heckscher and Ohlin that they have neglected investigation of other models without this relationship.
A QoS Oriented Framework for Adaptive Management of Web Service Based Workflows

Web Services are emerging technologies that enable application-to-application communication and reuse of autonomous services over Web. Traditional Workflow Management Systems fail to provide a comprehensive solution for a Web Service based Workflow. A framework that meets the quality of service (QoS) requirements for ad hoc Internet based Services is rarely provided. Considering the increasing demand for expanding services and application requirements coupled with use of Web Services, it is a challenging task to develop a QoS model as a framework for Web Service based Workflows. In this paper, we have proposed a QoS oriented Framework, called WebQ, that is capable of conducting the adaptive selection process and simultaneously provides binding and execution of Web Services for the underlying workflow. To achieve these objectives, as the first step, we have designed a QoS model for Web Service selection, binding, and execution. We, then, develop a set of algorithms to compute QoS parameters and implement them using a rule-based system. A series of experiments performed on workflows composed of real Web Services have confirmed that the proposed framework is very effective in improving the overall QoS of the system.
The Tools for Enforcing International Criminal Justice in the New Millennium: Lessons from the Yugoslavia Tribunal

This article is an expanded version of a presentation made at a conference sponsored by the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences, held in Siracusa, Sicily September 12-18, 1999, entitled "International Criminal Law in the 21st Century."
Worker Sorting and Agglomeration Economies

This paper argues that larger cities allow workers to …nd better occupational matches. We introduce a framework where workers are initially uncertain about the quality of their match with each occupation. They can switch occupations within cities at no cost, whereas moving across cities is costly. Larger cities oer workers more options, who in turn become more selective, and, in equilibrium, earn higher wages. Using data from the SIPP, we …nd support for the setup's implications regarding worker mobility: conditional on wages, workers in metropolitan areas are more likely to switch occupations; they are also less likely to move; the negative eect of metro areas on the moving probability is signi…cantly larger for workers who recently moved there; workers who move and switch occupations experience signi…cant wage gains, whereas moving without occupational switching does not aect wages; workers who move from a metro area continue to earn higher wages in their new location, but only if they do not switch occupations.
An Effective Algorithmic Framework for Near Optimal Multi-robot Path Planning

We present a centralized algorithmic framework for solving multi-robot path planning problems in general, two-dimensional, continuous environments while minimizing globally the task completion time. The framework obtains high levels of effectiveness through the composition of an optimal discretization of the continuous environment and the subsequent fast, near-optimal resolution of the resulting discrete planning problem. This principled approach achieves orders of magnitudes better performance with respect to both speed and the supported robot density. For a wide variety of environments, our method is shown to compute globally near-optimal solutions for 50 robots in seconds with robots packed close to each other. In the extreme, the method can consistently solve problems with hundreds of robots that occupy over 30% of the free space.
Optimizing Data Aggregation for Uplink Machine-to-Machine Communication Networks

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication’s severe power limitations challenge the interconnectivity, access management, and reliable communication of data. In densely deployed M2M networks, controlling and aggregating the generated data is critical. We propose an energy-efficient data aggregation scheme for a hierarchical M2M network. We develop a coverage probability-based optimal data aggregation scheme for M2M devices to minimize the average total energy expenditure per unit area per unit time or simply the energy density of an M2M communication network. Our analysis exposes the key tradeoffs between the energy density of the M2M network and the coverage characteristics for successive and parallel transmission schemes that can be either half-duplex or full-duplex. Comparing the rate and energy performances of the transmission models, we observe that successive mode and half-duplex parallel mode have better coverage characteristics compared to full-duplex parallel scheme. Simulation results show that the uplink coverage characteristics dominate the trend of the energy consumption for both successive and parallel schemes.
Is the January effect rational? Insights from the accounting valuation model

Abstract Employing a permanent earnings valuation model and a novel sample partition, we find evidence that the January effect “anomaly” is consistent with rational economic market behavior. Investors in firms which experience January effect return premiums appear to discount first quarter earnings performance but reward permanent earnings and expectations of future improvements. Our evidence also supports a tax-loss selling explanation for the January effect. We find that the January effect is experienced by relatively few firms in the sample overall, but a substantial percentage of January effect firms are identified as potential tax-loss sellers. Our results complement prior research suggesting that the January effect is neither a result of irrational noise traders nor consistent with systemic risk factor explanations. Our study reconciles the assumption of arbitrage inherent in trading studies with a fundamental accounting valuation approach and offers some further insights into the nature of this market phenomenon.
Recent Developments in Community Foundation Law: The Quest for Endowment Building

