cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recent Legal Decisions Regarding Hedonic Damages: An Update

In a 1997 paper, Walter D. Johnson, Paul Taylor and this author [Ireland, Johnson and Taylor, 1997; henceforth IJT] provided a review of reported legal decisions regarding the admissibility of testimony by economic experts on hedonic damages since the decision of the United States Supreme Court in William Daubert et al v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (June 28, 1993).1 The focus of that paper had been on how judges viewed the hedonic damage concept from the standpoint of the Daubert tests for admissibility of “scientific” expert testimony. That paper also covered one immediately pre-Daubert case, Livingston v. U.S. (1993) to show that the Daubert decision represented a continuation of a trend in the federal courts toward closer examination of claims of scientific accuracy, particularly with respect to hedonic damage analysis. Appendix I of this paper provides a list of cases covered in IJT, including two 1996 decisions that were announced subsequent to the completion of the text and for which limited coverage had provided in the first footnote of that paper. The purposes of this paper are both to update that paper and to look at other issues in legal decisions regarding hedonic damages.
Assessment of low-cost manufacturing process sequences

Abstract The Low-Cost Solar Array Project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, is managing an extensive research and development activity to reduce the cost of manufacturing photovoltaic solar arrays by a factor of approximately one hundred. The Solar Array Manufacturing Industry Costing Standards (SAMICS) methodology was developed to help meet this management objective by providing a systematic, standardized way to determine manufacturing costs. Due to space limitations and the fact that the detailed description is available internationally, this paper presents only a broad outline of SAMICS, and concentrates on its international applicability. The primary inputs for SAMICS are detailed descriptions of the manufacturing processes to be used: throughput rates, equipment costs, space requirements, personnel, materials, yields, and so forth. SAMICS also requires economic data, such as prices of materials, tax rates, inflation rates, and the desired financial return. From this information, SAMICS constructs a model of an industry made up of factories using specified sequences of those manufacturing processes, then calculates the annual costs for operating each factory at a given output rate. The annual costs are used to calculate a desired price for each product. To calculate the total annual costs, it is necessary to estimate indirect costs. These cannot be taken as a simple multiple of direct costs, because the appropriate multiple depends on the degree of automation, the structure of the work force, and other characteristics of the full-scale technology and cannot be reliably by examining the currently nascent solar array manufacturing industry. Accordingly, a considerably more detailed model was developed, and constitutes a major part of SAMICS' contribution to the state of the art. A side benefit is that SAMICS should be useful in estimation of product prices in many industries using de (not necessarily automated) production lines. SAMICS has been implemented by both a computer program (SAMIS) and, with some powerful simplifying assumptions, by an easily applied manual procedure (IPEG). It has been applied to the assessment of Low-Cost Solar Array Project progress, and it has been used as a tool in the selection of research and development priorities. (Over 200 process sequences have been costed by SAMIS at JPL alone; over dozen other organizations have also used it extensively.)
Thermal Degradation of Polystyrene

THE degradation of polymers may be elucidated by various approaches; one of the more accessible routes is a study of the volatile degradation products.
Inflection Point? Federalism and the Obama Administration

Major elements of the Obama administration’s health care, education, economic recovery, climate change, and financial reform initiatives have important intergovernmental consequences. This article reviews this broad intergovernmental agenda and analyzes its potential to shape the contours and future direction of American federalism. Utilizing a policy instruments framework, it examines trends in fiscal federalism, federal mandating, preemption, and other policy tools. We conclude that the most significant feature of President Obama’s approach to intergovernmental relations thus far may be his hybrid model of federal policy innovation and leadership, which mixes money, mandates, and flexibility in new and distinctive ways. At the same time, political constraints on the scope and sustainability of the Obama administration’s intergovernmental policies may limit this strategy’s future development.
A Model of Competition in Banking: Bank Capital vs Expertise☆

Abstract This paper presents a model of competition in the banking industry based upon the interplay of two factors: the level of capitalization of banks and their ability to monitor different types of projects (i.e., their expertise). In a setting of moral hazard with limited liability, banks must receive some rents to induce them to monitor projects diligently. The rents are decreasing in the banks' expertise and in the amount of capital that banks are able to commit to a project. This leads to a trade-off between capital and expertise. The analysis shows how shocks to bank capital and interest rates, and technological shocks can affect competition and monitoring efficiency in the banking sector. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: G21, G32.
Depreciation erodes the Coase Conjecture

If a durable good monopolist produces at constant marginal costs and the good depreciates, there exists a family of Strong Markov Perfect Equilibrium (SMPE). One member of this family entails instantaneous production of the level of stock produced in a competitive equilibrium; this is consistent with the Coase Conjecture. Other SMPE in the family entail steady-state production at a stock level lower than in the competitive equilibrium. There may be a jump to these steady states, or they may be approached asymptotically. Monopoly profits are positive in these equilibria, and the Coase Conjecture fails.
Sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation measurements to changing soil redox conditions

