cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A simple measurement method to determine the burst acquisition time of digital systems

A cost-efficient solution for measuring fast and ultrafast synchronization-caused bit errors is disclosed. This invention enables the user to modify conventional test instruments and to eliminate the need to obtain very expensive test equipment. Our new instrumentation implementation concept comprises a gated switch added to a pseudorandom bit sequence generator and analyzer. The synchronization time of a couple of circuits is tested.
Convection in a spherical capacitor

Real-time holographic interferometry and shadowgraph visualization are used to study convection in the fluid between two concentric spheres when two distinct buoyancy forces are applied to the fluid. The heated inner sphere has a constant temperature that is greater than the constant temperature of the outer sphere by AT. In addition to the usual gravitational buoyancy from temperature induced density differences, another radial buoyancy is imposed by applying an a.c. voltage difference, AV between the inner and outer spheres. The resulting electric field gradient in this spherical capacitor produces a central polarization force. The temperature dependence of the dielectric constant results in the second buoyancy force that is especially large near the inner sphere. The normal buoyancy is always present and, within the parameter range explored in our experiment, always results in a large-scale cell that is axisymmetric about the vertical. We have found that this flow becomes unstable to toroidal or spiral rolls that form near the inner sphere and travel vertically upward when AT and ΔV are sufficiently high. These rolls start near the centre sphere's equator and travel upward toward its top. The onset of this instability depends on both the temperature difference at onset ΔT c and the voltage difference at onset ΔV c and these two quantities appear to be related, within the parameter range accessible to our experimental system, by a power law ΔF c ∝ ΔT c 1/3 . Measurements of the heat transfer show that these travelling rolls increase the heat transfer at onset. Far above onset, the heat transfer may actually decrease with increasing AT. The travelling roll's frequency increases with increasing AT near onset and with increasing AV far above onset. These results have been interpreted in terms of a flow structure that includes a thermal boundary-layer-like behaviour. This layer has a radial width that increases from the bottom pole to an unstable 'latitude' near the equator where the rolls appear.
Layout Randomization and Nondeterminism

In security, layout randomization is a popular, effective attack mitigation technique. Recent work has aimed to explain it rigorously, focusing on deterministic systems. In this paper, we study layout randomization in the presence of nondeterministic choice. We develop a semantic approach based on denotational models and simulation relations. This approach abstracts from language details, and helps manage the delicate interaction between probabilities and nondeterminism.
Democratizing Global Economic Governance

The need for democratic governance of the global economy is increasingly apparent to growing numbers of people around the world. This is a core goal of the diffuse popular movement that is often labelled ‘anti-globalization’and more accurately described as a movement for global justice. In the political arena, global justice requires a more equitable distribution of power; in the economic arena, it requires a more equitable distribution of wealth and income. The problem, of course, is how to get from here to there. In this comment, the author discusses three of Keith Griffin’s recommendations. The first is his insistence, in common with many economists, that trade policy instruments should ‘almost never’ be used to protect the environment. The second is his endorsement of the creation of United Nations ‘peace enforcement’ units, a step proposed by UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali in 1995. The third is his suggestion that the World Bank be scrapped and replaced by a tax-and-transfer scheme that would redistribute income automatically from rich countries to poor countries. The article concludes with some thoughts on what ‘democratization’ means, and why it is important. This is an electronic version of an article published in Development and Change: complete citation information for the final version of the paper, as published in the print edition of Development and Change, is available on the Blackwell Synergy online delivery service, accessible via the journal's website at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=00 12-155X&site=1 or http://www.blackwell-synergy.com
Anomalous cases of astronaut helmet detection

An astronaut’s helmet is an invariant, rigid image element that is well suited for identification and tracking using current machine vision technology. Future space exploration will benefit from the development of astronaut detection software for search and rescue missions based on EVA helmet identification. However, helmets are solid white, except for metal brackets to attach accessories such as supplementary lights. We compared the performance of a widely used machine vision pipeline on a standard-issue NASA helmet with and without affixed experimental feature-rich patterns. Performance on the patterned helmet was far more robust. We found that four different feature-rich patterns are sufficient to identify a helmet and determine orientation as it is rotated about the yaw, pitch, and roll axes. During helmet rotation the field of view changes to frames containing parts of two or more feature-rich patterns. We took reference images in these locations to fill in detection gaps. These multiple feature-rich patterns references added substantial benefit to detection, however, they generated the majority of the anomalous cases. In these few instances, our algorithm keys in on one feature-rich pattern of the multiple feature-rich pattern reference and makes an incorrect prediction of the location of the other feature-rich patterns. We describe and make recommendations on ways to mitigate anomalous cases in which detection of one or more feature-rich patterns fails. While the number of cases is only a small percentage of the tested helmet orientations, they illustrate important design considerations for future spacesuits. In addition to our four successful feature-rich patterns, we present unsuccessful patterns and discuss the cause of their poor performance from a machine vision perspective. Future helmets designed with these considerations will enable automated astronaut detection and thereby enhance mission operations and extraterrestrial search and rescue.
Streamline-based simulation of virus transport resulting from long term artificial recharge in a heterogeneous aquifer

