cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Succinct representation of static packet classifiers

We develop algorithms for the compact representation of the 1- and 2-dimensional tries that are used for Internet packet classification. Our compact representations are experimentally compared with competing compact representations for 1- and multi-dimensional packet classifiers and found to simultaneously reduce the number of memory accesses required for a lookup as well as the memory required to store the classifier.
First principles study of photo-oxidation degradation mechanisms in P3HT for organic solar cells

We present a theoretical study of degradation mechanisms for photoinduced oxidation in organic polymers in the condensed phase, using poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an example. Applying density functional theory with a hybrid density functional and periodic boundary conditions that account for steric effects and permit the modeling of interchain chemical reactions, we investigate reaction pathways that may lead to the oxidation of the thiophene backbone as a critical step toward disrupting the polymer conjugation. We calculate energy barriers for reactions of the P3HT backbone with oxidizing agents including the hydroxyl radical (OH˙), hydroperoxide (ROOH), and the peroxyl radical (ROO˙), following a UV-driven radical reaction starting at the α-carbon of the alkyl side chain as suggested by infrared (IR) and X-ray photoemission (XPS) spectrosocopy studies. The results strongly suggest that an attack of OH˙ on sulfur in P3HT is unlikely to be thermodynamically favored. On the other hand, an attack of a peroxyl radical on the side chain on the P3HT backbone may provide low barrier reaction pathways to photodegradation of P3HT and other polymers with side chains. The condensed phase setting is found to qualitatively affect predictions of degradation processes.
Combating Resistance: The Case for a Global Antibiotics Treaty

The use of antibiotics by one person can profoundly affect the welfare of other people. I will argue that efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance generate a global collective action problem that only a well-designed international treaty can overcome. I begin by describing the problem of resistance and outlining some market-friendly policy tools that participants in a global treaty could use to control the problem. I then defend the claim that these policies can achieve their aim while protecting individual liberty and state autonomy. Finally, I offer some suggestions for a treaty, drawing lessons from the failure of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and the success of the Montreal Protocol on ozone depletion.
Filaments and Ionized Gas in the Vicinity of 3C 244.1

We present results of Hubble Space Telescope observations of the radio galaxy 3C 244.1. The broadband F702W (R) and F555W (V) images (WFPC2/PC) show an elliptical galaxy, and gaseous filaments and blobs surrounding it. In the narrowband ramp filter, dominated by [O III] λ5007, these filaments are bright and have the same morphology as the broadband images. To the south, the filaments have a cone-shaped structure, and the radio jet is located at the center of this cone. To the north of the galaxy, the structure is found near the nucleus of the galaxy within its elliptical profile. From the photometry, the two brighter structures seem to be extended narrow-line emission regions. A comparison with diagnostic line ratios shows that the observed emission is consistent with interactions between the expanding radio jet and the local denser medium.
Evidence against a biphasic effect of acetaldehyde on voluntary ethanol consumption in rats

A group of 27 male Long-Evans rats was given a 2 week period of free-choice ethanol and consumed 1.26 ± 1.27 g/kg/day (mean ± SD). The animals were then divided into 3 groups. One group received the aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor, cyanamide, in their diet and an oral ethanol dose of 2 g/kg for 5 days. Another group received only the oral ethanol dose and the third, control, group received no treatment during these days. After the forced cyanamide and/or forced ethanol treatment, all of the rats were returned to the choice situation. Voluntary ethanol consumption was then followed for 2 months, during which time the control rats steadily increased their ethanol intake to 3.6 ± 2.1 g/kg/day (mean ± SD of last week's consumption). The cyanamide treatment caused a transient (3–4 day) decrease in the ethanol intake, after which the consumption increased to 3.7 ± 2.9 g/kg/day. Consumption by the forced ethanol group (5.4 ± 2.0 g/kg/day) was significantly greater ( p
Measuring (n, f) Cross Sections of Short-Lived States

This paper reviews measurements of fission cross sections of short-lived nuclear states, summarizes the formidable experimental difficulties involved, and suggests novel methods of overcoming some of those difficulties. It is specifically concerned with the two such states that have been well characterized, the J π = 1/2 + (26-min) isomeric 235m U and the J π = 1 - (16-h) ground state (shorter lived than the isomer) 242gs Am, and with measuring their fission cross sections at mega-electron-volt energies. These measurements are formidably difficult, partly because of the need to produce, separate, and collect the short-lived states before they decay and partly because of their comparatively small fission cross sections at these energies. This paper presents quantitative calculations of the efficiency of advection of recoiling 235m U isomers by flowing gas in competition with diffusive loss to the surface containing the mother 239 Pu, and it reports the initial development and evaluation of some of the methods that must be developed to make the experiments feasible.
Ultra-stable diode-pumped Nd-doped glass regenerative amplifier for the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

