cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is a dividend tax penalty incorporated into the return on a firm's common stock?

Abstract We find that a firm's dividend yield has a positive impact on its common stock return that is decreasing in the level of institutional and corporate ownership, our indicator of whether the marginal investor in a firm's common stock is more likely to be a low-tax or a high-tax investor. These results suggest that (1) a dividend tax penalty is incorporated into the return on a firm's common stock and (2) both a firm's dividend policy and its ownership structure impact the size of the dividend tax penalty.
Investigation of hot QCD matter: theoretical aspects

This lecture presents an overview of the status of the investigation of the properties of the quark–gluon plasma using relativistic heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider. It focuses on the insights that have been obtained by the comparison between experimental data from both facilities and theoretical calculations.
A two-stage hybrid algorithm for pickup and delivery vehicle routing problems with time windows

This paper presents a two-stage hybrid algorithm for pickup and delivery vehicle routing problems with time windows and multiple vehicles (PDPTW). The first stage uses a simple simulated annealing algorithm to decrease the number of routes, while the second stage uses Large neighborhood search (LNS) to decrease total travel cost. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the algorithm which has produced many new best solutions on problems with 100, 200, and 600 customers. In particular, it has improved 47% and 76% of the best solutions on the 200 and 600-customer benchmarks, sometimes by as much as 3 vehicles. These results further confirm the benefits of two-stage approaches in vehicle routing. They also answer positively the open issue in the original LNS paper, which advocated the use of LNS for the PDPTW and argue for the robustness of LNS with respect to side-constraints.
Theoretical and Empirical Advantages of Truncated Count Data Estimators for Analysis of Deer Hunting in California

Truncated Poisson and truncated negative binomial count data models, as well as standard count data models, OLS, nonlinear normal, and truncated nonlinear normal MLE were used to estimate demand for deer hunting in California. The truncated count data estimators and their properties are reviewed. A large sample (N = 2223) allowed random segmenting of the data into specification, estimation, and out-of-sample prediction portions. Statistics of interest are therefore unbiased by the specification search, and the prediction results allow comparison of the statistical models' robustness. The new estimators are found to be more appropriate for estimating and predicting demand and social benefits than the alternative estimators based on a variety of criteria.
Cancellation and stable rank for direct limits of recursive subhomogeneous algebras

We prove the following results for a unital simple direct limit of recursive subhomogeneous algebras with no dimension growth: (1) (2) The projections in satisfy cancellation: if then (3) satisfies Blackadar's Second Fundamental Comparability Question: if are projections such that for all normalized traces on then (4) is unperforated for the strict order: if and there is such that then The last three of these results hold under certain weaker dimension growth conditions and without assuming simplicity. We use these results to obtain previously unknown information on the ordered K-theory of the crossed product obtained from a minimal homeomorphism of a finite-dimensional infinite compact metric space Specifically, is unperforated for the strict order, and satisfies the following K-theoretic version of Blackadar's Second Fundamental Comparability Question: if satisfies for all normalized traces on then there is a projection such that --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clinical Pharmacy Services in Heart Failure: An Opinion Paper from the Heart Failure Society of America and American College of Clinical Pharmacy Cardiology Practice and Research Network

Heart failure (HF) care takes place in multiple settings, with a variety of providers, and generally involves patients who have multiple comorbidities. This situation is a "perfect storm" of factors that predispose patients to medication errors. The goals of this paper are to outline potential roles for clinical pharmacists in a multidisciplinary HF team, to document outcomes associated with interventions by clinical pharmacists, to recommend minimum training for clinical pharmacists engaged in HF care, and to suggest financial strategies to support clinical pharmacy services within a multidisciplinary team. As patients transition from inpatient to outpatient settings and between multiple caregivers, pharmacists can positively affect medication reconciliation and education, assure consistency in management that results in improvements in patient satisfaction and medication adherence, and reduce medication errors. For mechanical circulatory support and heart transplant teams, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services considers the participation of a transplant pharmacology expert (e.g., clinical pharmacist) to be a requirement for accreditation, given the highly specialized and complex drug regimens used. Although reports of outcomes from pharmacist interventions have been mixed owing to differences in study design, benefits such as increased use of evidence-based therapies, decreases in HF hospitalizations and emergency department visits, and decreases in all-cause readmissions have been demonstrated. Clinical pharmacists participating in HF or heart transplant teams should have completed specialized postdoctoral training in the form of residencies and/or fellowships in cardiovascular and/or transplant pharmacotherapy, and board certification is recommended. Financial mechanisms to support pharmacist participation in the HF teams are variable. Positive outcomes associated with clinical pharmacist activities support the value of making this resource available to HF teams.
Online Bandit Learning against an Adaptive Adversary: from Regret to Policy Regret