The likelihood for viruses, protozoan oocysts, and other human pathogens to enter groundwater, and in particular, sensitive or vulnerable water supplies, has increased as the numbers of anthropogenic sources such as septic systems, leaking sewers, animal farming operations, and artificial recharge of treated wastewater have proliferated. In this paper, we utilize a detailed numerical model of groundwater flow in a region encompassing a large artificial groundwater recharge operation in Orange County, California to evaluate the potential for transport of viruses and protozoan oocysts in such a system, as dictated by a transport model that includes colloid filtration and microbial inactivation components. The purpose of the model is not oriented towards the analysis of any perceived or real microbial contamination, but rather is directed at understanding the influence of aquifer heterogeneity within the modeled system. The transport model is based upon a novel representation of geologic heterogeneity, a high-resolution flow simulator, and an efficient streamline-based transport algorithm. Example virus transport simulations illustrate a large degree of variability in virus breakthrough across water supply pumping wells, with shallower wells providing less than two orders of magnitude of virus removal, and deeper wells indicating many orders of magnitude of virus removal. Simulation results also show variability among pathogens modeled, with Cryptosporidium parvum filtered to a much greater degree than other pathogens. Comparison to transport of an abiotic colloid and a conservative chemical tracer are provided to illustrate the influence of filtration and inactivation on the transport process. The results emphasize the need for improved microbial transport models in realistic aquifer systems, more reliable virus characterization methods and monitoring networks, and their ultimate integration into a broader epidemiological and regulatory framework for aquifer management. � 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The trilateral filter for high contrast images and meshes

We present a new, single-pass nonlinear filter for edge-preserving smoothing and visual detail removal for N dimensional signals in computer graphics, image processing and computer vision applications. Built from two modified forms of Tomasi and Manduchi's bilateral filter, the new "trilateral" filter smoothes signals towards a sharply-bounded, piecewise-linear approximation. Unlike bilateral filters or anisotropic diffusion methods that smooth towards piecewise constant solutions, the trilateral filter provides stronger noise reduction and better outlier rejection in high-gradient regions, and it mimics the edge-limited smoothing behavior of shock-forming PDEs by region finding with a fast min-max stack. Yet the trilateral filter requires only one user-set parameter, filters an input signal in a single pass, and does not use an iterative solver as required by most PDE methods. Like the bilateral filter, the trilateral filter easily extends to N-dimensional signals, yet it also offers better performance for many visual applications including appearance-preserving contrast reduction problems for digital photography and denoising polygonal meshes.
An improvement to the Powell and Chau linear phase IIR filters

A technique using Jacobian elliptic functions is given that, by removing a previous method's double-zero constraint, yields improved designs of linear phase IIR filters. >
Science and the University: Challenges for Future Research

Scientific research has played a critical role in the life of the university for a considerable period of time, both in Europe and in the US. While much remains the same in the relationship between science and the university, considerable change has occurred in recent years. Here we outline three changes in this relationship, focusing both on the consequences for the university and on questions of research interest to those interested in higher education. The three changes are: (i) increased incentives to publish; (ii) changes in the reward system and (iii) increased reliance by governments and communities on universities and institutes as a source of economic growth. (JEL codes: I23)
Total synthesis of the proposed azaspiracid-1 structure, part 2: coupling of the C1-C20, C21-C27, and C28-C40 fragments and completion of the synthesis.

An illusive target: The two proposed structures of azaspiracid-1 (1 and FGHI-epi-1), were synthesized and shown to be different from the natural substance, thereby invalidating the presently accepted structures for these important marine neurotoxins.
On optimal multiresolution source-channel coding across degraded broadcast channels

Inspired by a converse result, the concept of "probabilistically matched" sources and channels is extended to sources subject to multiresolution coding and degraded broadcast channels. Unlike in the point-to-point communication scenarios, however, due to the lack of a separation principle or a complete characterization for achievable cost-distortion triplets, matching of the source and the channel constitutes only a sufficient condition for optimality.
The Material Consequences of Welfare States: Benefit Generosity and Absolute Poverty in 16 OECD Countries

