cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Minimum Degree Thresholds for Bipartite Graph Tiling

Given a bipartite graph H and a positive integer n such that v(H) divides 2n, we define the minimum degree threshold for bipartite H-tiling, δ2(n, H), as the smallest integer k such that every bipartite graph G with n vertices in each partition and minimum degree δ(G)≥k contains a spanning subgraph consisting of vertex-disjoint copies of H. Zhao, Hladký-Schacht, Czygrinow-DeBiasio determined δ2(n, Ks, t) exactly for all s⩽t and suffi-ciently large n. In this article we determine δ2(n, H), up to an additive constant, for all bipartite H and sufficiently large n. Additionally, we give a corresponding minimum degree threshold to guarantee that G has an H-tiling missing only a constant number of vertices. Our δ2(n, H) depends on either the chromatic number χ(H) or the critical chromatic number χcr(H), while the threshold for the almost perfect tiling only depends on χcr(H). These results can be viewed as bipartite analogs to the results of Kuhn and Osthus [Combinatorica 29 (2009), 65–107] and of Shokoufandeh and Zhao [Rand Struc Alg 23 (2003), 180–205]. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Contract grant sponsor: NSA; Contract grant numbers: H98230-07-1-0019; H98230-10-1-0165 (to Y. Z.).)
Data mining using fractals and power laws

What patterns can we find in a bursty web traffic? On the web or on the internet graph itself? How about the distributions of galaxies in the sky, or the distribution of a company's customers in geographical space? How long should we expect a nearest-neighbor search to take, when there are 100 attributes per patient or customer record? The traditional assumptions (uniformity, independence, Poisson arrivals, Gaussian distributions), often fail miserably. Should we give up trying to find patterns in such settings? Self-similarity, fractals and power laws are extremely successful in describing real datasets (coast-lines, rivers basins, stock-prices, brain-surfaces, communication-line noise, to name a few). We show some old and new successes, involving modeling of graph topologies (internet, web and social networks); modeling galaxy and video data; dimensionality reduction; and more.
Shifting Paradigms for Sustainable Development: Implications for Management Theory and Research

Modern management theory is constricted by a fractured epistemology. which separates humanity from nature and truth from morality. Reintegration is necessary if organizational science is to support ecologically and socially sustainable development. This article posits requisites of such development and rejects the paradigms of conventional technocentrism and antithetical ecocentrism on grounds of incongruence. A more fruitful integrative paradigm of “sustaincentrism” is then articulated, and implications for organizational science are generated as if sustainability, extended community, and our Academy mattered.
Recovering articulated object models from 3D range data

We address the problem of unsupervised learning of complex articulated object models from 3D range data. We describe an algorithm whose input is a set of meshes corresponding to different configurations of an articulated object. The algorithm automatically recovers a decomposition of the object into approximately rigid parts, the location of the parts in the different object instances, and the articulated object skeleton linking the parts. Our algorithm first registers all the meshes using an unsupervised non-rigid technique described in a companion paper. It then segments the meshes using a graphical model that captures the spatial contiguity of parts. The segmentation is done using the EM algorithm, iterating between finding a decomposition of the object into rigid parts, and finding the location of the parts in the object instances. Although the graphical model is densely connected, the object decomposition step can be performed optimally and efficiently, allowing us to identify a large number of object parts while avoiding local maxima. We demonstrate the algorithm on real world datasets, recovering a 15-part articulated model of a human puppet from just 7 different puppet configurations, as well as a 4 part model of a flexing arm where significant non-rigid deformation was present.
Perturbation of transportation polytopes

Abstract We describe a perturbation method that can be used to reduce the problem of finding the multivariate generating function (MGF) of a non-simple polytope to computing the MGF of simple polytopes. We then construct a perturbation that works for any transportation polytope. We apply this perturbation to the family of central transportation polytopes of order k n × n , and obtain formulas for the MGFs of the feasible cone of each vertex of the polytope and the MGF of the polytope. The formulas we obtain are enumerated by combinatorial objects. A special case of the formulas recovers the results on Birkhoff polytopes given by the author and De Loera and Yoshida. We also recover the formula for the number of maximum vertices of transportation polytopes of order k n × n .
Challenges for molecular neuroimaging with MRI

Magnetic resonance (MRI)-based molecular imaging methods are beginning to have impact in neuroscience. A growing number of molecular imaging agents have been synthesized and tested in vitro, but so far relatively few have been validated in the brains of live animals. Here, we discuss key challenges associated with expanding the repertoire of successful molecular neuroimaging approaches. The difficulty of delivering agents past the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a particular obstacle to molecular imaging in the central nervous system. We review established and emerging techniques for trans-BBB delivery, including intracranial infusion, BBB disruption, and transporter-related methods. Improving the sensitivity with which MRI-based molecular agents can be detected is a second major challenge. Better sensitivity would in turn reduce the requirements for delivery and alleviate potential side effects. We discuss recent efforts to enhance relaxivity of conventional longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and transverse relaxation time (T2) MRI contrast agents, as well as strategies that involve amplifying molecular signals or reducing endogenous background influences. With ongoing refinement of imaging approaches and brain delivery methods, MRI-based techniques for molecular-level neuroscientific investigation will fall increasingly within reach. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 20, 71–79, 2010
New Paradigms for Treatment Development

