cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
To Wave or Not to Wave? Order Release Policies for Warehouses with an Automated Sorter

Batch (wave) release policies are prevalent in warehouses with an automated sorter, and take different forms depending on how batches released consecutively may overlap downstream in the sorter. Continuous (waveless) release constitutes an emerging alternative recently adopted by several firms. Although that new policy presents several advantages relative to waves, it requires more expensive technology and involves the possibility of congestion-induced collapse (gridlock) at the sorter. Using an extensive data set of detailed warehouse flow information from a leading U.S. online retailer, we first develop a model with validated predictive accuracy for a warehouse operating under waveless release. We then use that model to compute operational guidelines for dynamically managing the main control lever of that policy with the goal of maximizing throughput while keeping the risk of gridlock under a specified threshold. Second, we leverage that model and data set to compare the performance of wave-based and waveless policies through simulation. The best waveless policy yields larger or equal throughput than the best wave-based policy in all scenarios considered, and thus appears to merit some consideration by practitioners.
Quantum phase transitions in antiferromagnets and superfluids

We present a general introduction to the non-zero temperature dynamic and transport properties of low-dimensional systems near a quantum phase transition. Basic results are reviewed in the context of experiments on the spin-ladder compounds, insulating two-dimensional antiferromagnets, and double-layer quantum Hall systems. Recent large N computations on an extended t–J model (Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 (1999) 3916) motivate a global scenario of the quantum phases and transitions in the high-temperature superconductors, and connections are made to numerous experiments.
Quantitative visualization of alternative exon expression from RNA-seq data.

Motivation: Analysis of RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data revealed that the vast majority of human genes express multiple mRNA isoforms, produced by alternative pre-mRNA splicing and other mechanisms, and that most alternative isoforms vary in expression between human tissues. As RNA-Seq datasets grow in size, it remains challenging to visualize isoform expression across multiple samples. Results: To help address this problem, we present Sashimi plots, a quantitative visualization of aligned RNA-Seq reads that enables quantitative comparison of exon usage across samples or experimental conditions. Sashimi plots can be made using the Broad Integrated Genome Viewer or with a stand-alone command line program. Availability and implementation: Software code and documentation freely available here: http://
Combined experimental and computational analysis of DNA damage signaling reveals context‐dependent roles for Erk in apoptosis and G1/S arrest after genotoxic stress

Following DNA damage, cells display complex multi-pathway signaling dynamics that connect cell-cycle arrest and DNA repair in G1, S, or G2/M phase with phenotypic fate decisions made between survival, cell-cycle re-entry and proliferation, permanent cell-cycle arrest, or cell death. How these phenotypic fate decisions are determined remains poorly understood, but must derive from integrating genotoxic stress signals together with inputs from the local microenvironment. To investigate this in a systematic manner, we undertook a quantitative time-resolved cell signaling and phenotypic response study in U2OS cells receiving doxorubicin-induced DNA damage in the presence or absence of TNFα co-treatment; we measured key nodes in a broad set of DNA damage signal transduction pathways along with apoptotic death and cell-cycle regulatory responses. Two relational modeling approaches were then used to identify network-level relationships between signals and cell phenotypic events: a partial least squares regression approach and a complementary new technique which we term ‘time-interval stepwise regression.' Taken together, the results from these analysis methods revealed complex, cytokine-modulated inter-relationships among multiple signaling pathways following DNA damage, and identified an unexpected context-dependent role for Erk in both G1/S arrest and apoptotic cell death following treatment with this commonly used clinical chemotherapeutic drug.
The Effectiveness of Correctional Rehabilitation: A Review of Systematic Reviews

The effects of correctional interventions on recidivism have important public safety implications when offenders are released from probation or prison. Hundreds of studies have been conducted on those effects, some investigating punitive approaches and some investigating rehabilitation treatments. Systematic reviews (meta-analyses) of those studies, while varying greatly in coverage and technique, display remarkable consistency in their overall findings. Supervision and sanctions, at best, show modest mean reductions in recidivism and, in some instances, have the opposite effect and increase reoffense rates. The mean recidivism effects found in studies of rehabilitation treatment, by comparison, are consistently positive and relatively large. There is, however, considerable variability in those effects associated with the type of treatment, how well it is implemented, and the nature of the offenders to whom it is applied. The specific sources of that variability have not been well explored, but some princ...
Demazure crystals, Kirillov{Reshetikhin crystals, and the energy function

It has previously been shown that, at least for non-exceptional Kac{Moody Lie algebras, there is a close connection between Demazure crystals and tensor products of Kirillov{Reshetikhin crystals. In particular, certain Demazure crystals are isomorphic as classical crystals to tensor products of Kirillov{Reshetikhin crystals via a canonically chosen isomorphism. Here we show that this isomorphism intertwines the natural ane grading on Demazure crystals with a combinatorially dened energy function. As a consequence, we obtain a formula of the Demazure character in terms of the energy function, which has applications to Macdonald polynomials and q-deformed Whittaker functions.
Asymmetric Information, Adverse Selection and Online Disclosure: The Case of eBay Motors