Several recent studies have focused attention on the relationship between welfare states and poverty, looking primarily at relative poverty and employing concepts of welfare state generosity that are problematic. This has made it difficult to evaluate claims that equality has come at the expense of economic growth. In this article, the authors examine more directly the relationship between welfare state generosity in three social insurance programs— unemployment, sickness, and pensions—and poverty levels in advanced industrial democracies in the past quarter of the 20th century. The results strongly suggest that more generous entitlements to key social insurance programs are associated not only with lower relative poverty but also with lower absolute poverty. This supports the contention that promoting relative economic equality can improve the absolute material well-being of the poor. However, no evidence suggests that relatively more generous unemployment benefits systematically reduce poverty.
Fan-out in gene regulatory networks

In synthetic biology, gene regulatory circuits are often constructed by combining smaller circuit components. Connections between components are achieved by transcription factors acting on promoters. If the individual components behave as true modules and certain module interface conditions are satisfied, the function of the composite circuits can in principle be predicted. In this paper, we investigate one of the interface conditions: fan-out. We quantify the fan-out, a concept widely used in electrical engineering, to indicate the maximum number of the downstream inputs that an upstream output transcription factor can regulate. The fan-out is shown to be closely related to retroactivity studied by Del Vecchio, et al. An efficient operational method for measuring the fan-out is proposed and shown to be applied to various types of module interfaces. The fan-out is also shown to be enhanced by self-inhibitory regulation on the output. The potential role of an inhibitory regulation is discussed. The proposed estimation method for fan-out not only provides an experimentally efficient way for quantifying the level of modularity in gene regulatory circuits but also helps characterize and design module interfaces, enabling the modular construction of gene circuits.
A computational model for RNA multiple structural alignment

This paper addresses the problem of aligning multiple sequences of noncoding RNA (ncRNA) genes. We approach this problem with the biologically motivated paradigm that scoring of ncRNA alignments should be based primarily on secondary structure rather than nucleotide conservation. We introduce a novel graph theoretic model (NLG) for analyzing algorithms based on this approach, prove that the RNA multiple alignment problem is NP-Complete in this model, and present a polynomial time algorithm that approximates the optimal structure of size S within a factor of O(log^2S).
Crawling the cosmic network: identifying and quantifying filamentary structure

We present the Smoothed Hessian Major Axis Filament Finder (SHMAFF), an algorithm that uses the eigenvectors of the Hessian matrix of the smoothed galaxy distribution to identify individual filamentary structures. Filaments are traced along the Hessian eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue and are stopped when the axis orientation changes more rapidly than a preset threshold. In both N-body simulations and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy redshift survey data, the resulting filament length distributions are approximately exponential. In the SDSS galaxy distribution, using smoothing lengths of 10 and 15 h -1 Mpc, we find filament lengths per unit volume of 1.9 x 10 -3 and 7.6 × 10- 4 h 2 Mpc -2 , respectively. The filament width distributions, which are much more sensitive to non-linear growth, are also consistent between the real and mock galaxy distributions using a standard cosmology. In SDSS, we find mean filament widths of 5.5 and 8.4 h -1 Mpc on 10 and 15 h -1 Mpc smoothing scales, with standard deviations of 1.1 and 1.4 h -1 Mpc, respectively. Finally, the spatial distribution of filamentary structure in simulations is very similar between z = 3 and z = 0 on smoothing scales as large as 15 h -1 Mpc, suggesting that the outline of filamentary structure is already in place at high redshift.
Chip Scale Package (CSP) solder joint reliability and modeling

Abstract A viscoplastic constitutive model was used to analyze the thermally induced plastic and creep deformation and low cycle fatigue behavior of the solder joints in Chip Scale Packages (CSP) mounted on Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). The time-dependent and time-independent viscoplastic strain rate and plastic hardening work factors of solder material were used in 2-D plane strain finite element models. The viscoplastic strain rate data was fitted to the viscoplastic flow equation. The plastic hardening factors were considered in the evolution equation. A viscoelastic constitutive model was used for molding compound. Finite element models, incorporating the viscoplastic flow and evolution equations for solder and the viscoelastic equations for molding compound, were verified by temperature cycling tests on assembled CSPs. The effect of the cyclic frequency, dwell time, and temperature ramp rate on the response of the viscoplastic deformation was studied for a tapeless Lead-on-Chip (LOC) CSP and a flexible substrate CSP. The ramp rate significantly affects the equivalent stress range in solder joints while a dwell time in excess of 10 min per half cycle does not result in increased strain range. The failure data from the experiments was fitted to the Weibull failure distribution and the Weibull parameters were extracted. After satisfactory correlation between the experiment and the model was observed, the effect of material properties and package design variables on the fatigue life of solder joints in CSPs was investigated and the primary factors affecting solder fatique life were subsequently presented. Furthermore, a simplified model was proposed to predict the solder fatigue life in CSPs.
A New Strategy for Code Generation&#8212;the General-Purpose Optimizing Compiler