Summary form only given. In this paper we describe the current design and performance of a long-pulse regenerative laser amplifier for fusion reactor ignition that uses two, diode-array, end-pumped Nd-doped glass laser amplifiers to achieve the desired performance. The regenerative amplifier is a folded linear arrangement. The 4.5-m-long cavity has a 2-m lens and mode-limiting aperture positioned near the midpoint.
Non-invasive electromagnetic field therapy produces rapid and substantial pain reduction in early knee osteoarthritis: a randomized double-blind pilot study

This study examined whether a non-thermal, non-invasive, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF), known to modulate the calmodulin (CaM)-dependent nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling pathway, could reduce pain in early knee OA. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind pilot clinical study enrolled 34 patients. Patient selection required initial VAS ≥4, 2 h of standing activity per day, and no recent interventions such as cortisone injections or surgery. Results showed VAS pain score decreased in the active cohort by 50 ± 11% versus baseline starting at day 1 and persisting to day 42 (P < 0.001). There was no significant decrease in VAS versus baseline at any time point in the sham cohort (P = 0.227). The overall decrease in mean VAS score for the active cohort was nearly threefold that of the sham cohort (P < 0.001). The results suggest that non-thermal, non-invasive PEMF therapy can have a significant and rapid impact on pain from early knee OA and that larger clinical trials are warranted.
Rural-Urban Migration and the Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth

This paper extends the literature on poverty traps and regional economics by incorporating rural-urban migration, human capital externalities, and regional agglomeration effects into Galor and Zeira’s (1993) overlapping generations model to examine the welfare impacts of various person-based and place-based policies. We formalize the conditions that may induce a rural brain-drain. The model is calibrated and simulated to demonstrate how regions with different production and housing technologies may respond differently to a given policy. Our results show that for certain parameter values, well intended policies targeting poor households may instead worsen their longrun welfare outcomes if households prefer not to migrate to the wealthier urban region when awarded an education subsidy. In other cases, person-based policies are shown to improve the long-run welfare of poorer households by facilitating migration to the city. Place-based policies that enhance rural firm productivity without targeting individual households may yield higher average welfare for rural residents. In some instances, the benefits of place-based policies may not trickle down to less wealthier households, whereas in other cases, they are more effective than the subsidy program in improving the welfare of the poorest.
Regiospecific C-acylation of pyrroles and indoles using N-acylbenzotriazoles.

Reactions of pyrrole (2) or 1-methylpyrrole (4) with readily available N-acylbenzotriazoles 1a−g (RCOBt, where R = 4-tolyl, 4-nitrophenyl, 4-diethylaminophenyl, 2-furyl, 2-pyridyl, 2-indolyl, or 2-pyrrolyl) in the presence of TiCl4 produced 2-acylpyrroles 3a−g and 5a−g in good to excellent yields. 1-Triisopropylsilylpyrrole (6) under the same conditions gave the respective 3-acylpyrroles 7a−g. Similarly, indole (9) and 1-methylindole (11) gave the corresponding 3-acylated derivatives 10a−g and 12a−g. These results demonstrate that N-acylbenzotriazoles such as 1c,f,g are mild, regioselective, and regiospecific C-acylating agents of particular utility when the corresponding acid chlorides are not readily available.
Fields and forces in flywheel energy storage with high-temperature superconducting bearings

The development of low-loss bearings employing high-temperature superconductors has brought closer the advent of practical flywheel energy storage systems. These systems require magnetic fields and forces for levitation, stabilization, and energy transfer. This paper describes the status of experiments on flywheel energy storage at Argonne National Laboratory and computations in support of that project, in particular computations for the permanent-magnet rotor of the motor-generator that transfers energy to and from the flywheel, for other energy-transfer systems under consideration, and for the levitation and stabilization subsystem.
Techniques for quantifying coronary artery calcification

Coronary calcium scoring is increasingly used as a screening test for coronary artery disease. Widespread agreement exists that coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a population marker for intimal atherosclerosis. The numerical significance of an individual's calcium score and what impact that score should have on future patient management is subject to disagreement. Questions also exist with regard to the interpretation of serial changes in CAC score. The answers to these questions heavily depend on an accurate and reproducible method of quantifying CAC. This article reviews the alogrithms and techniques used in CAC quantification, and identifies those variables that may significantly affect its derivation.
U.S. agriculture's role in a greenhouse gas emission mitigation world: An economic perspective

International agreements are likely to stimulate greenhouse gas mitigation efforts. Agriculture can participate either as a source of emission reductions or as a sink for gas emission storage. Emission trading markets are likely to emerge where agriculture could sell emission offsets. Several agricultural opportunities are available at a cost of $10–25 per ton carbon dioxide. Abatement costs for non-agricultural industries have been estimated to be as much as $200–250 per ton carbon dioxide. In the longer run, agriculture's role may diminish because many agricultural strategies offer only one-time gains and non-agricultural emitters may lower costs through technical change.
Global environmental standards for industry

