cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interstellar Gas in the NGC 4410 Galaxy Group

We present new radio continuum, 21 cm H I, and 2.6 mm CO data for the peculiar radio galaxy NGC 4410A and its companion NGC 4410B and compare with available optical and X-ray maps. Our radio continuum maps show an asymmetric double-lobed structure, with a high surface brightness lobe extending 36 (~100 kpc) to the southeast and a 62 (~180 kpc) low surface brightness feature in the northwest. Molecular gas is abundant in NGC 4410A, with M ~ 4 × 109 M☉ (using the standard Galactic conversion factor) but is undetected in NGC 4410B. H I is less abundant, with M ~ 109 M☉ for the pair. Our H I map shows a 3 × 108 M☉ H I tail extending 17 (50 kpc) to the southeast of the pair, coincident with a faint optical tail and partially overlapping with the southeastern radio lobe. The H I tail is anticoincident with a 2' (56 kpc) long X-ray structure aligned with a stellar bridge that connects the pair to a third galaxy. If this X-ray emission is associated with the group, we infer (3-8) × 108 M☉ of hot gas in this feature. This may be either intracluster gas or shocked gas associated with the bridge. Our detection of abundant interstellar gas in this pair, including an H I-rich tidal tail near the southeastern radio lobe, suggests that the observed distortions in this lobe may have been caused by the interstellar medium in this system. The gravitational interaction of the two galaxies and the subsequent motion of the interstellar medium in the system relative to the jet may have produced sufficient ram pressure to bend and distort the radio jet. An alternative hypothesis is that the jet was distorted by ram pressure due to an intracluster medium, although the small radial velocity of NGC 4410A relative to the group and the lack of diffuse X-ray emission in the group makes this less likely unless the group is not virialized or is in the process of merging with another group. Using our VLA data, we also searched for H I counterparts to the other 10 known members of the NGC 4410 group and CO from three other galaxies in the inner group. In our velocity range of 6690-7850 km s-1, we detected six other galaxies above our H I sensitivity limits of 2 × 108 M☉ for the inner group and 4 × 108 M☉ for the outer group. The total H I in the group is 1.4 × 1010 M☉, 80% of which arises from four galaxies in the outer group. Three of these galaxies (VCC 822, VCC 831, and VCC 847) are spirals with M/LB ratios typical of field galaxies, while FGC 170A appears to be a gas-rich dwarf galaxy (MB ~ -18, M ~ 3 × 109 M☉). In the inner group, the SBa galaxy NGC 4410D (VCC 934) was detected in H I and CO (M ~ 5 × 108 M☉ and M ~ 8 × 108 M☉) and has a 1' (28 kpc) long H I tail that points toward the nearby disk galaxy NGC 4410F. NGC 4410F was also detected in H I (M ~ 4 × 108 M☉). The galaxies in the inner group appear to be somewhat deficient in H I compared to their blue luminosities, suggesting phase changes driven by galaxy-galaxy or galaxy-intracluster medium encounters.
Expanding Patients' Property Rights in Their Medical Records

Although doctors and hospitals own their patients' medical records, state and federal laws require that they provide patients with a copy at “reasonable cost.” We examine the effects of state laws ...
Medical diagnoses and procedures associated with Clostridium difficile colitis

Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the associations of Clostridium difficile colitis with other comorbid conditions and procedural interventions among hospitalized patients. Methods: The Patient Treatment File of the Department of Veterans Affairs contains the computerized records of all inpatients treated in 172 Veterans Affairs hospitals distributed throughout the United States. The computerized medical records of 15,091 cases with C. difficile colitis and 61,931 controls without the diagnosis were extracted from the annual files between 1993 and 1998. In a multivariable logistic regression, the occurrence of C. difficile colitis served as outcome variable, whereas the occurrences of other diagnoses or procedures served as predictor variables. Results: The total numbers of diagnoses in the case and control group were 136,840 and 465,972, respectively. The numbers of procedures were 75,479 and 129,612, respectively. C. difficile colitis was significantly associated with HIV infection, candidiasis, malignant neoplasm and chemotherapy, malnutrition, pneumonia, aspiration pneumonitis, intestinal obstruction, diverticulitis, renal failure, urinary tract infection, decubitus, and osteomyelitis. Interventional procedures involving the respiratory tract, bone marrow biopsy, arterial and venous catheterization, urinary catheterization, dialysis, gastrostomy tube, and physical therapy were also frequently associated with the development of C. difficile colitis. Conclusions: These associations reflect the influence of causal relationships (such as the use of antibiotics and chemotherapy), an increased risk of exposure to C. difficile among immobilized bedridden patients with chronic disease states, or a general system failure in patients with end-stage disease. Knowledge of such associations could help to alert physicians to an increased risk of C. difficile colitis among particular groups of susceptible patients.
Aerodynamic Simulation of a Horn-Ice Accretion on a Subscale Model