This paper presents a systematic approach to the problem of generating good code with a compiler that is easy to construct. A compiler structure is proposed which relies on interprocedural data flow analysis, global optimization, and an intermediate language schema to simplify the task of writing the code generating portions of a compiler without sacrificing code quality. This structure is contrasted with a more conventional structure to explore the reasons why the new structure solves several problems inherent in the conventional structure. Further advantages which accrue from the new structure are also presented.
Thiazolidine derivatives: A new source of α-aminoalkyl radicals for carbon-carbon bond formation in synthesis☆

Abstract α-Aminoalkyl radicals generated from N-ethoxycarbonyl- or N-methylcarbonyl-1,3-thiazolidine derivatives ( 1a, 1b, 5, 7 ) have been utilized in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds with tris(trimethylsilyl)silane as a free radical mediator.
Checking a multithreaded algorithm with + CAL

A colleague told me about a multithreaded algorithm that was later reported to have a bug. I rewrote the algorithm in the +cal algorithm language, ran the TLC model checker on it, and found the error. Programs are not released without being tested; why should algorithms be published without being model checked?
How opinions are received by online communities: a case study on amazon.com helpfulness votes

There are many on-line settings in which users publicly express opinions. A number of these offer mechanisms for other users to evaluate these opinions; a canonical example is Amazon.com, where reviews come with annotations like "26 of 32 people found the following review helpful." Opinion evaluation appears in many off-line settings as well, including market research and political campaigns. Reasoning about the evaluation of an opinion is fundamentally different from reasoning about the opinion itself: rather than asking, "What did Y think of X?", we are asking, "What did Z think of Y's opinion of X?" Here we develop a framework for analyzing and modeling opinion evaluation, using a large-scale collection of Amazon book reviews as a dataset. We find that the perceived helpfulness of a review depends not just on its content but also but also in subtle ways on how the expressed evaluation relates to other evaluations of the same product. As part of our approach, we develop novel methods that take advantage of the phenomenon of review "plagiarism" to control for the effects of text in opinion evaluation, and we provide a simple and natural mathematical model consistent with our findings. Our analysis also allows us to distinguish among the predictions of competing theories from sociology and social psychology, and to discover unexpected differences in the collective opinion-evaluation behavior of user populations from ifferent countries.
Risk Choice under High-Water Marks

I solve in closed form for the optimal dynamic risk choice of a fund manager who is compensated with a high-water mark contract. The optimal risk choice depends on the ratio of the fund's assets under management to its high-water mark. If the manager's outside option value is low, investors' termination policy is strict, or management fees are high, then negative returns induce the manager into �derisking.� Otherwise, he engages in �gambling.� Having the option to walk away increases risk taking, though in many cases exercise is never optimal. In particular, leaving to restart at a proportionally smaller fund is always suboptimal.
Strategic trading in a dynamic noisy market

This paper studies a dynamic model of a nancial market with a strategic trader. In each period the strategic trader receives a privately observed endowment in the stock. He trades with competitive market makers to share risk. Noise traders are present in the market. After receiving a stock endowment, the strategic trader is shown to reduce his risk exposure either by selling at a decreasing rate over time, or by selling and then buying back some of the shares sold. When the time between trades is small, the strategic trader reveals the information regarding his endowment very quickly.
Remittances and poverty in Guatemala

Adams uses a large, nationally representative household survey to analyze the impact of internal remittances (from Guatemala) and international remittances (from the United States) on poverty in Guatemala. With only one exception, he finds that both internal and international remittances reduce the level, depth, and severity of poverty in Guatemala. However, he finds that remittances have a greater impact on reducing the severity as opposed to the level of poverty in Guatemala. For example, the squared poverty gap - which measures the severity of poverty - falls by 21.1 percent when internal remittances are included in household income, and by 19.8 percent when international remittances are included in such income. This is true because households in the lowest decile group receive a very large share of their total household income (expenditure) from remittances. Households in the bottom decile group receive between 50 and 60 percent of their total income (expenditure) from remittances. When these "poorest of the poor" households receive remittances, their income status changes dramatically and this in turn has a large effect on any poverty measure - like the squared poverty gap - that considers the number, distance, and distribution of poor households beneath the poverty line. This paper - a product of the Trade Team, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the impact of international migration and remittances on poverty and development.
Computational fluid dynamics modeling of upper airway during tidal breathing using volume-gated MRI in OSAS and control subjects