[1] Laboratory proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation measurements were made on fluid-saturated soil samples under reducing and oxidizing conditions. We used well-characterized kaolinite and sand samples with known concentrations of Fe(II) and Fe(III) compounds as the representative soils. Changes in dissolved oxygen concentration in the water in the soils caused changes in relaxation time that are too small to be reliably detected by field NMR measurements. In contrast, NMR relaxation measurements were shown to be very sensitive to small changes in the concentration of Fe(III) species in soil, as a consequence of changing redox conditions. Oxidation of as little as 0.030 mg/g of Fe(II) species to Fe(III) oxyhydroxides resulted in a 30–50% decrease in relaxation time. These results have important implications for the potential use of NMR field instruments to monitor changing redox conditions using the Fe(III)-Fe(II) redox couple as an indicator.
A multiplicity bound for graded rings and a criterion for the Cohen-Macaulay property

Let R be a polynomial ring over a field. We prove an upper bound for the multiplicity of R/I when I is a homogeneous ideal of the form I = J + (F ), where J is a Cohen-Macaulay ideal and F / ∈ J . We show that ideals achieving this upper bound have high depth, and provide a purely numerical criterion for the Cohen-Macaulay property. Applications to quasi-Gorenstein rings and almost complete intersections are given.
MID-INFRARED OBSERVATIONS OF VAN MAANEN 2: NO SUBSTELLAR COMPANION

The results of a comprehensive infrared imaging search for the putative 0.06 M☉ astrometric companion to the 4.4 pc white dwarf van Mannen 2 are reported. Adaptive optics images acquired at 3.8 μm reveal a diffraction-limited core of 009 and no direct evidence of a secondary. Models predict that at 5 Gyr, a 50MJ brown dwarf would be only 1 mag fainter than van Maanen 2 at this wavelength, and the astrometric analysis suggested a separation of 02. In the case of a chance alignment along the line of sight, a 0.4 mag excess should be measured. An independent photometric observation at the same wavelength reveals no excess. In addition, there exist published Infrared Space Observatory observations of van Maanen 2 at 6.8 and 15.0 μm that are consistent with the photospheric flux of a 6750 K white dwarf. If recent brown dwarf models are correct, there is no substellar companion with Teff 500 K.
Evaluation of gossip to build scalable and reliable multicast protocols

This paper provides an extensive experimental evaluation of the gossip technique for constructing scalable and reliable multicast protocols. This evaluation has been done by simulating several gossip and non gossip-based multicast protocols in a network simulator NS2. The evaluation comprises of three parts: (1) a comparison of the gossip technique with other traditional message loss detection and recovery techniques, (2) an extensive performance evaluation of the gossip technique under several different operating parameters, and (3) an evaluation of how the performance of a gossip-based multicast protocol is affected by varying various gossip parameters. The main conclusion of the paper is that the gossip technique is certainly a useful technique for constructing scalable and reliable multicast protocols. However, it performs poorly under some specific operating conditions, and its performance is affected by the selection criteria used to select a gossip subgroup and gossip period. Based on the results of this experimental evaluation, the paper identifies three major factors that critically affect the scalability and reliability of a multicast protocol. These are (1) percentage of overhead messages exchanged, (2) overhead message concentration, and (3) application characteristics that determine message arrival rate and message arrival pattern.
Plasmonic-Enhanced Radiative Transfer Through Nanoscale Aperture Antennas

Nanoscale ridge aperture antenna as a nanoscale high transmission optical device is demonstrated. High transfer efficiency and confined radiation are achieved simultaneously in the near field compared with regularly-shaped apertures. The radiation enhancement is attributed to the fundamental electromagnetic field propagating in the TE10 mode concentrated in the gap between the ridges. The transfer efficiency is further enhanced through plasmon excitation and resonance. This paper reports spectroscopic measurements of radiative transfer through bowtie shape ridge aperture antennas. Resonance in these aperture antennas and its relation with the aperture geometry are investigated. The near-field radiation through the bowtie aperture and the regular nanoaperture is also mapped with near-field scanning optical microscopy. It is revealed that plasmon excitation and resonance contribute to the radiation enhancement through the ridge aperture antennas.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
The molecular structures of 1,1-dimethylsilacyclobutane and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-1,3-disilacyclobutane as determined by gas-phase electron diffraction

Abstract The molecular structures of 1,1-dimethylsilacyclobutane (DMSICB) and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-1,3-disilacyclobutane (TMDSICB) have been studied by gas-phase electron diffraction at room temperature. Both molecules exist in a puckered conformation. The major geometrical parameters obtained are as follows: for DMSICB, r(CH) = 1.117(4) A, r(CC) = 1.565(4) A, r(SiC) av = 1.880(2) A, Delt(SiC) = [r(SiC) — r(SiCm)] = 0.004(15) A, ∠CSiC = 76.6(0.8)°, ∠CmSiCm = 113(2)°, ∠HCSi = 113.5(1.6)°, ∠HCH = 111(4)°, and Flap [angle between the planes formed by atoms C1,Si,C3 and C1,C2,C3, where planar = 0°] = 34.2(3.0)°; for TMDSICB, r(CH) = 1.080(5) A, r(SiC)av = 1.884(2) A, Delt(SiC) = 0.017(3) A, ∠CSiC = 90.1(6)°, ∠CmSiCm = 117.4(2.6)°, ∠HCSi =112.5(1.7)°, and Flap = 22.1(2.2)°.
String field theory, non-commutative Chern-Simons theory and Lie algebra cohomology