Global environmental standards are emerging as an increasingly important influence on the environmental performance of industry. In this chapter, we develop a new definition and a categorization of global environmental standards that reflect the different agents involved in their development and the particular network architecture through which environmental standards achieve global reach. We examine new forms of global environmental standards, such as firm-based standards and standards initiated by third-party organizations, such as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and industry associations. The growing interest in global environmental standards is shown to arise from processes of economic globalization as well as from increasing external pressure on firms and industries with respect to environmental concerns. The chapter reviews what is known about the prevalence of different types of global environmental standards and the efficacy of these standards in influencing the environmental performance of f...
Tracking and regulation control of an underactuated surface vessel with nonintegrable dynamics

A continuous, time-varying tracking controller is designed that globally exponentially forces the position/orientation tracking error of an underactuated surface vessel to a neighborhood about zero that can be made arbitrarily small i.e. global uniformly ultimately boundedness (GUUB). The result is facilitated by fusing a filtered tracking error transformation with a dynamic oscillator design. We also illustrate that the proposed tracking controller yields a GUUB result for the regulation problem.
Stability and dynamic performance of current-sharing control for paralleled voltage regulator modules

The parallel operation of voltage regulator modules (VRMs) for high-end microprocessors requires a current-sharing (CS) circuit to provide a uniform load distribution among the modules. A good dynamic performance of the CS circuit is very important since the microprocessors present highly dynamic loads to the VRMs. Stability and dynamic performance of the CS control are considered. To assess these issues, a comprehensive small-signal model of the paralleled VRMs was developed and verified.
Weighing neutrinos: Weak lensing approach

We study the possibility for a measurement of neu- trino mass using weak gravitational lensing. The presence of non-zero mass neutrinos leads to a suppression of power at small scales and reduces the expected weak lensing signal. The measurement of such a suppression in the weak lensing power spectrum allows a direct measurement of the neutrino mass, in contrast to various other experiments which only allow mass splittings between two neutrino species. Making reasonable as- sumptions on the accuracy of cosmological parameters, we sug- gest that a weak lensing survey of 100 sqr. degrees can be easily used to detect neutrinos down to a mass limit of 3.5 eV at the 2 level. This limit is lower than current limits on neutrino mass, such as from the Ly forest and SN1987A. An ultimate weak lensing survey of steradians down to a magnitude limit of 25 can be used to detect neutrinos down to a mass limit of 0.4 eV at the 2 level, provided that other cosmological pa- rameters will be known to an accuracy expected from cosmic microwave background spectrum using the MAP satellite. With improved parameters estimated from the PLANCK satellite, the limit on neutrino mass from weak lensing can be further low- ered by another factor of 3 to 4. For much smaller surveys ( 10 sqr. degrees) that are likely to be first available in the near fu- ture with several wide-field cameras, the presence of neutrinos can be safely ignored when deriving conventional cosmological parameters such as the mass density of the Universe. However, armed with cosmological parameter estimates with other tech- niques, even such small area surveys allow a strong possibility to investigate the presence of non-zero mass neutrinos.
The Evolutionary Unfolding of Complexity

We analyze the population dynamics of a broad class of fitness functions that exhibit epochal evolution—a dynamical behavior, commonly observed in both natural and artificial evolutionary processes, in which long periods of stasis in an evolving population are punctuated by sudden bursts of change. Our approach—statistical dynamics—combines methods from both statistical mechanics and dynamical systems theory in a way that offers an alternative to current “landscape” models of evolutionary optimization. We describe the population dynamics on the macroscopic level of fitness classes or phenotype subbasins, while averaging out the genotypic variation that is consistent with a macroscopic state. Metastability in epochal evolution occurs solely at the macroscopic level of the fitness distribution. While a balance between selection and mutation maintains a quasistationary distribution of fitness, individuals diffuse randomly through selectively neutral subbasins in genotype space. Sudden innovations occur when, through this diffusion, a genotypic portal is discovered that connects to a new subbasin of higher fitness genotypes. In this way, we identify evolutionary innovations with the unfolding and stabilization of a new dimension in the macroscopic state space. The architectural view of subbasins and portals in genotype space clarifies how frozen accidents and the resulting phenotypic constraints guide the evolution to higher complexity.
On Extracting Common Random Bits From Correlated Sources on Large Alphabets