Three-dimensional (3D) analysis of the deforming airway during tidal breathing has not been performed in children with obstructive sleep apnea. We used volume-gated magnetic resonance images to segment, surface, and volume mesh the airway of one child with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and one control. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study was performed on each airway at flow rates corresponding to 10 time points of a respiratory cycle extracted from flow data averaged over 12 consecutive breathing cycles. 3D CFD analysis showed the minimum inspiratory pressure for the OSAS subject was −250.76 Pa and −124.24 Pa for the control. Gated MRI images depicted an overall 47% decrease in airway volume over the inspiratory cycle for the OSAS subject while the control experienced no collapse. Pressure distribution corrected for nasal resistance and turbulence kinetic energy data suggest airway collapsibility in the OSAS is a function of pharyngeal resistance and fluid and tissue mechanics rather than entirely nasal resistance.
Globalization and de-globalization in nanotechnology research: the role of China

The share of nanotechnology publications involving authors from more than one country more than doubled in the 1990s, but then fell again until 2004, before recovering somewhat during the latter years of the decade. Meanwhile, the share of nanotechnology papers involving at least one Chinese author increased substantially over the last two decades. Papers involving Chinese authors are far less likely to be internationally co-authored than papers involving authors from other countries. Nonetheless, this appears to be changing as Chinese nanotechnology research becomes more advanced. An arithmetic decomposition confirms that China’s growing share of such research accounts, in large part, for the observed stagnation of international collaboration. Thus two aspects of the globalization of science can work in opposing directions: diffusion to initially less scientifically advanced countries can depress international collaboration rates, while at the same time scientific advances in such countries can reverse this trend. We find that the growth of China’s scientific community explains some, but not all of the dynamics of China’s international collaboration rate. We therefore provide an institutional account of these dynamics, drawing on Stichweh’s [Social Science information 35(2):327–340, 1996] original paper on international scientific collaboration, which, in examining the interrelated development of national and international scientific networks, predicts a transitional phase during which science becomes a more national enterprise, followed by a phase marked by accelerating international collaboration. Validating the application of this approach, we show that Stichweh’s predictions, based on European scientific communities in the 18th and 19th centuries, seem to apply to the Chinese scientific community in the 21st century.
Solar Gasification of Biomass: Kinetics of Pyrolysis and Steam Gasification in Molten Salt

The use of concentrated solar energy as a heat source for pyrolysis and gasification of biomass is an efficient means for production of hydrogen rich synthesis gas. Utilizing molten alkali carbonate salts as a reaction and heat transfer media promises enhanced stability to solar transients and faster reaction rates. The present study establishes and compares the reaction kinetics of pyrolysis and gasification of cellulose from 1124 K to 1235 K in an electric furnace. Data are presented in an inert environment and in a bath of a ternary eutectic blend of lithium, potassium, and sodium carbonate salts. Arrhenius rate expressions are derived from the data supported by a numerical model of heat and mass transfer. The molten salt increases the rate of pyrolysis by 74% and increases gasification rates by more than an order of magnitude while promoting a product gas composition nearer to thermodynamic equilibrium predictions. These results justify using molten carbonate salts as a combined catalyst and heat transfer media for solar gasification.
Crawling the cosmic network: exploring the morphology of structure in the galaxy distribution

Although coherent large-scale structures such as filaments and walls are apparent to the eye in galaxy redshift surveys, they have so far proven difficult to characterize with computer algorithms. This paper presents a procedure that uses the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Hessian matrix of the galaxy density field to characterize the morphology of large-scale structure. By analysing the smoothed density field and its Hessian matrix, we can determine the types of structure - walls, filaments or clumps - that dominate the large-scale distribution of galaxies as a function of scale. We have run the algorithm on mock galaxy distributions in a Acold dark matter cosmological N-body simulation and the observed galaxy distributions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The morphology of structure is similar between the two catalogues, both being filament-dominated on 10-20 h -1 Mpc smoothing scales and clump-dominated on 5 h -1 Mpc scales. There is evidence for walls in both distributions, but walls are not the dominant structures on scales smaller than ~25 h -1 Mpc. Analysis of the simulation suggests that, on a given comoving smoothing scale, structures evolve with time from walls to filaments to clumps, where those found on smaller smoothing scales are further in this progression at a given time.
Sturmian Words and the Permutation that Orders Fractional Parts

A Sturmian word is a map W : \Bbb N → l0,1r for which the set of l0, 1r-vectors Fn(W) c l(W(i), W(i + 1),…,W(i + n − 1))T : i ∈ \Bbb Nr has cardinality exactly n + 1 for each positive integer n. Our main result is that the volume of the simplex whose n + 1 vertices are the n + 1 points in Fn(W) does not depend on W. Our proof of this motivates studying algebraic properties of the permutation πα,n (where α is any irrational and n is any positive integer) that orders the fractional parts lαr, l2αr,…,lnαr, i.e., 0 < lπα,n(1)αr < lπα,n(2)αr < ··· < lπα,n(n)αr < 1. We give a formula for the sign of πα,n, and prove that for every irrational α there are infinitely many n such that the order of πα,n (as an element of the symmetric group Sn) is less than n.
Effect of Jet Pulsation and Duty Cycle on Film Cooling From a Single Jet on a Leading Edge Model