Wayne Fenton believed that government—particularly National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)—could play a critical role in addressing important public health problems where the current system of treatment development was inadequate. Earlier experiences in HIV/AIDS convinced him and others that the NIMH can effectively facilitate the rapid development of new research in critical areas. This report will demonstrate how the work of Fenton and others brought together representatives from industry, government, and academia to address issues that included new preclinical approaches to drug development and defining new therapeutic targets in schizophrenia. An initiative to facilitate the development of new pharmacological agents to address the cognitive impairments in schizophrenia—titled Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophreniaor MATRICS—is used as an example of a new paradigm for treatment development.
Identity Preservation and False Non-GMO Labeling in the Food Supply Chain

This paper addresses two issues pertaining to the market differentiation between non-genetically modified and genetically modified food varieties. First, a cost-efficiency explanation of the discrepancy between the observed shares of identity preserved non-genetically modified variety and the total supply of the variety is provided. Second, it is shown that when products can be falsely labeled as non-genetically modified, the share of false labeling depends on the level of identity preservation. Also in this context, it is demonstrated that the share of falsely labeled supply can increase in response to harsher fines.
Local Knowledge and Memory in Biodiversity Conservation

AbstractFor the past two decades, biodiversity conservation has been an area of concerted action and spirited debate. Given the centrality of biodiversity to the earth's life support system, its increasing vulnerability is being addressed in international conservation as well as in research by anthropologists and other social scientists on the cultural, economic, political, and legal aspects of human engagement with biological resources. The concepts of biodiversity as a social construct and historical discourse, of local knowledge as loaded representation and invented tradition, and of cultural memory as selective reconstruction and collective political consciousness have also been the foci of recent critical reflection.
Lower Lid Blepharoplasty with Skin Flap and Muscle Split

A skin flap, muscle split lower eyelidplasty is recommended for the management of excess skin of the lower eyelids associated with herniated infraorbital fat pads. Precise fat pad removal and skin excision are necessary.
Heuristic Algorithm for Interpretation of Non-Atomic Categorical Attributes in Similarity-based Fuzzy Databases Scalability Evaluation

In this work we are analyzing scalability of the heuristic algorithm we used in the past [1-4] to discover knowledge from multi-valued symbolic attributes in fuzzy databases. The non-atomic descriptors, characterizing a single attribute of a database record, are commonly used in fuzzy databases to reflect uncertainty about the recorded observation. In this paper, we present implementation details and scalability tests of the algorithm, which we developed to precisely interpret such non-atomic values and to transfer (i.e. de fuzzify) the fuzzy tuples to the forms acceptable for many regular (i.e. atomic values based) data mining algorithms. Important advantages of our approach are: (1) its linear scalability, and (2) its unique capability of incorporating background knowledge, implicitly stored in the fuzzy database models in the form of fuzzy similarity hierarchy, into the interpretation/defuzzification process.
ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOR OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALAR RELAXATION SHOCKS

We establish pointwise bounds for the Green function and consequent linearized stability for multidimensional planar relaxation shocks of general relaxation systems whose equilibrium model is scalar, under the necessary assumption of spectral stability. Moreover, we obtain nonlinear L2 asymptotic behavior/sharp decay rate of perturbed weak shocks of general simultaneously-symmetrizable relaxation systems, under small L1 ∩ H[d/2]+3 perturbations with first moment in the normal direction to the front.
Contracting for Canola in the Great Plains States