Online learning algorithms are designed to learn even when their input is generated by an adversary. The widely-accepted formal definition of an online algorithm's ability to learn is the game-theoretic notion of regret. We argue that the standard definition of regret becomes inadequate if the adversary is allowed to adapt to the online algorithm's actions. We define the alternative notion of policy regret, which attempts to provide a more meaningful way to measure an online algorithm's performance against adaptive adversaries. Focusing on the online bandit setting, we show that no bandit algorithm can guarantee a sublinear policy regret against an adaptive adversary with unbounded memory. On the other hand, if the adversary's memory is bounded, we present a general technique that converts any bandit algorithm with a sublinear regret bound into an algorithm with a sublinear policy regret bound. We extend this result to other variants of regret, such as switching regret, internal regret, and swap regret.
How Does Education Affect the Earnings Distribution in Urban China

It is widely believed that investing in education could be an effective strategy to promote higher standards of living and equity. We empirically assess this claim by estimating returns to education across the whole earnings distribution in urban China and find supporting evidence. In particular, we find that returns to education are more pronounced for individuals in the lower tail of the distribution than for those in the upper tail and that returns to education are uniformly larger for women than men. We also find that returns to education increased over time across the whole earnings distribution.
Acid-sulfate weathering of synthetic Martian basalt: The acid fog model revisited

The acid fog model has received considerable attention as a model of soil formation on Mars. Previous evaluations of this model have focused on experimental weathering of terrestrial basalt samples. However, these samples differ significantly from what now is thought to be typical of Martian basalt. The acid fog model is tested here using synthetic basaltic analogs derived from Mars Pathfinder soil and rock compositions. Reaction of synthetic basalt with various acidic solutions and subsequent evaporation has led to the formation of several putative secondary mineral phases. Many of these phases were not produced in prior experimental studies aimed at aqueous interactions on Mars. Of these alteration phases, Mg, Fe, Ca, and Al sulfates were identified. In addition, secondary ferric oxide phases formed via rapid Fe oxidation under relatively high pH levels buffered by basalt dissolution. Amorphous silica is a ubiquitous product in these experiments and has formed by precipitation from solution and by the dissolution of minerals and glasses leaving behind leached surface layers composed of residual silica. The secondary products formed in these experiments demonstrate the importance of primary mineralogy when testing models of aqueous interactions on Mars. New constraints are placed on both the reactivity of primary basalt and the secondary mineralogy present at the Martian surface. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.
Universality of the hydrodynamic limit in AdS/CFT and the membrane paradigm

We show that at the level of linear response the low-frequency limit of a strongly coupled field theory at finite temperature is determined by the horizon geometry of its gravity dual, i.e., by the ``membrane paradigm'' fluid of classical black hole mechanics. Thus, generic boundary theory transport coefficients can be expressed in terms of geometric quantities evaluated at the horizon. When applied to the stress tensor this gives a simple, general proof of the universality of the shear viscosity in terms of the universality of gravitational couplings, and when applied to a conserved current it gives a new general formula for the conductivity. Away from the low-frequency limit the behavior of the boundary theory fluid is no longer fully captured by the horizon fluid even within the derivative expansion; instead, we find a nontrivial evolution from the horizon to the boundary. We derive flow equations governing this evolution and apply them to the simple examples of charge and momentum diffusion.
Breakout and Tether-Cutting Eruption Models Are Both Catastrophic (Sometimes)