The effect of jet pulsation and duty cycle on film effectiveness and heat transfer was investigated on a film hole located on the circular leading edge of a blunt body. A transient infrared technique was used to measure both heat transfer coefficients and film effectiveness from a single test. Detailed Frossling number and film effectiveness distributions were obtained for all flow conditions. Jet pulsing frequencies of 5 Hz, 10 Hz, and 20 Hz have been studied. The effect of duty cycle created by the valve opening and closing times was also set at different levels of 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% of designated 100% fully open condition for different blowing ratios from 0.25 to 2.0. The combination of pulse frequency and duty cycle was investigated for different blowing ratios on a single leading edge hole located at 22 deg from geometric leading edge. Results indicate that higher effectiveness and lower heat transfer coefficients are obtained at the reduced blowing ratios, which result from reduced duty cycles. The effect of varying the pulsing frequency from 5 Hz to 20 Hz is not discernable beyond the level of experimental uncertainty. Effective blowing ratio due to lowering of the duty cycle at a given blowing ratio seems to play a more important role in combination with pulsing, which provides improved cooling effectiveness at lower heat transfer coefficients.
The Spectral Correlation Function: A New Tool for Analyzing Spectral Line Maps

The "spectral correlation function" analysis we introduce in this paper is a new tool for analyzing spectral line data cubes. Our initial tests, carried out on a suite of observed and simulated data cubes, indicate that the spectral correlation function (SCF) is likely to be a more discriminating statistic than other statistical methods normally applied. The SCF is a measure of similarity between neighboring spectra in the data cube. When the SCF is used to compare a data cube consisting of spectral line observations of the interstellar medium (ISM) with a data cube derived from MHD simulations of molecular clouds, it can find differences that are not found by other analyses. The initial results presented here suggest that the inclusion of self-gravity in numerical simulations is critical for reproducing the correlation behavior of spectra in star-forming molecular clouds.
A new version of algorithmic information theory

We present a much more concrete version of algorithmic information theory in which one can actually run on a computer the algorithms in the proofs of a number of key information-theoretic incompleteness theorems.
Rhodium-Catalyzed Intramolecular C−H Insertion of α-Aryl-α-diazo Ketones

Direct diazo transfer proceeds smoothly with α-aryl ketones. The derived α-aryl-α-diazo ketones cyclize efficiently with Rh catalysis to give the corresponding α-aryl cyclopentanones.
MAPPING INSPIRAL RATES ON POPULATION SYNTHESIS PARAMETERS

Formation rates of compact object binaries are often derived from population synthesis calculations. However, such calculations depend sensitively on a relatively large number of model input parameters. Given the considerable uncertainty in those model parameters, the predicted inspiral rates for double compact objects observable by gravitational wave interferometric detectors have been shown to be uncertain by several orders of magnitude. Typically, inspiral rates are estimated for only a small set of models with a remarkably poor coverage of the highly multidimensional parameter space (primarily because of limited computer resources). Here, using as an example seven population synthesis model parameters, we show that it is possible to derive fits of double-compact object inspiral rates that depend simultaneously on all seven parameters. We find these fits to be accurate to 50% for binary black holes and to 40% for binary neutron stars. The availability of such fits implies that (1) depending on the problem of interest, it is not necessary to complete large numbers of computationally demanding population synthesis calculations and (2) for the first time, sufficient exploration of the relevant phase space and assessment of the uncertainties involved are not limited by computational resources and become feasible.
Distributed optimization over time-varying directed graphs

We consider distributed optimization by a collection of nodes, each having access to its own convex function, whose collective goal is to minimize the sum of the functions. The communications between nodes are described by a time-varying sequence of directed graphs, which is uniformly strongly connected. For such communications, assuming that every node knows its out-degree, we develop a broadcast-based algorithm, termed the subgradient-push, which steers every node to an optimal value under a standard assumption of subgradient boundedness. The subgradient-push requires no knowledge of either the number of agents or the graph sequence to implement. Our analysis shows that the subgradient-push algorithm converges at a rate of O (ln t/√t), where the constant depends on the initial values at the nodes, the subgradient norms, and, more interestingly, on both the consensus speed and the imbalances of influence among the nodes.
A comparison of supersymmetry breaking and mediation mechanisms