Canola has become an important crop in the last decade in the United States. Production of canola is risky and competes with other crops that have varying risk reduction mechanisms. Processors develop and offer contracts with varying specifications that allow growers to reduce risk and attract canola production. In this study, preplant contracting strategies were evaluated in terms of risk and return for growers and processors. Alternative contracts include fixed-price-variety-specific with and without act-of-God provisions, and an oil-premium contract. Grower returns and processor gross margins were simulated and resulting distributions were evaluated using stochastic efficiency with respect to a function. In the dominant growing region, growers would prefer fixed-price-variety-specific contracts versus contracts with oil premiums. The latter would only be preferred by crushers that are highly risk averse. The results vary regionally suggesting that contract types should vary by region to be acceptable to a broader range of growers and processors. La culture du canola aux Etats-Unis a cru considerablement au cours de la derniere decennie. Cette culture comporte des risques et rivalise avec d'autres cultures pour lesquelles divers mecanismes de reduction des risques ont ete mis en place. Les transformateurs elaborent et offrent des contrats assortis de specifications diverses qui permettent aux producteurs de reduire les risques et qui creent un attrait pour la culture du canola. Dans la presente etude, nous avons evalue, sur le plan du risque et du rendement, des strategies contractuelles pre-ensemencement a l'intention des producteurs et des transformateurs. Le premier type de contrats proposes comprend un prix fixe pour une variete specifique, avec ou sans clause en cas de catastrophes naturelles, alors que le deuxieme type est fonde sur une prime pour le canola destine a la trituration. Nous avons simule le rendement du producteur et la marge brute du transformateur et nous avons evalue les resultats sous l'angle de l'efficience stochastique. Dans la zone ou la culture du canola domine, les producteurs prefereraient des contrats assortis d'un prix fixe pour une variete specifique comparativement a des contrats comprenant un prix plus eleve pour le canola destine a la trituration. Seuls les triturateurs qui sont tres risquophobes prefereraient le deuxieme type de contrat. Les resultats varient d'une zone a l'autre, ce qui porte a croire que le type de contrat devrait varier en fonction de la zone afin de convenir a un plus grand nombre de producteurs et de transformateurs.
Strength and Related Characteristics of Li2O-SiO2 Glasses Crystallized After Ion Exchange

Lithium silicate glasses containing a small amount of Al2O3 for stabilization and traces of Pt for nucleation were ion-exchanged in an NaNO3 bath at 350°C. The ion-exchanged glasses were heat-treated using a 2-stage crystallization schedule. The strength of these glasses, measured in 3-point loading in liquid nitrogen and in air at room temperature, showed a maximum as a function of ion-exchange time. The results are interpreted on the basis of X-ray and electron microprobe studies.
On the Union of κ-Round Objects in Three and Four Dimensions

A compact set c in ${\Bbb R}^d$ is κ-round if for every point $p\in \partial c$ there exists a closed ball that contains p, is contained in c, and has radius κ diam c. We show that, for any fixed κ > 0, the combinatorial complexity of the union of n κ-round, not necessarily convex, objects in ${\Bbb R}^3$ (resp., in ${\Bbb R}^4$) of constant description complexity is O(n2+e) (resp., O(n3+e)) for any e > 0, where the constant of proportionality depends on e, κ, and the algebraic complexity of the objects. The bound is almost tight in the worst case.
A spectral algorithm for inference in hidden semi-Markov models

Hidden semi-Markov models (HSMMs) are latent variable models which allow latent state persistence and can be viewed as a generalization of the popular hidden Markov models (HMMs). In this paper, we introduce a novel spectral algorithm to perform inference in HSMMs. Unlike expectation maximization (EM), our approach correctly estimates the probability of given observation sequence based on a set of training sequences. Our approach is based on estimating moments from the sample, whose number of dimensions depends only logarithmically on the maximum length of the hidden state persistence. Moreover, the algorithm requires only a few matrix inversions and is therefore computationally efficient. Empirical evaluations on synthetic and real data demonstrate the advantage of the algorithm over EM in terms of speed and accuracy, especially for large data sets.
Author-choice open-access publishing in the biological and medical literature: A citation analysis

In this article, we analyze the citations to articles published in 11 biological and medical journals from 2003 to 2007 that employ author-choice open-access models. Controlling for known explanatory predictors of citations, only 2 of the 11 journals show positive and significant open-access effects. Analyzing all journals together, we report a small but significant increase in article citations of 17%. In addition, there is strong evidence to suggest that the open-access advantage is declining by about 7% per year, from 32% in 2004 to 11%; in 2007. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Evidence for a Lower Enthalpy of Formation of Hydroxyl Radical and a Lower Gas-Phase Bond Dissociation Energy of Water

There are two experimental approaches to determining ΔHf0°(OH), which produce values of this key thermodynamic quantity that differ by >0.5 kcal/mol. The apparent uncertainty of the positive ion cycle approach resides in the measurement of the appearance energy of OH+ from H2O, while the uncertainty of the spectroscopic approach resides in the determination of the dissociation energy of OH(A2Σ+). In this note we present an independent experimental determination of the appearance energy that confirms the accuracy and enhances the precision of the existing positive ion cycle value for ΔHf0°(OH). We also present electronic structure calculations of the OH(A2Σ+) potential energy curve, which suggest that the extrapolation method used to obtain the spectroscopic dissociation energy is in error. Finally, we present the largest ab initio electronic structure calculations ever performed for ΔHf0°(OH) that have an apparent uncertainty much less than 0.5 kcal/mol and support only the positive ion cycle value. Altho...
Recovering Preferences from a Dual-Market Locational Equilibrium