Since the pioneering work of Akerlof (1970), economists have been aware of the adverse selection problem that information asymmetries can create in used goods markets. The remarkable growth in online auctions of used goods, where buyers generally purchase sight unseen, therefore poses a puzzle. I argue that given a means for credible information disclosure, sellers will voluntarily disclose their private information to buyers through online media. This limits information asymmetries and adverse selection. To test this theory, I examine the role of information in a large online used car market, eBay Motors. I nd that sellers selectively disclose information; that information asymmetries are reduced by these disclosures; and that online media such as photos, text and graphics provide a rich environment for information disclosure.
Falling flavors in AdS/CFT

We consider the behavior of D7 probes of supersymmetric warped geometries that are perturbed by the presence of $ \overline{\mathrm{D}}3 $ -branes. Such constructions are the gravitational duals of non-supersymmetric states in supersymmetric flavored gauge theories. Although the D7s we consider do not feel a force from either D3s or $ \overline{\mathrm{D}}3\mathrm{s} $ alone, when both types of 3-branes are present the D7s deform and fall a small distance toward the 3-branes. We perform our analysis in AdS 5 × S 5 and AdS 5 × T 1,1 and find qualitatively similar behavior in each case. We then extend our consideration to the approximately conical region of the Klebanov-Strassler solution and find that the effect is parametrically larger than in the AdS 5 × X 5 examples. Additionally, we discuss how these behaviors are modified by the presence of other flavors by considering the smeared backreaction of such flavor branes in AdS 5 × X 5. Finally, we touch upon some of the implications that our results may have for model building and argue that the deformation of the worldvolume results in $ \mathcal{O} $ (1) corrections to soft terms in the low-energy description.
PLANAR SHAPE MANIPULATION USING APPROXIMATE GEOMETRIC PRIMITIVES

We present robust algorithms for set operations and affine transformations on curved shapes in the plane using approximate geometric primitives. We use a refinement algorithm to ensure consistency. Its computational complexity is O(n log n + k) for an input of size n with k = O(n2) consistency violations. The output is as accurate as the geometric primitives. We validate our algorithms using sequences of six set operations and affine transforms on shapes bounded by algebraic curve segments of degree 1 to 6. We test generic and degenerate inputs.
NON-UNIFORM MIXING OF QUANTUM WALK ON CYCLES

A classical lazy random walk on cycles is known to mix with the uniform distribution. In contrast, we show that a continuous-time quantum walk on cycles exhibits strong non-uniform mixing properties. First, we prove that the instantaneous distribution of a quantum walk on most even-length cycles is never uniform. More specifically, we prove that a quantum walk on a cycle Cn is not instantaneous uniform mixing, whenever n satisfies either: (a) n = 2u, for u ≥ 3; or (b) n = 2uq, for u ≥ 1 and q ≡ 3 (mod 4). Second, we prove that the average distribution of a quantum walk on any Abelian circulant graph is never uniform. As a corollary, the average distribution of a quantum walk on any standard circulant graph, such as the cycles, complete graphs, and even hypercubes, is never uniform. Nevertheless, we show that the average distribution of a quantum walk on the cycle Cn is O(1/n)-uniform.
Blowup behaviour for the nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation

We analyze the blowup behaviour of solutions to the focusing nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation in spatial dimensions \(d\ge 2\). We obtain upper bounds on the blowup rate, both globally in space and in light cones. The results are sharp in the conformal and sub-conformal cases. The argument relies on Lyapunov functionals derived from the dilation identity. We also prove that the critical Sobolev norm diverges near the blowup time.
Recent Developments in the Research on Pulse Detonation Engines

Introduction I Nprinciple,detonationsare an extremelyef cientmeans of combustinga fuel-oxidizermixture and releasing its chemical energy content. During the past 60 years or so, there have been numerous researcheffortsat harnessingthepotentialof detonationsfor propulsion applications.1 There is a renewed interest lately on intermittent or pulsed detonations engines. Eidelman et al. and Eidelman and Grossmann3 have reviewed some of the initial research as well as work done in the late 1980s on pulse detonation engines (PDEs). The basic theory, design concepts, and the work in the early 1990s related to pulse detonationengines have been discussedby Bussing and Pappas.4 The focus of a more recent review5 is on performance estimates fromvarious experimental, theoreticaland computational studies. More recently, work related to nozzles for PDEs has been discussed. Other reviews7i9 discussing the objectives and accomplishments of various programs are also available.The objective of this paper is to update the previousreviews, focusingon themore recent developmentsin the researchon PDEs. The review is restricted toworkopenlyavailablein the literaturebut includesongoingefforts around the world. Currently, there are several programs sponsored by Of ce of Naval Research (ONR), U.S. Air Force, NASA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other agencies in the United States as well as several parallel efforts in Belarus, Canada, France, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and other countries.The results from some of these programs are just beginning to be published.A summary of recent progress and the various organizationsand people involved in PDE research in Japan has been presented.9 Reports of the basic PDE research sponsoredby ONR are available in the proceedingsof a recurringannualmeeting(forexample, seeRef. 10).Recentwork conducted outside the United States has been reported at international meetings on detonations such as those held in Seattle11 (for more information, see http://www.engr.washington.edu/epp/icders/) and Moscow.12 Although an attempt is made to cover a broad range of the reported research, the shear volume of papers presented with PDEs in the title make it impractical to be exhaustive. Rather than providing a chronologicalreport, an attempt is made here to discuss the recent progress in terms of broad topic areas. The key issues that need to be resolved have been addressed in a number of papers (e.g., Refs. 13 and 14). The speci c order in which to discuss the various topics was determined by considering the schematic of an idealized, laboratory pulse detonation engine shown in Fig. 1. This idealizedengine is representativeof the device
In vivo imaging of ovarian tissue using a novel confocal microlaparoscope.