We give a unified treatment of different models of supersymmetry breaking and mediation from a four dimensional effective field theory standpoint. In particular a comparison between GMSB and various gravity mediated versions of SUSY breaking shows that, once the former is embedded within a SUGRA framework, there is no particular advantage to that mechanism from the point of view of FCNC suppression. We point out the difficulties of all these scenarios — in particular the cosmological modulus problem. We end with a discussion of possible string theory realizations.
Discrimination in the Credential Society: An Audit Study of Race and College Selectivity in the Labor Market

Racial inequality in economic outcomes, particularly among the college educated, persists throughout US society. Scholars debate whether this inequality stems from racial differences in human capital (e.g., college selectivity, GPA, college major) or employer discrimination against black job candidates. However, limited measures of human capital and the inherent difficulties in measuring discrimination using observational data make determining the cause of racial differences in labor-market outcomes a difficult endeavor. In this research, I examine employment opportunities for white and black graduates of elite top-ranked universities versus high-ranked but less selective institutions. Using an audit design, I create matched candidate pairs and apply for 1,008 jobs on a national job-search website. I also exploit existing birth-record data in selecting names to control for differences across social class within racialized names. The results show that although a credential from an elite university results in more employer responses for all candidates, black candidates from elite universities only do as well as white candidates from less selective universities. Moreover, race results in a double penalty: When employers respond to black candidates, it is for jobs with lower starting salaries and lower prestige than those of white peers. These racial differences suggest that a bachelor’s degree, even one from an elite institution, cannot fully counteract the importance of race in the labor market. Thus, both discrimination and differences in human capital contribute to racial economic inequality.
The Power of Integrality: Linkages between Product Architecture, Innovation, and Industry Structure

Abstract A substantial literature stream suggests that many products are becoming more modular over time, and that this development is often associated with a change in industry structure towards higher degrees of specialization. These developments can have strong implications for an industry's competition as the history of the PC industry illustrates. To add to our understanding of the linkages between product architecture, innovation, and industry structure we develop detailed product architecture measurements based on a previously proposed method [Fixson, S.K., 2005. Product architecture assessment: a tool to link product, process, and supply chain design decisions. Journal of Operations Management 23 (3/4), 345–369] and study an unusual case in which a firm – through decreasing its product modularity – turned its formerly competitive industry into a near-monopoly. Using this case study we explore how existing theories on modularity explain the observed phenomenon, and show that most consider technological change in rather long-term dimensions, and tend to focus on efficiency-related arguments to explain the resulting forces on competition. We add three critical aspects to the theory that connects technological change and industry dynamics. First, we suggest integrating as a new design operator to explain product architecture genesis. Second, we argue that a finer-grained analysis of the product architecture shows the existence of multiple linkages between product architecture and industry structure, and that these different linkages help explain the observed intra-industry heterogeneity across firms. Third, we propose that the firm boundary choice can also be a pre-condition of the origin of architectural innovation, not only an outcome of efficiency considerations.
Processing of FeAl/Al2O3 IMCs Using Advanced Electrodeposition Methods

A theoretical examination of the FeAl/Al2O3 fiber intermetallic matrix composite (IMC) system was coupled with experimental results to determine optimum processing conditions for maximum FeAl adhesion to Al2O3 fibers and minimum attraction of FeAl and Al2O3 fibers to themselves. Optimizing the processing conditions leads to a more uniform green composite without matrix or reinforcement rich zones. The theoretical examination consisted of applying a model developed using traditional colloidal approaches to suspensions while accounting for the complexities of a multicomponent composite system. The model uses the suspension properties of the individual materials such as size and surface potential along with the processing conditions for the system as the basis for calculation. This model describes the interaction potentials between components of the suspension and the stability of and between various components of the system in terms of a stability ratio, W. The optimum processing conditions were found by determining the conditions under which the calculated values of W are ideal. Experimental results utilizing the model predictions have been examined and include verification of the FeAl particle adhesion to the Al2O3 fiber and preliminary consolidation studies.
Designing and Assessing a Teaching Laboratory for an Integrated Land Use and Transportation Course

The intersection of land use and transportation policy is an important focus for all urban planners. This focus challenges the academic community to design effective courses that teach the concepts and professional skills required for professional experience. Integrated land use and transportation courses should help students develop interdisciplinary skills while becoming familiar with, for example, travel behavior and zoning policies. Laboratory courses as part of graduate curricula provide platforms to emphasize requisite planning skills. The associated pedagogy problem is devising laboratory assignments that are integrative, cumulative, practical, and interesting for students. This paper evaluates the success of laboratory segments of a land use-transportation course at the University of Minnesota in teaching concepts and skills that are central to planning practice. The lab design and student projects for a 4-year period are described; then a survey of former students is used to ask how central the c...
Synthesis and Single Crystal Structure of Sodium Octahydrotriborate, NaB3H8