The objective of this experimental investigation was to determine the geometric simulation fidelity required to accurately model the aerodynamics of a horn-ice accretion in a wind tunnel. A casting and a 2-D smooth simulation with variable horn geometry were constructed to model a horn-ice accretion on a NACA 0012 airfoil. Several simulations of differing fidelity, including a casting, were constructed to model a horn-ice accretion on a NACA 23012 airfoil. Aerodynamic testing was performed in the University of Illinois 3 x 4 ft wind tunnel at a Reynolds number of 1.8 x 10 6 and a Mach number of 0.18. Minor changes to the upper-horn geometry of the NACA 0012 2-D smooth simulation were found to have notable impacts on drag and maximum lift. Therefore, spanwise variations in the ice accretion geometry must be carefully examined so that an appropriate cross section can be chosen from which to generate a tracing for a 2-D simulation. Such a 2-D smooth simulation, as was constructed for the NACA 23012 airfoil, can model maximum lift to within 1 % of that of the casting. This type of simulation can also provide an estimate of drag that is within the uncertainty of the casting due to spanwise variation, although it does not reproduce three dimensionality in the iced-airfoil flowfield.
The Star Clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud: Structural Parameters

We present structural parameters for 204 stellar clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud derived from fitting King and Elson, Fall, and Freeman (EFF) model profiles to the V-band surface brightness profiles as measured from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey images. Both King and EFF profiles are satisfactory fits to the majority of the profiles, although King profiles are generally slightly superior to the softened power-law profiles of EFF and provide statistically acceptable fits to ~90% of the sample. We find no correlation between the preferred model and cluster age. The only systematic deviation in the surface brightness profiles that we identify is a lack of a central concentration in a subsample of clusters, which we designate as ring clusters. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the clusters in the SMC are significantly more elliptical than those in the Milky Way. However, given the mean age difference and the rapid destruction of these systems, the comparison between the SMC and the Milky Way should not directly be interpreted as a difference in either the initial cluster properties or their subsequent evolution. We find that cluster ellipticity correlates with cluster mass more strongly than with cluster age. We identify several other correlations (central surface brightness vs. local background density, core radius vs. tidal force, and size vs. distance) that can be used to constrain models of cluster evolution in the SMC.
The Masses and Evolutionary State of the Stars in the Dwarf Nova SS Cygni

The dwarf nova SS Cygni is a close binary star consisting of a K star transferring mass to a white dwarf by way of an accretion disk. We have obtained new spectroscopic observations of SS Cyg. Fits of synthetic spectra for Roche lobe-filling stars to the absorption-line spectrum of the K star yield the amplitude of the K star's radial velocity curve and the mass ratio, KK = 162.5 ± 1.0 km s-1 and q = MK/MWD = 0.685 ± 0.015. The fits also show that the accretion disk and white dwarf contribute a fraction f = 0.535 ± 0.075 of the total flux at 5500 A. Taking the weighted average of our results with previously published results obtained using similar techniques, we find KK = 163.7 ± 0.7 km s-1 and q = 0.683 ± 0.012. The orbital light curve of SS Cyg shows an ellipsoidal variation diluted by light from the disk and white dwarf. From an analysis of the ellipsoidal variations, we limit the orbital inclination to the range 45° ≤ i ≤ 56°. The derived masses of the K star and white dwarf are MK = 0.55 ± 0.13 M☉ and MWD = 0.81 ± 0.19 M☉, where the uncertainties are dominated by systematic errors in the orbital inclination. The K star in SS Cyg is 10%-50% larger than an unevolved star with the same mass and thus does not follow the mass-radius relation for zero-age main-sequence stars, nor does it follow the ZAMS mass-spectral type relation. Its mass and spectral type are, however, consistent with models in which the core hydrogen has been significantly depleted.
A highly enantioselective amino acid-catalyzed route to functionalized α-amino acids

The development of syntheses providing enantiomerically pure α-amino acids has intrigued generations of chemists and been the subject of intense research. This report describes a general approach to functionalized α-amino acids based on catalytic asymmetric synthesis. Proline catalyzed Mannich-type reactions of N-PMP-protected α-imino ethyl glyoxylate with a variety of unmodified ketones to provide functionalized α-amino acids in high yields with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities. Study of seven examples yielded six with product ee values of ≥99%. In reactions involving ketone donors where diastereoisomeric products could be formed, two adjacent stereogenic centers were created simultaneously upon carbon−carbon bond formation with complete syn-stereocontrol. Significantly, this methodology utilizes readily available and rather inexpensive starting materials, does not require any preactivation of substrates or metal ion assistance, and can be carried out on a gram scale under operation...
Linearly reconfigurable Kalman filtering for a vector process

In this paper, we consider a dynamic linear system in statespace form where the observation equation depends linearly on a set of parameters. We address the problem of how to dynamically calculate these parameters in order to minimize the mean-squared error (MSE) of the state estimate achieved by a Kalman filter. We formulate and solve two kinds of problems under a quadratic constraint on the observation parameters: minimizing the sum MSE (Min-Sum-MSE) or minimizing the maximum MSE (Min-Max-MSE). In each case, the optimization problem is divided into two sub-problems for which optimal solutions can be found: a semidefinite programming (SDP) problem followed by a constrained least-squares minimization. A more direct solution is shown to exist for the special case of a scalar observation; in particular, the Min-Sum-MSE problem is optimally solved utilizing Rayleigh quotient, and the Min-Max-MSE problemreduces to an SDP feasibility test that can be solved via the bisection method.
One-sided recursions

