cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The combinatorics of object recognition in cluttered environments using constrained search

Abstract The problem of recognizing rigid objects from noisy sensory data has been successfully attacked in previous work by using a constrained search approach. Empirical investigations have shown the method to be very effective when recognizing and localizing isolated objects, but less effective when dealing with occluded objects where much of the sensory data arises from objects other than the one of interest. When clustering techniques such as the Hough transform are used to isolate likely subspaces of the search space, empirical performance in cluttered scenes improves considerably. In this note, we establish formal bounds on the combinatorics of this approach. Under some simple assumptions, we show that the expected complexity of recognizing isolated objects is quadratic in the number of model and sensory fragments, but that the expected complexity of recognizing objects in cluttered environments is exponential in the size of the correct interpretation. We also provide formal bounds on the efficacy of using the Hough transform to preselect likely subspaces, showing that the problem remains exponential, but that in practical terms the size of the problem is significantly decreased.
Expander Graph based Key Distribution Mechanisms in Wireless Sensor Networks

Secure communications between large number of sensor nodes that are randomly scattered over a hostile territory, necessitate efficient key distribution schemes. However, due to limited resources at sensor nodes such schemes cannot be based on post deployment computations. Instead, pairwise (symmetric) keys are required to be pre-distributed by assigning a list of keys, (a.k.a. key-chain), to each sensor node. If a pair of nodes does not have a common key after deployment then they must find a key-path with secured links. The objective is to minimize the keychain size while (i) maximizing pairwise key sharing probability and resilience, and (ii) minimizing average key-path length. This paper presents a deterministic key distribution scheme based on Expander Graphs. It shows how to map the parameters (e.g., degree, expansion, and diameter) of a Ramanujan Expander Graph to the desired properties of a key distribution scheme for a physical network topology.
Constrained Digold(I) Diaryls: Syntheses, Crystal Structures, and Photophysics

A series of di(gold(I) aryls), L(AuR)(2) (L = DPEphos, DBFphos, or Xantphos; R = 1-naphthyl, 2-naphthyl, 9-phenanthryl, or 1-pyrenyl), have been prepared. The complexes were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, static and time-dependent optical spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, microanalysis, and X-ray crystallography. In addition, DFT calculations on model dinuclear gold complexes have been used to examine the electronic structures. Photophysical properties of the dinuclear complexes have been compared to mononuclear analogues. Low-temperature excited-state lifetimes for both the mononuclear and dinuclear complexes in toluene indicate triplet-state emission. Time-resolved DFT calculations suggest that emission originates from aryl-ligand transitions, even if the LUMO resides elsewhere.
The role of primary jets in the dome region aerodynamics of a model can combustor

The role of the primary jets in the aerothermal behavior and overall performance of a gas turbine combustor is explored through an experimental study. The study is performed in a model laboratory combustor that possesses the essential features of practical combustors. The test bed is designed to accommodate optical access for laser diagnostics and overall flow visualization, and is capable of incorporating variable inlet geometries. In the present case, the combustor is operated on JP-4 at atmospheric pressure. A parametric variation in the number of jets per row and axial location of the jet row is performed. The aerodynamic and thermal fields are characterized using laser anemometry and a thermocouple probe, respectively. Species concentrations are acquired via extractive probe sampling. The results demonstrate the importance of primary jet location with respect to the dome swirler. The percent mass recirculated into the dome region, as well as the overall uniformity of mixing and combustion efficiency, are substantially influenced by jet row location. The momentum ratio of the incoming primary jet stream to that of the approaching crossflow of reacting dome gases has a direct impact on the mixing patterns as well. An increase in the number of primary jets leads, in the present case, to more uniform mixing.
The asymptotic dimension of the first Grigorchuk group is infinity

We describe a sufficient condition for a finitely generated group to have infinite asymptotic dimension. As an application, we conclude that the first Grigorchuk group has infinite asymptotic dimension.
The Fixed Weighting Nature of A Cross-Evaluation Model

Cross-evaluation has been touted as a powerful extension of Data Envelopment Analysis that provides, not only a unique ordering among the Decision Making Units (DMUs), but also eliminates unrealistic weighting schemes without requiring the elicitation of weight restrictions from application area experts. The goal of this paper is to prove, in the single-input, multiple-output case, cross-evaluation implicitly uses a single fixed set of weights. We demonstrate how this unseen fixed set of weights may still be unrealistic.
Cosmological parameters after WMAP5: forecasts for Planck and future galaxy surveys