Motivated by non-commutative Chern-Simons theory, we construct an infinite class of field theories that satisfy the axioms of Witten's string field theory. These constructions have no propagating open string degrees of freedom. We demonstrate the existence of non-trivial classical solutions. We find Wilson loop-like observables in these examples.
Quark coalescence and charm(onium) in QGP

The potential of heavy quarks as probes of the environment produced in hadronic and heavy-ion reactions is discussed. A key role is played by coalescence processes and/or resonance formation in the Quark-Gluon Plasma which are promising candidates to provide a comprehensive understanding of phenomena associated with reinteractions of both open and hidden heavy-quark states.
Autonomous control of complex systems: robotic applications

One of the biggest challenges of any control paradigm is being able to handle large complex systems under unforeseen uncertainties. A system may be called complex here if its dimension (order) is too high and its model (if available) is nonlinear, interconnected, and information on the system is uncertain such that classical techniques cannot easily handle the problem. Soft computing, a collection of fuzzy logic, neuro-computing, genetic algorithms and genetic programming, has proven to be a powerful tool for adding autonomy to many complex systems. For such systems the size soft computing control architecture will be nearly infinite. Examples of complex systems are power networks, national air traffic control system, an integrated manufacturing plant, etc. In this paper a new rule base reduction approach is suggested to manage large inference engines. Notions of rule hierarchy and sensor data fusion are introduced and combined to achieve desirable goals. New paradigms using soft computing approaches are utilized to design autonomous controllers for a number of robotic applications at the ACE Center are also presented briefly.
A simple message-passing algorithm for compressed sensing

We consider the recovery of a nonnegative vector x from measurements y = Ax, where A ∈ {0, 1}m×n. We establish that when A corresponds to the adjacency matrix of a bipartite graph with sufficient expansion, a simple message-passing algorithm produces an estimate x^ of x satisfying ∥x-x^∥ 1 = O(n over k) ∥x−x(k)∥1, where x(k) is the best k-sparse approximation of x. The algorithm performs O(n(log(n over k))2 log(k)) computation in total, and the number of measurements required is m = O(k log(n over k)). In the special case when x is k-sparse, the algorithm recovers x exactly in time O(n log(n over k) log(k)). Ultimately, this work is a further step in the direction of more formally developing the broader role of message-passing algorithms in solving compressed sensing problems.
Selection effects in the SDSS quasar sample: the filter gap footprint

In the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars are targeted using colors and anything that can cause the identifying characteristics of the colors to disappear can create problems in the source selection process. Quasar spectra contain strong emission lines that can seriously affect the colors in photometric systems in which the transmission characteristics vary abruptly and significantly with redshift. When a strong line crosses a gap between two filter passbands the color effects induced by the line change abruptly, and there is also a dimming in apparent brightness compared to those redshifts where the strong line is inside a filter passband where the transmission is high. The strong emission lines in quasars, combined with the varying detectability introduced by the transmission pattern of the five filters, will result in a filter-gap footprint being imprinted on the N(z) distribution, with more quasars being missed when a strong line falls in a filter gap. It is shown here that a periodicity of Δz∼0.6 is imprinted on the redshift–number distribution by this selection effect. Because this effect cannot be rigorously corrected for, astronomers need to be aware of it in any investigation that uses the SDSS N(z) distribution. Its presence also means that the SDSS quasar data cannot be used either to confirm or to rule out the Δz∼0.6 redshift period reported previously in other, unrelated quasar data.
Quantifying the drivers of star formation on galactic scales. I. The Small Magellanic Cloud

We use the star formation history of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to place quantitative limits on the effect of tidal interactions and gas infall on the star formation and chemical enrichment history of the SMC. The coincident timing of two recent ( 10%, and could be as large as 70%.
Accelerated convergence treatment of R−n lattice sums

Accelerated-convergence treatment of the Coulombic lattice sum of ionic crystals and the dispersion-energy sum of ionic or molecular crystals is described. The Coulombic energy is very long-range and convergence of the Coulombic lattice-energy sum is extremely slow. Accelerated-convergence treatment is indispensable to achieve accuracy with a reasonable amount of computational effort. The dispersion-energy sum has somewhat better convergence properties than the Coulombic sum, but accelerated-convergence treatment of the dispersion sum is also strongly recommended since its use can yield at least an order of magnitude improvement in accuracy for a given calculation effort.
Molecular characterization of the Helicobacter pylori uvrB gene