In the United States, most of the attention paid to individual community foundations is given to the larger organizations—such important players in American philanthropy as the Chicago Community Trust, the Cleveland Foundation, and the New York Community Trust. These were the philanthropic offspring of early twentieth century elites and the growth in their endowments has made them wealthy and powerful institutions in American philanthropy and social policy. For example, at the close of 2008, after significant losses, the Chicago Community Trust had an endowment of $1.59 billion, the Cleveland Foundation had $1.6 billion, and the New York Community Trust had $1.53 billion.
Maximizing the number of edges in optimal k-rankings

A k-ranking is a vertex k-coloring with positive integers such that if two vertices have the same color any path connecting them contains a vertex of larger color. The rank number of a graph is sma...
Low-frequency reactance amplifier

A reactance amplifier has been constructed which is capable of low-noise amplification at audio and subaudio frequencies [1]. Stable voltage amplification of 20-30 db and noise figures as low as 0.16 db (50-K source resistance) have been observed for signal frequencies between 2 and 50 cps. The circuit configuration is a double sideband up-converter or modulator in which a band of frequencies from dc to several hundred cycles is used to modulate a 150-kc carrier. An analysis for noise and gain is presented which considers the average, fundamental, and second-harmonic components of the time-varying diode capacitance. The amplifier input is a signal at low audio frequency, while the output is composed of the sum and difference sidebands of the pump. Gain is realized through up-converter action associated with the frequency shift from signal frequency to near pump frequency; the sum and difference sidebands are further amplified in the output tank by the negative resistance resulting from the action of the component of time-varying capacitance at the second harmonic of the pump frequency. Gain and equivalent input noise resistance are discussed as functions of detuning in the passive output tank; measured and calculated results are compared. A scheme is also presented for stabilizing the amplifier at high values of negative resistance gain.
A landmark-based brain conformal parametrization with automatic landmark tracking technique

In this paper, we present algorithms to automatically detect and match landmark curves on cortical surfaces to get an optimized brain conformal parametrization. First, we propose an automatic landmark curve tracing method based on the principal directions of the local Weingarten matrix. Our algorithm obtains a hypothesized landmark curves using the Chan-Vese segmentation method, which solves a Partial Differential Equation (PDE) on a manifold with global conformal parameterization. Based on the global conformal parametrization of a cortical surface, our method adjusts the landmark curves iteratively on the spherical or rectangular parameter domain of the cortical surface along its principal direction field, using umbilic points of the surface as anchors. The landmark curves can then be mapped back onto the cortical surface. Experimental results show that the landmark curves detected by our algorithm closely resemble these manually labeled curves. Next, we applied these automatically labeled landmark curves to generate an optimized conformal parametrization of the cortical surface, in the sense that homologous features across subjects are caused to lie at the same parameter locations in a conformal grid. Experimental results show that our method can effectively help in automatically matching cortical surfaces across subjects.
Feature Tracking Using Reeb Graphs

Tracking features and exploring their temporal dynamics can aid scientists in identifying interesting time intervals in a simulation and serve as basis for performing quantitative analyses of temporal phenomena. In this paper, we develop a novel approach for tracking subsets of isosurfaces, such as burning regions in simulated flames, which are defined as areas of high fuel consumption on a temperature isosurface. Tracking such regions as they merge and split over time can provide important insights into the impact of turbulence on the combustion process. However, the convoluted nature of the temperature isosurface and its rapid movement make this analysis particularly challenging.
Collaborative value filtering on the Web

Today''s Internet search engines help users locate information based on the textual similarity of a query and potential documents. Given the large number of documents available, the user often finds too many documents, and even if the textual similarity is high, in many cases the matching documents are not relevant or of interest. Our goal is to explore other ways to decide if documents are "of value" to the user, i.e., to perform what we call "value filtering." In particular, we would like to capture access information that may tell us-within limits of privacy concerns-which user groups are accessing what data, and how frequently. This information can then guide users, for example, helping identify information that is popular, or that may have helped others before. This is a type of collaborative filtering or community-based navigation. Access information can either be gathered by the servers that provide the information, or by the clients themselves. Tracing accesses at servers is simple, but often information providers are not willing to share this information. We therefore are exploring client-side gathering. Companies like Alexa are currently using client gathering in the large. We are studying client gathering at a much smaller scale, where a small community of users with shared interest collectively track their information accesses. For this, we have developed a proxy system called the Knowledge Sharing System (KSS) that monitors the behavior of a community of users. Through this system we hope to: 1. Develop mechanisms for sharing browsing expertise among a community of users; and 2. Better understand the access patterns of a group of people with common interests, and develop good schemes for sharing this information.
Tribology of magnetic storage systems