With its increased sensitivity and resolution, the Planck s atellite is expected to improve the measurement of most cosmological parameters by several factors with respect to current WMAP results. The actual performance however, may depend upon various aspects of the data analysis. In this paper we analyse the impact of specific s of the data analysis on the actual final results. We also explore the synergies in combinin g Planck results with future galaxy surveys. We find that Planck will improve constraints on most cosmological parameters by a factor 3‐4 and on the tensor‐to‐scalar ratio r by a factor 9. Also inflationary parameters, like r, ns and nrun , are practically not degenerate any longer. The tensor spec tral index, however, is little constrained. A combination of the 70 to 143 GHz channels will contain about 90% of all possible information, with 143 GHz polarisation information carrying about half of the constraining power on r. Also, the error on r degrades by a factor 2 if no B modes are considered in the analysis. High‐l temperature information is essential for determination of ns andb, while improving noise properties increase the l ‐range where Planck would be cosmic variance limited in polarisation, implying a significant im provement on the determination of r, � and As. However, a sub-percent difference in the FWHM used in the data analysis with respect to the one in the map will result in a bias for several p arameters. Finally, Planck will greatly help future missions like LSST and CIP reach their potentials by providing tight constraints on parameters like ns and nrun . Considering Planck together with these probes will
Left-Turn Prohibition and Partial Grade Separation for Signalized Intersections: Planning-Level Assessment

AbstractRecurring congestion at signalized intersections is caused by the inability of traffic signal controls to serve demand even in cities where advanced traffic signal timing and management systems are in operation. Left-turn prohibition (LTP) and partial grade separation with low-clearance underpass (LCUP) are possible congestion mitigation actions for urban complex and congested signalized intersections that have exhausted other options for capacity enhancement, such as lane addition and signal timing optimization. LTP and LCUP improve traffic signal efficiency by eliminating signal phases, increasing green splits, or adding lanes. They also improve intersection safety by eliminating certain conflicts. At the same time, they necessitate traffic rerouting, may have negative impacts at downstream locations, and may have perceived or actual impacts to accessibility and neighborhood character. A planning-level assessment method to quantify and compare the benefits and costs LTP and LCUP was developed to...
CASTE OR COLONY? INDIANIZING RACE IN THE UNITED STATES

Since the 1830s thinkers in both the United States and India have sought to establish analogies between their respective countries. Although many have felt the US black experience to have obvious parallels in India, there has been a fundamental disagreement about whether being black is comparable to being colonized or to being untouchable. By examining these two competing visions, this essay introduces new topics to the study of black internationalism, including the caste school of race relations, B. R. Ambedkar's anti-caste movement, and the changing significance of India for Martin Luther King, Jr.
The economics of lending with joint liability: theory and practice

Institutions that rely on joint liability to facilitate lending to the poor have a long history and are now a common feature of many developing countries. Economists have proposed several theories of joint-liability lending that stress various aspects of its informational and enforcement advantages over other forms of lending. This paper analyzes how joint-liability lending promotes screening, monitoring, state verification and enforcement of repayment. An empirical section draws on case studies to highlight how joint liability works in practice. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Convenient Preparation of 2,7,8‐Trimethyl‐6‐hydroxychroman‐2‐carboxylic Acid (γ‐Trolox)

Abstract The title chroman is useful in synthesis and as a water‐soluble analog of γ‐tocopherol, a member of the vitamin E family. This new synthesis of γ‐trolox proceeds via selective aromatic demethylation of Trolox, the more easily available 2,5,7,8‐tetramethyl homolog compound. This route is shorter than the previous synthesis, avoids the use of cyanide and methoxybutadiene, and requires no chromatography.
An Incremental Model for Developing Educational Critiquing Systems: Experiences with the Java Critiquer

Individualized feedback is an important factor in fostering learning. However, it is often not seen in schools because providing it places considerable additional workload on teachers. One way to solve this problem is to employ critiquing systems. These systems, however, require significant development effort before they can be put into use. In this article, we describe an incremental authoring model that facilitates the development of educational critiquing systems by integrating manual critiquing with critique authoring. As a result of the integration, the development of critiquing systems becomes an evolutionary process. The model explores a vision for developing educational critiquing systems with much less upfront development effort. We describe a system that we built, the Java Critiquer, as an exemplar of our model. Evaluation results from performance testing and real-life usage of the system have shown that the system successfully provides a tool for accumulating critiques and at the same time helping teachers critique student code.
Quantifying the Relationships among Drug Classes

The similarity of drug targets is typically measured using sequence or structural information. Here, we consider chemo-centric approaches that measure target similarity on the basis of their ligands, asking how chemoinformatics similarities differ from those derived bioinformatically, how stable the ligand networks are to changes in chemoinformatics metrics, and which network is the most reliable for prediction of pharmacology. We calculated the similarities between hundreds of drug targets and their ligands and mapped the relationship between them in a formal network. Bioinformatics networks were based on the BLAST similarity between sequences, while chemoinformatics networks were based on the ligand-set similarities calculated with either the Similarity Ensemble Approach (SEA) or a method derived from Bayesian statistics. By multiple criteria, bioinformatics and chemoinformatics networks differed substantially, and only occasionally did a high sequence similarity correspond to a high ligand-set similarity. In contrast, the chemoinformatics networks were stable to the method used to calculate the ligand-set similarities and to the chemical representation of the ligands. Also, the chemoinformatics networks were more natural and more organized, by network theory, than their bioinformatics counterparts: ligand-based networks were found to be small-world and broad-scale.
Mean field studies of exotic nuclei

