cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acid and base promoted rearrangements of Hexacyclo[11.2.1.02,12.05,10.05.15.010,14]hexadeca-6,8-diene-4,11-dione

Abstract Hexacyclo[11.2.1.02,12.05,10.05,15.010,14]hexadeca-6,8-diene-4,11-dione (3) was synthesized via ring-expansion of hexacyclo[10.2.1.02,11.04,9.04,14.09,13]pentadeca-5,7-diene-3,10-dione (1). Reaction of a toluene solution of 3 with a catalytic amount of HCl resulted in extensive skeletal rearrangement, thereby affording 6,7-benzotetracyclo[7.3.0.04,12.05,10]dodecane-2,6-dione (4). Subsequent reaction of 4 with 3,6-diphenyl-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (5) afforded a novel molecular cleft, 6. Compound 3 reacted smoothly with ethanolic KOH at ambient temperature (in 3 h) or at reflux (in 0.5 h) to afford a rearranged product, 7. The structures of 3, 4, 5, and 7 were established unequivocally via application of single crystal X-ray crystallographic methods.
Carbenylative amination with N-tosylhydrazones.

A Pd-catalyzed reaction of vinyl iodides and N-tosylhydrazones that assembles η3-allyl ligands through carbene insertion is demonstrated. Intramolecular trapping with nitrogen nucleophiles generates good yields of cinnamyl and pentadienyl amines like those found in alkaloid natural products. Carbenylative amination was the key reaction to complete the synthesis of the alkaloid caulophyllumine B. Migratory insertion was biased to provide allylamines with optical purity up to 64% ee, but in a lower yield.
Small States, Small Problems? Income, Growth, and Volatility in Small States

Abstract Small states have attracted a large amount of research. In this paper we test whether small states are any different from other states in terms of their income, growth, and volatility outcomes. We find that, controlling for location, small states have higher per capita GDP than other states. This income advantage is largely due to a productivity advantage, constituting evidence against the idea that small states suffer from an inability to exploit increasing returns to scale. Small states also do not have different per capita growth rates than other states. Small states do have greater volatility of annual growth rates, which is in part due to their greater volatility of terms of trade shocks. This terms of trade-based volatility is in turn due to small states’ greater openness. Their greater openness on balance has, however, a positive net payoff for growth. The one differential policy measure that might be relevant for small states is to further open up to international capital markets in order to better diversify risk, but the benefits of even that are still unresolved in the literature. We conclude that small states are no different from large states, and so should receive the same policy advice that large states do.
Two-Phase Transpiration Cooling

Two-phase transpiration is shown to possess considerable potential for gas turbine cooling. In this concept, water fed into a porous component boils within the wall. The resulting steam issues from the hot surface forming the transpiration film. A model for the performance of such a system is developed. Assuming constant properties and a linear reduction of Stanton number with transpiration rate, closed-form solutions are obtained. The governing dimensionless parameters are identified, the system behavior predicted, and the modes of operation delineated. Those are defined as two-phase, partially-flooded, and completely-flooded modes. At low values of a certain “modified Peclet number,” the two-phase mode is unstable and the system tends to flood. Large values of this parameter indicate stable, well-regulated behavior. Discussions on gas turbine applications are presented. A typical numerical example is given in the Appendix.
Change in smoking status after spiral chest computed tomography scan screening.

BACKGROUND Cancer screening may provide a “teachable moment” for the reduction of high-risk behaviors. The current study evaluated smoking behavior changes in current and former smokers after low-dose, fast spiral chest computed tomography scan (CT) screening for lung carcinoma. METHODS The study was comprised of 901 current smokers and 574 former smokers who participated in a low-dose, fast spiral chest CT scan screening study for lung carcinoma. Demographic, pulmonary function, screening recommendations, and smoking history variables were evaluated as predictors of self-reported point prevalence smoking abstinence 1 year after screening. RESULTS Of the current smokers at baseline, 14% reported smoking abstinence at follow-up. Older age and poorer lung function were associated with smoking abstinence. Ninety percent of former smokers reported smoking abstinence at a 1-year of follow-up. A longer duration of smoking abstinence at baseline was found to be predictive of abstinence in this group. CONCLUSIONS The 14% smoking abstinence rate was higher than would be expected for spontaneous rates of smoking cessation. Therefore, screening may provide a teachable moment for smokers. Low-dose, fast spiral chest CT scan screening recommendations were not found to be associated with smoking behavior change in either group. Further research is needed to evaluate the potential avenues through which lung carcinoma screening can be used as an opportunity for providing effective nicotine interventions. Cancer 2003. © 2003 American Cancer Society.
Synthesis and catalytic epoxidation activity of terpene-derived D4-symmetric metalloporphyrins