The construction and the materials used in different magnetic storage devices are defined. The theories of friction and adhesion, interface temperatures, wear, and solid-liquid lubrication relevant to magnetic storage systems are presented. Experimental data are presented wherever possible to support the relevant theories advanced.
A Parallel FFT Architecture for FPGAs

The inclusion of block RAMs and block multipliers in FPGA fabrics has made them more ammenable for implementing the FFT. This paper describes a parallel FFT design suitable for such FPGA implementations. It consists of multiple, parallel pipelines with a front end butterfly-like circuit to preprocess the incoming data and distribute it to the parallel pipelines. Implementation of the parallel FFT on Virtex II shows superlinear speedups for a range of FFT sizes.
Server-side parallel data reduction and analysis

Geoscience analysis is currently limited by cumbersome access and manipulation of large datasets from remote sources. Due to their data-heavy and compute-light nature, these analysis workloads represent a class of applications unsuited to a computational grid optimized for compute-intensive applications. We present the Script Workflow Analysis for MultiProcessing (SWAMP) system, which relocates data-intensive workflows from scientists' workstations to the hosting datacenters in order to reduce data transfer and exploit locality. Our colocation of computation and data leverages the typically reductive characteristics of these workflows, allowing SWAMP to complete workflows in a fraction of the time and with much less data transfer. We describe SWAMP's implementation and interface, which is designed to leverage scientists' existing script-based workflows. Tests with a production geoscience workflow show drastic improvements not only in overall execution time, but in computation time as well. SWAMP's workflow analysis capability allows it to detect dependencies, optimize I/O, and dynamically parallelize execution. Benchmarks quantify the drastic reduction in transfer time, computation time, and end-to-end execution time.
Does On-site Experience Affect Responses to Stated Preference Questions?

An important issue in the design of stated-preference surveys is in the hypothetical setting whether providing information to the respondents can elicit valid value estimates. On-site experience with a resource is one way to provide respondents with first-hand information about the valuation object. In the research here we construct a treatment by providing the survey respondents an opportunity to have a walk through the forest. We compare the preference parameter estimates for on-site treatment with those for a mail survey in the context of a choice study of forest management practices. As both the sample/frame/mode and the information provided have been changed, we conduct both the on-site, pretest and on-site, posttest survey to differentiate the information effect. The results show that the stated preference is procedure invariant. The mail survey respondents are remarkably similar with both the on-site, pretest survey and the on-site, posttest survey. It indicates a mail scenario can provide sufficient information through appropriate description, and an on-site experience is not always necessary for respondents to estimate policy relevant values.
Design of an efficient flexible architecture for color image enhancement

A novel architecture for performing digital color image enhancement based on reflectance/illumination model is proposed in this paper. The approach promotes the log-domain computation to eliminate all multiplications, divisions and exponentiations utilizing the approximation techniques for efficient estimation of log2 and inverse-log2. A new quadrant symmetric architecture is also incorporated into the design of homomorphic filter to achieve very high throughput rate which is part of V component enhancement in Hue-Saturation-Value (HSV) color space. The pipelined design of the filter features the flexibility in reloading a wide range of kernels for different frequency responses. A generalized architecture of max/min filter is also presented for efficient extraction of V component. With effective color space conversion, the HSV-domain image enhancement architecture is able to achieve a throughput rate of 182.65 million outputs per second (MOPS) or equivalently 52.8 billion operations per second on Xilinx's Virtex II XC2V2000-4ff896 field programmable gate array (FPGA) at a clock frequency of 182.65 MHz. It can process over 174.2 mega-pixel (1024×1024) frames per second and consumes approximately 70.7% less hardware resource when compared to the design presented in [10].
A novel scheme for the parallel computation of SVDs

The Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is a vital problem that finds a place in numerous application domains in science and engineering. As an example, SVDs are used in processing voluminous data sets. Many sequential and parallel algorithms have been proposed to compute SVDs. The best known sequential algorithms take cubic time. This amount of time may not be acceptable especially when the data size is large. Thus parallel algorithms are desirable. In this paper, we present a novel technique for the parallel computation of SVDs. This technique yields impressive speedups. We discuss implementation of our technique on parallel models of computing such as the mesh and the PRAM. We also present an experimental evaluation of our technique.
Factors Influencing the Willingness to Pay User Fees

In this Note I explore the factors which influence the demand side of program participation, or the willingness to pay (WTP). The WTP estimates can help you determine how many people will participate in an event at each fee level.
Challenges of Creating and Working with Cross-Year-Family-Individual Files: An Example from the PSID data set

Often researchers need to build longitudinal data sets in order to study individuals and families or firms and plants across time. No matter if individuals or firms are points of interest, the resulting matrix is no longer rectangular due to the changes in family or firm composition. Many times the data come into a different format and simply merging, on for example, family and person ID-s lead to wrong records. Here we are using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to illustrate some of the pitfalls in creating a Cross-Year-Family-Individual File. In order to create a Cross-Year-Family-Individual file, one has to merge the family files with the individual files. As of 1990 the file format of PSID consists of single-year files with family-level data collected in each wave (i.e. 26 family files for data collected from 1968 through 1993) and one cross-year individual file with the individual-level data collected from 1968 to the most recent interviewing wave. Attaching family records to the individual ones, without taking into consideration splitoffs and movers in and out of the family, however, lead to some cases in which members of the same family appear to have different information for family income. The core of the problem is that some of the information reported in the interview year refers to the previous year. If a person is a splitoff, he reports, for example, the family income of the family he is currently in. This income then is incorrectly attached to his record of the previous year, when he was in a different family. We suggest a way to fix problems like this one. The idea is to extract separately all variables referring to the year previous to the year of the interview, and then using the splitoff indicator to attach them to the individuals¹ records.
Efficient group signatures without trapdoors

Group signature schemes are fundamental cryptographictools that enable unlinkably anonymous authentication, in the same fashion that digital signatures provide the basis for strong authentication protocols. In this paper we present the first group signature scheme with constant-size parameters that does not require any group member, including group managers, to know trapdoor secrets. This novel type of group signature scheme allows public parameters to be shared among organizations. Such sharing represents a highly desirable simplification over existing schemes, which require each organization to maintain a separate cryptographic domain.
Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy studies of Eu-Y and coexchanged EuFe-Y zeolites

Abstract Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was used to probe the oxidation state of europium and the location of divalent europium cations in EuY and EuFeY zeolite samples. Europium was present as trivalent cations following treatment in O 2 at 770 K. Treatments in HZ or CO at 770 K led to formation of divalent cations, and perhaps also caused some reduction to lower oxidation states. Three EPR signals were observed for Eu 2+ , giving rise to effective g values of 3, 4.9, and 6. The first and last signals are interpreted as being due to Euz+ cations at sites I and 11, respectively, while the latter signal is due to Euz+ cations at sites I′ and II′. The majority of the Eu 2+ cations are at site I, and the amount of Eu at this site can be increased by reducing the sample in Hz, compared with reduction in CO. The presence of europium in site I forces the Fe 2+ cations to occupy sites of lower coordination in the sodalite unit (sites I′ and II′) and in the supercages (sites II and III′)
Hipótesis del tigre: sobre un relato de Bioy Casares

En los ultimos diez anos, Adolfo Bioy Casares ha estado recopilando y publicando antologias de sus cuentos y novelas cortas, reuniendo textos que habian aparecido anteriormente en distintos volumenes, mas algunos ineditos. La primera de esas antologias es Adversos milagros (Caracas, 1969), realizada por Enrique Pezzoni; las otras dos son en cambio selecciones personales: Historias de amor (Buenos Aires, 1972) e Historias fantasticas (Madrid, 1976). 1 El mas reciente volumen de relatos de Bioy Casares es una especie de hibrido, pues contiene cinco piezas nuevas escritas posterionnente a 1967 y tres que ya aparecieron en las dos ultimas antologias mencionadas. El conjunto se titula El heroe de las mujeres2 y ofrece una vaiedad de temas, procedimientos, simbolos y estrategias narrativas perfectamente reconocibles para el lector habituado a las fantasias del autor. La primera recurrencia es la aparicion decisiva y temible de mujeres en esas historias; mas especificamente, la aparicion de ciertos tipos femeninos, que cubren una gama muy significativa que va de la dulce encantadora hasta la hidra posesiva y destructora, con una incidencia mayor en este lado del espectro.3 Estos tipos estan por todo el libro, pero dominan especialmente en cuatro cuentos: "Una guerra perdida", "El jardin de los suenos", "Una puerta se abre" y "El heroe de las mujeres". En el primero, por ejemplo, las mujeres son varias y todas con nombres muy simbolicos Q)iana, Magdalena, Mercedes) y aunque al principio parecen las faciles victimas del donjuanesco protagonista o simplemen-
Assembly of business systems using service component architecture