This paper develops a new structural estimator that uses the properties of a market equilibrium, together with information on households and their observed location choices, to recover horizontally differentiated preferences for a vector of local public goods that differentiate communities. The estimation process is consistent with equilibrium capitalization of local public goods and recognizes that job and house location choices are interrelated. By using the logic of set identification to distinguish the identifying power of structural restrictions on the indirect utility function from the identifying power of maintained assumptions on the distribution of preferences, the estimator provides a new perspective on characteristics-based models of the demand for a differentiated product. The estimator is used to recover distributions of the marginal willingness-to-pay for improved air quality in Northern California's two largest population centers: the San Francisco and Sacramento metropolitan areas. Preliminary estimates for the marginal willingness-to-pay for ozone reduction in 1999-2001 change substantially when job opportunities are included as a dimension of location choice.
High-Relaxivity MRI Contrast Agents: Where Coordination Chemistry Meets Medical Imaging

The desire to improve and expand the scope of clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has prompted the search for contrast agents of higher efficiency. The development of better agents requires consideration of the fundamental coordination chemistry of the gadolinium(III) ion and the parameters that affect its efficacy as a proton relaxation agent. In optimizing each parameter, other practical issues, such as solubility and in vivo toxicity, must also be addressed, making the attainment of safe, high-relaxivity agents a challenging goal. This Minireview presents recent advances in the field, with an emphasis on gadolinium(III) hydroxypyridinone chelate complexes.
Grassmann integrals by machine

Abstract I present a numerical algorithm for direct evaluation of multiple Grassmann integrals. The approach is exact and suffers no Fermion sign problems. Memory requirements grow exponentially with the interaction range and the transverse size of the system. Low dimensional systems of order a thousand Grassmann variables can be evaluated on a workstation.
Passive torque regulation in an underactuated flapping wing robotic insect

Recent developments in millimeter-scale fabrication processes have led to rapid progress towards creating airborne flapping wing robots based on Dipteran (two winged) insects. Previous work to regulate forces and torques generated by flapping wings has focused on controlling wing trajectory. An alternative approach uses underactuated mechanisms with tuned dynamics to passively regulate these forces and torques. The resulting `mechanically intelligent' devices execute wing trajectory corrections to realize desired body forces and torques without the intervention of an active controller. This article describes an insect-scale flapping wing mechanism consisting of a single piezoelectric actuator, an underactuated transmission, and passively rotating wings. Wing stroke velocities are passively modulated to eliminate net airframe roll torque. A theoretical model predicts lift generating wing trajectories and quantifies the passive reduction in roll torque. An experimental structure provides an at-scale demonstration of passive torque regulation.
Privacy Violations Using Microtargeted Ads: A Case Study

In this paper we propose a new class of attacks that exploit advertising systems offering micro targeting capabilities in order to breach user privacy. We study the advertising system offered by the world's largest online social network, Face book, and the risks that the design of the system poses to the privacy of its users. We propose, describe and provide experimental evidence of several novel approaches to exploiting the advertising system in order to obtain private user information. We communicated our findings to Face book on July 13, 2010, and received a prompt response. On July 20, 2010, Face book launched a change to their advertising system that made the kind of attacks we describe more difficult but not impossible to implement.
Global adaptive output feedback tracking control of robot manipulators

This paper presents a solution to the problem of global, output feedback, tracking control of uncertain robot manipulators, specifically, a desired compensation adaptation law plus a nonlinear feedback term coupled to a dynamic nonlinear filter is designed to produce global asymptotic link position tracking while compensating for parametric uncertainty and requiring only link position measurements.
International Trade and Income Differences

/ develop a novel view of the trade frictions between rich and poor countries by arguing that to reconcile bilateral trade volumes and price data within a standard gravity model, the trade frictions between rich and poor countries must be systematically asymmetric, with poor countries facing higher costs to export relative to rich countries, iprovide a method to model these asymmetries and demonstrate the merits of my approach relative to alternatives in the trade literature. I then argue that these trade frictions are quantitatively important to understanding the large differences in standards of living and total factor productivity across countries. (JEL Fll, F13, F14, 019 ) Standards of living between the richest and poorest countries differ by more than a factor of 30. A large literature has evolved that attempts to explain this fact within the context of a standard (closed-economy) neoclassical growth model. The consensus is that physical and human capital accounts for only 50 percent of the variation in income per worker; the rest is productivity differences. Given this finding, a growing literature has attempted to understand how various frictions result in large differences in measured productivity across countries. In this paper, I develop a novel view of the frictions to trade between rich and poor countries by arguing that to reconcile bilateral trade volumes and price data within a standard gravity model, the trade frictions between rich and poor countries must be systematically asymmetric, with poor countries facing higher costs to export relative to rich countries. I then argue that these frictions to trade are quantitatively important to understanding why standards of living and measured total factor productivity between the richest and poorest countries differ by so much. The starting point of my analysis is a multicountry model of trade combining a standard gravity model with elements from a neoclassical growth model. Each country has two sectors: a tradable goods sector and a final goods sector, both with constant returns technologies. Labor, capital, and tradable goods are used as factors of production. In the tradable goods sector there is a continuum of goods. As in Rudiger Dornbusch, Stanley Fischer, and Paul A. Samuelson (1977), production technologies differ across goods on the continuum only in their productivity levels. As in Jonathan Eaton and Samuel Kortum (2002), productivity levels are treated as random variables drawn from a parameterized distribution. Each country's distribution differs in its average productivity level. Trades occur only within intermediate goods, which are purchased from the country with the lowest price that includes "iceberg" costs to trade. The final goods sector produces a nontraded consumption good with a technology common to all countries. Within this framework, I first ask: What trade costs between rich and poor countries are necessary to reconcile bilateral trade volumes and aggregate price data? The building block to
A cryogenic beam of refractory, chemically reactive molecules with expansion cooling