Abstract The performance of database systems with recursive query languages can be improved by recognizing simple, easily evaluable classes of recursions and using algorithms tailored to these classes whenever possible. In this paper we identify a useful subset of recursive definitions, the one-sided recursions . We show how to detect one-sided recursions, and give a schema to evaluate selections of the form “column = constant” on a relation defined by a one-sided recursion. Instantiating this schema produces evaluation algorithms that have simple termination conditions, maintain minimal state information, and use selections on the recursively defined relation to restrict the tuples examined during the evaluation. We show that there are no similar algorithms for many-sided recursions. We also prove that it is undecidable whether an arbitrary definition has an equivalent one-sided definition, but show that equivalence to a one-sided recursion is decidable for a large subset of recursions.
A proof of the main theorem on Bezoutians

We give a self-contained proof that the nullity of the Bezoutian matrix associated with a pair of polynomials $f$ and $g$ equals the number of their common zeros counting multiplicities.
The Ionospheric Sounder and Its Place in the History of Radio Science

It is suggested that Breit and Tuve's 1925 application of pulses to ionospheric sounding, which led to the most widely used form of radar, also gave rise to a scientific instrument whose utility, flexibility, and general suitability for intended applications place it on a par with such familiar and standard devices as the telescope or spectrograph. By way of background, there is included a discussion of the circumstances attendant upon the first measurement of ionospheric layer height, which took place in 1912.
Hydrocyclones: a solution to produced-water treatment

La conception et les caracteristiques de fonctionnement des hydrocyclones utilises pour deshuiler l'eau des puits de petrole sont presentees. Leur utilisation sur les plateformes Murchinson et Hutton en Mer du Nord est decrite
The Design of Bank Loan Contracts

The unique characteristics of bank loans emerge endogenously to enhance efficiency. In a model of renegotiation between a borrower and a lender in which there is the potential for moral hazard on each side of the relationship. Firm risk is endogenous and renegotiated interest rates on the debt need not be monotone in firm risk. The initial terms of the debt are not set to price default risk but rather are set to efficiently balance bargaining power in later renegotiation. Loan pricing may be nonlinear, involving initial transfers either from the borrower to the bank or front the bank to the borrower. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Using the Internet and social media to promote condom use in Turkey

Condoms are an important contraceptive method in Turkey, used by one in three couples using modern methods. However, withdrawal remains the most common form of contraception, resulting in many unwanted pregnancies. To address this issue and increase condom use in Turkey, DKT International, a social marketing enterprise, leveraged the high use of the Internet and social networking to help build Fiesta, a premium condom brand, and promote sales and condom use. By utilising a wide range of digital platforms--a new website, Facebook page, Google Adwords, an e-newsletter, viral marketing, banner ads and involving bloggers--Fiesta achieved strong recognition among the target audience of sexually active young people, though far more men than women. Retail audits, Internet analysis and sales performance suggest that using the Internet was instrumental in establishing Fiesta. Sales reached 4.3 million condoms (of which 8% were sold online) in the first 18 months. In contrast, Kiss, a far more inexpensive DKT condom, launched at the same time but with no digital campaign, sold 2.6 million. With the growing availability and use of the Internet and social media globally, family planning organizations should consider incorporating these technologies into their educational, outreach and marketing programmes.
Polarizable molecular interactions in condensed phase and their equivalent nonpolarizable models

Earlier, using phenomenological approach, we showed that in some cases polarizable models of condensed phase systems can be reduced to nonpolarizable equivalent models with scaled charges. Examples of such systems include ionic liquids, TIPnP-type models of water, protein force fields, and others, where interactions and dynamics of inherently polarizable species can be accurately described by nonpolarizable models. To describe electrostatic interactions, the effective charges of simple ionic liquids are obtained by scaling the actual charges of ions by a factor of 1/ɛel, which is due to electronic polarization screening effect; the scaling factor of neutral species is more complicated. Here, using several theoretical models, we examine how exactly the scaling factors appear in theory, and how, and under what conditions, polarizable Hamiltonians are reduced to nonpolarizable ones. These models allow one to trace the origin of the scaling factors, determine their values, and obtain important insights on the nature of polarizable interactions in condensed matter systems.
An Empirical Analysis of an Incentive Plan with Relative Performance Measures: Evidence from a Postal Service

Using 1997–1999 annual performance evaluation data of 214 postal stores in Korea, we find that financial performance improves following the implementation of an incentive plan that includes relative performance measures, and that under this incentive plan, the degree of common uncertainty is positively associated with store profitability. We also find evidence that the incentive effect of the plan is mitigated in stores at which the employees' perceived unfairness is likely to be high. Finally, we find that the net benefits of introducing the incentive plan may be conditional on the degree of common uncertainty, which appears to be inversely related to the perceived unfairness attributable to the introduction of the contract with relative performance measures.
Mars: Occurrence of Liquid Water

In the absence of juvenile liquid water, condensation of water vapor to ice and subsequent melting of ice are the only means of producing liquid water on the martian surface. However, the evaporation rate is so high that the available heat sources cannot melt pure ice. Liquid water is therefore limited to concentrated solutions of strongly deliquescent salts.
Simple (imidazol-2-ylidene)-Pd-acetate complexes as effective precatalysts for sterically hindered Suzuki-Miyaura couplings.