Objective The objective of the study was to develop a clinical confocal microlaparoscope for imaging ovary epithelium in vivo with the long-term objective of diagnosing cancer in vivo. Study Design A confocal microlaparoscope was developed and used to image the ovaries of 21 patients in vivo using fluorescein sodium and acridine orange as the fluorescent contrast agents. Results The device was tested in vivo and demonstrated to be safe and function as designed. Real-time cellular visualization of ovary epithelium was demonstrated. Conclusion The confocal microlaparoscope represents a new type of in vivo imaging device. With its ability to image cellular details in real time, it has the potential to aid in the early diagnosis of cancer. Initially the device may be used to locate unusual regions for guided biopsies. In the long term, the device may be able to supplant traditional biopsies and allow the surgeon to identify early-stage ovarian cancer.
Organizational "Failure" and Institutional Pluralism: A Case Study of an Urban School Closure.

We use the framework of institutional pluralism to provide new insights into a controversial process of market-based reform—school closures. School closure is a shock that highlights the dynamics a...
Sex Steroid Hormones and the Androgen Receptor Gene CAG Repeat and Subsequent Risk of Prostate Cancer in the Prostate-Specific Antigen Era

Objective: Sex steroid hormones are thought to contribute to the growth, differentiation, and progression of prostate cancer. We investigated plasma levels of sex steroid hormones and length of the androgen receptor gene CAG repeat in relation to incident prostate cancer diagnosed in the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) era. Methods: Using a nested case-control design, we included 460 prostate cancer cases diagnosed after providing a blood specimen in 1993 but before February 1998 among men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Controls were 460 age-matched men without prostate cancer who had a screening PSA test after the date of providing a blood specimen. We measured plasma concentrations of total testosterone, free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, androstanediol glucuronide, estradiol, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and determined the length of the androgen receptor gene CAG repeat. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of prostate cancer. Results: Mean concentrations of the sex steroids adjusted for SHBG, and mean CAG repeat length did not differ significantly between the prostate cancer cases and controls. No significant associations with total prostate cancer were detected for plasma total testosterone concentration (comparing highest versus lowest quartiles: OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.48-1.28; P trend = 0.73) or the other sex hormones after adjusting for SHBG. However, plasma total testosterone concentration was positively associated with low-grade disease (Gleason sum < 7: OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 0.89-4.07; P trend = 0.02) and inversely associated with high-grade disease (Gleason sum ≥ 7: OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10-0.66; P trend = 0.01). Similar patterns for grade were observed for free testosterone. Short CAG repeat length was not associated with total prostate cancer (≤ 19 versus ≥ 24: OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.57-1.23; P trend = 0.22) or grade of disease. No clear associations with regionally invasive or metastatic (≥ T3b, N1, or M1) were found for any of the hormones or the CAG repeat, although the number of these cases was small. Conclusions: The overall lack of association of prostate cancer diagnosed in the PSA era with sex steroid hormones and the androgen receptor gene CAG repeat length is consistent with the hypothesis that these factors do not substantially contribute to the development of early prostate cancer in the PSA era. The influence of plasma total and free testosterone concentrations on prostate cancer grade merits further evaluation.
Sustained Effects of Opioid Antagonism During the Normal Human Luteal Phase

The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle is characterized by a progressive decrease in LH pulse frequency. Short term administration of opiate receptor antagonists during the luteal phase increases the release of both LH and PRL. However, the effects of prolonged opioid antagonism throughout the luteal phase are unknown and, hence, the precise role of endogenous opioid peptides in the reproductive cycle remains to be elucidated. In this study, we examine the ability of longer term opioid antagonism during the luteal phase to alter pulsatile LH and PRL release. Naltrexone (NTX), a long-acting oral opioid antagonist, at a dose of 50 mg, was administered daily for 7 days during the luteal phase in five women. Blood samples were obtained at intervals of 10 min starting at 0800 h for 11-12 h on matched days of the luteal phase of both a control and the experimental cycle. LH and PRL pulse frequencies were significantly increased at the end of the 7-day NTX administration period compared to those in the control cycle [LH, 0.22 +/- 0.04 (+/- SE) vs. 0.07 +/- 0.03 pulse/h (P less than 0.01); PRL, 0.20 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.13 +/- 0.02 pulse/h (P less than 0.05)]. The concordance between LH and PRL pulses increased from 50% in the control cycle to 70% in the NTX cycle, and there was a significant positive correlation between the amplitudes of the concomitant LH and PRL pulses (r = 0.72; P = 0.01). In conclusion, prolonged oral opioid antagonism increased pulsatile LH and PRL secretion during the luteal phase in normal women. The results underscore the important role of endogenous opioid peptides in controlling LH pulse frequency during the luteal phase of the cycle.
Applications of Multicomponent Reactions to the Synthesis of Diverse Heterocyclic Scaffolds