Service Component Architecture (SCA) is a set of specifications which provide a programming model for the creation and assembly of business systems using a service oriented architecture. SCA uses service components as the building blocks of business systems. SCA supports service components written using a very wide range of technologies, including programming languages such as Java, BPEL, C++ and also declarative languages such as XSLT. SCA also provides a composition model for the assembly of distributed groups of service components into a business solution, with composites used to group collections of components and wires modeling the connections between components. SCA aims to remove “middleware” concerns from the programming code, by applying infrastructure concerns declaratively to compositions, including aspects such as Security and Transactions. SCA is being evolved by an industry collaboration, with the aim of eventual submission to a standards body.
Reliability analysis of a reinforced concrete drainage structure

A reliability assessment was performed to examine potential modes of unsatisfactory performance for a six-barrel gravity drainage structure and pumping plant located under a 33-ft-high levee section. The structure is composed of reinforced concrete which has suffered severe structural deterioration and exposure of reinforcement. This structure is a critical element in the levee system that protects a major metropolitan area from river and bayou flooding. Loss of this structure during a projected flood event would lead to a high probability of loss of life because of its proximity to a highly populated area. Using soil-structure interaction analyses, the outer culvert wall was modeled as a beam-column subjected to lateral and vertical earth pressures, and hydrostatic water pressures. Monte Carlo simulations and first-order second-moment techniques were utilized to examine the reliability of the culvert for normal operating conditions and for projected floods of 50 and 100 years.
Learning fuzzy information in a hybrid connectionist, symbolic model

An implementation of fuzzy variables using pi-shaped membership functions is shown in a hybrid symbolic connectionist expert system tool that uses fuzzy logic to implement reasoning with uncertainty and imprecision and that can learn from imprecise data. A method of dynamically modifying the arms, or fuzzy part of the membership functions, during learning is shown. Examples illustrating the method are presented. The results indicate that the presented system is capable of learning membership functions for applications such as control or classification. >
Adequate (or Adipose?) Yearly Progress: Assessing the Effect of “No Child Left Behind” on Children's Obesity

AbstractThis paper investigates how accountability pressures under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) may have affected students’ rate of overweight. Schools facing pressure to improve academic outcomes may reallocate their efforts in ways that have unintended consequences for children's health. To examine the impact of school accountability, we create a unique panel dataset containing school-level data on test scores and students’ weight outcomes from schools in Arkansas. We code schools as facing accountability pressures if they are on the margin of making Adequate Yearly Progress, measured by whether the school's minimum-scoring subgroup had a passing rate within 5 percentage points of the threshold. We find evidence of small effects of accountability pressures on the percent of students at a school who are overweight. This finding is little changed if we controlled for the school's lagged rate of overweight, or use alternative ways to identify schools facing NCLB pressure.
Whitney towers and gropes in 4--manifolds

Many open problems and important theorems in low-dimensional topology have been formulated as statements about certain 2-complexes called gropes. This paper describes a precise correspondence between embedded gropes in 4-manifolds and the failure of the Whitney move in terms of iterated 'towers' of Whitney disks. The 'flexibility' of these Whitney towers is used to demonstrate some geometric consequences for knot and link concordance connected to n-solvability, k-cobordism and grope concordance. The key observation is that the essential structure of gropes and Whitney towers can be described by embedded unitrivalent trees which can be controlled during surgeries and Whitney moves. It is shown that a Whitney move in a Whitney tower induces an IHX (Jacobi) relation on the embedded trees.
Diasporas and Foreign Direct Investment in China and India