A simplified synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)Pd-carboxylate complexes and their activity in Suzuki−Miyaura cross-coupling reactions are described. Coupling of sterically hindered aryl and activated alkyl chlorides bearing β-hydrogens has been successfully achieved.
Gas liquid flow at microgravity conditions - Flow patterns and their transitions

Abstract The prediction of flow patterns during gas-liquid flow in conduits is central to the modern approach for modelling two-phase flow and heat transfer. The mechanisms of transition are reasonably well understood for flow pipes on earth where it has been shown that body forces largely control the behavior observed. This work explores the patterns which exist under conditions of microgravity when these body forces are suppressed. Data are presented which were obtained for air-water flow in tubes during drop tower experiments and Learjet trajectories. Preliminary models to explain the observed flow pattern map are evolved.
Baryons and flux tubes in confining gauge theories from brane actions

Abstract We study baryon configurations in large N non-supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theories, applying the AdS/CFT correspondence. Using the D5-brane world-volume theory in the near-horizon geometry of non-extremal D3-branes, we find embeddings which describe baryonic states in three-dimensional QCD. In particular, we construct solutions corresponding to a baryon made of N quarks, and study what happens when some fraction v of the total number of quarks are bodily moved to a large spatial separation from the others. The individual clumps of quarks are represented by Born-Infeld string tubes obtained from a D5-brane whose spatial section has topology R × S 4 . They are connected by a confining color flux tube, described by a portion of the fivebrane that runs very close and parallel to the horizon. We find that this flux tube has a tension with a non-trivial v-dependence (not previously obtained by other methods). A similar picture is presented for the four-dimensional case.
Steady-state simulations using weighted ensemble path sampling

We extend the weighted ensemble (WE) path sampling method to perform rigorous statistical sampling for systems at steady state. A straightforward steady-state implementation of WE is directly practical for simple landscapes, but not when significant metastable intermediates states are present. We therefore develop an enhanced WE scheme, building on existing ideas, which accelerates attainment of steady state in complex systems. We apply both WE approaches to several model systems, confirming their correctness and efficiency by comparison with brute-force results. The enhanced version is significantly faster than the brute force and straightforward WE for systems with WE bins that accurately reflect the reaction coordinate(s). The new WE methods can also be applied to equilibrium sampling, since equilibrium is a steady state.
Power exchange options

Abstract In this paper we present pricing results for an option to exchange the value of one asset raised to a power ( S 1 α 1 ) for the value of another asset raised to a power ( S 2 α 2 ). We refer to such options as power exchange options since they simultaneously generalize results for both the Fischer–Margrabe-type option to exchange one asset for another and power options. We explicitly solve for the price of the European power exchange option under the assumption of risk-neutrality. We also use our results to price options paying the best or worst of powers of two assets. Finally, we establish sufficient conditions for the equivalence of the pricing problems of the American and European power exchange options.
Imperfect evaluation in project screening

This paper studies a model in which an agent considers proposing a project of unknown quality to an evaluator, who has to decide on whether or not to accept it. Earlier papers considered the case when the evaluation is perfect and showed than higher submission fees increase the expected quality of projects submitted for review by discouraging long-shot submissions. We examine the case of two-sided incomplete information where not only the agent’s, but also the evaluator’s assessment of the project is imperfect. We show that under this specification, an increase in the submission fee may lead to a decrease in the quality of projects that are implemented because of its adverse effects on the evaluator’s acceptance policy.
Ablation and Thermal Response Program for Spacecraft Heatshield Analysis

An implicit ablation and thermal response program is presented for simulation of one-dimensional transient thermal energy transport in a multilayer stack of isotropic materials and structure which can ablate from a front surface and decompose in-depth. The governing equations and numerical procedures for solution are summarized. Solutions are compared with those of an existing code, the Aerotherm Charring Material Thermal Response and Ablation Program, and also with arcjet data Numerical experiments show that the new code is numerically more stable and solves a much wider range of problems compared with the older code. To demonstrate its capability, applications for thermal analysis and sizing of aeroshell heatshields for planetary missions, such as Stardust, Mars Microprobe (Deep Space n), Saturn Entry Probe, and Mars 2001, using advanced light-weight ceramic ablators developed at NASA Ames Research Center, are presented and discussed.
MODELING THE POLLUTION OF PRISTINE GAS IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE

We conduct a comprehensive theoretical and numerical investigation of the pollution of pristine gas in turbulent flows, designed to provide useful new tools for modeling the evolution of the first generation of stars. The properties of such Population III (Pop III) stars are thought to be very different than those of later stellar generations, because cooling is dramatically different in gas with a metallicity below a critical value Z c, which lies between ~10–6 and ~10–3 Z ☉. The critical value is much smaller than the typical overall average metallicity, , and therefore the mixing efficiency of the pristine gas in the interstellar medium plays a crucial role in determining the transition from Pop III to normal star formation. The small critical value, Z c, corresponds to the far left tail of the probability distribution function (PDF) of the metal abundance. Based on closure models for the PDF formulation of turbulent mixing, we derive evolution equations for the fraction of gas, P, lying below Z c, in statistically homogeneous compressible turbulence. Our simulation data show that the evolution of the pristine fraction P can be well approximated by a generalized "self-convolution" model, which predicts that where n is a measure of the locality of the mixing or PDF convolution events and the convolution timescale τcon is determined by the rate at which turbulence stretches the pollutants. Carrying out a suite of numerical simulations with turbulent Mach numbers ranging from M = 0.9 to 6.2, we are able to provide accurate fits to n and τcon as a function of M, Z c/Z, and the length scale, L p, at which pollutants are added to the flow. For pristine fractions above P = 0.9, mixing occurs only in the regions surrounding blobs of pollutants, such that n = 1. For smaller values of P, n is larger as the mixing process becomes more global. We show how these results can be used to construct one-zone models for the evolution of Pop III stars in a single high-redshift galaxy, as well as subgrid models for tracking the evolution of the first stars in large cosmological numerical simulations.
Hydrogen retention and release in first-wall coatings for tokamaks

The hydrogen retention and release of two first-wall coating materials, TiB/sub 2/ and B/sub 4/C, were measured. Hydrogen is released from TiB/sub 2/ at substantially lower temperatures or laser energy fluxes (pulsed annealing) than for B/sub 4/C. Hydrogen also diffuses to a much smaller extent into TiB/sub 2/ than into B/sub 4/C. On the basis of tritium inventory control, TiB/sub 2/ appears to be superior to B/sub 4/C.
Reactivity of allylic and vinylic silanes, germanes, stannanes and plumbanes toward SH2′ or SH2 substitution by carbon- or heteroatom-centered free radicals

Compounds of the type CH2CHCH2MR3 and E-PhCHCHMR3 (M  Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) were allowed to react with a series of heteroatom-centered radicals (PhY ·, Y = S, Se, Te, derived from PhYYPh) and carbon-centered radicals ((CH3)2CH · derived from (CH3)2CHHgCl). We report that alkenylplumbanes and, under forcing conditions, alkenylgermanes undergo SH2 or SH2′ substitution of the metal by chain mechanism analogous to those previously reported for alkenylstannanes. Alkenylsilanes are unreactive. Based solely upon product yields, the following trends were observed: The reactivity of the alkenylmetals follow the order metal = Pb > Sn > Ge (> Si). The allylmetals were more reactive then the β- metallostyrenes toward the reactants employed in this study. The chalcogen series PhYYPh exhibits the reactivity order Y = S > Se > Te.
Performance modeling and analysis of software architectures: an aspect-oriented UML based approach

Much attention has recently been focused on the problem of effectively developing software systems that meet their non-functional requirements (NFRs). Architectural frameworks have been proposed as a solution to support the design and analysis of NFRs such as performance, security, adaptability, etc. The significant benefits of such work include detecting and removing defects earlier, reducing development time, cost and improving the quality. The Formal Design Analysis Framework (FDAF) is an aspect-oriented approach that supports the automated translation of extended Unified Modeling Language designs for distributed real-time systems into existing formal notations, including Architecture Description Languages Rapide and Armani. The analysis of the formalized design is achieved using existing tool support for the formal methods, which leverages a large body of work in the research community. Currently, FDAF supports the design and analysis of response time and resource utilization performance sub-aspects. This paper presents the algorithms for translating extended UML diagrams into Armani, the proofs of correctness of the algorithms, and an illustration of the FDAF approach by using the Domain Name System. The Armani performance analysis results can provide architects with information indicating whether or not overloaded components exist in the design. If such a component exists, then the architect iteratively refines the UML architecture to meet the clients' requirements.
Recursive annealing: A computational model for machine design

We propose a model for optimally directed conceptual design of machines in which the transformation of function to form occurs iteratively along an abstraction continuum. An algorithm called FFREADA is introduced as a computational implementation of the model. FFREADA is a grammar-based optimizing design algorithm that uses recursive simulated annealing to generate optimally directed designs. During FFREADA's design process, the mapping of function to form is accomplished using an abstraction grammar production system and a predefined library of function and form entities. FFREADA also has a random design generation mode that can be used to record data to characterize the space of design solutions. FFREADA is demonstrated by designing an idealized power supply using a variety of performance objectives. Results show the algorithm able to explore and record information about a tractably infinite design space before converging to the optimal design.
Implications of compressed supersymmetry for collider and dark matter searches