Abstract Helicobacter pylori persists in the human stomach where it may encounter a variety of DNA-damaging conditions, including gastric acidity. To determine whether the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway contributes to the repair of acid-induced DNA damage, we have cloned the putative H. pylori NER gene, uvrB. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers based on conserved amino acid residues of bacterial UvrB proteins were used in PCR with genomic DNA from H. pylori strain 84-183, and the 1.3-kb PCR product from this reaction was used as a probe to clone uvrB from an H. pylori genomic library. This plasmid clone had a 5.5-kb insert containing a 2.0-kb ORF whose predicted product (658 amino acids; 75.9 kDa) exhibited 69.5% similarity to E. coli UvrB. We constructed an isogenic H. pylori uvrB mutant by inserting a kanamycin-resistance cassette into uvrB and verified its proper placement by Southern hybridization. As with uvrB mutants of other bacteria, the H. pylori uvrB mutant showed a greatly increased sensitivity to the DNA-damaging agents methylmethane sulfonate and ultraviolet radiation. The uvrB mutant also was significantly more sensitive than the wild-type strain to killing by low pH, suggesting that the H. pylori nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway is involved in the repair of acid-induced DNA damage.
An experiment to evaluate methods for estimating fossil fuel resources

Estimates of petroleum and natural gas resources vary substantially, both over time and across estimation methods. Worse, no reliable method exists for evaluating the accuracy of the various methods for estimating resources. This paper develops a simulation model of an exhaustible resource to evaluate different resource estimation techniques. Protocols for the Hubbert life cycle and USGS geologic analogy methods are developed and applied to synthetic data generated by the model. It is shown that the Hubbert method can generate an accurate estimate as early as twenty years before the peak of global production, but the geologic analogy approach overshoots the true resource base over the life cycle of the resource. 53 references, 17 figures, 3 tables.
LIQUIDITY AND MATURITY EFFECTS AROUND NEWS RELEASES

We study the effects of liquidity and term-to-maturity following macroeconomic news announcements. To do this we select five instruments that differ in liquidity, or term-to-maturity, or both, and examine their response to the release of macroeconomic news. The results from this study suggest that variance on announcement days is higher in more liquid, longer term-to-maturity instruments. When instruments differ in both term-to-maturity and liquidity, term-to-maturity effects dominate. Tests for persistence in higher volatility in the five instruments following news releases show that most of the effects of the announcements seem to be well absorbed within fifteen minutes of the announcements. However, the evidence also suggests that the effects persist for longer periods in instruments that are more liquid. Term-to-maturity appears to have little or no effect in this instance.
HABITAT–FISHERY LINKAGES AND MANGROVE LOSS IN THAILAND

The article develops a dynamic model of habitat–fishery linkage in which the habitat is being converted. The basic model is applied to a case study of the impacts of mangrove deforestation on the artisanal marine demersal and shellfish fisheries in Thailand. The comparative static effects of a change in mangrove area on the long-run equilibrium level of effort and fish stocks, as well as on the resulting market harvesting supply of the fishery, are determined. By estimating parameters through pooled timE-series and cross-sectional data over the 1983–96 period for the five coastal zones along the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea, the welfare impacts of mangrove deforestation are estimated. Mangrove conversion is expected to be a function of the return to shrimp farming and the input costs to farming shrimp, plus exogenous economic factors. The resulting aggregate reduced-form level of mangrove clearing by all farmers in coastal areas is empirically estimated across the five coastal zones in Thailand over 1983–96. The policy implications of the findings are discussed with respect to Thailand and the modeling of habitat–fishery linkages.
A new proof of existence of solutions for focusing and defocusing Gross-Pitaevskii hierarchies

We consider the cubic and quintic Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) hierarchies in d ≥ 1 dimensions, for focusing and defocusing interactions. We present a new proof of existence of solutions that does not require the a priori bound on the spacetime norm, which was introduced in the work of Klainerman and Machedon, [19], and used in our earlier work, [6].
An algorithm for computing some Heegaard Floer homologies

In this paper, we give an algorithm to compute the hat version of Heegaard Floer homology of a closed oriented three-manifold. This method also allows us to compute the filtration coming from a null-homologous link in a three-manifold.
Luni-solar perturbations in the extended phase space representation of the Vinti problem

Perturbation theory is applied to the Vinti problem—motion about an oblate spheroid—to include the gravitational effects of the sun and moon. The problem is formulated using the extended phase space method which introduces a new independent variable similar to the true anomaly. The disturbing Hamiltonian H1 for third bodies is of order J22 (second order) and the final goal is a theory including second order short and long period terms and third order secular terms. The current paper however carries the development only to the second order in the secular terms and the first order in the periodic terms. Problems of including the higher orders are discussed. Therefore, in the development of H1 all terms of order 10−9 or larger are retained. The lunar emphemeris retains terms to e′2 in the lunar eccentricity. The perturbation analysis is carried out by means of Lie series and is developed through the first order only which is consistent with the final accuracy desired. The generating function W1 is obtained and separated into the long period, short period and secular terms. From W1 the coordinates are defined from the Lie series by means of a transformation equation. These coordinates are non-singular for small eccentricity and inclination. Because of the complexity of the equations all algebraic computations were accomplished by means of a computerized Poisson series manipulator developed at the Naval Research Laboratory.
Federal map and chart depositories