Suppose Alice and Bob receive strings X=(X1,...,Xn) and Y=(Y1,...,Yn) each uniformly random in [s]n, but so that X and Y are correlated. For each symbol i, we have that Yi=Xi with probability 1-e and otherwise Yi is chosen independently and uniformly from [s]. Alice and Bob wish to use their respective strings to extract a uniformly chosen common sequence from [s]k, but without communicating. How well can they do? The trivial strategy of outputting the first k symbols yields an agreement probability of (1-e+e/s)k. In a recent work by Bogdanov and Mossel, it was shown that in the binary case where s=2 and k=k(e) is large enough then it is possible to extract k bits with a better agreement probability rate. In particular, it is possible to achieve agreement probability (ke)-1/2·2-ke/(2(1-e/2)) using a random construction based on Hamming balls, and this is optimal up to lower order terms. In this paper, we consider the same problem over larger alphabet sizes s and we show that the agreement probability rate changes dramatically as the alphabet grows. In particular, we show no strategy can achieve agreement probability better than (1-e)k(1+δ(s))k where δ(s)→ 0 as s→∞. We also show that Hamming ball-based constructions have much lower agreement probability rate than the trivial algorithm as s→∞. Our proofs and results are intimately related to subtle properties of hypercontractive inequalities.
The Two-Eigenvalue Problem and Density¶of Jones Representation of Braid Groups

1. The Two-Eigenvalue Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 2. Hecke Algebra Representations of Braid Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 3. Duality of Jones–Wenzl Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 4. Closed Images of Jones–Wenzl Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 5. Distribution of Evaluations of Jones Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 6. Fibonacci Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Moral Hazard and Sorting in a Market for Partnerships

We examine how equilibrium sorting patterns in a matching market for partnerships are impacted by the presence of bilateral moral hazard in a repeated production setting. We find that this impact depends on how the cost of moral hazard manifests itself—whether efficient effort is not feasible or desirable from the beginning, or whether inefficient effort is resorted to only as a punishment equilibrium. Which of these is the case depends on both the details of the technology and the contractual environment. In the former case, the presence of moral hazard moves the market away from positive sorting. In the latter case, whether moral hazard favors positive or negative sorting depends on how the power of incentives needed to implement effort varies with the observable types of the agents.
Satellite criticality concepts for unavailability and unreliability of GNSS satellite navigation

This paper derives expressions and approximations for unavailability and unreliability of navigation service using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites. Both unavailability and unreliability are shown to be characterized by a concept known as critical satellites-a critical satellite is used in every satellite combination with good satellite-user geometry. Numerical results are given, showing the levels of unavailability and unreliability associated with the satellite criticality characteristic. In the case of unreliability, these numerical results are compared with existing reliability requirements for precision approach using the Instrument Landing System (ILS). Insights provided by the critical satellite concept are illustrated with an example of instantaneous unavailability for a Category I (CAT I) precision approach application. This example relates temporal peaks of unavailability to satellite criticality and quantifies the degradation of geometry due to critical satellite failures.
Schwarzschild black holes in various dimensions from matrix theory

Abstract In a recent paper it was shown that the properties of Schwarzschild black holes in 8 dimensions are correctly described up to factors of order unity by Matrix theory compactified on T 3 . Here we consider compactifications on tori of general dimension d . Although in general little is known about the relevant d +1 dimensional theories on the dual tori, there are hints from their application to near-extreme parallel Dirichlet d -branes. Using these hints we get the correct mass–entropy scaling for Schwarzschild black holes in (11− d ) dimensions.
Ejercicios de la Encarnación: sobre la imagen de María y la decisión final de sor Juana

El titulo completo es: E jercicios devotos para los nueve dias antes del de la Purisima Encarnacion del Hijo de Dios, Jesucristo, Senor Nuestro . Segun la estructura y pensamiento que sor Juana presenta en estos ejercicios, se insertan en la corriente de raigambre medieval que recogia las razones humanas y de tipo moral y filosofico que buscaba el hombre en su acercamiento a Dios.
Self-Selection and the Forecasting Abilities of Female Equity Analysts

This paper investigates whether there are systematic differences between the forecasting style and abilities of female and male analysts, and whether market participants recognize these differences. My key conjecture is that only female analysts with superior forecasting abilities enter the profession due to a perception of discrimination in the analyst labor market. Consistent with this conjecture, I find that female analysts issue bolder and more accurate forecasts and their accuracy is higher in market segments in which their concentration is lower. Further, the stock market participants are aware of the male‐female skill
Morning Glory Seed Psychosis

Three cases of psychosis following the ingestion of morning glory seeds have been presented in this paper. The similarity of these reactions to those following the ingestion of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) has been noted and related to the fact that morning glory seeds contain chemically related substances.We have reviewed our findings in relation to the structural theory, indicating changes seen in id, ego, and superego functioning. Our findings indicate that these drugs have their most marked action upon the synthetic function of the ego and that the long lasting effects appear due to disturbances in this group of ego functions rather than organic changes.
Atomic Force Probe of Mesoscopic Dielectric and Viscoelastic Fluctuations Near the Glass Transition