The sequencing of multicomponent reactions (MCRs) and subsequent cyclization reactions is a powerful stratagem for the rapid synthesis of diverse heterocyclic scaffolds. The optimal MCR is sufficiently flexible that it can be employed to generate adducts bearing a variety of functional groups that may then be selectively paired to enable different cyclization manifolds, thereby leading to a diverse collection of products. The growing interest in diversity-oriented synthesis has led to increased attention to this paradigm for library synthesis, which has inspired many advances in the design and implementation of MCRs for the construction of diverse heterocyclic scaffolds.
Sensitivity analysis in Bayesian networks: from single to multiple parameters

Previous work on sensitivity analysis in Bayesian networks has focused on single parameters, where the goal is to understand the sensitivity of queries to single parameter changes, and to identify single parameter changes that would enforce a certain query constraint. In this paper, we expand the work to multiple parameters which may be in the CPT of a single variable, or the CPTs of multiple variables. Not only do we identify the solution space of multiple parameter changes that would be needed to enforce a query constraint, but we also show how to find the optimal solution, that is, the one which disturbs the current probability distribution the least (with respect to a specific measure of disturbance). We characterize the computational complexity of our new techniques and discuss their applications to developing and debugging Bayesian networks, and to the problem of reasoning about the value (reliability) of new information.
Spectral-Lagrangian methods for collisional models of non-equilibrium statistical states

We propose a new spectral Lagrangian based deterministic solver for the non-linear Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) in d-dimensions for variable hard sphere (VHS) collision kernels with conservative or non-conservative binary interactions. The method is based on symmetries of the Fourier transform of the collision integral, where the complexity in its computation is reduced to a separate integral over the unit sphere S^d^-^1. The conservation of moments is enforced by Lagrangian constraints. The resulting scheme, implemented in free space, is very versatile and adjusts in a very simple manner to several cases that involve energy dissipation due to local micro-reversibility (inelastic interactions) or elastic models of slowing down process. Our simulations are benchmarked with available exact self-similar solutions, exact moment equations and analytical estimates for the homogeneous Boltzmann equation, both for elastic and inelastic VHS interactions. Benchmarking of the simulations involves the selection of a time self-similar rescaling of the numerical distribution function which is performed using the continuous spectrum of the equation for Maxwell molecules as studied first in Bobylev et al. [A.V. Bobylev, C. Cercignani, G. Toscani, Proof of an asymptotic property of self-similar solutions of the Boltzmann equation for granular materials, Journal of Statistical Physics 111 (2003) 403-417] and generalized to a wide range of related models in Bobylev et al. [A.V. Bobylev, C. Cercignani, I.M. Gamba, On the self-similar asymptotics for generalized non-linear kinetic Maxwell models, Communication in Mathematical Physics, in press. URL: ]. The method also produces accurate results in the case of inelastic diffusive Boltzmann equations for hard spheres (inelastic collisions under thermal bath), where overpopulated non-Gaussian exponential tails have been conjectured in computations by stochastic methods [T.V. Noije, M. Ernst, Velocity distributions in homogeneously cooling and heated granular fluids, Granular Matter 1(57) (1998); M.H. Ernst, R. Brito, Scaling solutions of inelastic Boltzmann equations with over-populated high energy tails, Journal of Statistical Physics 109 (2002) 407-432; S.J. Moon, M.D. Shattuck, J. Swift, Velocity distributions and correlations in homogeneously heated granular media, Physical Review E 64 (2001) 031303; I.M. Gamba, S. Rjasanow, W. Wagner, Direct simulation of the uniformly heated granular Boltzmann equation, Mathematical and Computer Modelling 42 (2005) 683-700] and rigorously proven in Gamba et al. [I.M. Gamba, V. Panferov, C. Villani, On the Boltzmann equation for diffusively excited granular media, Communications in Mathematical Physics 246 (2004) 503-541(39)] and [A.V. Bobylev, I.M. Gamba, V. Panferov, Moment inequalities and high-energy tails for Boltzmann equations with inelastic interactions, Journal of Statistical Physics 116 (2004) 1651-1682].
Dynamic analysis and control of a roll bending process