Cryogenically cooled buffer gas beam sources of the molecule thorium monoxide (ThO) are optimized and characterized. Both helium and neon buffer gas sources are shown to produce ThO beams with high flux, low divergence, low forward velocity, and cold internal temperature for a variety of stagnation densities and nozzle diameters. The beam operates with a buffer gas stagnation density of ∼1015–1016 cm−3 (Reynolds number ∼1–100), resulting in expansion cooling of the internal temperature of the ThO to as low as 2 K. For the neon (helium) based source, this represents cooling by a factor of about 10 (2) from the initial nozzle temperature of about 20 K (4 K). These sources deliver ∼1011ThO molecules in a single quantum state within a 1–3 ms long pulse at 10 Hz repetition rate. Under conditions optimized for a future precision spectroscopy application [A. C. Vutha et al., J. Phys. B: At., Mol. Opt. Phys., 2010, 43, 074007], the neon-based beam has the following characteristics: forward velocity of 170 m s−1, internal temperature of 3.4 K, and brightness of 3 × 1011 ground state molecules per steradian per pulse. Compared to typical supersonic sources, the relatively low stagnation density of this source and the fact that the cooling mechanism relies only on collisions with an inert buffer gas make it widely applicable to many atomic and molecular species, including those which are chemically reactive, such as ThO.
Set theoretic complete intersection for curves in a smooth affine algebra

Abstract Let A be a regular ring of dimension d ( d ≥ 3 ) containing an infinite field k . Let n be an integer such that 2 n ≥ d + 3 . Let I be an ideal in A of height n and P be a projective A -module of rank n . Suppose P ⊕ A ≈ A n + 1 and there is a surjection α : P → I . It is proved in this note that I is a set theoretic complete intersection ideal. As a consequence, a smooth curve in a smooth affine C -algebra with trivial conormal bundle is a set theoretic complete intersection if its corresponding class in the Grothendieck group is torsion.
Regulatory Policy Design for Agroecosystem Management on Public Rangelands

This paper analyzes regulatory design for agroecosystem management on public rangelands. We present an informational and institutional environment where three of the most prominent regulatory instruments on public rangelands –input regulation, cost-sharing/taxation, and performance regulation – can be de…ned and compared. The paper examines how the optimal regulation is shaped by the informational and institutional constraints faced by federal land management agencies (FLMAs) such as the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. These constraints include informational asymmetries between ranchers and FLMAs, limitations on FLMAs’ ability to monitor ranch-level ecological conditions, and constraints on FLMAs’actions due to budget limitations and restrictions on the level of penalties they can assess. The theoretical model extends the previous work of Baker (1992), Prendergast (2002), and Hueth and Melkonyan (2009) by considering optimal regulation by a budget-constrained regulator in an environment of asymmetric information and moral hazard.
An Analysis of Household Food Expenditure Systems in Tanzania

This paper analyzes urban and rural food consumption in Tanzania using the Generalized Translog (GTL) expenditure system. We reject a pooled model in favor of two separate urban and rural models. Results indicate that subsistence consumption has significant effect on food demand in rural areas, but it is less important in urban areas. Hence, ignoring differences between urban and rural regions can lead to incorrect inferences and policy recommendations.
Python for Education: Computational Methods for Nonlinear Systems

The authors' interdisciplinary computational methods course uses Python and associated numerical and visualization libraries to enable students to implement simulations for several different course modules, which highlight the breadth and flexibility of Python-powered computational environments.
Carrier phase relative RAIM algorithms and protection level derivation