We report a new experimental approach to study the glass transition and glassy dynamics on a mesoscopic scale. Non contact atomic force microscopy is employed to measure dielectric fluctuations of glass forming polymers such as PVAc. Force modulation techniques, performed with the same instrument, allow us to study viscoelastic properties. A custom-built variable temperature UHV AFM with exceptional thermal stability utilizing piezoresistive cantilevers was used. First results on PVAc include large fluctuations of the viscoelastic properties as a function of applied stress below the glass transition.
Network Neutrality: Lessons from Transportation

The politically-charged notion of network neutrality came to the fore in the first decade of the 21st century, using analogy from transportation as one of the key tools in motivating arguments. This paper examines how the various notions around network neutrality (common carriage, regulation, price discrimination) have historically played out in the transportation sector, and suggests some of the current arguments fail to understand the nuances of how complex networks actually operate to serve the many demands placed on them.
Public Investment and Corruption in an Endogenous Growth Model

High capital spending is favored by economists and politicians for its beneficial effects on economic growth. However, there is empirical research associating high levels of public investment with low economic growth due to corruption. I provide an endogenous growth model with Ramsey taxation that is consistent with this empirical finding. In the model, government maximizes the weighted average of consumers' utility and its own utility coming from expropriation of tax revenues. The weight determines the benevolence of the government. I show that a self-interested government sets a higher public-to-private-capital ratio than a benevolent one, reducing the productivity of public capital, in order to use more of the tax revenues for its own consumption. While a large public-to-private capital ratio increases the productivity of private investment, high taxes that come along with high public capital spending reduce the after-tax returns to private investment, causing the growth rate to be low.
LOCAL MOMENTS NEAR THE METAL‐INSULATOR TRANSITION

This paper reviews recent progress in understanding the metal-insulator transition in a system of spin-1/2 interacting electrons in the presence of a non-magnetic random potential. Using results of recent experiments in doped semiconductors, it is argued that the metallic state near the transition can be described by a phenomenological two-fluid model of local moments and itinerant quasiparticles. A mean-field calculation on a disordered Hubbard model which justifies this two fluid model is described. Recent advances in the non-linear sigma model description of the transition are also discussed.
Effect of polymer chemistry on globular protein–polymer block copolymer self-assembly

Bioconjugates of the model red fluorescent protein mCherry and synthetic polymer blocks with different hydrogen bonding functionalities show that the chemistry of the polymer block has a large effect on both ordering transitions and the type of nanostructures formed during bioconjugate self-assembly. The phase behaviours of mCherry-b-poly(hydroxypropyl acrylate) (PHPA) and mCherry-b-poly(oligoethylene glycol acrylate) (POEGA) in concentrated aqueous solution show that changes in polymer chemistry result in increase in the order–disorder transition concentrations (CODTs) by approximately 10–15 wt% compared to a previously studied globular protein–polymer block copolymer, mCherry-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM). The CODTs are always minimized for symmetric bioconjugates, consistent with the importance of protein–polymer interactions in self-assembly. Both mCherry-b-PHPA and mCherry-b-POEGA also form phases that have not previously been observed in other globular protein–polymer conjugates: mCherry-b-PHPA forms a cubic phase that can be indexed to Iad and mCherry-b-POEGA displays coexistence of lamellae and a cubic Iad structure over a narrow range of concentration and temperature. Several common behaviours are also revealed by comparison of different polymer blocks. With increasing concentration and temperature, ordered phases always appear in the order lamellar, cubic/PL, and hexagonal, although not all phases are observed in all materials. High concentration solutions (near 80 wt%) also undergo a re-entrant order–disorder transition to form nematic liquid crystalline phases, regardless of the polymer block chemistry.
Equivariant operads, string topology, and Tate cohomology

From an operad \(\fancyscript {C}\) with an action of a group G, we construct new operads using the homotopy fixed point and orbit spectra. These new operads are shown to be equivalent when the generalized G-Tate cohomology of \(\fancyscript {C}\) is trivial. Applying this theory to the little disk operad \(\fancyscript {C}_2\) (which is an S1-operad) we obtain variations on Getzler’s gravity operad, which we show governs the Chas–Sullivan string bracket.
Nonperturbative Tests of Three-Dimensional Dualities

We test several conjectural dualities between strongly coupled superconformal field theories in three dimensions by computing their exact partition functions on a three sphere as a function of Fayet-Iliopoulos and mass parameters. The calculation is carried out using localization of the path integral and the matrix model previously derived for superconformal N = 2 gauge theories. We verify that the partition functions of quiver theories related by mirror symmetry agree provided the mass parameters and the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters are exchanged, as predicted. We carry out a similar calculation for the mirror of N = 8 super-Yang-Mills theory and show that its partition function agrees with that of the ABJM theory at unit Chern-Simons level. This provides a nonperturbative test of the conjectural equivalence of the two theories in the conformal limit.
The China-United States bilateral trade balance : how big is it really?