Abstract We report here a flexible synthesis of chiral, D4-symmetric porphyrins from cyclic ketone starting materials. Two porphyrins have been synthesized from the terpene 1-R-(+)-nopinone, obviating the need to perform a resolution. The chloromanganese derivative of one of these porphyrins is a good catalyst for the epoxidation of terminal alkenes, providing epoxides with e.e.'s of 70% with high turnover numbers. A predictive model for oxygen atom transfer in the chiral pocket is discussed.
Lava lakes on Io: New perspectives from modeling

Abstract Loki Patera (310° W, 12° N) is Io's largest patera at ∼180 km in diameter. Its morphology and distinct thermal behavior have led researchers to hypothesize that Loki Patera may either be an active lava lake that experiences periodic overturn, or a shallow depression whose floor is episodically resurfaced with thin flows. Using results from mathematical models, we suggest that a better model for Loki's behavior is the terrestrial superfast spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR), near 17 ° 30 ′ south. We propose that, like at the southern EPR, Loki Patera is underlain by a thin, persistent magma “lens” that feeds thin, temporary lava lakes within the patera. Also like the southern EPR, overspilling of the volcanic depression is rare, with most of the lava volume being emplaced via a subsurface network of lava tubes.
Accounting for heterogeneous returns in sequential schooling decisions

This paper presents a method for estimating returns to schooling that takes into account that returns may be heterogeneous among agents and that educational decisions are made sequentially.A sequential decision model is interesting because it explicitly considers that the level of education of each individual is the result of previous schooling choices and so, the variation of supply-side instruments over time will emerge as a source of identification of the desired parameters.A test for heterogeneity in returns from sequential schooling decisions is developed and expressions for Marginal Treatment Effects are obtained in this context.Returns are estimated and tested from cross-sectional data from a Spanish household survey that contains rich family background information and useful instruments.This data is stratified by level of education and so estimators are adapted to take this feature into account.Finally, this methodology is used to analyze possible effects of the 1970 reform of the Spanish education system.
Bott periodicity in the Hit Problem

In this short note, we use Robert Bruner's $\mathcal{A}(1)$-resolution of $P = \mathbb{F}_2[t]$ to shed light on the Hit Problem. In particular, the reduced syzygies $P_n$ of $P$ occur as direct summands of $\widetilde{P}^{\otimes n}$, where $\widetilde{P}$ is the augmentation ideal of the map $P \to \mathbb{F}_2$. The complement of $P_n$ in $\widetilde{P}^{\otimes n}$ is free, and the modules $P_n$ exhibit a type of "Bott Periodicity" of period $4$: $P_{n+4} = \Sigma^8P_n$. These facts taken together allow one to analyze the module of indecomposables in $\widetilde{P}^{\otimes n}$, that is, to say something about the "$\mathcal{A}(1)$-hit Problem." Our study is essentially in two parts: First, we expound on the approach to the Hit Problem begun by William Singer, in which we compare images of Steenrod Squares to certain kernels of Squares. Using this approach, the author discovered a nontrivial element in bidegree $(5, 9)$ that is neither $\mathcal{A}(1)$-hit nor in $\mathrm{ker} Sq^1 + \mathrm{ker} Sq^3$. Such an element is extremely rare, but Bruner's result shows clearly why these elements exist and detects them in full generality. Second, we describe the graded $\mathbb{F}_2$-space of $\mathcal{A}(1)$-hit elements of $\widetilde{P}^{\otimes n}$ by determining its Hilbert series.
Ring strain energies of tetraphospha- and tetraarsacubanes

Abstract The ring strain energies of tetraphosphacubane and tetraarsacubane, along with their tetraoxide and tetrasulfide derivatives, were estimated at the MP2/6–31G * and MP2/LANL2DZ levels. The parents exhibit small strain energies, while the strain energy is quite large in the oxides and sulfides. These results are interpreted in terms of the hybridization at the heteroatom.
Vertex Sparsifiers and Abstract Rounding Algorithms

The notion of vertex sparsification (in particular cut-sparsification) is introduced in (Moitra, 2009), where it was shown that for any graph $G = (V, E)$ and any subset of $k$ terminals $K \subset V$, there is a polynomial time algorithm to construct a graph $H = (K, E_H)$ \emph{on just the terminal set} so that simultaneously for all cuts $(A, K-A)$, the value of the minimum cut in $G$ separating $A$ from $K -A$ is approximately the same as the value of the corresponding cut in $H$. Then approximation algorithms can be run directly on $H$ as a proxy for running on $G$. We give the first super-constant lower bounds for how well a cut-sparsifier $H$ can simultaneously approximate all minimum cuts in $G$. %In fact, we prove that in general we cannot hope for approximation factors better than We prove a lower bound of $\Omega(\log^{1/4} k)$ – this is polynomially-related to the known upper bound of $O(\log k/\log \log k)$. Independently, a similar lower bound is given in (Makarychev, Makarychev, 2010). This is an exponential improvement on the $\Omega(\log \log k)$ bound given in (Leighton, Moitra, 2010) which in fact was for a stronger vertex sparsification guarantee, and did not apply to cut sparsifiers. Despite this negative result, we show that for many natural optimization problems, we do not need to incur a multiplicative penalty for our reduction. Roughly, we show that any rounding algorithm which also works for the $0$-extension relaxation can be used to construct good vertex-sparsifiers for which the optimization problem is easy. Using this, we obtain optimal $O(\log k)$-competitive Steiner oblivious routing schemes, which generalize the results in (Raecke, 2008). We also demonstrate that for a wide range of graph packing problems (which includes maximum concurrent flow, maximum multiflow and multicast routing, among others, as a special case), the integrality gap of the linear program is always at most $O(\log k)$ times the integrality gap restricted to trees. Lastly, we use our ideas to give an efficient construction for vertex-sparsifiers that match the current best existential results – this was previously open. Our algorithm makes novel use of Earth-mover constraints.
Mass-to-Light Ratios of 2dF Galaxies