Full three dimensional static and dynamic mean field calculations using collocation basis splines with a Skyrme type Hamiltonian are described. This program is developed to address the difficult theoretical challengesoffered by exotic nuclei. Ground state and deformation properties are calculated using static HartreeFock, Hartree-Fock+BCS and constrained Hartree-Fock models. Collective properties, such as reaction rates and resonances, are described using a new alternate method for evaluating linear response theory, which is constructed directly on top of the static calculation. This provides a consistent description of the ground state, deformation and collective nuclear properties. Sample results are presented for the giant multiple resonances of 16 O.
Improvement in rod-pinch diode performance with anode heating

Summary form only given. We have studied anode heating in Gamble II rod-pinch experiments as a means of eliminating the proton component of the anode plasma. The rod is isolated with a small flashover switch and biased to 4-6 kV. Electrons from a nearby filament then heat the rod to about 2000 K for several minutes prior to and during the shot. Carbon activation measurements indicate that the proton component of the ion beam is effectively removed.
Hiding in Plain Sight: American Politics and the Carceral State

Over the past three decades, the United States has built a carceral state that is unprecedented among Western countries and in US history. The emergence and consolidation of the US carceral state are a major milestone in American political development.The explosive growth of the prison population and the retributive turn in US penal policy are well documented. But the political causes and consequences of this massive expansion are not well understood. This is starting to change. During the past decade or so, scholars in criminology, sociology, and law, recently joined by a few political scientists, have produced outstanding works on the connection between politics and the origins of the carceral state. Recently, the wider political consequences and analytical implications of the carceral state are a new and expanding area of interest. The carceral state has grown so huge that it has begun to transform fundamental democratic institutions, from free and fair elections to an accurate and representative censu...
Aerosols and Ice Particle Size in Tropical Cumulonimbus

Abstract A retrieval of ice crystal size near the tops of active deep cumulonimbus clouds (Cb) throughout the Tropics over a 12-yr period is presented based on radiances from the 3.7-μm channel of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). Effective diameters (De) are 10%–20% smaller over land than ocean. Downwind of continents, crystals are smallest when low-level, offshore transport is strongest. Other regional, seasonal, interannual, and long-term variations are also found. These are compared with variations of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectroradiometer (TOMS) retrieved tropospheric aerosol and with variations of convective intensity and amount in an effort to identify potential causes by statistical association. Ice particles prove to be smaller when aerosol amounts are greater and when convection is more intense, but appear unrelated to convective rate of occurrence. Aerosols appear to be the most important influence on seasonal and longer timescales, with a consistent ∼20% decrease in Cb c...
Matter in extremis: Ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions at RHIC

We review the physics of nuclear matter at high energy density and the experimental search for the Quark-Gluon Plasma at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The data obtained in the first three years of the RHIC physics program provide several lines of evidence that a novel state of matter has been created in the most violent, head-on collisions of Au nuclei at √ s = 200 GeV. Jet quenching and global measurements show that the initial energy density of the strongly interacting medium generated in the collision is about two orders of magnitude larger than that of cold nuclear matter, well above the critical density for the deconfinement phase transition predicted by lattice QCD. The observed collective flow patterns imply that the system thermalizes early in its evolution, with the dynamics of its expansion consistent with ideal hydrodynamic flow based on a Quark-Gluon Plasma equation of state.
Eddies in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, Observed from Ice-Tethered Profilers

Five ice-tethered profilers (ITPs), deployed between 2004 and 2006, have provided detailed potential temperature and salinity S profiles from 21 anticyclonic eddy encounters in the central Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean. The 12–35-m-thick eddies have center depths between 42 and 69 m in the Arctic halocline, and are shallower and less dense than the majority of eddies observed previously in the central Canada Basin. They are characterized by anomalously cold and low stratification, and have horizontal scales on the order of, or less than, the Rossby radius of deformation (about 10 km). Maximum azimuthal speeds estimated from dynamic heights (assuming cyclogeostrophic balance) are between 9 and 26 cm s 1 , an order of magnitude larger than typical ambient flow speeds in the central basin. Eddy –S and potential vorticity properties, as well as horizontal and vertical scales, are consistent with their formation by instability of a surface front at about 80°N that appears in historical CTD and expendable CTD (XCTD) measurements. This would suggest eddy lifetimes longer than 6 months. While the baroclinic instability of boundary currents cannot be ruled out as a generation mechanism, it is less likely since deeper eddies that would originate from the deeper-reaching boundary flows are not observed in the survey region.
Enantioselective and Regioselective Pyrone Diels–Alder Reactions of Vinyl Sulfones: Total Synthesis of (+)-Cavicularin