Abstract The demand for mapping has increased substantially during recent years, particularly in environmental fields. The major producers of maps and charts in the federal government are the Defense Mapping Agency, the National Ocean Survey and the United States Geological Survey. Each agency maintains depositories with libraries. After reviewing some basic mapping terms, the article characterizes the mapping products of each federal depository, the conditions by which libraries can qualify for such depositories, and means by which non-depository libraries can learn about the location of nearby depository libraries.
Polarized structure functions in the valence quark and resonance regions and the GDH sum

Abstract I present in this paper the neutron spin physics program in Hall A at Jefferson Laboratory using a polarized 3 He target. The program encompasses several completed experiments, in which, valuable spin observables (spin dependent structure functions) were measured in order to learn about how the nucleon spin arises from the behavior of the constituents. These experiments also offer a ground for testing our understanding of the strong regime of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) the theory of strong interactions through the determination of moments of these structure functions.
Properties of GRB host galaxies

The transients following GRB970228 and GRB970508 showed that these (and probably all) GRBs are cosmological. However, the host galaxies expected to be associated with these and other bursts are largely absent, indicating that either bursts are further than expected or the host galaxies are underluminous. This apparent discrepancy does not invalidate the cosmological hypothesis, but instead host galaxy observations can test more sophisticated models.
A convergent enantioselective synthesis of the tetrahydroisoquinoline unit in the spiro ring of ecteinascidin 743

Abstract An efficient enantioselective synthesis of the spiro tetrahydroisoquinoline unit in ecteinascidin 743 is described, employing (+)-tetrahydrocarvone as a readily available and recoverable chiral auxiliary. The synthetic sequence involves a triply-convergent stereoselective bisannulation to construct the tetrahydroisoquinoline framework within 2 .
Antiferromagnetism and mixed valency in YBa2Cu3O6 + x

Abstract Results of some recent neutron diffraction studies of antiferromagnetic ordering and X-ray absorption studies of copper valence in YBa2Cu3O6 + x are reviewed. X-ray absorption measurements at the Cu K edge demonstrate that when oxygen is removed from a CuO chain, the Cu2+ ions in that chain are converted to Cu1+, thus helping to maximize the number of O2p holes present in the orthorhombic phase, which in turn keeps the superconducting transition temperature high. Neutron diffraction studies have demonstrated that long-range antiferromagnetic ordering occurs throughout the tetragonal phase, predominantly because of the presence of Cu2+ ions in the CuO2 planes. The increasing number of Cu2+ ions in chain sites with increasing oxygen content causes frustration in interplanar coupling, and eventually a change in spin structure. The recent growth of very large single crystals has made possible inelastic scattering studies of spin waves.
Syntheses of LewisX and Dimeric LewisX: Construction of Branched Oligosaccharides by a Combination of Preactivation and Reactivity Based Chemoselective One-Pot Glycosylations

Two asymmetrically branched oligosaccharides, LewisX and dimeric LewisX, were assembled in one pot with high yields and exclusive regio- and stereoselectivities. p-Tolyl thioglycosides were utilized as the sole type of building blocks, thus simplifying the overall synthetic design. The reactivity-independent nature of the preactivation based method allows modular assembly of the dimeric LewisX octasaccharide without the need for tedious protective group manipulation to achieve exact anomeric reactivities.
Rejoinder: The 2005 Neyman Lecture: Dynamic Indeterminism in Science

I was so fortunate as to spend formative periods ofmy statistical career watching and working near twoof the powerhouses of twentieth-century statistics—JerzyNeyman (JN) and John Tukey. The ﬁrstcham-pioned the responsibility the statistician has to setdown a clear pertinent set of assumptions guidingher/his data analyses. The second emphasized theimportance of looking for discoveries and surprisesin data sets.The Neyman Lecture gave me an opportunity toshow my admiration for Professor Neyman and hisapplied work. The examples from my own work aremeant to parallel analyses from his work. In somecases the analyses were done some years ago. Thepaper may be considered a substantial update ofBrillinger (1983). Both Grace Yang andHansKu¨nschadd meat to the paper and thereby increase our un-derstanding of Jerzy Neyman and his contributions.I begin with Grace’s Discussion. Her comments“resonate” with me, to use her word. Indeed herDiscussion, with its emphasis on Neyman’s teachingand research projects on sampling and cancer, cre-ates here a collaborative paperconcerning Neyman’sapplied statistics career.As well as lively anecdotes, Grace presents someNeyman quotes. One that she found that I like par-ticularly is,Ideeplyregret the notinfrequentemphaticdeclarations fororagainst puretheoryandfor or against work in applications. It ismy strong belief that both are importantand, certainly, both are interesting.
Genetic dissection of neurodegenerative disease

Abstract The clinical and molecular of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, multiple system atrophy and prion disease are reviewed. The hypothesis that these diseases share pathogenic pathways to cell death which involve either the tau or the α-synuclein proteins is propounded. The production and use of transgenic animal models of these disease, based on the genetic findings are briefly reviewed in the context of the development of treatments for these prevalent and distressing disorders.
The t-Tone Chromatic Number of Random Graphs