Martin has proposed a scenario dubbed ``compressed supersymmetry'' (SUSY) where the MSSM is the effective field theory between energy scales Mweak and MGUT, but with the GUT scale SU(3) gaugino mass M3 M1 or M2. As a result, squark and gluino masses are suppressed relative to slepton, chargino and neutralino masses, leading to a compressed sparticle mass spectrum, and where the dark matter relic density in the early universe may be dominantly governed by neutralino annihilation into t pairs via exchange of a light top squark. We explore the dark matter and collider signals expected from compressed SUSY for two distinct model lines with differing assumptions about GUT scale gaugino mass parameters. For dark matter signals, the compressed squark spectrum leads to an enhancement in direct detection rates compared to models with unified gaugino masses. Meanwhile, neutralino halo annihilation rates to gamma rays and anti-matter are also enhanced relative to related scenarios with unified gaugino masses but, depending on the halo dark matter distribution, may yet be below the sensitivity of indirect searches underway. In the case of collider signals, we compare the rates for the potentially dominant decay modes of the 1 which may be expected to be produced in cascade decay chains at the LHC: 1?c1 and 1?bW1. We examine the extent to which multilepton signal rates are reduced when the two-body decay mode dominates. For the model lines that we examine here, the multi-lepton signals, though reduced, still remain observable at the LHC.
Inflation Targeting Supported by Managed Exchange Rate

We compare, on a welfare loss basis, possible inflation targeting regimes supported by different exchange rate rules. For model parametrization, we estimate a forward looking monetary policy rule for Trukey. When variable inflation targets are taken into consideration, as opposed to the fixed targets used in prior research that use data from developed countries, forward looking Taylor rules provide a reasonable description of Central Bank behaviour in Turkey. By applying a calibration based on estimated parameters, we compare the loss functions under flexible inflation targeting and strict inflation targeting while taking into consideration the supporting regimes, namely a flexible exchange rate and a managed floating exchange rate. We find that the welfare loss function caused by four simultaneous shocks, namely a foreign interest rate shock, a monetary policy shock, a foreign output shock and a domestic output shock, is minimized under the flexible inflation targeting regime supported by a managed float...
Subleading shape functions in inclusive B decays

The contributions of subleading shape functions to inclusive decay distributions of B mesons are derived from a systematic two-step matching of QCD current correlators onto soft-collinear and heavy-quark effective theory. At tree-level, the results can be expressed in terms of forward matrix elements of bi-local light-cone operators. Four-quark operators, which arise at O(?s), are included. Our results are in disagreement with some previous studies of subleading shape-function effects. A numerical analysis of ?Xu?l? decay distributions suggests that power corrections are small, with the possible exception of the endpoint region of the charged-lepton energy spectrum.
An analysis of the disposition of assets in a joint venture

Abstract The final disposition of assets at the conclusion of joint venture arrangements is important to an understanding of the motivation to pursue a joint venture and the wealth created by these collaborations. A comparison between conventional asset sales and asset sales occurring within a joint venture structure shows that the total wealth created is larger if the assets have been under shared control in a joint venture. Our results support the contention that the establishment of a joint venture creates an opportunity for a relationship-based exchange of information that can serve as a mechanism to transfer assets in the presence of a high degree of asymmetric information.
Star formation in grand design and flocculent spiral galaxies

An examination is conducted of the colors and neutral hydrogen contents of spiral galaxies which have been classified in the Elmegreen and Elmegreen arm morphology system. Using these data, possible differences between the star formation activity in spiral galaxies with and without classic spiral arms are delineated. At the same revised Hubble type, spiral galaxies with regular global arm patterns (the grand design spirals) are bluer than spiral galaxies lacking such patterns (the flocculent spirals) by a small, but statistically significant amount (approximately 0.05 in B-V and approximately 0.15 in U-V). The neutral hydrogen contents of the two groups are roughly similar, implying the star formation rate averaged over a Hubble time has been approximately the same in grand design and flocculent systems. The color differences can be explained either by using an initial mass function in the flocculent spiral galaxies which is deficient in massive stars by a factor of 2 compared with the grand design systems, or by a decrease of 30 percent in the ratio of recent to past star formation rates in flocculent galaxies. The possibility is discussed that systematic Hubble type misclassifications significantly affect these conclusions.
Solid-state barium nitrate Raman laser in the visible region

Abstract Preliminary results on a compact, visible barium nitrate Raman laser have been obtained. A total conversion efficiency greater than 65% at PRF of 30 Hz may make this a suitable laser for ozone DIAL when doubled to the UV region.
Infinite order amphicheiral knots

In answer to a question of Long, Flapan constructed an exam- ple of a prime strongly positive amphicheiral knot that is not slice. Long had proved that all such knots are algebraically slice. Here we show that the concordance group of algebraically slice knots contains an innitely generated free subgroup that is generated by prime strongly positive am- phicheiral knots. A simple corollary of this result is the existence of positive amphicheiral knots that are not of order two in concordance.
Impeller Blade Unsteady Aerodynamic Response to Vaned Diffuser Potential Fields