The total synthesis of (+)-cavicularin is described. The synthesis features an enantio- and regioselective pyrone Diels–Alder reaction of a vinyl sulfone to construct the cyclophane architecture of the natural product. The Diels–Alder substrate was prepared by a regioselective one-pot three-component Suzuki reaction of a non-symmetric dibromoarene.
Design for Location? The Impact of Manufacturing Offshore on Technology Competitiveness in the Optoelectronics Industry

This paper presents a case study of the impact of manufacturing offshore on technology competitiveness in the optoelectronics industry. It examines a critical design/facility location decision being faced by optoelectronic component manufacturers. This paper uses a combination of simulation modeling and empirical data to demonstrate the economic constraints facing these firms. The results show that production location changes the relative production economics of the two competing designs---one emerging, one prevailing---that are currently perfect substitutes for each other on the telecom market, but not necessarily perfect substitutes in other markets in the long term. Specifically, if optoelectronic component firms shift production from the United States to countries in developing East Asia, the emerging designs that were developed in the United States no longer pay. Production characteristics are different abroad, and the prevailing design can be more cost effective in developing country production environments. The emerging designs, however, have performance characteristics that may be valuable in the long term to the larger computing market and to pushing forward Moore's law. This paper concludes by exploring the dilemma this creates for the optoelectronic component manufacturers and recommending a framework based on which the results may be generalized to other industries.
Making Monetary Policy by Committee

I was Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board while I was preparing my Marshall Lectures for delivery at Cambridge in 1995. So I asked the Board staff to research what had been written about making monetary policy by committees -- as opposed to by individuals. Although they were (and remain) a knowledgeable and thorough bunch, they unearthed almost nothing. So when I delivered the Robbins Lectures at the London School of Economics the following year,1 this is what I concluded on the subject: My own hunch is that, on balance, the additional monetary policy inertia imparted by group decision making provides a net benefit to society? But my main point is simpler: My experience as a member of the FOMC left me with a strong feeling that the theoretical fiction that monetary policy is made by a single individual maximizing a well-defined preference function misses something important. In my view, monetary theorists should start paying some attention to the nature of decision making by committee, which is rarely mentioned in the academic literature. (Blinder (1998), p. 22) I made reference in that lecture to only one paper on the subject, Faust's (1996) clever model of the seemingly-odd construction of the FOMC, though I should have cited Waller's (1992) earlier work as well. (Mea culpa.) My point is that, up to then, there had been hardly any research on committee decision making. Fortunately, that is no longer the case. By the time of my three Okun lectures at Yale in 2002 (Blinder (2004)), the subject merited a whole lecture, including references to about ten papers on the subject -- and I missed some. (Mea culpa again.) The literature has continued to grow since then, including seven papers at a Netherlands Central Bank conference in 2005 and eleven papers at a Bank of Norway conference last year. The study of central banking by committee thus appears to be a growth industry, albeit a small one.
Measuring nanomechanical motion with a microwave cavity interferometer

Measurements of the position of a nanoscale beam using a microwave cavity detector represents a promising step towards being able to measure displacements at the quantum limit.
Outcomes in patients with interrupted aortic arch and associated anomalies: a 20-year experience.

Objective: The surgical results for the repair of interrupted aortic arch (IAA) have evolved in recent years. We report our results for staged repair of this complex congenital malformation. Methods: Sixty-five patients (mean age, 16.9 41.7 days) were diagnosed with IAA and referred for surgical therapy. The surgical management strategy at our institution between 1982 and 2005 has been one-stage complete repair (n = 13) or staged repair (n = 52) in selected patients. Non-complex patients (group I, n = 51) had a ventricular septal defect (87%), aortopulmonary window (8%), and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (27%). Group II (n = 14) were patients with Taussig—Bing double outlet right ventricle (n =6 ) or truncus arteriosus (n = 8). Method of staged repair of IAA was to transect and turn down the left carotid artery and anastomosis it to the descending aorta (n = 41) or graft interposition (n = 2) combined with a pulmonary artery (PA) banding followed in a few months by delayed ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure and PA de-banding. Results: There were 5 early and 10 late deaths. The actuarial survival including early mortality was 92% at 1 year, 81% at 5 years, and 76% at 10 and 15 years. There was an 81% 15-year survival for children in group I compared with a 54% for children in group II (p < 0.001). Risk factors for increased mortality by univariate analysis were as follows: (1) primary aortic anastomosis (p = 0.03), (2) presence of complex anomalies (p = 0.05), and (3) initial IAA repair performed before 1994 (p = 0.05). Actuarial freedom from any type of aortic reoperation or intervention was 86% at 1 year, 69% at 5 years, and 60% at 10 and 15 years. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified no tested variables as risk factors for reoperation. The majority (86%) was in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I, and 14% remained in NYHA class II. During the postoperative course there were no neurologic deficits, seizures, and growth disturbances in any patient. Conclusion: Staged repair of IAA using a left carotid artery turn down can be safely applied in IAA patients with and without other intracardiac anomalies with good results. Use of the left carotid artery for arch reconstruction did not result in any detectable neurological events or growth disturbances later in life. Associated anomalies played an important role in outcomes. The long-term probability for reoperation and/or reintervention remains high regardless of operative technique. # 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Coal Law from the Old World: A Perspective on Land Use and Environmental Regulation in the Coal Industries of the United States, Great Britain, and West Germany

Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/lsfp Part of the Corporation and Enterprise Law Commons, Economics Commons, Energy Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Government Contracts Commons, Land Use Planning Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Writing and Research Commons, Natural Resources Law Commons, Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons, Organizations Commons, Partnerships Commons, Politics Commons, and the Social Welfare Law Commons
Validation of Instruments to Assess Home Food Environment of Pre-adolescents: A Pilot Study

Background: Assessing the home food environment is important for elucidating the underlying causes of childhood obesity; however, few instruments have assessed the visibility of foods in the home along with their availability and accessibility. The purpose of this pilot study was to validate a Home Food Assessment tool (HFA) to evaluate the availability, visibility and accessibility of actual home foods and a 30-day Home Food Environment Survey (HFES) to assess the foods regularly present in the homes of pre-adolescents. Methods: Thirteen pairs of parents and their children aged 9 to 12 years participated in the study in 2014. The HFA was completed by the research staff and parents independently for criterion validity. Kappa statistics was used to compare parent and staff reports. Parents also completed HFES during the home visit and one week after for test-retest reliability which was analyzed using the Intra- Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Cronbach's alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the instruments. Results: Of the 23 healthy and unhealthy items from HFA, moderate to outstanding agreement (0.41-1.00) between research staff and parents was observed on 21, 14, and 18 items for availability, visibility and accessibility, respectively. Two items had low agreement scores for all three categories (availability, accessibility and visibility) and therefore were either modified or removed. Agreement levels for items of fresh fruits and vegetables ranged from moderate to outstanding (0.41-1.00), with the exception of four items. Internal consistency for 12 healthy food, 11 unhealthy food, 18 fresh fruit, and 14 fresh vegetable items were 0.94, 0.91, 0.90, and 0.87, respectively. For HFES, ICCs for test-retest reliabilities were high (0.69-0.96) except for two reduced-fat items. The total scores of the available healthy (r = 0.87, P = 0.0001) or unhealthy items (r = 0.85, P = 0.0005) from the HFA were positively correlated to those from HFES. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that HFA and HFES are participant-friendly, reliable and valid instruments to assess the home food environment of pre-adolescents. These two instruments complement each other and are useful for future research in exploring the relationship between home food environment and weight status of pre-adolescents.
On the Stability of Numerical Integration Routines for Ordinary Differential Equations

Numerical integration methods for the solution of initial value problems for ordinary vector differential equations may be modelled as discrete time feedback systems. The stability criteria discovered in modern control theory are applied to these systems and criteria involving the routine, the step size and the differential equation are derived. Linear multistep, Runge-Kutta, and predictor-corrector methods are all investigated.
Sculptured—thin—film plasmonic—polaritonics

The solution of a boundary-value problem formulated for the Kretschmann configuration shows that the phase speed of a surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) wave guided by the planar interface of a sufficiently thin metal film and a sculptured thin film (STF) depends on the vapor incidence angle used while fabricating the STF by physical vapor deposition. Furthermore, it may be possible to engineer the phase speed by periodically varying the vapor incidence angle. The phase speed of the SPP wave can be set by selecting higher mean value and/or the modulation amplitude of the vapor incidence angle.
Regularity in Time for Weak Solutions of a Continuum Model for Epitaxial Growth with Elasticity on Vicinal Surfaces

The evolution equation derived by Xiang (SIAM J. Appl. Math. 63:241–258, 2002) to describe vicinal surfaces in heteroepitaxial growth is (1) where h denotes the surface height of the film, and H is the Hilbert transform. Existence of solutions was obtained by Dal Maso et al. (Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 212: 1037–1064). The regularity in time was left unresolved. The aim of this paper is to prove existence, uniqueness, and Lipschitz regularity in time for weak solutions, under suitable assumptions on the initial datum.
Predicted TF41 performance with the AGARD research fuel