Part I. Introduction and Theory: 1. Introduction: foreign direct investment in China and India 2. Social network theory: diaspora, domestic industry, and diffusion of FDI liberalization Part II. Reform Stage I: 3. Diasporic entrepreneurs and diffusion of FDI liberalization in China 4. Deregulation without openness in India Part III. Reform Stage II: 5. Deepening diffusion: zone fever and SOE reform in China 6. Transforming Indian business: the foundation and limitation of India's FDI liberalization Part IV. Sectors: 7. China's electronics and automobiles 8. FDI liberalization in India's informatics and autos 9. Conclusion: state, diasporas, and development.
Credit Migration Matrices

This article provides a brief overview of credit migration or transition matrices, which characterize past changes in credit quality of obligors (typically firms). They are cardinal inputs to many risk management applications, including portfolio risk assessment, the pricing of bonds and credit derivatives, and the assessment of regulatory capital as is the case for the New Basel Accord. I address questions of how to estimate these matrices, how to make inference and compare them, and provide two examples of their use: the pricing of a derivative called a yield spread option, and the calculation of the value distribution for a portfolio of credit assets. The latter is especially useful for risk management of credit portfolios. Keywords: credit risk; credit portfolios; credit derivatives; Markov; probabilities of default
Who avoids and who escapes from poverty during transition? - evidence from Polish panel data, 1993-96

There is a tendency toward chronic, long-term poverty in Poland. Most at risk: larger households, farm households, and households dependent on social welfare. Least at risk: households of employees or the self-employed, educated households, households headed by pensioners, households that are part of kinship networks, and households with liquid assets, durables, or access to financial resources. Among those who missed out on the benefits of the first phase of economic prosperity, children are overrepresented. Okrasa uses four-year panel data from Poland's Household Budget Survey to explore the distinction between transitory and long-term poverty, a crucial distinction in designing and evaluating poverty reduction strategies. Okrasa analyzes household welfare trajectories during the period 1993-96, to identify the long-term poor and to determine how relevant household asset endowments are as determinants of household poverty and vulnerability over time. He concludes that the chronically poor constitute a distinct and separate segment of the population, with low turnover. Among specific observations about factors that affect Poland's long-term poverty: · Variables in human capital significantly affected the pattern of repeated poverty and vulnerability. Larger households tended to experience poverty and vulnerability, mostly because they contained more children or other dependents. Households with elderly members and those headed by older people, by women rather than men, and by educated people of either gender were least likely to be poor. Poverty was unaffected by the presence of a disabled person in the household. · Households with liquid assets or durables, or with access to financial resources, were less likely to be poor and vulnerable. Households appeared to take advantage of credit and loans to maintain their current level of consumption rather than to augment their stock of assets. · Households that were part of kinship networks were less at risk of falling into chronic poverty or vulnerability. · Households headed by pensioners were least in danger of impoverishment. Those most in danger were farm households (including mixed households headed by workers with an agricultural holding) and households heavily dependent on social welfare. · Households of employees were better off than self-employed households when income-based measures of poverty were used but not when consumption-based measures were used. Neither group was significantly vulnerable. This paper - a product of Poverty and Human Resources, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to study the dynamics of poverty and the effectiveness of the safety net. The author may be contacted at wokrasa@worldbank.org.
An experimental investigation of wall effects on supercavitating hydrofoils of finite span.

A geometrically similar family of three half-span, elliptical-planform, supercavitating hydrofoils was tested in the M.I.T. variable-pressure water tunnel. Lift, drag, moment, tunnel speed, ambient pressure, cavity pressues and cavity length were measured for attack angles from 8 to 21 deg and a variety of ambient pressure settings. For the small and medium foils, it was sufficient to correct only for the effect on downwash of the images of the trailing vortices. The large foil data, however, required further correction; the corrected force and moment data for the large foil plotted slightly lower than did the data for the two smaller foils, while the cavity length data for the large foil indicated cavity lengths significantly larger than theoretical predictions or the cavity length data for two smaller foils. Existing two-dimensional corrections may be used to bring the force data for the large foil into close agreement with the force data for the two smaller foils, but no correction factors exist of the cavity length data.
Liberalism and Medical Ethics

Book reviewed in this article: Just Doctoring: Medical Ethics in the Liberal State. By Troyen A. Brennan. The Ends of Human Life: Medical Ethics in a Liberal Polity. By Ezekiel J. Emanuel.