Recent research has shown that it is possible to automate the roll bending process using closed-loop control, which continuously calculates the springback of the metal workpiece. This means that one-pass forming of arbitrary two-dimensional workpiece shapes is now possible, subject to limitations of the physical apparatus and the controller. The identification of these limitations is the subject of this paper. Toward that end, dynamic models are developed for the individual components of the roll bending apparatus and for the process as a whole. These models include the unique nonlinearities of the roll bending system and also reflect the differences in the bending applications, such as bending and straightening. The process models are the basis for control analysis and design. An experimental roll bending apparatus is used to evaluate the system models and to verify the control design. The experimental results show that very good system response is possible using a simple controller. The results also illustrate the main limitation imposed on system response, which is due to vibration of the workpiece.
Video telephony for end-consumers: measurement study of Google+, iChat and Skype

Video telephony requires high-bandwidth and low-delay voice and video transmissions between geographically distributed users. It is challenging to deliver high-quality video telephony to end-consumers through the best-effort Internet. In this paper, we present our measurement study on three popular video telephony systems on the Internet: Google+, iChat, and Skype. Through a series of carefully designed active and passive measurements, we uncover important information about their key design choices and performance, including application architecture, video generation and adaptation schemes, loss recovery strategies, end-to-end voice and video delays, resilience against random and bursty losses, etc. The obtained insights can be used to guide the design of applications that call for high-bandwidth and low-delay data transmissions under a wide range of "best-effort" network conditions.
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF NET RADIATION ACCORDING TO A NEW FORMULA

A new formula for estimating net radiation has been derived from records of solar radiation, humidity, and air temperature. The formula is believed to be an improvement over the previous ones which used cloudiness instead of solar radiation. The correlation coefficient between the computed and actual values is 0.97 and the standard error of estimate is 2.57 langleys/day. The limitations of the formula, such as the use of standard values of reflection coefficients, the use of surface humidity instead of total precipitable water, and the exclusion of carbon dioxide, are discussed. The formula has been applied to 386 stations for the construction of world maps for four mid-season months as well as for the year. The distributional pattern differs somewhat from the world maps prepared by Budyko. Solar radiation retained as net radiation decreases from sixty percent in the tropics to less than twenty percent in high latitudes.
Topological Field Theory on a Lattice, Discrete Theta-Angles and Confinement

We study a topological field theory describing confining phases of gauge theories in four dimensions. It can be formulated on a lattice using a discrete 2-form field talking values in a finite abelian group (the magnetic gauge group). We show that possible theta-angles in such a theory are quantized and labeled by quadratic functions on the magnetic gauge group. When the theta-angles vanish, the theory is dual to an ordinary topological gauge theory, but in general it is not isomorphic to it. We also explain how to couple a lattice Yang-Mills theory to a TQFT of this kind so that the ’t Hooft flux is well-defined, and quantized values of the theta-angles are allowed. The quantized theta-angles include the discrete theta-angles recently identified by Aharony, Seiberg and Tachikawa.
A remarkably efficient coupling of acid chlorides with alkynes in water.

A highly effective direct coupling of acid chloride with terminal alkynes catalyzed by PdCl2(PPh3)2/CuI together with a catalytic amount of sodium lauryl sulfate as the surfactant and K2CO3 as the base provided ynones in high yields in water.
Postprandial Changes of Sympathovagal Balance Measured by Heart Rate Variability

The aim of this study was to investigate the sympathovagal balance after meals by measuring the spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Nine healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. The electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded for 30 min in a fasting state and 60 min after a 500-kcal test meal. The HRV was derived from the ECG and was measured by power spectral analysis using fast-Fourier transform algorithm. It reveals two dominant spectral components. The low-frequency (LF) band reflects primarily sympathetic activity with some parasympathetic input. The high-frequency (HF) band is a reflection of parasympathetic (vagal) activity. The LF-to-HF ratio is considered a marker of sympathovagal balance. It was found that the postprandial LF-to-HF ratio, compared with the fasting state, was significantly increased at both the first 30 min (2.50 +/- 0.49 vs 1.78 +/- 0.33, P < 0.05) and the second 30 min (2.68 +/- 0.55 vs 1.78 +/- 0.33, P < 0.05). The postprandial HF diminished significantly at both the first (16.0 +/- 0.5 vs 21.8 +/- 4.2, P < 0.05) and the second (13.8 +/- 9.5 vs 21.8 +/- 4.2, P < 0.05) 30-min period. In conclusion, the postprandial sympathovagal ratio shows a sustained elevation lasting 1 hr, mainly attributed to diminished vagal activity.
A Linear Round Lower Bound for Lovasz-Schrijver SDP Relaxations of Vertex Cover

We study semidefinite programming relaxations of Vertex Cover arising from repeated applications of the LS+ "lift-and-project" method of Lovasz and Schrijver starting from the standard linear programming relaxation. Goemans and Kleinberg prove that after one round of LS+ the integrality gap remains arbitrarily close to 2. Charikar proves an integrality gap of 2, later strengthened by Hatami, Magen, and Markakis, for stronger relaxations that are, however, incomparable with two rounds of LS+. Subsequent work by Georgiou, Magen, Pitassi, and Tourlakis shows that the integrality gap remains 2 -epsiv after Omega (radiclog n-log log n ) rounds [?]. We prove that the integrality gap remains at least 7/6 - epsiv after cepsivn rounds, where n is the number of vertices and cepsiv > 0 is a constant that depends only on epsiv.
Fermilab 500-GeV Main Accelerator RF Cavity 128-MHZ Mode Damper