A proper 2-tone k-coloring of a graph is a labeling of the vertices with elements from $${\binom{[k]}{2}}$$ [ k ] 2 such that adjacent vertices receive disjoint labels and vertices distance 2 apart receive distinct labels. The 2-tone chromatic number of a graph G, denoted ? 2(G) is the smallest k such that G admits a proper 2-tone k coloring. In this paper, we prove that w.h.p. for $${p\geq Cn^{-1/4} {\rm ln}^{9/4}n, \tau_2(G_{n, p}) = (2 + o(1))\chi(G_{n, p})}$$ p ? C n - 1 / 4 ln 9 / 4 n , ? 2 ( G n , p ) = ( 2 + o ( 1 ) ) ? ( G n , p ) where $${\chi}$$ ? represents the ordinary chromatic number. For sparse random graphs with p = c/n, c constant, we prove that $${\tau_2(G_{n, p}) = \lceil{({\sqrt{8\Delta + 1} + 5})/{2}}}$$ ? 2 ( G n , p ) = ? ( 8 Δ + 1 + 5 ) / 2 where Δ represents the maximum degree. For the more general concept of t-tone coloring, we achieve similar results.
An intramolecular Diels-Alder approach to the spirotetronic acid subunits of the quartromicins

Abstract Three of the four diastereomeric spirotetronates (2, 19 and 24) corresponding to the quartromicins were synthesized by a sequence featuring the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of 3. An olefin isomerization pathway accounts for formation of the second most abundant cycloadduct, 16.
Networks or Neighborhoods? Correlations in the Use of Publicly-Funded Maternity Care in California

Abstract This study focuses on “network effects” in the utilization of publicly-funded prenatal care using Vital Statistics data from California for 1989–2000. Networks are defined using 5-digit zip codes and a woman's racial or ethnic group. Like others, we find evidence that the use of public programs is highly correlated within groups defined using race/ethnicity and neighborhoods. These correlations persist even when we control for many unobserved characteristics by including zip code-year fixed effects, and when we focus on the interaction between own group behavior and measures of the potential for contacts with other members of the group (“contact availability”). However, the richness of our data allows us to go further and to conduct several tests of one important hypothesis about networks: that the estimated effects represent information sharing within groups. The results cast doubt on the idea that the observed correlations can be interpreted as evidence of information sharing. In particular, we find estimated effects to be as large or larger among women who have previously used the program as among first-time users.
The chemistry and genesis of opaque minerals in kimberlites

Abstract Detailed electron-microprobe analyses of zonal trends in the spinel mineral group in kimberlites show that the early formed spinels are either highly enriched in the series picrochromite-chromite, or alternatively in the series MgAl2O4FeAl2O4; in both compositional types, progressive enrichment trends induced by solid-liquid or solid-gas reaction result in an overall increase in Fe + Ti, and a specific increase in Fe+3. The range of primary spinel compositions previously reported in kimberlites has been widened towards higher ratios of Al Cr . Homogeneous and oscillatory zoned spinels, skeletal and subhedral, are present in garnet kelyphitic reaction mantles. The unique characterization of kimberlitic spinels is in high MgO, FeO(Fe2O3) and TiO2 contents; whereas kimberlitic ilmenites are fingerprinted by high MgO, intermediate Fe2O3 contents, and by the presence of Cr2O3. Accessory minerals identified are Fe, FeNi, pyrite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Compositional data on two new minerals are presented and the first occurrence of terrestrial armalcolite is reported.
Genetic search strategies in multicriterion optimal design

The present paper describes an implementation of genetic search methods in multicriterion optimal designs of structural systems with a mix of continuous, integer and discrete design variables. Two distinct strategies to simultaneously generate a family of Pareto optimal designs are presented in the paper. These strategies stem from a consideration of the natural analogue, wherein distinct species of life forms share the available resources of an environment for sustenance. The efficacy of these solution strategies are examined in the context of representative structural optimization problems with multiple objective criteria and with varying dimensionality as determined by the number of design variables and constraints.
Hybrid computer solution of time-optimal control problems

Optimal control systems are of considerable practical and theoretical interest. Although solutions of certain optimal control problems have been known for many years, it is only recently that fairly general, rigorous solution techniques have been developed. Unfortunately, the computational aspects of these solution techniques still present formidable problems. The time-optimal problem which is treated in what follows has a very well developed theory. Our purpose here is to show the utility of hybrid computer techniques. Some of the programming procedures described may also be useful in the solution of other problems.
Josephson junctions with a synthetic antiferromagnetic interlayer