Calculations are presented to predict the performance of an alternative fuel in a conventional gas turbine combustor. Existing data for fuel effects on the Detroit Diesel Allison TF41 combustor, a can-annular burner, are correlated with the semi-empirical characteristic time model. The correlations are used to predict the ignition, stability, and combustion efficiency performance of a proposed alternative fuel, the AGARD Research Fuel, in the TF41 combustor. Compared to standard JP-4 and JP-8 fuels, the alternative fuel will provide similar combustion efficiency levels, reduced flame stability, and significantly degraded ignition performance. a b cps do
Pedestrian Detection with Unsupervised Multi-stage Feature Learning

Pedestrian detection is a problem of considerable practical interest. Adding to the list of successful applications of deep learning methods to vision, we report state-of-the-art and competitive results on all major pedestrian datasets with a convolutional network model. The model uses a few new twists, such as multi-stage features, connections that skip layers to integrate global shape information with local distinctive motif information, and an unsupervised method based on convolutional sparse coding to pre-train the filters at each stage.
The Role of Patent Rights in Mergers: Consolidation in Plant Biotechnology

Few micro-level empirical papers have addressed the impact of the patent system on industry structure. Using firm-level patent data for public and private firms in plant biotechnology, we develop a measure of patent enforceability. Duration models show that patent statistics are a useful predictor of the timing of merger activity. We find that patent enforceability is an important factor influencing the likelihood of mergers. Mergers in plant biotechnology may be partially motivated by the enforcement of patent rights when firms have overlapping technologies; some of the merger activity may be explained by attempts to avoid mutually blocking technology, as exemplified in the case of Roundup Ready corn.
Molecular recognition and switching via radical dimerization

This article highlights the emerging use of the interactions of radical π-dimers to drive both molecular recognition and switching processes within supramolecular systems and mechanically interlocked molecular architectures. The enhanced stability experienced by dimers of radical cation species when encapsulated, as compared to when they are free in solution, is driving their useful incorporation into functional systems. The redox stimulation used in the production of radical cation species provides the ideal trigger for molecular switching events. Moreover, the nature and strength of the radical dimerization events intro- duces a completely novel recognition motif within supramolecular and mechanically inter- locked molecular systems, complementing well-established techniques and enabling new research opportunities to blossom.
13 Bits Per Incident Photon Optical Communications Demonstration

Minimizing the mass and power burden of a laser transceiver on a spacecraft for interplanetary optical communications links drives requires operation in a “photon starved” regime. The relevant performance metric in the photon starved regime is Photon Information Efficiency (PIE) with units of bits per photon. Measuring this performance at the detector plane of an optical communications receiver, prior art has achieved performance levels around one bit per incident photon using pulse position modulation (PPM). By combining a PPM modulator with greater than 75 dB extinction ratio with a tungsten silicide (WSi) superconducting nanowire detector with greater than 83% detection efficiency we have demonstrated an optical communications link at 13 bits per incident photon.
A modification of Einstein-Schrödinger theory that contains Einstein-Maxwell-Yang-Mills theory

The Lambda-renormalized Einstein–Schrodinger theory is a modification of the original Einstein–Schrodinger theory in which a cosmological constant term is added to the Lagrangian, and it has been shown to closely approximate Einstein– Maxwell theory. Here we generalize this theory to non-Abelian fields by letting the fields be composed of d × d Hermitian matrices. The resulting theory incorporates the U(1) and SU(d) gauge terms of Einstein–Maxwell–Yang–Mills theory, and is invariant under U(1) and SU(d) gauge transformations. The special case where symmetric fields are multiples of the identity matrix closely approximates Einstein–Maxwell–Yang–Mills theory in that the extra terms in the field equations are < 10−13 of the usual terms for worst-case fields accessible to measurement. The theory contains a symmetric metric and Hermitian vector potential, and is easily coupled to the additional fields of Weinberg–Salam theory or flipped SU(5) GUT theory. We also consider the case where symmetric fields have small traceless parts, and show how this suggests a possible dark matter candidate.
Remarks on Missing Faces and Generalized Lower Bounds on Face Numbers

We consider simplicial polytopes, and more general simplicial complexes, without missing faces above a fixed dimension. Sharp analogues of McMullen’s generalized lower bounds, and of Barnette’s lower bounds, are conjectured for these families of complexes. Partial results on these conjectures are presented.
Particle shape effects on the stress response of granular packings

We present measurements of the stress response of packings formed from a wide range of particle shapes. Besides spheres these include convex shapes such as the Platonic solids, truncated tetrahedra, and triangular bipyramids, as well as more complex, non-convex geometries such as hexapods with various arm lengths, dolos, and tetrahedral frames. All particles were 3D-printed in hard resin. Well-defined initial packing states were established through preconditioning by cyclic loading under given confinement pressure. Starting from such initial states, stress–strain relationships for axial compression were obtained at four different confining pressures for each particle type. While confining pressure has the largest overall effect on the mechanical response, we find that particle shape controls the details of the stress–strain curves and can be used to tune packing stiffness and yielding. By correlating the experimentally measured values for the effective Young's modulus under compression, yield stress and energy loss during cyclic loading, we identify trends among the various shapes that allow for designing a packing's aggregate behavior.
Pronucleotides: toward the in vivo delivery of antiviral and anticancer nucleotides.