The Fermilab 500-GeV main accelerating system has been operating for a year now with the aid of 128-MHz mode dampers. Such dampers proved to be necessary to achieve stable operation and a reasonably smooth slow spill at intensities of ~2 × 1013 protons per pulse, and furthermore are low-cost and reliable. This paper describes the approach used to identify troublesome modes, mentions something about the observed beam blow-up without dampers, and outlines the steps taken to design and install suitable dampers on eighteen main ring cavities. Spectrum analyzer pictures help illustrate the performance.
Nitrosative deamination of 1-aminoazetidin-2-ones. An entry to N-unsubstituted β-lactams

Abstract Nitrosative deamination of 1-aminoazetidin-2-ones was carried out with diphenylnitrosamine to give the N-unsubstituted systems, thus completing a route to β-lactams by photochemical ring contraction of pyrazolidin-3 ones.
Sharp large deviations in nonparametric estimation

Large deviation results for the kernel density estimator and the kernel regression estimator have been given by Louani [Louani, D., 1998, Large deviations limit theorems for the kernel density estimator. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 25, 243–253; Louani, D., 1999, Some large deviations limit theorems in conditional nonparametric statistics. Statistics, 33, 171–196]. We complete these works by establishing sharp large deviation results for the two estimators. This means that we study precisely the tail probabilities of the estimators. We distinguish two cases depending on the support of the kernel. To prove the results, we need an Edgeworth expansion obtained from a version of Cramer’s condition.
Impacts of Entry by Counterfeiters

This paper uses a natural experiment to test the impact of counterfeiting under weak intellectual property rights. I collect new panel data from Chinese shoe companies from 1993–2004. By exploiting the discontinuity of government enforcement efforts for the footwear sector in 1995 and the differences in authentic companies' relationships with the government, I identify and measure the effects of counterfeit entry on authentic prices, qualities, and other market outcomes. The results show that brands with less government protection differentiate their products through innovation, self-enforcement, vertical integration of downstream retailers, and subtle high-price signals. These strategies push up authentic prices and are effective in reducing counterfeit sales.
Structure of a new form of silicon phosphate (SiP2O7) synthesized at high pressures and temperatures

Abstract A new high-pressure phase of SiP 2 O 7 has been found and its crystal structure solved and refined from a single crystal grown at a condition of 16 GPa and 2000 °C and recovered to ambient conditions. The material is monoclinic, with the space group P 2 1 / c and lattice parameters a =4.3042(7) A, b =7.1505(12) A, c =6.2897(11) A, β =103.805(2). The structure contains SiO 6 octahedra in a corner-sharing arrangement with P 2 O 7 dimers, the same structural elements and vertex-sharing present in all the low-pressure forms of SiP 2 O 7 . However, the network is more condensed: the topology of the packing of SiO 6 octahedra and P 2 O 7 dimers (represented by Si and the bridging oxygen that both lie on centers of symmetry) is that of the CsCl structure, with some distortion. The resulting phase is 11.2% to 22.3% denser than the various low-pressure forms of SiP 2 O 7 . The structural data indicates that the P 2 O 7 dimers are linear (P–O–P angle=180°), an unusual feature for phosphates.
Selecting Local Models in Multiple Regression by Maximizing Power

This paper considers multiple regression procedures for analyzing the relationship between a response variable and a vector of d covariates in a nonparametric setting where tuning parameters need to be selected. We introduce an approach which handles the dilemma that with high dimensional data the sparsity of data in regions of the sample space makes estimation of nonparametric curves and surfaces virtually impossible. This is accomplished by abandoning the goal of trying to estimate true underlying curves and instead estimating measures of dependence that can determine important relationships between variables. These dependence measures are based on local parametric fits on subsets of the covariate space that vary in both dimension and size within each dimension. The subset which maximizes a signal to noise ratio is chosen, where the signal is a local estimate of a dependence parameter which depends on the subset dimension and size, and the noise is an estimate of the standard error (SE) of the estimated signal. This approach of choosing the window size to maximize a signal to noise ratio lifts the curse of dimensionality because for regions with sparsity of data the SE is very large. It corresponds to asymptotically maximizing the probability of correctly finding nonspurious relationships between covariates and a response or, more precisely, maximizing asymptotic power among a class of asymptotic level αt-tests indexed by subsets of the covariate space. Subsets that achieve this goal are called features. We investigate the properties of specific procedures based on the preceding ideas using asymptotic theory and Monte Carlo simulations and find that within a selected dimension, the volume of the optimally selected subset does not tend to zero as n → ∞ unless the volume of the subset of the covariate space where the response depends on the covariate vector tends to zero.
Glycals in Organic Synthesis: The Evolution of Comprehensive Strategies for the Assembly of Oligosaccharides and Glycoconjugates of Biological Consequence