There are huge discrepancies between the official Chinese and US estimates of the bilateral trade balance. The discrepancies are caused by different treatments accorded to re-exports through Hong Kong, re-export markups, and trade in services. Deficit-shifting between China, on the one hand, and Hong Kong and Taiwan, on the other, owing to direct investment in China from Taiwan and Hong Kong, is partly responsible for the growth in the China–US bilateral trade deficit. The 1995 China–US bilateral balance of trade in goods and services, adjusted by both re-exports and re-export markups, may be estimated as US$23.3 billion, a large deficit but considerably smaller than the often-cited official US figure of US$33.8 billion.
Explaining the Oil Advantage: Effects of Natural Resource Wealth on Incumbent Reelection in Iran

Why does natural resource wealth prolong incumbency? Using evidence from parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the author shows that natural resource revenues boost incumbent reelection rates because they are used to provide public or private goods to constituents, which incentivizes voters to reelect incumbents over challengers. To test this hypothesis, the author employs originally assembled data on five parliamentary elections in Iran (1992–2008) in longitudinal hierarchical regression analyses at the district and province levels. By leveraging Iran's mixed-member electoral system, he shows that the resource-incumbency mechanism works primarily in single-member districts with little evidence of an incumbency advantage for politicians in resource-rich multimember districts. Building on the rentier theory of natural resource wealth, the results suggest that voting for the incumbent is attributable to patronage and public goods distribution. The findings offer new insights into the understudied context of Iranian legislative elections, illustrate the mechanisms driving the relationship between resource wealth and incumbency advantage at the subnational level in a nondemocratic setting, and highlight the mediating effects of electoral institutions on the resource-incumbency relationship.
INTERSTATE BANKING DEREGULATION AND THE CHANGING NATURE OF BANK MERGERS

We examine a sample of 443 bank mergers between publicly traded banks announced during the 1990s to investigate empirically the role of full interstate banking deregulation. The pre-deregulation 1990s are characterized by value creation, with mergers involving a high degree of branch overlap experiencing significant announcement gains. Bank mergers in the post-deregulation 1990s, however, fail to create value, and mergers with a high degree of branch overlap actually experience significant losses. Consistent with prior research, these valuation consequences are magnified for large bank mergers in the 1990s. Overall, our results are consistent with the broader literature on corporate control, suggesting that an economic shock can materially alter industry structure and the economic rationale for the efficient reallocation of assets through merger activity.
Labor Contracting and a Theory of Contract Choice in California Agriculture

We present a model of labor contracts, where seasonality, the sensitivity of output to labor quality and work intensity, and the relative advantages of labor contractors in recruitment and growers in supervision of seasonal farm workers determine the choice of employment contract. Differences in the optimal means of extracting work result in lower wages paid under labor contracting than direct hiring. We derive and estimate the probability of labor contracting and wages as functions of worker and job characteristics using data on California farm workers and employers. From estimated expected wages, our results indicate that successful unionization or reducing the flow of undocumented workers into California agriculture both would reduce contracting and increase wages.
Seasonal Adjustment in a Market for Female Agricultural Workers

This article explores seasonal adjustment in the market for temporary agricultural labor. We estimate a model of participation allowing for unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity/selection bias using daily observations from Chilean panel data, and a model of daily earnings. Results indicate that seasonal wage variation is an important aspect of labor-market adjustment, contributing to a large change in labor force participation. The labor force participation rate of women is significantly more elastic to changes in the expected wage than is that for men. Nonetheless, we find evidence of substantial open unemployment during the slack season, especially for females, probably due to frictional and efficiency wage effects.
Dilepton Spectroscopy of QCD Matter at Collider Energies

Low-mass dilepton spectra as measured in high-energy heavy-ion collisions are a unique tool to obtain spectroscopic information about the strongly interacting medium produced in these reactions. Specifically, in-medium modifications of the vector spectral function, which is well known in the vacuum, can be deduced from the thermal radiation off the expanding QCD fireball. This, in particular, allows to investigate the fate of the resonance in the dense medium and possibly infer from it signatures of the (partial) restoration of chiral symmetry, which is spontaneously broken in the QCD vacuum. After briefly reviewing calculations of thermal dilepton emission rates from hot QCD matter, utilizing effective hadronic theory, lattice QCD, or resummed perturbative QCD, we focus on applications to dilepton spectra at heavy-ion collider experiments at RHIC and LHC. This includes invariant-mass spectra at full RHIC energy with transverse-momentum dependencies and azimuthal asymmetries, as well as a systematic investigation of the excitation function down to fixed-target energies, thus making contact to previous precision measurements at the SPS. Furthermore, predictions for the energy frontier at the LHC are presented in both dielectron and dimuon channels.
Effect of Upstream Step on Flat Plate Film-Cooling Effectiveness Using PSP