To predict the unsteady aerodynamic response of centrifugal compressor impeller blades to the potential field generated by the downstream vaned diffuser, a small perturbation model is developed that considers the number of impeller blades and diffuser vanes, the impeller blade backsweep angle, the impeller rotational speed, and the mass flow rate. The unsteady flow is analyzed in the impeller exit region and the vaneless diffuser space between the impeller and the diffuser leading edge radius, where the unsteady flow generated by the diffuser vane potential field is most significant. The unsteady flow perturbations are superimposed on an irrotational two-dimensional steady flow model, resulting in an analysis that is consistent with the small perturbation velocity potential equation. This model is then applied to a representative modern high speed impeller-vaned diffuser configuration.
The approach to equilibrium in a quark-gluon plasma

I review work done during the last year on the problem of color equilibration in a quarkgluon plasma.
Regularization of inverse heat conduction by combination of rate sensor analysis and analytic continuation

This paper describes some recent observations associated with (1) clarifying and expanding upon the integral relationship between temperature and heat flux in a half-space; (2) offering an analytic-continuation approach for estimating the surface temperature and heat flux in a one-dimensional geometry based on embedded measurements; and, (3) offering a novel digital filter that supports the use of analytic continuation based on a minimal number of embedded sensors. Key to future inverse analysis must be the proper understanding and generation of rate data associated with both the temperature and heat flux at the embedded location. For this paper, some results are presented that are theoretrically motivated but presently adapted to implement digital filtering. A pulsed surface heat flux is reconstructed by way of a single thermocouple sensor located at a well-defined embedded location in a half space. The proposed low-pass, Gaussian digital filter requires the specification of a cut-off frequency that is obtained by viewing the power spectra of the temperature signal as generated by the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). With this in hand, and through the use of an integral relationship between the local temperature and heat flux at the embedded location, the embedded heat flux can be accurately estimated. The time derivatives of the filtered temperature and heat flux are approximated by a simple finite-difference method to provide a sufficient number of terms required by the Taylor series for estimating (i.e., the projection) the surface temperature and heat flux. A numerical example demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed scheme. A series of appendices are offered that describe the mathematical details omitted in the body for ease of reading. These appendices contain important and subtle details germane to future studies.
Backscatter laser depolarization studies of simulated stratospheric aerosols: Crystallized sulfuric acid droplets

The optical depolarizing properties of simulated stratospheric aerosols were studied in laboratory laser (0.633 microm) backscattering experiments for application to polarization lidar observations. Clouds composed of sulfuric acid solution droplets, some treated with ammonia gas, were observed during evaporation. The results indicate that the formation of minute ammonium sulfate particles from the evaporation of acid droplets produces linear depolarization ratios of delta approximately 0.02, but delta approximately 0.10-0.15 are generated from acid droplet crystallization effects associated with recycled aerosols and the introduction of ammonia gas into the chamber. It is concluded that partially crystallized sulfuric acid droplets are a likely candidate for explaining the lidar delta approximately 0.10 values that have been observed in the lower stratosphere in the absence of the relatively strong backscattering from homogeneous sulfuric acid droplet (delta approximately 0) or ice crystal (delta approximately 0.5) clouds.
Vacuum Stability Bounds in the Two-Higgs Doublet Model

Abstract In the standard model, the requirements of vacuum stability and the validity of perturbation theory up to the unification scale force the mass of the Higgs boson to be approximately between 130 GeV and 180 GeV. We re-examine these requirements in the (non-supersymmetric) two-Higgs doublet model, in the light of the large top quark mass, and constrain the masses of the Higgs bosons in this model. It is found that the mass of the charged Higgs boson must be lighter than 150 GeV. This bound is below the lower bound in the popular model-II two-Higgs doublet model, and thus we conclude that this model cannot be valid up to the unification scale. The bounds on the neutral Higgs scalars are also discussed.
Low Complexity Methods For Discretizing Manifolds Via Riesz Energy Minimization