This review provides a personal account of the explorations of a research group in oligosaccharide and glycoconjugate construction. The journey began twenty years ago with the study of Diels–Alder reactions of complex dienes. By extending this methodology to aldehydo-type heterodienophile equivalents, access to unnatural glycals was gained (LACDAC reaction). From this point a broad-ranging investigation of the use of glycals in the synthesis of oligosaccharides and other glycoconjugates was begun. Mobilization of glycals both as glycosyl donors and glycosyl acceptors led to the strategy of glycal assembly. Several new glycosylation techniques were developed to provide practical underpinning for this logic of glycal assembly. Glycal-based paradigms have been shown to be nicely adaptable to solid phase supported synthesis. Moreover, glycal assembly—both in solution and on solid phases—has been used to gain relatively concise and efficient entry to a variety of biologically interesting and potentially valuable constructs. Some of these syntheses, particularly in the field of tumor antigens, have led to novel compounds which are in the final stages of preclinical assessment. This review presents an account of the chemical reasoning at the center of the program.
Improved Approximations for Tour and Tree Covers

A tree (tour) cover of an edge-weighted graph is a set of edges which forms a tree (closed walk) and covers every other edge in the graph. Arkin et al. [1] give approximation algorithms with ratios 3.55 (tree cover) and 5.5 (tour cover). We present algorithms with a worst-case ratio of 3 for both problems.
Distributed Optimization for Shared State Systems: Applications to Decentralized Freeway Control via Subnetwork Splitting

Optimal control problems on dynamical systems are concerned with finding a control policy, which minimizes a desired objective, where the objective value depends on the future evolution of the system (the state of the system), which, in turn, depends on the control policy. For systems which contain subsystems that are disjoint across the state variables, distributed optimization techniques exist, which iteratively update subsystems concurrently and then exchange information between subsystems with shared control variables. This article presents a method, based on the asynchronous alternating directions method of multiplier algorithm, which extends these techniques to subsystems with shared control and state variables, while maintaining similar communication structure. The method is used as the basis for splitting network flow control problems into many subnetwork control problems with shared boundary conditions. The decentralized and parallel nature of the method permits high scalability with respect to the size of the network. For highly nonconvex applications, an efficient method, based on adjoint gradient computations, is presented for solving subproblems with shared state. The method is applied to decentralized, coordinated ramp metering and variable speed limit control on a realistic freeway network model using distributed model predictive control.
Convenient synthesis of 2'-deoxy-2-fluoroadenosine from 2-fluoroadenine.

Abstract A convenient synthesis of 2′-deoxy-2-fluoroadenosine from commercially available 2-fluoroadenine is described. The coupling reaction of silylated 2-fluoroadenine with phenyl 3,5-bis[O-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)]-2-deoxy-1-thio-D-erythro-pentofuranoside gave the corresponding 2-fluoro-2′-deoxyadenosine derivative (α/β =1:1) in good yield. The α- and β-anomers were separated by chromatography, and then desilylated to give compounds 1a and 1b.
Gray code chaining: a high performance hashing algorithm for limited storage applications

Hardware continues to evolve which implies that software and the data structures contained therein must also. Motes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFIDs) and embedded systems are examples of hardware which require updated software and storage structures because of limited amounts of storage. Even though processor speeds have increased significantly recently, access times for external storage have lagged. This paper introduces Gray Code Chaining (GCC), a hashing scheme which provides the best retrieval performance to date when storage is limited. In fact, the performance approaches the theoretical limit but uses only 40% of the storage otherwise needed for the link fields. Unlike other methods, its retrieval performance actually improves as the file size increases. The method is also easier to implement than previous chaining methods.
Fault Tolerance in Embedded Real-Time Systems: Importance and Treatment of Common Mode Failures

Dependable computer architectures used in critical embedded real-time applications have successfully employed Byzantine resilience techniques to tolerate physical, internal, operational faults. The dominant cause of failure of a correctly designed Byzantine resilient computer today is the common-mode failure, i.e., the nearly simultaneously failure of multiple redundant copies, generally due to a single cause. Unlike independent hardware faults, for which theoretically rigorous fault tolerance solutions have been implemented, the sources of common-mode failures are so diverse that numerous disparate techniques are required to predict, avoid, remove, and tolerate them.
Examining how German and British Consumers’ Food Safety Concerns Moderate their Country of Origin Preferences for Beef

In the European Union (EU), country of origin labeling (COOL) became mandatory in 2002 in response to the United Kingdom’s bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis. Although the EU has enacted one of the most information rich COOL policies for beef globally, little research has focused on origin labeling in the EU. Therefore, we determined how German and British consumers’ food safety concerns moderated their willingness to pay (WTP) for foreign (country of origin labeled) beef. Additional attributes, such as hormone-free labeling, quality assurance seals and promotional gourmet labeling were also analyzed. Random parameter logit model results indicated that British and German consumers’ WTP for foreign beef is moderated by their specific food safety concerns. For example, as German consumers are increasingly concerned about BSE, their WTP for beef from Great Britain was most negative. When controlling for consumers’ food safety concern in general, British consumers had the lowest WTP for beef from France, and German consumers had the lowest WTP for beef from the U.S. German and British consumers’ had the highest WTP for hormone-free beef. These results are informational to the international trade of beef.
Electrokinetics meets electrohydrodynamics