We compute M, the dynamical mass interior to a radius of 260 h-1 kpc, for a set of 809 isolated host galaxies in the 100k data release of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The hosts are surrounded by 1556 fainter satellite galaxies. Our mass estimator and host/satellite selection criteria are taken from those used by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey collaboration for a similar analysis of M, and overall our results compare well with theirs. In particular, for L 2L*, we find (M/L) = 193 ± 14 h M☉/L☉, with a weak tendency for hosts with L < 2L* to have a somewhat higher M/L. Additionally, we investigate M/L for bright (bJ 18) galaxies with elliptical, S0, and spiral morphologies. There are 159 hosts in the elliptical/S0 sample; similar to the full sample, (M/L) = 271 ± 26 h M☉/L☉ for galaxies with L 2L*. There is a weak tendency for less luminous galaxies to have a somewhat higher M/L. In stark contrast to this, the line-of-sight velocity dispersion for the 243 spiral hosts is independent of the host luminosity, with a value of σv = 189 ± 19 km s-1. Thus, for spiral hosts, we find (M/L) ∝ L-1.0±0.2, where (M/L) for a 2L* spiral galaxy is of order 200 h M☉/L☉.
Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries

For 98 countries in the period 1960–1985, the growth rate of real per capita GDP is positively related to initial human capital (proxied by 1960 school-enrollment rates) and negatively related to the initial (1960) level of real per capita GDP. Countries with higher human capital also have lower fertility rates and higher ratios of physical investment to GDP. Growth is inversely related to the share of government consumption in GDP, but insignificantly related to the share of public investment. Growth rates are positively related to measures of political stability and inversely related to a proxy for market distortions.
Ion-beam plasma neutralization interaction images

Neutralization of the ion beam charge and current is an important scientific issue for many practical applications. The process of ion beam charge and current neutralization is complex because the excitation of nonlinear plasma waves may occur. Computer simulation images of plasma neutralization of the ion beam pulse are presented.
Control of Cavity Noise

Experiments have been conducted on axisymmetric shallow cavity flows with the aim of investigating methods to modify cavity shear flows such that cavity noise may be reduced. The experiments indicate the presence of large gross lateral motion of the shear layer close to the downstream cavity corner which, on interaction with it, results in production of cavity flow noise. Results also show that the continuous injection of a fluid mass at the base of the cavity has a stabilizing effect on cavity shear flows. This stability is believed to have been achieved by supplying the mass required for cavity shear layer entrainment externally. This was also accompanied by a delay in large periodic lateral motion of the cavity shear layer close to the downstream cavity corner as observed without the mass injection. Thus the addition of a continuous fluid mass appears to be an effective means of suppressing cavity flow noise.
Detailed kinetic models for catalytic reforming

Abstract Catalyst reforming was used as a “vehicle” process chemistry to validate a set of tools for the automated construction of kinetic models. This is because the catalytic reforming process exposes many important modeling concepts and features, including multiple reaction families, catalyst deactivation, temperature profiling, parameter optimization, recycling, etc. A previously published [P.V. Joshi, S.D. Iyer, M.T. Klein, Computer assisted modeling of gas oil fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, 1997, pp. 80-Petr] reforming reaction network was built and customized using the Kinetic Model Editor (KME) software, which includes a standard model library, a model code generator (CodeGen) and an Excel™-based graphical user interface. Modeled features, which included catalyst deactivation, serial reactors, energy balance, and model tuning, were conveniently implemented in the KME application. The confrontation of model results with experimental observations suggests that the model is well founded and is a good platform for additional process-specific refinements.
Symmetrical transistor logic