The concept of Relative Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RRAIM) using time differential carrier phase measurements is investigated in this paper. The precision of carrier phase measurements allows for mitigation of integrity hazards by implementing RRAIM monitors with tight thresholds without significantly affecting continuity. In order to avoid the need for cycle ambiguity resolution, time differences in carrier phase measurements are used as the basis for detection. In this work, we examine RRAIM within the context of the GNSS Evolutionary Architecture Study (GEAS), which explores potential architectures for aircraft navigation utilizing the satellite signals available in the mid-term future with GPS III. The objectives of the GEAS are focused on system implementations providing worldwide coverage to satisfy LPV-200 operations, and potentially beyond. In this work, we study two different GEAS implementations of RRAIM. General formulas are derived for positioning, fault detection, and protection level generation to meet a given set of integrity and continuity requirements.
Columnar Epitaxy of Hexagonal and Orthorhombic Silicides on Si(111)

Columnar grains of PtSi and CrSi2 surrounded by high-quality epitaxial silicon are obtained by ultrahigh vacuum codeposition of Si and metal in an approximately 10:1 ratio on Si(111) substrates heated to 610-840 C. This result is similar to that found previously for CoSi2 (a nearly-lattice-matched cubic-fluorite crystal) on Si(111), in spite of the respective orthorhombic and hexagonal structures of PtSi and CrSi2. The PtSi grains are epitaxial and have one of three variants of the relation defined by PtSi(010)/Si(111), with PtSi 001 line/Si 110 line type.
The organizational slack and performance relationship: a configurational approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the organizational literature and improve the understanding of the slack and performance link by: examining the slack and performance relationship using a configurational approach and by considering equifinality and its possible effects on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Using cluster analysis, ANCOVA, and means comparisons this study identifies different configurations of slack and their associated performance implications. Findings – The results show that configurations with higher levels of slack outperform those with lower levels of slack suggesting a positive relationship between slack and firm performance. The findings also demonstrate that alternative configurations of slack can result in similar levels of performance suggesting the existence of equifinality in this relationship. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to prior research by moving beyond traditional linear and contingency views of slack and c...
Studies directed toward the synthesis of the guanidine alkaloid, spiroleucettadine: some observations at the level of structure

Studies toward the synthesis of the novel guanidine alkaloid spiroleucettadine are described.
Synthesis of 2-acylindole-3-acetic acids: a novel base-mediated indole synthesis

An efficient and expedient synthetic route to 2-acylindole-3-acetic acids is described. This work first demonstrates a one-pot room-temperature indole ring construction via the in situ generation of indoline intermediate.
Multiprocessor fixed-priority scheduling with restricted interprocessor migrations

The priority-driven scheduling of periodic and sporadic task systems upon identical multiprocessor platforms is considered, under the restrictions that (i) each job may be assigned exactly one priority throughout its lifetime, and (ii) each job may execute upon only a single processor. It is shown that feasibility-analysis under these restrictions is intractable (NP-hard in the strong sense). A scheduling algorithm is presented that satisfies these restrictions, and that has a worst-case utilization bound comparable to the worst-case utilization bounds of partitioned scheduling algorithms, and of scheduling algorithms that retain the priority-assignment restriction but allow arbitrary interprocessor migration.
Multiphoton excitations in vibrational-rotational states of diatomic molecules in an intense electromagnetic field

We present a theory and outline a calculational procedure for evaluating transition amplitudes of multiphoton excitations of vibrational-rotational levels in diatomic molecules. This theory can be utilized in studying the behaviour of molecules in intense electromagnetic fields.
Steady-State Fluorescence Anisotropy Studies of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Sensors

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are used as recognition elements in biochemical sensors. In a fluorescence-based MIP sensor system, it can be difficult to distinguish the analyte fluorescence from the fluorescence of the polymer itself. We studied steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of anthracene imprinted in a polymer (polyurethane) matrix. Vertically polarized excitation light was incident on MIP films coated on silicon wafers; vertically and horizontally polarized emission was measured. We compared the fluorescence anisotropy of MIPs with imprinted molecules, MIPs with the imprinted molecules extracted, MIPs with rebound molecules, and non-imprinted control polymers. It is shown that differences in fluorescence anisotropy between the polymers and imprinted fluorescent molecules may provide a means to discriminate the fluorescence of analyte from that of the background polymer.
Market and Regulatory Approaches to Medical Malpractice: The Virginia Obstetrical No-Fault Statute

or theoretical. They increase the capacity of the society to provide needed goods and services for all its citizens. In the clamor for short-term reform, the overall social effects are often ignored in favor of more insistent, and more parochial, considerations. Two wrongs do not make a right. State-mandated no-fault statutes are not the right response to the blunders of the present malpractice system.
A novel double insertion of the difluoromethylene unit from trifluoromethylcopper into the carbon–copper bond of perfluoroaryl- and perfluorovinylcopper reagents: preparation, mechanism and applications of new fluorinated copper reagents