The effect of a step positioned upstream of a row of film cooling holes on the film cooling effectiveness is studied systematically using the steady state Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) technique. The upstream step effect is studied on four separate hole geometries: simple angled (axial angle 30°) and compound angled (axial angle 30°, compound angle 45°) cylindrical and fan-shaped film cooling holes. Each plate considered has 7 holes, each hole 4mm in diameter. The plates with cylindrical holes have a spacing of 3 diameters (12mm) between the centers of two consecutive holes, while the fan-shaped holes have a spacing of 3.75d (15mm). Three different step heights (12.5%d, 25%d and 37.5%d) are studied. Also studied is the effect of the width of the step; the distance of the step upstream of the hole and the positioning of the step downstream of the film-cooling hole. Four separate blowing ratios are reported for all tests: M = 0.3, M = 0.6, M = 1.0 and M = 1.5. All studies have been conducted with a mainstream of 25m/s velocity at an ambient temperature of 22C. Results indicate an increase in film-cooling effectiveness in the region near the hole due to the upstream step for all the plates considered. This increase due to the step is found to be most significant in the case of compound angled cylindrical holes and least significant in the case of simple angled fan-shaped holes.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
The Use of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests in the Diagnosis of a Learning Disability in Reading: A Caveat

The Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT, Dunn & Markwardt, 1970) and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests (Woodcock, 1973) are two tests widely used for the purpose of:a) The diagnosis of learning disabilities. For example, in Tennessee there must be a discrepancy of more than one standard deviation between expected and actual reading level, while in Ohio the difference must be two standard deviations.b) The demonstration of gain scores to assess the efficacy of instructional strategies or teaching effectiveness.
On the zero-free polynomial approximation problem

Let E be a compact set in C with connected complement, and let A ( E ) be the class of all complex continuous function on E that are analytic in the interior E 0 of E . Let f ? A ( E ) be zero free on E 0 . By Mergelyan's theorem f can be uniformly approximated on E by polynomials, but is it possible to realize such approximation by polynomials that are zero-free on E ? This natural question has been proposed by J. Andersson and P. Gauthier. So far it has been settled for some particular sets E . The present paper describes classes of functions for which zero free approximation is possible on an arbitrary E .
Fast, easy, solvent-free, microwave-promoted Michael addition of anilines to α,β-unsaturated alkenes: synthesis of N-aryl functionalized β-amino esters and acids

The rapid, simple, microwave-promoted synthesis of N-aryl functionalized β-amino esters using Michael addition reactions is presented. Reactions are performed neat at 200 °C for 20 min and are catalyzed by acetic acid. The esters can be easily hydrolyzed to the corresponding N-aryl functionalized β-amino acids.
Higher spin fields and the Gelfand-Dickey algebra

We show that in 2-dimensional field theory, higher spin algebras are contained in the algebra of formal pseudodifferential operators introduced by Gelfand and Dickey to describe integrable nonlinear differential equations in Lax form. The spin 2 and 3 algebras are discussed in detail and the generalization to all higher spins is outlined. This provides a conformal field theory approach to the representation theory of Gelfand—Dickey algebras.
Synthesis of β-substituted α-amino acids via lewis acid promoted enantioselective radical conjugate additions

[Chemical reaction: See text] Lewis acid promoted radical conjugate additions to beta-substituted alpha,beta-unsaturated alpha-nitro esters and amides were investigated. With achiral Lewis acids, there was competition between the desired radical conjugate addition and undesired alkene reduction mediated by Bu3nH. Zinc Lewis acids provided the greatest amounts of addition products with both substrate classes. Studies with Bu3nD indicated that the acidic alpha-stereocenter of the alpha-nitro ester products does not racemize under controlled workup conditions. The corresponding alpha-nitro amides racemized significantly during chromatography, but this problem could be greatly minimized by subjecting the crude adducts to subsequent transformations. Indium-mediated reduction of the nitro group followed by acylation of the resulting amine provided good yields of beta-substituted alpha-amino acid derivatives with mimimal levels of racemization. Attempts to use chiral Lewis acids in a stereoselective variant of this process revealed that Kanemasa's DBFOX/Ph ligand (14a) was uniquely effective. Moderate to good ee's and low dr's were obtained with amide substrates. Determination of the absolute configurations of the syn and anti isomers of adduct 7b showed that the hydrogen atom abstraction step was significantly more stereoselective than the radical conjugate addition step. A model for substrate binding to the chiral Lewis acid is presented.
Probing the local structure of doped manganites using the atomic pair distribution function