This paper describes a modified synthesis of NaB3H8 by the reduction of BH3·THF with sodium dispersed on silica gel. Single crystals obtained from CH2Cl2 show conclusively that the space group is Pmn21, in contrast to the Pmmn space group previously deduced from powder diffraction data.
Polymeric nanomedicine for cancer MR imaging and drug delivery

Multifunctional nanomedicine is emerging as a highly integrated platform that allows for molecular diagnosis, targeted drug delivery, and simultaneous monitoring and treatment of cancer. Advances in polymer and materials science are critical for the successful development of these multi-component nanocomposites in one particulate system with such a small size confinement (<200 nm). Currently, several nanoscopic therapeutic and diagnostic systems have been translated into clinical practice. In this feature article, we will provide an up-to-date review on the development and biomedical applications of nanocomposite materials for cancer diagnosis and therapy. An overview of each functional component, i.e.polymer carriers, MR imaging agents, and therapeutic drugs, will be presented. Integration of different functional components will be illustrated in several highlighted examples to demonstrate the synergy of the multifunctional nanomedicine design.
Synthesis of 2-Methyl-5-nitroimidazol-1-yl-acetaldehyde

Abstract Pure 2-methyl-5-nitroimidazol-1-yl-acetaldehyde was synthesized by modified Swern oxidation. This compound can be utilized as reaction intermediate in the synthesis of bioreductive agents (e.g., hypoxic cell radiosensitizers, antibiotics against anaerobic organisms).
A framework for QoI-inspired analysis for sensor network deployment planning

The quality of information (QoI) that sensor networks provide to the applications they support is an important design goal for their deployment and use. In this paper, we introduce a layered framework for QoI-centered evaluation of sensor network deployment. The layered framework allows decomposing the deployment evaluation in three steps: input pre-processing, core analysis, and result post-processing. The layering allows the creation of a rich, modular toolkit for QoI-centered analysis that can accommodate both existing and new system modeling and analysis techniques. We demonstrate the utility of the framework by comparing the QoI performance of finite-sized sensor networks with general deployment topology. We also derive some new analysis results for the class of applications considered herein.
Aggregate estimations over location based services

Location based services (LBS) have become very popular in recent years. They range from map services (e.g., Google Maps) that store geographic locations of points of interests, to online social networks (e.g., WeChat, Sina Weibo, FourSquare) that leverage user geographic locations to enable various recommendation functions. The public query interfaces of these services may be abstractly modeled as a kNN interface over a database of two dimensional points on a plane: given an arbitrary query point, the system returns the k points in the database that are nearest to the query point. In this paper we consider the problem of obtaining approximate estimates of SUM and COUNT aggregates by only querying such databases via their restrictive public interfaces. We distinguish between interfaces that return location information of the returned tuples (e.g., Google Maps), and interfaces that do not return location information (e.g., Sina Weibo). For both types of interfaces, we develop aggregate estimation algorithms that are based on novel techniques for precisely computing or approximately estimating the Voronoi cell of tuples. We discuss a comprehensive set of real-world experiments for testing our algorithms, including experiments on Google Maps, WeChat, and Sina Weibo.
Testing information constraints on India's largest antipoverty program

This brief summarizes the updates from the 2013 paper entitled, Testing information constraints on India's largest antipoverty program, conducted between between 2009 and 2010 in India. The study observed how public knowledge about India's ambitious Employment Guarantee Scheme is low in one of India's poorest states, Bihar, where participation is also unusually low. Is the solution simply to tell people their rights? Or does their lack of knowledge reflect deeper problems of poor people's agency and an unresponsive supply side? This paper reports on an information campaign that was designed and implemented in the form of an entertaining movie to inform people of their rights under the scheme. In randomly-assigned villages, the movie brought significant gains in knowledge and more positive perceptions about the impact of the scheme. But objectively measured employment showed no gain on average, suggesting that the movie created a groupthink, changing social perceptions about the scheme but not individual efficacy in accessing it. The paper concludes that awareness generation needs to go hand-in-hand with supply-side changes.
A new Keggin-like niobium-phosphate cluster that reacts reversibly with hydrogen peroxide

Polyoxoniobate clusters that are stable in acidic solutions are rare and particularly useful in industrial processes. Here we report a new pentaphosphate niobate polyoxometalate cluster (TMA)9H3Nb9P5O41·28H2O (Nb9P5) that is stable over a wide pH range and that can be converted reversibly into the peroxo form.
A mass spectrometer for Isotope and gas analysis

A mass spectrometer suitable for routine isotope analyses of the lighter elements is described. Complete electronic circuits are given. An all metal mass spectrometer tube is employed. A null method of determining relative abundances of the elements carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen is used. Although designed primarily for analyzing elements for which separated isotopes are available as tracers, the instrument may be modified for use over the entire atomic table or for making gas analyses.