Abstract Reaction of CF3Cu with pentafluorophenylcopper, prepared from CuBr and pentafluorophenylcadmium C6F5CdX, gave the double CF2 unit insertion product, C6F5CF2CF2Cu, in 70–80% yields. The insertion reaction also worked well with CF3MX (M = Cd, Zn; X = Br, CF3) and C6F5CdX in the presence of CuBr at room temperature to afford C6F5CF2CF2Cu. With a vinylcopper analog, (Z)-CF3CFCFCu, double CF2 insertion also occurred resulting in the formation of (E)-CF3CFCFCF2CF2Cu, which could be trapped with allyl bromide to give (E)-CF3CFCFCF2CF2CH2CHCH2. When CF2CFCu was used as a substrate, (E)-CF3CFCFCF2CF2Cu was observed, but in low yield. A mechanism for this novel double CF2 insertion is proposed to involve a copper difluorocarbenoid complex intermediate, which inserted into the carbon–copper bond of the fluorinated phenyl and vinyl coppers to form fluorinated benzyl or allyl copper reagents. The intermediate benzyl or allyl coppers are more reactive than the pentafluorophenyl or vinylcoppers and rapidly undergo insertion of another CF2 unit. Perfluorobenzylcopper was prepared independently and gave C6F5CF2CF2Cu on reaction with CF3Cu. The resultant new copper reagent, such as C6F5CF2CF2Cu, showed good thermal stability and reactivity. Halogenation of the copper reagent gave the corresponding halides C6F5CF2CF2X, and insertion of sulfur dioxide into the carbon–copper bond followed by trapping with allyl halide gave the corresponding allylic sulfones. C6F5CF2CF2Cu also participated in coupling reactions with allyl halides, vinyl halides and aryl halides to give the coupled products in good yields. Selective functionalization of both aryl rings of the fluorinated diarylethanes with a variety of reagents has also been demonstrated.
Expelled: Humans in Capitalisms Deepening Crisis

As the Cold War was winding down, a new struggle began. Following a period of diverse versions of Keynesian-led relative redistribution in developed market economies, the United States became the point actor for a radical reshuffiing of capitalism. Key to this reshuffiing was expulsion - of people, places, and traditional economies (see Sassen 2014). While this is a socio-economic condition it is a critical, but invisible, element of the current political crisis. Measuring economic growth to understand whether government policies are working, or measuring political participation in terms of voting, excludes growing portions of our political economy - people, specific types of firms and economic circuits, and spaces. The Keynesian period was one of mass production and mass construction of suburban space: this brought with it an economic logic that valued people as workers and consumers, though not necessarily as human beings. The logic guiding the current phase of advanced capitalism does not value people as workers or as (mass) consumers. Thus, in the last two decades there has been a sharp growth in the numbers of people that have been "expelled" from the economy in much of the world. The active expanding of a middle class in that earlier period has been replaced by the impoverishment and shrinking of the middle class.
Stabilization and fault-tolerance in presence of unchangeable environment actions

We focus on the problem of adding fault-tolerance to an existing concurrent protocol in the presence of unchangeable environment actions. Such unchangeable actions occur in cases where a subset of components/processes cannot be modified since they represent third-party components or are constrained by physical laws. These actions differ from faults in that they are (1) simultaneously collaborative and disruptive, (2) essential for satisfying the specification, and (3) possibly non-terminating. Hence, if these actions are modeled as faults while adding fault-tolerance, it causes existing algorithms to declare failure to add fault-tolerance.We present algorithms for adding stabilizing and fault-tolerance. Since previous approaches for adding stabilizing and fault-tolerance to (disruptive and eventually terminating) faults cannot be extended for environment actions, we develop new algorithms that are sound, complete and in P (in the state space).
Reaction Kinetics, Molecular Action, and Mechanisms of Cellulolytic Proteins

Cellulolytic proteins form a complex of enzymes that work together to depolymerize cellulose to the soluble products cellobiose and glucose. Fundamental studies on their molecular mechanisms have been facilitated by advances in molecular biology. These studies have shown homology between cellulases from different microorganisms, and common mechanisms between enzymes whose modes of action have sometimes been viewed as being different, as suggested by the distribution of soluble products. A more complete picture of the cellulolytic action of these proteins has emerged and combines the physical and chemical characteristics of solid cellulose substrates with the specialized structure and function of the cellulases that break it down. This chapter combines the fundamentals of cellulose structure with enzyme function in a manner that relates the cellulose binding and biochemical kinetics at the catalytic site of the proteins to the macroscopic behavior of cellulase enzyme systems.
Why Does the Stock Market Fluctuate

Major long-run swings in the U. S. stock market over the past century are broadly consistent with a model driven by changes in current and expected future dividends in which investors must estimate the time-varying long-run dividend growth rate. Such an estimated long-run growth rate resembles a long distributed lag on past dividend growth, and is highly correlated with the level of dividends. Prices therefore respond more than proportionately to long-run movements in dividends. The time-varying component of dividend growth need not be detectable in the dividend data for it to have large effects on stock prices.
Directly accessible entangling gates for capacitively coupled singlet-triplet qubits