Despite studying the same subject – electrically induced flow – the fields of electrokinetics (EK) and electrohydrodynamics (EHD) have developed separately, for different types of fluids and interfaces. In colloids or porous media, EK phenomena derive from the electro-osmotic slip of a liquid electrolyte across the neutral electric double layer on a solid surface. On the other hand, EHD phenomena involve poorly conducting neutral fluids and solids, whose interfaces acquire net charge in response to electric fields. Over the past decade, combined theories of EK and EHD have emerged for fluid/solid interfaces, and now Schnitzer & Yariv (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 773, 2015, pp. 1–33) have taken a major step towards unifying EK and EHD for fluid/fluid interfaces. Following previous work by Baygents and Saville, they derive the classical Taylor–Melcher model of droplet EHD as the large-field thin-double-layer limit of the electrokinetic equations, thus elucidating the ubiquitous ‘leaky dielectric’ approximation. Future work could consider the secondary electro-osmotic flow and electrophoretic motion of the drop (neglected here as small perturbations) and allow for more general EK models.
Stratified Flow into a Line Sink

Study of discharge of stratified fluid through horizontal slot at end of channel; experiments show that when densimetric Froude number is less than 0.28 flow pattern is divided into two horizontal regions; stagnant upper region and lower region in which entire discharge is concentrated; results obtained are useful for solution of engineering problems involving stratified flows.
Security of a semi-quantum protocol where reflections contribute to the secret key

In this paper, we provide a proof of unconditional security for a semi-quantum key distribution protocol introduced in a previous work. This particular protocol demonstrated the possibility of using X basis states to contribute to the raw key of the two users (as opposed to using only direct measurement results) even though a semi-quantum participant cannot directly manipulate such states. In this work, we provide a complete proof of security by deriving a lower bound of the protocol's key rate in the asymptotic scenario. Using this bound, we are able to find an error threshold value such that for all error rates less than this threshold, it is guaranteed that A and B may distill a secure secret key; for error rates larger than this threshold, A and B should abort. We demonstrate that this error threshold compares favorably to several fully quantum protocols. We also comment on some interesting observations about the behavior of this protocol under certain noise scenarios.
Grey swan tropical cyclones

Modelling reveals that Dubai in the Persian Gulf region, Tampa in Florida, and Cairns in Australia are at risk of extreme tropical cyclones—‘grey swan’ events—capable of inducing surge impact beyond anything experienced in the historical record.
Oil prices and the world business cycle: A causal investigation

Oil shocks have been often considered as exogenous factors responsible of economic downturns. In this paper the hypothesized exogeneity of oil prices is investigated by using running cross-correlations, distributed lag-regressions, Granger causality tests and VAR models applied to annual data 1960-2014 of oil prices and global economic activity—as measured by world GDP. Strong evidence is found that (a) the relation between oil prices and the global economy has significantly changed since the 1960s to the present, and (b) oil prices are endogenously influenced by the level of activity in the global economy. Evidence of a negative effect of oil prices on the global economy is weak for the whole sample and null for recent decades. These findings are consistent with former results using the Kilian index, which is shown to be a leading indicator of activity in the world economy. As such it is significantly correlated with other indicators of the global business cycle, such as the rate of growth of world output and the annual growth of CO2 global emissions.
Efficient algorithms for adversarial contextual learning

We provide the first oracle efficient sublinear regret algorithms for adversarial versions of the contextual bandit problem. In this problem, the learner repeatedly makes an action on the basis of a context and receives reward for the chosen action, with the goal of achieving reward competitive with a large class of policies. We analyze two settings: i) in the transductive setting the learner knows the set of contexts a priori, ii) in the small separator setting, there exists a small set of contexts such that any two policies behave differently on one of the contexts in the set. Our algorithms fall into the Follow-The-Perturbed-Leader family (Kalai & Vempala, 2005) and achieve regret O(T3/4√K log(N)) in the transductive setting and O(T2/3d3/4K√log(N)) in the separator setting, where T is the number of rounds, K is the number of actions, N is the number of base-line policies, and d is the size of the separator. We actually solve the more general adversarial contextual semi-bandit linear optimization problem, whilst in the full information setting we address the even more general contextual combinatorial optimization. We provide several extensions and implications of our algorithms, such as switching regret and efficient learning with predictable sequences.
A note on cusp forms as p-adic limits

Abstract Several authors have recently proved results which express cusp forms as p-adic limits of weakly holomorphic modular forms under repeated application of Atkin's U-operator. The proofs involve techniques from the theory of weak harmonic Maass forms, and in particular a result of Guerzhoy, Kent, and Ono on the p-adic coupling of mock modular forms and their shadows. Here we obtain strengthened versions of these results using techniques from the theory of holomorphic modular forms.