We have used atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis based on neutron powder diffraction data to investigate the local structure of the colossal magnetoresistant manganite La0.75Ca0.25MnO3 as a function of temperature. In the doping range 0.17<x<0.5 these materials show a metal-to-insulator transition, transforming from a ferromagnetic metal (FM) at low temperature to a paramagnetic insulator (PI). We can probe the charge distribution of the sample using the PDF by searching for evidence of Jahn–Teller (JT) distorted octahedra, implying the presence of Mn3+ ions. A two-phase model based on the local structures of the FM and PI phases was used to refine the experimental PDFs quantitatively. We observe the co-existence of both phases over a wide temperature range: approximately 10% of the localized JT phase (PI) is present even at the lowest temperature (T=20 K), whereas at room temperature nearly half of the sample remains in the delocalized (FM) phase.
Virtually-synchronous communication based on a weak failure suspector

Failure detectors (or, more accurately, failure suspectors, or FS) appear to be a fundamental service upon which to build fault-tolerant, distributed applications. It is shown that an FS with very weak semantics (i.e. that delivers failure and recovery information in no specific order) suffices to implement virtually synchronous communication (VSC) in an asynchronous system subject to process crash failures and network partitions. The VSC paradigm is particularly useful in asynchronous systems and greatly simplifies building fault-tolerant applications that mask failures by replicating processes. The authors suggest a three-component architecture to implement virtually synchronous communication: (1) at the lowest level, the FS component; on top of it, (2a) a component that defines new views, and (2b) a component that reliably multicasts messages within a view.
Graphene-Based Quantum Capacitance Wireless Vapor Sensors

A wireless vapor sensor based on the quantum capacitance effect in graphene is demonstrated. The sensor consists of a metal-oxide-graphene variable capacitor (varactor) coupled to an inductor, creating a resonant oscillator circuit. The resonant frequency is found to shift in proportion to water vapor concentration for relative humidity (RH) values ranging from 1% to 97% with a linear frequency shift of 5.7 kHz/%RH ± 0.3 kHz/%RH. The capacitance values extracted from the wireless measurements agree with those determined from capacitance-voltage measurements, providing strong evidence that the sensing arises from the variable quantum capacitance in graphene. These results represent a new sensor transduction mechanism and pave the way for graphene quantum capacitance sensors to be studied for a wide range of chemical and biological sensing applications.
Efficient desulfinylative cross-coupling of thiophene and furan sulfinates with aryl bromides in aqueous media

This letter describes the development of an environmentally benign palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction using heteroaromatic sulfinates as nucleophilic coupling partners in aqueous media. This method accesses aryl-substituted heteroaromatics in very good yields chemoselectively without the need for base, additives or co-catalysts.
Chemical fixation of carbon dioxide to styrene carbonate under supercritical conditions with DMF in the absence of any additional catalysts

Chemical fixation of carbon dioxide to styrene carbonate proceeds effectively under supercritical conditions with DMF even in the absence of any additional catalysts, giving a maximum yield of 85% in the near-critical region.
Jitter radiation in gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows: emission and self-absorption

Relativistic electrons moving into a highly tangled magnetic field emit jitter radiation. We present a detailed computation of the jitter radiation spectrum, including self-absorption, for electrons inside Weibel-like shock generated magnetic fields. We apply our results to the case of the prompt and afterglow emission of gamma-ray bursts. We show that jitter emission can reproduce most of the observed features with some important differences with respect to standard synchrotron, especially in the frequency range between the self-absorption and the peak frequency. We discuss the similarities and differences between jitter and synchrotron and discuss experiments that can disentangle the two mechanisms.
Dissolution of Al-Fe materials and analysis by inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectrometry

A technique was developed for the dissolution of Al-Fe materials containing difficult to dissolve Al2O3. The developed procedure uses HCl and HNO3 for initial sample attack followed by digestion with a mixture of H3PO4 and H2SO4 at 200 °C. This procedure was employe to dissolve Al-Fe material samples before the determination of Al and Fe. Minor and trace elements (B, Cr, Cu, Mo, Si, Zr) were determined after dissolution in HCl and HNO3. Results of a round robin study verified the procedure accuracy. The developed methods have the required accuracy and precision to be used as a quality control procedure for Al-Fe materials analysis.
Integrated participatory modelling of irrigated agriculture: the case study of the reorganisation of a water management system in Italy

The paper presents an application of the new version of the 'Decision Support for Irrigated agriculture' DSIrr designed to integrate water and agricultural policy analysis and to support participatory decision process. The tool is a scenario manager for bio-economic farm models considering climatic, agronomic, hydraulic, socio-economic and environmental aspects. The paper offers some insight on the decomposition approach adopted to integrate economic analysis at different scales by illustrating a case study conducted in Italy to support an ex ante evaluation of a water management system reorganisation. Reduce water consumption is a strategic objective which pricing policy cannot address given technical constraints. The replacement of the existing low-efficiency irrigation system could be the solution, but the recover of cost creates an affordability problem. Results suggest that a dual network, integrating agricultural and rural urban sectors, represents a real challenge for the Irrigation Board since this option meets the environmental goal and pass the economic sustainability test.