The recent experimental advances in capacitively coupled singlet-triplet qubits, particularly the demonstration of entanglement, opens the question of what type of entangling gates the system's Hamiltonian can produce directly via a single square pulse. We address this question by considering the system's Hamiltonian from first principles and using the representation of its nonlocal properties in terms of local invariants. In the analysis we include the three different ways in which the system can be biased and their effect on the generation of entangling gates. We find that, in one of the possible biasing modes, the Hamiltonian has an especially simple form, which can directly generate a wide range of different entangling gates including the iswap gate. Moreover, using the complete form of the Hamiltonian we find that, for any biasing mode, a cnot gate can be generated directly.
Pinocchio: nearly practical verifiable computation

To instill greater confidence in computations outsourced to the cloud, clients should be able to verify the correctness of the results returned. To this end, we introduce Pinocchio, a built system for efficiently verifying general computations while relying only on cryptographic assumptions. With Pinocchio, the client creates a public evaluation key to describe her computation; this setup is proportional to evaluating the computation once. The worker then evaluates the computation on a particular input and uses the evaluation key to produce a proof of correctness. The proof is only 288 bytes, regardless of the computation performed or the size of the IO. Anyone can check the proof using a public verification key.Crucially, our evaluation on seven applications demonstrates that Pinocchio is efficient in practice too. Pinocchio's verification time is a fixed 10 ms plus 0.4--15 μs per IO element: 5--7 orders of magnitude less than previous work; indeed Pinocchio is the first general-purpose system to demonstrate verification cheaper than native execution (for some apps). The worker's proof effort is still expensive, but Pinocchio reduces it by 19×--60× relative to prior work. As an additional feature, Pinocchio allows the worker to include private inputs in the computation and prove that she performed the computation correctly without revealing any information about the private inputs to the client. Finally, to aid development, Pinocchio provides an end-to-end toolchain that compiles a subset of C into programs that implement the verifiable computation protocol.
Heterogeneous behavior, obesity and storability in soft drink consumption: A dynamic demand model

In this paper we applied a dynamic estimation procedure to inves- tigate the role of obesity on the demand for soda. The dynamic model accounts for storing behaviors, and allowed us to study price sensitiv- ity as well as sale sensitivity of soda consumers. By matching store level data to obesity data, we considered the effect of obesity rates on soda demand. We found that higher obesity rates were associated with a higher attitude to anticipate future needs and respond to sale prices. Conversely, according to our results, a higher rate of obesity was also associated to lower price sensitivity. We also considered how some obesity predictors affected the demand for soda. Our results contribute to the existing literature by raising important elements to help establish correct policies to fight obesity. For instance, our re- search suggests that a policy intervention restricting the magnitude of sales would be more successful than a tax increase in modifying the behavior of obese consumers.
Equivariant torsion and base change

What is the true order of growth of torsion in the cohomology of an arithmetic group? Let $D$ be a quaternion over an imaginary quadratic field $F.$ Let $E/F$ be a cyclic Galois extension with $\mathrm{Gal}(E/F) = \langle \sigma \rangle.$ We prove lower bounds for "the Lefschetz number of $\sigma$ acting on torsion cohomology" of certain Galois-stable arithmetic subgroups of $D_E^\times.$ For these same subgroups, we unconditionally prove a would-be-numerical consequence of the existence of a hypothetical base change map for torsion cohomology.
Relationship Between Human Capital and Transportation Sustainability for the United States and Selected European Countries

There is a growing interest in developing reliable and meaningful composite indexes of transportation sustainability. Several such indexes have been developed, but none have been used for comparing countries. This paper introduces a cost-oriented national transportation sustainability index (NTSI) and uses it to compare the performance of the United States with 27 selected European countries for the years 2005 and 2011. A series of panel data models is then used to investigate the relationship between human capital, macroeconomic and social factors, and transportation sustainability. The results showed that Switzerland was the best performing country on the NTSI in 2005 but was displaced at the top by the United Kingdom in 2011. Other countries that performed quite well were the Nordic countries and some of the older member-nations of the European Union (EU). The United States was by far the worst performing country in terms of transportation sustainability in 2005 and 2011. One interesting finding was th...
Client Externality Effects of Agents Selling Their Own Properties

This study is the first to examine the principal-agent issues surrounding how agents’ efforts to sell their own properties affect their efforts to sell concurrently listed client properties. The principal-agent model shows that listed agent-owned properties induce agents to worker harder over all, but diminish effort dedicated to marketing concurrently listed client properties, leading to reduced liquidity and/or lower selling prices for those properties. The empirical results show that client properties competing with agent-owned properties remain on the market 30 to 46 % longer and sell for 1.8 % less than properties whose agents have no such conflict of interest.