This paper discusses symmetrical transistor switching circuit techniques. The circuitry is designated "symmetrical circuits" because the basic circuits employ both p-n-p and n-p-n transistors in approximately equal numbers which result in networks that exhibit a high degree of operational and topological symmetry. The major practical advantage of this circuitry over other types lies in the ease with which basic circuits may be integrated into a digital system. This advantage is made possible through, 1, keeping the circuit configurations flexible (to satisfy many different system applications), 2, worst-case circuit design with regard to component stability and system loading requirements, 3, use of only standard commercially available components, and 4, insisting that all present-day circuit designs be applicable to known future device trends. The major criticism of the symmetrical circuit techniques is that the circuits require a greater number of components for a specific equipment than do other types of circuitry that can be engineered to build the specific system. However, it is felt that this criticism is not justified in this case for two reasons. They are: 1, The additional cost of components required for symmetrical logic is more than counter-balanced by the shorter system realization time required. This is particularly true for an establishment, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, that is engaged in system research and development. And, 2, that symmetrical logic techniques are more adaptable to future developments in the device, circuits and system area than other types of circuit logic.
Stereochemistry of intermolecular radical reactions of unsaturated tungsten carbene complexes

Abstract The stereoselectivity of radical coupling reactions between unsaturated tungsten carbene complexes and epoxides is reported. Cyclic epoxides are found to give high levels of selectivity. A model is proposed to explain the stereochemical control.
Efficient shared subconnection protection in mixed-line-rate optical WDM networks

Mixed-line-rate (MLR) networks have been proposed recently to support emerging traffic demands with diverse capacity requirements. In such networks, wavelength channels of the optical paths can have a variety of capacities (10/40/100 Gbps). It has been shown that this feature enables new paradigms for protection in optical wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) networks. In this paper, we propose to design transparent MLR networks with shared subconnection protection (SSP). SSP in an MLR network, compared with other more classical approaches (dedicated or shared protection), can also address the cost-versus-capacity trade-off in providing shared protection in a transparent network. The design problem is solved by a two-step approach that formulates part of the problem as an integer linear program (ILP). Our results show that SSP enables higher sharing of backup capacityin an MLR network in that the design cost is up to 37% less than a single-line-rate network with SSP and around 40% less than MLR with dedicated protection.
Patient satisfaction with intravenous PCA or epidural morphine

In many institutions postoperative patients may receive morphine for analgesia administered into the epidural space, epidural opioid analgesia (EOA), or through intravenous self-administered patient-controlled analgesia pumps (PCA). Although a number of studies have compared the two approaches with regard to efficacy and side effects, there is less known with regard to patient satisfaction and its sources. In this study, 711 patients using PCA morphine and 205 patients receiving epidural morphine following a variety of gynaecological, urological, orthopaedic, and general surgical procedures rated their satisfaction with the method they used on a 0–10 verbal analogue satisfaction scale (0 = very dissatisfied; 10 = very satisfied). A consecutive subset of 100 patients (50 from EOA group and 50 from the PCA group) underwent further evaluation to identify advantages and disadvantages of the technique used which contributed to their satisfaction and /or dissatisfaction. Overall satisfaction (mean ± SD) in the two large groups was 8.6 ± 1.8 for PCA and 9.0 ± 1.5 for EOA (P < 0.01). In the subset of 100 patients, there were differences between the EOA and PCA groups with regard to the advantages and disadvantages selected. Patients in the PCA group identified “personal control” and “method worked quickly” as advantages whereas patients receiving EOA selected “clear mind,” “effective relief resting,” and “effective relief while moving or coughing.” The single disadvantage identified more frequently by PCA patients was “pain immediately after surgery before method became effective.” Disadvantages identified more frequently by EOA patients were “side effects” and “poor pain relief.” We conclude that overall patient satisfaction was high whether patients received PCA or EOA. The reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction differ depending on the method used.
The Summer Cyclone Maximum over the Central Arctic Ocean

Abstract A fascinating feature of the northern high-latitude circulation is a prominent summer maximum in cyclone activity over the Arctic Ocean, centered near the North Pole in the long-term mean. This pattern is associated with the influx of lows generated over the Eurasian continent and cyclogenesis over the Arctic Ocean itself. Its seasonal onset is linked to the following: an eastward shift in the Urals trough, migration of the 500-hPa vortex core to near the pole, and development of a separate region of high-latitude baroclinicity. The latter two features are consistent with differential atmospheric heating between the Arctic Ocean and snow-free land. Variability in the strength of the cyclone pattern can be broadly linked to the phase of the summer northern annular mode. When the cyclone pattern is well developed, the 500-hPa vortex is especially strong and symmetric about the pole, with negative sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies over the pole and positive anomalies over middle latitudes. Net prec...
Credible Criminal Enforcement

Economic models of crime and punishment implicitly assume that the government can credibly commit to the fines, sentences, and apprehension rates it has chosen. We study the government’s problem when credibility is an issue. We find that several of the standard predictions of the economic model are altered when commitment is taken into account. Specifically, when only fines are used, commitment results in a lower apprehension rate and hence a higher crime rate. However, when jail is used (with or without fines), apprehension rates and jail terms may be higher or lower compared to the optimal static policy.
Rapid Solid-State Synthesis of Tantalum, Chromium, and Molybdenum Nitrides