We report measurements of the critical current vs. Co thickness in Nb/Cu/Co/Ru/Co/Cu/Nb Josephson junctions, where the inner Co/Ru/Co trilayer is a "synthetic antiferromagnet" with the magnetizations of the two Co layers coupled antiparallel to each other via the 0.6 nm-thick Ru layer. Due to the antiparallel magnetization alignment, the net intrinsic magnetic flux in the junction is nearly zero, and such junctions exhibit excellent Fraunhofer patterns in the critical current vs. applied magnetic field, even with total Co thicknesses as large as 23 nm. There are no apparent oscillations in the critical current vs. Co thickness, consistent with theoretical expectations for this situation. The critical current of the junctions decays over 4 orders of magnitude as the total Co thickness increases from 3 to 23 nm. These junctions may serve as useful templates for future explorations of spin-triplet superconducting correlations, which are predicted to occur in supercon- ducting/ferromagnetic hybrid systems in the presence of certain types of magnetic inhomogeneity.
The Search for the Schwinger Effect:. Nonperturbative Vacuum Pair Production

The Schwinger effect is the non-perturbative production of electron-positron pairs when an external electric field is applied to the quantum electrodynamical (QED) vacuum. The inherent instability of the vacuum in an electric field was one of the first non-trivial predictions of QED, but the effect is so weak that it has not yet been directly observed. However, there are exciting new developments in ultra-high intensity lasers, which may bring us to the verge of this extreme ultra-relativistic regime. This necessitates a fresh look at both experimental and theoretical aspects of the Schwinger effect. I describe some new theoretical ideas aimed at making this elusive effect observable, by careful shaping of the laser pulses, much as is done [in a different intensity regime] in the fast-developing field of atto-science.
Challenges and opportunities: a hopeful future of polymer rheology in China

Polymer rheology has a long research tradition and holds an important position in the scientific community. It is supposed to be a valuable subject to the vast polymer industry. This article points out the exciting developments that are transforming our understanding of the world of polymer rheology. We discuss not only the emerging challenges in the area but also how China might wish to seize the moment, pick up the trend and take advantage of the potential economic benefits to the huge petro-chemical industry of China.
Equine hoof wall tubule density and morphology

Density and morphologic features of hoof wall tubules in horses' hooves are described. The sample population consisted of hooves (n=12) from both live and deceased adult horses. Full wall thicknesses of the hoof wall were prepared histologically from sites at the toe, medial quarter and lateral quarter. In defined areas, tubules were counted, and density was calculated across the three histologically defined areas of the stratum externum, stratum medium and stratum internum along with the descriptive morphologic features of the tubules. Morphologically, distinct zones were demarcated by varying tubular cortical and medullary characteristics. Tubule density showed a radially increasing pattern across the wall thickness. Significant regional differences in density were found in the toe, lateral and medial walls. These findings represent a first study of regional differences of tubular densities. Hoof horn clippings from live feet may have potential diagnostic and/or prognostic value.
A Versatile Methodology for the Synthesis of α,β-Unsaturated 3-Iminophosphines

Phorteen phine phosphines: Fourteen new α,β-unsaturated β-chloroimines were synthesized from inexpensive ketones by using the Vilsmeier–Haack reagent followed by Schiff-base condensation. Each imine was subsequently converted to an α,β-unsaturated 3-iminophosphine through either late-metal-catalyzed phosphorus–carbon cross-coupling or through an addition–elimination sequence (see scheme). This high-yield protocol serves as a general means to produce α,β-unsaturated 3-iminophosphines. Fourteen new α,β-unsaturated β-chloroimines were synthesized from commercially available ketones using the Vilsmeier–Haack reagent, followed by Schiff-base condensation. Each imine was subsequently converted to an α,β-unsaturated 3-iminophosphine through either late-metal-catalyzed phosphorus–carbon cross-coupling or through an addition–elimination sequence. Depending on the substituents present on the vinyl group, the resultant phosphines were isolated as either E or Z diastereomers with successful isolation of predominately single diastereomers for all fourteen new phosphines investigated. Full synthetic and spectroscopic details, as well as several X-ray crystal structures of these new imines and phosphines, are reported in addition to X-ray crystal structures of related palladium complexes.
Thick GaN layer grown by Ga vapor transport technique

Using a novel Ga vapor transport technique, thick gallium nitride layers have been deposited on a 3-6 /spl mu/m GaN film grown on sapphire substrate via hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). GaN powder was successfully used as a stable Ga source material for the growth. A growth rate of greater than 200 /spl mu/m/hr was achieved by optimizing the growth temperature and the reactant gas flow rates. This growth rate is as high as that achieved by HVPE. The GaN layers were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM).
A helicopter view of the self-consistency framework for wavelets and other signal extraction methods in the presence of missing and irregularly spaced data

A common frustration in signal processing and, more generally, information recovery is the presence of irregularities in the data. At best, the standard software or methods will no longer be directly applicable when data are missing, incomplete or irregularly spaced (e.g., as with wavelets). Self-consistency is a very general and powerful statistical principle for dealing with such problems. Conceptually it is extremely appealing, for it is essentially a mathematical formalization of iterating common-sense "trial-and-error" methods until no more improvement is possible. Mathematically it is elegant, with one fixed-point equation to solve and a general projection theorem to establish optimality. Practically it is straightforward to program because it directly uses the regular/complete-data method for iteration. Its major disadvantage is that it can be computationally intensive. However, increasingly efficient (approximate) implementations are being discovered, such as for wavelet de-noising with hard and soft thresholding. This brief overview summarizes the author's keynote presentation on those points, based on joint work with Thomas Lee on wavelet applications and with Zhan Li on the theoretical properties of the self-consistent estimators.
Distributed reconfiguration of metamorphic robot chains