To overcome the many hurdles preventing the use of antiviral and anticancer nucleosides as therapeutics, the development of a prodrug methodology (i.e., pronucleotide) for the in vivo delivery of nucleotides has been proposed as a solution. The ideal pronucleotide should be non-toxic, stable in plasma and blood, capable of being i. v. and/or orally dosed, and intracellularly convertible to the corresponding nucleotide. Although this goal has yet to be achieved, many clever and imaginative pronucleotide approaches have been developed, which are likely to be important pharmacological tools. This review will discuss the major advances and future directions of the emerging field of antiviral and anticancer pronucleotide design and development.
Holonomic D-modules on abelian varieties

We study the Fourier-Mukai transform for holonomic D-modules on complex abelian varieties. Among other things, we show that the cohomology support loci of a holonomic D-module are finite unions of linear subvarieties, which go through points of finite order for objects of geometric origin; that the standard t-structure on the derived category of holonomic complexes corresponds, under the Fourier-Mukai transform, to a certain perverse coherent t-structure in the sense of Kashiwara and Arinkin-Bezrukavnikov; and that Fourier-Mukai transforms of simple holonomic D-modules are intersection complexes in this t-structure. This supports the conjecture that Fourier-Mukai transforms of holonomic D-modules are “hyperkahler perverse sheaves”.
Same as it ever was: The search for evidence of increasing hypercompetition

Some strategy scholars and practitioners contend that markets have become increasingly hypercompetitive in recent years. We examine this contention by analyzing industry and business performance patterns in a broad sample of firms drawn from the Compustat Industry Segment database for the 1978–97 period. We find little support for the argument that markets have become more hypercompetitive. From the late 1970s to the late-1980s we observe decreased performance and market stability, consistent with increasing hypercompetition contentions. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, however, trends reverse and performance and market stability increase. For strategy research, our results suggest that hypercompetitive perspectives are important but no more so now than they were in recent years. For practice, our results suggest that managers today face markets no more dynamic and opportunities to gain and sustain competitive advantage no more challenging than in the past. Accordingly, they should continue developing a portfolio of skills to manage businesses whether conditions are increasingly stable or unstable. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Learning about War and Peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa

Two-thirds of the world's conflicts are in Africa. In particular, the Great Lakes region (Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Tanzania) continues to see conflicts that are complex, extreme and seemingly intractable. By exploring the narrative experiences of those most affected by the conflicts in the region - specifically refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda living in camps in north-western Tanzania - this article examines to what extent educative processes (holistic formal and informal learning processes) affect people's experience and engagement in violent conflict. The article draws on the author's research that identified different information circuits by which people learned about conflict. In opposition to the common perception that formal schooling effects change, the findings indicated that the primary mechanisms were oral/aural, such as gossip, traditional storytelling and radio. Individual and collective identities were constructed through this process and the research identified how identities could be shifted through different formal and informal educative processes - often through indoctrination or coercion. This article concludes with an indication of alternative strategies for conflict prevention and peacebuilding (particularly within a refugee or similar context). Efforts at peacebuilding continue to falter in the region and this illustrates the need to construct a more inclusive peacemaking process, taking into account the insights and values of those most affected.
Comparisons between Mammalian and Artificial Olfaction Based on Arrays of Carbon Black−Polymer Composite Vapor Detectors

Arrays of broadly cross-reactive vapor sensors provide a man-made implementation of an olfactory system, in which an analyte elicits a response from many receptors and each receptor responds to a variety of analytes. Pattern recognition methods are then used to detect analytes based on the collective response of the sensor array. With the use of this architecture, arrays of chemically sensitive resistors made from composites of conductors and insulating organic polymers have been shown to robustly classify, identify, and quantify a diverse collection of organic vapors, even though no individual sensor responds selectively to a particular analyte. The properties and functioning of these arrays are inspired by advances in the understanding of biological olfaction, and in turn, evaluation of the performance of the man-made array provides suggestions regarding some of the fundamental odor detection principles of the mammalian olfactory system.
The Spectrum of the Mass Donor Star in SS 433