Solid-state metathesis (exchange) reactions can be used to synthesize many different transition-metal nitrides under ambient conditions including TiN, ZrN, and NbN. Typical metathesis reactions reach temperatures of greater than 1300 °C in a fraction of a second to produce these refractory materials in highly crystalline form. Likely due to the large amount of heat produced in these solid-state reactions, some transition-metal nitrides such as TaN, CrN, and γ-Mo2N cannot easily be synthesized under ambient conditions. Here metathesis reactions are demonstrated to produce the cubic nitrides TaN, CrN, and γ-Mo2N when sufficient pressure is applied before the reaction is initiated. By pressing a pellet of TaCl5 and Li3N with an embedded iron wire, crystalline cubic TaN forms under 45 kbar of pressure after a small current is used to initiate the chemical reaction. Crystalline cubic CrN is synthesized from CrCl3 and Li3N initiated under 49 kbar of pressure. Crystalline γ-Mo2N is produced from MoCl5 and Ca3N2 ...
Implementation Of Hematology-Oncology Lecture Series For Housestaff

Abstract Abstract 4554 BACKGROUND Currently, the hospital has a floor dedicated to cancer patients. The housestaff taking care of these patients includes three interns and one hematology-oncology fellow. In addition, there is a consult service comprising another fellow, an intern, and a resident. There was a paucity of formal, didactic, teaching in place devoted to the subjects of hematology and oncology. OBJECTIVE the development of a monthly lecture series for housestaff rotating on a hematology-oncology rotation that would focus on three key areas: a. What housestaff need to know to manage the patients on the hematology-oncology service b. What housestaff are most likely to encounter in the practice of medicine, regardless of eventual subspecialty field. c. What housestaff need to know for American Board of Internal Medicine exams. METHODS Topics were chosen based on pertinence. These included: leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, stem cell transplantation (these first four comprising at least 50% of patients on the unit), coagulation, breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, gynecological malignancies, and pain management/supportive care. Potential speakers included full-time faculty as well as private physicians affiliated with the cancer center. Emails and/or phone calls were placed to the physicians and announcements made at division meetings and schedules developed. The plan was also for the development of a series of questions testing the housestaff at the start of their one month rotation and at the end of the rotation. Lectures were scheduled for afternoons if possible to avoid conflicts with morning rounds. Occasional morning talks were necessary to accommodate lecturers. Format of lectures was flexible (power point, dry-eraser board). RESULTS Overall feedback was positive for the lecture series. The two conditions affecting optimal success of the program concerned scheduling, including intern and fellow schedules as they relate to rounds and housestaff clinics and availability of when speakers could lecture and recruitment of speakers appropriate to the relevant topics. In addition, repeating the topics every month proved challenging for finding lecturing participants. The question/answer testing is still early in testing and no conclusion can be made. CONCLUSION A didactic lecture series is an important aspect of hematology-oncology education for housestaff. Repeating lectures every month is a challenge for several reasons. Possible interventions in the future may include: a. Focusing lecturing duties to full-time faculty, with an emphasis on faculty currently on service b. Creating power point presentations and handouts on file for use by multiple people so that rotating faculty may use these materials for talks c. Statistical analysis of scores from pre-rotation and post-rotation exams Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Imagers as sensors: correlating plant CO2 uptake with digital visible-light imagery

There exist many natural phenomena where direct measurement is either impossible or extremely invasive. To obtain approximate measurements of these phenomena we can build prediction models based on other sensing modalities such as features extracted from data collected by an imager. These models are derived from controlled experiments performed under laboratory conditions, and can then be applied to the associated event in nature. In this paper we explore various different methods for generating such models and discuss their accuracy, robustness, and computational complexity. Given sufficiently computationally simple models, we can eventually push their computation down towards the sensor nodes themselves to reduce the amount of data required to both flow through the network and be stored in a database. The addition of these models turn in-situ imagers into powerful biological sensors, and image databases into useful records of biological activity.
Mimicking dihydroxy acetone phosphate-utilizing aldolases through organocatalysis: a facile route to carbohydrates and aminosugars.

A practical and environmentally friendly organocatalytic strategy designed to mimic the DHAP aldolases has been developed and shown to be effective in the preparation of carbohydrates and aminosugars. (S)-Proline and (S)-2-pyrrolidine-tetrazole catalyzed the aldol reaction between dihydroxy acetone variants such as 1,3-dioxan-5-one and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-5-one with aldehydes to give the corresponding polyols in good yields with very high ees.
X-Ray Spectroscopy of the Contact Binary VW Cephei

Short-period binaries represent extreme cases in the generation of stellar coronae via a rotational dynamo. Such stars are important for probing the origin and nature of coronae in the regimes of rapid rotation and activity saturation. VW Cep (P = 0.28 days) is a relatively bright, partially eclipsing, very active object. Light curves made from Chandra HETGS data show flaring and rotational modulation but no eclipses. Velocity modulation of emission lines indicates that one component dominates the X-ray emission. The emission measure is highly structured, having three peaks. Helium-like triplet lines give electron densities of about (3-18) × 1010 cm-3. We conclude that the corona is predominantly on the polar regions of the primary star and is compact.
Towards a supersymmetric description of the Fermi Galactic center excess