The problem we address is the distributed reconfiguration of a planar metamorphic robotic system composed of any number of hexagonal modules. After presenting a framework for classifying motion planning algorithms for metamorphic robotic systems, we describe distributed algorithms for reconfiguring a straight chain of hexagonal modules to any intersecting straight chain configuration. We prove our algorithms are correct, and show that they are either optimal or asymptotically optimal in the number of moves and asymptotically optimal in the time required for parallel reconfiguration.
One-pot synthesis of L-felinine

Abstract Conjugate addition of Boc- L -Cys-OH to 3-methylcrotonaldehyde, in situ reduction with sodium borohydride,and in situ deprotection with hydrochloric acid, directly followed by chromatography gives L -felinine in 73% yield. Similar syntheses may produce acid building blocks for combinatorial libraries.
SybilBelief: A Semi-Supervised Learning Approach for Structure-Based Sybil Detection

Sybil attacks are a fundamental threat to the security of distributed systems. Recently, there has been a growing interest in leveraging social networks to mitigate Sybil attacks. However, the existing approaches suffer from one or more drawbacks, including bootstrapping from either only known benign or known Sybil nodes, failing to tolerate noise in their prior knowledge about known benign or Sybil nodes, and not being scalable. In this paper, we aim to overcome these drawbacks. Toward this goal, we introduce SybilBelief, a semi-supervised learning framework, to detect Sybil nodes. SybilBelief takes a social network of the nodes in the system, a small set of known benign nodes, and, optionally, a small set of known Sybils as input. Then, SybilBelief propagates the label information from the known benign and/or Sybil nodes to the remaining nodes in the system. We evaluate SybilBelief using both synthetic and real-world social network topologies. We show that SybilBelief is able to accurately identify Sybil nodes with low false positive rates and low false negative rates. SybilBelief is resilient to noise in our prior knowledge about known benign and Sybil nodes. Moreover, SybilBelief performs orders of magnitudes better than existing Sybil classification mechanisms and significantly better than existing Sybil ranking mechanisms.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Psychological Distress in Orthognathic Surgery Patients

Purpose Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a distressing condition involving preoccupation with an imagined or exaggerated deformity. The purpose of our study was to investigate the presence of BDD and its comorbidity with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery (OS). Materials and Methods The present prospective study included 99 patients from the outpatient oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic at Stanford University who requested OS. The incidence of BDD, depression, anxiety, and OCD was assessed preoperatively using validated self-report measures. To determine the prevalence of Axis I psychological symptoms among patients, the descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed. P Results In our sample, 13 patients (13%) screened positive for BDD. We did not find any significant correlations between the presence of BDD and gender, race, age, or marital status. Depressive symptoms were reported by 42% of the patients, OCD symptoms by 29%, and mild, moderate, and severe anxiety by 14%, 5%, and 4%, respectively. Using Spearman correlations, we found significant correlations between BDD and anxiety, depression, and OCD (P Conclusions The results of the present study suggest that the rates of BDD, depression, anxiety, and OCD are high in patients undergoing OS. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between BDD and anxiety, OCD, and depression in these patients. Future studies are necessary to determine the postoperative changes in these psychological disorders and whether these changes are affected by having positive BDD screening results at baseline.
Solar photochemical process engineering for production of fuels and chemicals

The engineering costs and performance of a nominal 25,000 scmd (883,000 scfd) photochemical plant to produce dihydrogen from water were studied. Two systems were considered, one based on flat-plate collector/reactors and the other on linear parabolic troughs. Engineering subsystems were specified including the collector/reactor, support hardware, field transport piping, gas compression equipment, and balance-of-plant (BOP) items. Overall plant efficiencies of 10.3 and 11.6% are estimated for the flat-plate and trough systems, respectively, based on assumed solar photochemical efficiencies of 12.9 and 14.6%. Because of the opposing effects of concentration ratio and operating temperature on efficiency, it was concluded that reactor cooling would be necessary with the trough system. Both active and passive cooling methods were considered. Capital costs and energy costs, for both concentrating and non-concentrating systems, were determined and their sensitivity to efficiency and economic parameters were analyzed. The overall plant efficiency is the single most important factor in determining the cost of the fuel.
Small peptidic aldehyde inhibitors of human rhinovirus 3C protease

Abstract Small peptide aldehydes were designed to mimic the preferred substrate requirements for the human rhinovirus 3C protease. Di- and tripeptide aldehydes containing a methionine sulfone as a P 1 surrogate for glutamine show low micromolar enzyme inhibitory and antiviral tissue culture activity. LY338387, obtained in a short and efficient synthesis, appears to validate the protease as a therapeutic target.