We present results from a short series of blue, moderate-resolution spectra of the microquasar binary SS 433. The observations were made at a time optimized to find the spectrum of the donor star, i.e., when the donor was in the foreground and well above the plane of the obscuring disk. In addition to the well-known stationary and jet emission lines, we find evidence of a weak absorption spectrum that resembles that of an A-type evolved star. These lines display radial velocity shifts opposite to those associated with the disk surrounding the compact star, and they appear strongest when the disk is maximally eclipsed. All these properties suggest that these absorption lines form in the atmosphere of the hitherto unseen mass donor star in SS 433. The radial velocity shifts observed are consistent with a mass ratio MX/MO = 0.57 ± 0.11 and masses of MO = 19 ± 7 M☉ and MX = 11 ± 5 M☉. These results indicate that the system consists of an evolved, massive donor and a black hole mass gainer.
TWO NEW KEYNESIAN THEORIES OF STICKY PRICES

Two alternative theories of aggregate supply, both with a New Keynesian â€œflavor,â€ are compared. The first assumes that prices are rigid due to the existence of menu costs. The second derives price stickiness endogenously as one equilibrium in an economy with multiple equilibria. In both cases I show that the Ballâ€“Romer concept of real rigidities is essential to explain why monetary policy has real persistent effects. I argue that dynamic menu cost models are determinate because they make special assumptions about the way that money enters the economy. For example, most authors assume either a cash-in-advance constraint or that money enters separably into utility or production functions. Once one moves beyond these special cases, menu cost models that display real rigidity are also likely to display indeterminacy.
Adaptive SDRE based nonlinear sensorless speed control for PMSM drives

Field orientation or vector control is an advanced technique used for the development of high-performance permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. In this paper, a field-oriented adaptive nonlinear control for PMSM drives is presented for sensorless control of the speed and field of the motor, simultaneously. The proposed approach is based on a state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) control technique and its formulation utilizes a gradient-based neural-like system for online computation. The unknown parameters of the PMSM drive, that is, stator resistance and load torque, as well as the speed of the motor, are estimated using an extended Kalman filter (EKF) to eliminate the mechanical sensors. The resulting adaptive algorithm is simple and fast and is easily applicable to real-time control of PMSM drives. The efficacy of the proposed approach for sensorless control of PMSM drives is demonstrated through an illustrative simulation for the proof of concept.
GRAVITATION, FORCE, AND TIME

Gravitation is described as a uniquely geometric phenomenon, incompatible with the concept of force, and only analogically comparable with force by means of mathematical formalisms. Two thought experiments are employed to demonstrate that the association of gravitation with force is irreconcilable with the geometric interpretation, and without theoretical foundation or empirical support. Motion in time is identified as the dynamic source of what has been attributed as the energetic component of gravitational phenomena.
Performance of MEMS inertial sensors

Advanced microfabrication techniques have produced small, low-cost silicon inertial sensors of high performance, ruggedness, and inherent symmetry. When integrated with Applications Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC's), the sensors fit in a 3 cm per side flat pack and operate from a single 5 Vdc supply. They have been evaluated in automotive anti-skid and traction control systems, and in guided munitions. Multi-Chip Module (MCM) versions instruments enable guided munitions to improve the accuracy of the Navy 5"/54 gun platform. These sensors are fabricated using a dissolved wafer process that features single crystal silicon anodically bonded to a glass substrate, resulting in a sensor die size approximately 1 mm. Uncompensated bias and scale factor performance of 0.5/spl deg//s and 1.0% for the gyroscope, and 30 mg and 0.5% for the accelerometer are nominally demonstrated over the temperature range of -40/spl deg/C to +85/spl deg/C. Stability over smaller temperature ranges of 0.5/spl deg/C has surpassed 10/spl deg//hr(0.003/spl deg//s) in overnight (6 hour) tests, while the companion accelerometer nominally demonstrates sub milli-g performance. Angle random walk of 0.25/spl deg///spl radic/h is typical for the gyros with best to date performance of 0.05/spl deg///spl radic/h observed, while the accelerometers provide velocity random walk of 5 cm/s//spl radic/h. When compensated for performance across the temperature range of -40/spl deg/C to +85/spl deg/C, instrument scale factor performance surpasses 200 ppm stability, and bias uncertainty is less than 50/spl deg//hr and 1 mg for the gyro and accelerometer respectively. The robustness of these demonstrated in the ability to survive air guns tests in excess of 60000 g. This paper discusses measured and performance, with the principal focus on recent gyro and accelerometer instrument test results. Associated electronics, controls, and applications issues are also addressed.
Synthesis of 3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2H-1,3,4-oxadiazin-2-ones employing a metal hydride and diethyl carbonate: An alternative cyclization method over 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole

Abstract A series of 3,4,5,6‐tetrahydro‐2H‐1,3,4‐oxadiazin‐2‐ones have been synthesized from valine, leucine, ephedrine, and norephedrine. The synthesis is accomplished through a process of nitrosation, reduction, and cyclization. The cyclization protocol employed involves the use of a metal hydride (LiH or NaH) and diethyl carbonate rather than 1,1′‐carbonyldiimidazole.