We attempt to build a model that describes the Fermi galactic gamma-ray excess (FGCE) within a UV-complete Supersymmetric framework; we find this to be highly non-trivial. At the very least a successful Supersymmetric explanation must have several important ingredients in order to fit the data and satisfy other theoretical and experimental constraints. Under the assumption that a single annihilation mediator is responsible for both the observed relic density as well as the FGCE, we show that the requirements are not easily satisfied in many TeV-scale SUSY models, but can be met with some model building effort in the general NMSSM with ∼ 10 parameters beyond the MSSM. We find that the data selects a particular region of the parameter space with a mostly singlino lightest Supersymmetric particle and a relatively light CP-odd Higgs boson that acts as the mediator for dark matter annihilation. We study the predictions for various observables within this parameter space, and find that searches for this light CP-odd state at the LHC, as well as searches for the direct detection of dark matter, are likely to be quite challenging. It is possible that a signature could be observed in the flavor sector; however, indirect detection remains the best probe of this scenario.
Sparsity-Promoting Optimal Wide-Area Control of Power Networks

Inter-area oscillations in bulk power systems are typically poorly controllable by means of local decentralized control. Recent research efforts have been aimed at developing wide-area control strategies that involve communication of remote signals. In conventional wide-area control, the control structure is fixed a priori typically based on modal criteria. In contrast, here we employ the recently-introduced paradigm of sparsity-promoting optimal control to simultaneously identify the optimal control structure and optimize the closed-loop performance. To induce a sparse control architecture, we regularize the standard quadratic performance index with an l 1 -penalty on the feedback matrix. The quadratic objective functions are inspired by the classic slow coherency theory and are aimed at imitating homogeneous networks without inter-area oscillations. We use the New England power grid model to demonstrate that the proposed combination of the sparsity-promoting control design with the slow coherency objectives performs almost as well as the optimal centralized control while only making use of a single wide-area communication link. In addition to this nominal performance, we also demonstrate that our control strategy yields favorable robustness margins and that it can be used to identify a sparse control architecture for control design via alternative means.
Developments in Low-Speed Aeroelasticity in the Civil Engineering Field

The field of low-speed aeroelasticity in civil engineering has grown in application over the last four decades. Benefitting in broad terms from the guidance of earlier work done in aeronautics, the field has developed a distinct character of its own, centered principally on the problems of flows about bluff bodies. These problems can be conveniently classified into the categories of vortex-induced oscillation, galloping, flutter, and buffeting. Each has developed specialized theory based upon key experimental inputs. In particular, the field of suspension bridge aeroelasticity has received extensive experimental and analytical treatment since the days of the pivotal Tacoma Narrows incident. The present paper briefly outlines the state-of-the-art in civil engineering aeroelasticity, accompanying this with a number of appropriate references.
Environmental Conservation and the Risk Industry: A Natural Alignment of Interests

With the issue of environmental degradation already well covered in this journal and many others, this paper will briefly review value creation/destruction models for the risk industry, provide an overview of conservation finance mechanisms that have been deployed to date, and finally present in some depth a menu of very specific insurance products/services that could be developed and deployed in support of conservation initiatives. Beyond just supporting the underlying “alignment of interests” thesis that drives this paper, it is hoped that the thoughts presented will serve to accelerate meaningful joint initiatives between those who are working to protect the planet, and those who are quite legitimately working to protect their balance sheets.
A unified criterion for the convective extinction of fuel particles

Abstract The extinction criterion for the buoyancy-generated stagnation point boundary layer flow of a burning fuel particle is derived using large activation energy asymptotics. An extinction factor which depends on the flame sheet solution is numerically determined, hence allowing direct evaluation of the criterion. Together with the existing extinction criteria for the forced flow stagnation point boundary layer and the convection-free spherically symmetric case, they provide limits on the susceptibility of extinction when subjected to convection of different nature and intensity. Their functional dependence on the various system parameters are also examined from a unified viewpoint. Trends exhibited by the criteria agree well with existing experimental data.
X-Ray Emission from the First Quasars

It is currently unknown whether the universe was reionized by quasars or stars at z 5. We point out that quasars can be best distinguished from stellar systems by their X-ray emission. Based on a simple hierarchical CDM model, we predict the number counts and X-ray fluxes of quasars at high redshifts. The model is consistent with available data on the luminosity function of high-redshift quasars in the optical and soft X-ray bands. The cumulative contribution of faint, undetected quasars in our model is consistent with the unresolved fraction of the X-ray background. We find that the Chandra X-ray Observatory might detect ~102 quasars from redshifts z 5 per its 17' ? 17' field of view at the flux threshold of ~2 ? 10-16 ergs s-1 cm-2. The redshifts of these faint point sources could be identified by follow-up infrared observations from the ground or with the Next Generation Space Telescope.
Educational Policy: Egalitarian or Elitist?