Let $$A$$ A be a compact $$d$$ d -rectifiable set embedded in Euclidean space $${\mathbb R}^p, d\le p$$ R p , d ≤ p . For a given continuous distribution $$\sigma (x)$$ ? ( x ) with respect to a $$d$$ d -dimensional Hausdorff measure on $$A$$ A , our earlier results provided a method for generating $$N$$ N -point configurations on $$A$$ A that have an asymptotic distribution $$\sigma (x)$$ ? ( x ) as $$N\rightarrow \infty $$ N ? ? ; moreover, such configurations are "quasi-uniform" in the sense that the ratio of the covering radius to the separation distance is bounded independently of $$N$$ N . The method is based upon minimizing the energy of $$N$$ N particles constrained to $$A$$ A interacting via a weighted power-law potential $$w(x,y)|x-y|^{-s}$$ w ( x , y ) | x - y | - s , where $$s>d$$ s > d is a fixed parameter and $$w(x,y)=\left( \sigma (x)\sigma (y)\right) ^{-({s}/{2d})}$$ w ( x , y ) = ? ( x ) ? ( y ) - ( s / 2 d ) . Here we show that one can generate points on $$A$$ A with the aforementioned properties keeping in the energy sums only those pairs of points that are located at a distance of at most $$r_N=C_N N^{-1/d}$$ r N = C N N - 1 / d from each other, with $$C_N$$ C N being a positive sequence tending to infinity arbitrarily slowly. To do this, we minimize the energy with respect to a varying truncated weight $$v_N(x,y)=\Phi (|x-y|/r_N)\cdot w(x,y)$$ v N ( x , y ) = ? ( | x - y | / r N ) · w ( x , y ) , where $$\Phi :(0,\infty )\rightarrow [0,\infty )$$ ? : ( 0 , ? ) ? [ 0 , ? ) is a bounded function with $$\Phi (t)=0, t\ge 1$$ ? ( t ) = 0 , t ? 1 , and $$\lim _{t\rightarrow 0^+}\Phi (t)=1$$ lim t ? 0 + ? ( t ) = 1 . Under appropriate assumptions, this reduces the complexity of generating $$N$$ N -point "low energy" discretizations to order $$N C_N^d$$ N C N d computations.
SIMCON: an advancement in the simulation of physical systems

The simulation of physical systems, once exclusively the domain of analog computers, is also being performed today by a variety of large-scale digital systems. Many specialized programs have been developed to permit the study of electronic circuits, biological organisms, and chemical processes, etc., by mathematical and empirical modeling techniques. So often these programs are written in procedural computer languages and may require months of developmental investment (and debugging) to yield a handful of computer-produced results. In addition, if simulation parameters are not well known, it may take hundreds of test runs to produce a simulation model that realistically portrays the actual processes involved. When the digital computer utilized to perform the simulation is operated in a batch-processing environment, such determination of model fidelity may take weeks because of the time lag from submission of test data to receipt of program results. Smaller computer systems may permit almost instantaneous turnaround and even on-line interaction, but too often do not have sufficient memory size, precision, or speed to be of much use in complicated digital simulations. The SIMCON simulation system is an integrated hardware/software system developed for the purpose of overcoming the difficulties of applying large-scale digital computers to the simulation of physical systems. The SIMCON system, which is used in conjunction with the IBM 360/91 computer, consists of the DSL/91 programming language, the SIMCON control console, a hybrid data interface, and a number of analog graphical peripherals. The SIMCON simulation system shown in Figure 1 includes the SIMCON console, incremental recorder and duel-channel X-Y plotter. The discussion of the SIMCON system presented herein includes the results from several hybrid satellite study programs, as examples of its application.
Prostate cancer prevention

Purpose of review Prostate cancer, a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world, ought to be a preventable disease. This review focuses on prostate cancer prevention in the context of new mechanistic insights into human prostatic carcinogenesis. Recent findings Evidence is accumulating to implicate infection and inflammation as contributors to prostate cancer development. Inherited prostate cancer susceptibility genes discovered thus far encode participants in host responses to infection. Proliferative inflammatory atrophy, a prostate cancer precursor lesion, ties inflammatory responses to prostatic carcinogenesis. Somatic epigenetic alterations, present in all prostate cancers, appear to arise in the setting of inflammation. Finally, a newly identified somatic genome change, involving a fusion between an androgen-regulated gene, TMPRSS2, and genes encoding members of the ETS family of transcription factors, may provide a clue as to why prostate cancer cells exhibit androgen dependence for growth and survival. Summary The contributions of infection and inflammation to the early development of prostate cancer suggest prevention strategies featuring prevention or eradication of infection, amelioration of inflammation, or attenuation of genome-damaging reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The acquisition of androgen dependence later during prostate cancer pathogenesis suggests the use of approaches targeting androgen signaling, including inhibitors of 5alpha-reductase.
Cloud droplet activation of secondary organic aerosol

[1] Measurements of hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity were conducted on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed in a smog chamber. SOA precursors included α-pinene, β-pinene, Δ3-carene, and toluene, representative of both naturally and anthropogenically emitted organic species. Measured CCN activation was comparable for all of the species studied and occurred at humidity conditions which are readily attained in the atmosphere. Further, there was little variation in hygroscopic growth between compounds. However, measured droplet activation conditions were inconsistent with hygroscopicity measured below water saturation and Kohler theory expressions based on Raoult’s law for several parameterizations for water activity. In the atmosphere, SOA may compose a large fraction of atmospheric particulate matter and will often exist internally mixed with inorganic species. Using the current results, we compare SOA to insoluble organic species to calculate CCN activation from mixed organic-sulfate particles for a range of atmospheric conditions. We find that droplet activation behavior of mixed particles containing SOA is the same as that of mixed particles for which the organic component is nonhygroscopic, except for cases in which there are low particle concentrations, low updraft velocities, and the aerosol composition is dominated by organics.