This paper offers an explanation for observed differences across countries in educational policies and in resulting interpersonal distributions of human capital.We analyse a general equilibrium m del in which,as a result of the apportionment of natural ability,nurturing,and publicly financed education,some people can be well endowed with human capital,whereas other people are poorly endowed with human capital.We assume that people can choose to be either producers or predators.Because an increase in a person ’s human capital makes predation a less attractive choice for that person,it is possible that by using some of their human capital to educate the poorly endowed people the well endowed people can increase their own consumption.More interestingly,our theory predicts that,if producers are able to enforce a collective choice that takes advantage of the deterrent effect of allocating resources to guarding against predators,then the well endowed people prefer a relatively egalitarian educational policy that increases the human capital of all f the poorly endowed people.Such an educational policy either decreases the cost of deterring predation or makes deterrence possible.In contrast,if producers or small subsets f producers individually choose the amount of their resources to allocate to guarding,taking the ratio of predators to producers as given,then the well endowed people prefer an elitist educational policy that,if it has a redistributional component,decreases the number of poorly endowed people,thereby decreasing the number of predators,without increasing the human capital of the remaining poorly endowed people. These implications seem to be consistent with the facts about differences across countries in educational policy.
Two Cheers for Capitalism

According to a popular view that I call “two cheers for capitalism,” capitalism’s effect on development is ambiguous and mixed. This paper empirically investigates that view. I find that it’s wrong. Citizens in countries that became more capitalist over the last quarter century became wealthier, healthier, more educated, and politically freer. Citizens in countries that became significantly less capitalist over this period endured stagnating income, shortening life spans, smaller gains in education, and increasingly oppressive political regimes. The data unequivocally evidence capitalism’s superiority for development. Full-force cheerleading for capitalism is well deserved and three cheers are in order instead of two.
Hierarchical parsing and recognition of hand-sketched diagrams

A long standing challenge in pen-based computer interaction is the ability to make sense of informal sketches. A main difficulty lies in reliably extracting and recognizing the intended set of visual objects from a continuous stream of pen strokes. Existing pen-based systems either avoid these issues altogether, thus resulting in the equivalent of a drawing program, or rely on algorithms that place unnatural constraints on the way the user draws. As one step toward alleviating these difficulties, we present an integrated sketch parsing and recognition approach designed to enable natural, fluid, sketch-based computer interaction. The techniques presented in this paper are oriented toward the domain of network diagrams. In the first step of our approach, the stream of pen strokes is examined to identify the arrows in the sketch. The identified arrows then anchor a spatial analysis which groups the uninterpreted strokes into distinct clusters, each representing a single object. Finally, a trainable shape recognizer, which is informed by the spatial analysis, is used to find the best interpretations of the clusters. Based on these concepts, we have built SimuSketch, a sketch-based interface for Matlab's Simulink software package. An evaluation of SimuSketch has indicated that even novice users can effectively utilize our system to solve real engineering problems without having to know much about the underlying recognition techniques.
Resistance or friction: Understanding the significance of prisoners’ secondary adjustments:

Scholars examining prisoners’ “secondary adjustments” have often emphasized prisoners’ “resistance” to the prison regime, particularly their agentic acts that frustrate the prison’s rules, goals, or functions. While these agency-centered accounts offer an important corrective to the understanding of prisons as totalizing institutions, they may go too far. I argue that scholars have overused (and misused) the term “resistance” to describe certain prisoner behaviors, creating both analytical and normative consequences. Instead, I suggest the concept of “friction” more accurately describes the reactive behaviors that occur when people find themselves in highly controlled environments.
Three-dimensional alpha shapes

Frequently, data in scientific computing is in its abstract form a finite point set in space, and it is sometimes useful or required to compute what one might call the “shape” of the set. For that purpose, this article introduces the formal notion of the family of a-shapes of a finite point set in R3. Each shape is a well-defined polytope, derived from the Delaunay triangulation of the point set, with a parameter a e R controlling the desired level of detail. An algorithm is presented that constructs the entire family of shapes for a given set of size n in time 0(n2), worst case. A robust implementation of the algorithm is discussed, and several applications in the area of scientific computing are mentioned.
Interaction Between Cognitive Impairment and Discharge Destination and Its Effect on Rehospitalization

Objectives To evaluate the effect of cognitive impairment on rehospitalization in older adults. Design One-year longitudinal study. Setting Medical service of an urban, 340-bed public hospital in Indianapolis between July 2006 and March 2008. Participants Individuals aged 65 and older admitted to the medical service (N = 976). Measurements Rehospitalization was defined as any hospital admission after the index admission. Participant demographics, discharge destination, Charlson Comorbidity Index, Acute Physiology Score, and prior hospitalizations were measured as the confounders. Participants were considered to have cognitive impairment if they had two or more errors on the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. Results After adjusting for confounders, a significant interaction between cognitive impairment and discharge location was found to predict rehospitalization rate (P = .008) and time to 1-year rehospitalization (P = .03). Participants with cognitive impairment discharged to a facility had a longer time to rehospitalization (median 142 days) than participants with no cognitive impairment (median 98 days) (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.58–1.02, P = .07), whereas participants with cognitive impairment discharged to home had a slightly shorter time to rehospitalization (median 182 days) than those without cognitive impairment (median 224 days) (HR = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.92–1.43, P = .23). These two nonsignificant HRs in opposite directions were significantly different from each other (P = .03). Conclusion Discharge destination modifies the association between cognitive impairment and rehospitalization. Of participants discharged to a facility, those without cognitive impairment had higher rehospitalization rates, whereas the rates were similar between cognitively impaired and intact participants discharged to the community.
Horizon volumes with interpreted constraints

ABSTRACTHorizons are geologically significant surfaces that can be extracted from seismic images. Color coding of horizons based on amplitude or other attributes can help reveal ancient sedimentary environments and structural features. Extracted horizons are also used for building structure models and stratigraphic interpretations. We propose two methods for constructing seismic horizons aligned with reflectors in a 3D seismic image. The first method generates horizons one at a time; the second method generates an entire volume of horizons at once by first computing a relative geologic time volume from seismic normal vectors. Rather than gradually building a horizon by extending one or more seed points to a surface along seismic reflectors, both of our methods generate whole horizons at once by solving partial differential equations derived from seismic normal vectors. The most significant new aspect of both methods is the ability to specify, perhaps interactively during interpretation, a small number of ...
A Desiccant Dehumidifier for Electric Vehicle Heating

Vehicle heating requires a substantial amount of energy. Electric vehicles (EVs) generate little waste heat, and using battery energy for heating may consume a substantial fraction of the energy storage capacity, reducing the vehicle range, which is one of the most important parameters in determining EV acceptability. This paper analyzes the applicability of a desiccant dehumidifier for providing comfort heating in an EV with reduced energy consumption. A dehumidifier can reduce the heating load in a vehicle because it adsorbs the water vapor generated by the passengers, thereby avoiding water condensation on the windows without requiring a high external air ventilation rate or a high window temperature. The results indicate that the desiccant dehumidifier can reduce the steady-state heating load by 60 percent or more under typical conditions. The reduction in heating load is such that waste heat may be enough to provide the required heating under most ambient conditions. Desiccant system dimensions and weight appear reasonable for packaging inside an EV.
Higher Fano manifolds and rational surfaces

Let X be a Fano manifold of pseudo-index at least 3 such that c1(X)2−2c2(X) is nef. Irreducibility of some spaces of rational curves on X implies that a general point of X is contained in a rational surface
Understanding microbial cooperation

The field of microbial cooperation has grown enormously over the last decade, leading to improved experimental techniques and a growing awareness of collective behavior in microbes. Unfortunately, many of our theoretical tools and concepts for understanding cooperation fail to take into account the peculiarities of the microbial world, namely strong selection strengths, unique population structure, and non-linear dynamics. Worse yet, common verbal arguments are often far removed from the math involved, leading to confusion and mistakes. Here, we review the general mathematical forms of Price’s equation, Hamilton’s rule, and multilevel selection as they are applied to microbes and provide some intuition on these otherwise abstract formulas. However, these sometimes overly general equations can lack specificity and predictive power, ultimately forcing us to advocate for more direct modeling techniques.
Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology

Abstract Theories in “soft” areas of psychology lack the cumulative character of scientific knowledge. They tend neither to be refuted nor corroborated, but instead merely fade away as people lose interest. Even though intrinsic subject matter difficulties (20 listed) contribute to this, the excessive reliance on significance testing is partly responsible, being a poor way of doing science. Karl Popper’s approach, with modifications, would be prophylactic. Since the null hypothesis is quasi-always false, tables summarizing research in terms of patterns of “significant differences” are little more than complex, causally uninterpretable outcomes of statistical power functions. Multiple paths to estimating numerical point values (“consistency tests”) are better, even if approximate with rough tolerances; and lacking this, ranges, orderings, second-order differences, curve peaks and valleys, and function forms should be used. Such methods are usual in developed sciences that seldom report statistical significance. Consistency tests of a conjectural taxometric model yielded 94% success with zero false negatives.
Progress and challenges in VLSI placement research

Given the significance of placement in IC physical design, extensive research studies performed over the last 50 years addressed numerous aspects of global and detailed placement. The objectives and the constraints dominant in placement have been revised many times over, and continue to evolve. Additionally, the increasing scale of placement instances affects the algorithms of choice for high-performance tools. We survey the history of placement research, the progress achieved up to now, and outstanding challenges.