We present a simplified analytic model of a quadrupolar magnetic field and flux rope to model coronal mass ejections. The model magnetic field is two-dimensional, force-free and has current only on the axis of the flux rope and within two current sheets. It is a generalization of previous models containing a single current sheet anchored to a bipolar flux distribution. Our new model can undergo quasi-static evolution either due to changes at the boundary or due to magnetic reconnection at either current sheet. We find that all three kinds of evolution can lead to a catastrophe, known as loss of equilibrium. Some equilibria can be driven to catastrophic instability either through reconnection at the lower current sheet, known as tether cutting, or through reconnection at the upper current sheet, known as breakout. Other equilibria can be destabilized through only one and not the other. Still others undergo no instability, but they evolve increasingly rapidly in response to slow steady driving (ideal or reconnective). One key feature of every case is a response to reconnection different from that found in simpler systems. In our two-current-sheet model a reconnection electric field in one current sheet causes the current in that sheet to increase rather than decrease. This suggests the possibility for the microscopic reconnection mechanism to run away.
Nonprocedural query processing for databases with access paths

The use of "rules of inference" in database systems with access paths--e.g., CODASYL and IMS databases--is proposed to allow nonprocedural querying of the database systems. The kinds of access paths for which these rules of inference are required are isolated. It is shown that the rules of inference required for a CODASYL or an IMS database depend on the configurations of the edges in a diagram of the database.
Nitrile alkylations through sulfinyl-metal exchange.

A conceptually appealingsolution for multiple controlled alkylations of acetonitrileincludes two sequential alkylations of an activated acetoni-trile (5!6) with a mild base followed by a functional group/metal exchange alkylation (6!7!8, Scheme 2). The execu-tionofthisstrategywouldallowthreeconsecutivealkylations,require only one equivalent of strong base, and installquaternary centers, as can be found in numerous nitrile-containing pharmaceuticals.Metal-exchange reactions
Asymmetric allylboration of α, β-enals as a surrogate for the enantioselective synthesis of allylic amines and α-amino acids

Optically pure allylic amines have been synthesized from α,β-unsaturated aldehydes via allylboration with (−)-B-allyldiisopinocampheylborane, followed by Overman rearrangement. By incorporating crotyl and alkoxyallylboration, functionalization at δ-position was readily accomplished. By applying this methodology, the synthesis of several chiral α-amino acids has been achieved.
Algorithms for finding an optimal set of short disjoint paths in a communication network

The motives for seeking a set of short disjoint paths in a communication network are explained. A sequentially constructed optimal set is defined. Three efficient algorithms, one that constructs an optimal set and two that construct approximations, are presented. One of the latter algorithms not only constructs a larger set of short disjoint paths than an iterated version of the standard Dijkstra algorithm, but also offers a major reduction in computation time for large networks. >
Design of compliant mechanisms: applications to MEMS

Compliant mechanisms are monolithic mechanical structures that rely on elastic deformation to generate sophisticated mechanical functions. This paper presents an overview of mathematical procedures employed for designing compliant mechanisms. The paper outlines: (1) topological synthesis-- which involves generation of a functional design in the form of a feasible topology starting from input/output force/motion specifications, and (2) size and shape optimization--to meet performance requirements. Some examples of compliant MEMS are also presented.
Broadband SBS Slow Light in an Optical Fiber

In this paper, we investigate slow light via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a room temperature optical fiber that is pumped by a spectrally broadened laser. Broadening the spectrum of the pump field increases the linewidth Deltaomegap of the Stokes amplifying resonance, thereby increasing the slow-light bandwidth. One physical bandwidth limitation occurs when the linewidth becomes several times larger than the Brillouin frequency shift OmegaB so that the anti-Stokes absorbing resonance substantially cancels out the Stokes amplifying resonance and, hence, the slow-light effect. We find that partial overlap of the Stokes and anti-Stokes resonances can actually lead to an enhancement of the slow-light delay-bandwidth product when Deltaomegapsime1.3OmegaB. Using this general approach, we increase the Brillouin slow-light bandwidth to over 12 GHz from its nominal linewidth of ~30 MHz obtained for monochromatic pumping. We controllably delay 75-ps-long pulses by up to 47 ps and study the data-pattern dependence of the broadband SBS slow-light system
An Investigation of the Effect of the 1990 Reserve Requirement Change on Financial Asset Prices

In 1990, the Federal Reserve reduced reserve requirements on large, nonpersonal time deposits and net Eurocurrency liabilities. In this article we provide evidence on who gained from the reduction in this tax. No evidence is found to suggest that large depositors gained by way of higher yields. Rather, evidence indicates a decline in Eurodollar interest rates relative to other money market rates. Evidence further shows that bank shareholders were recipients of abnormal share price appreciation following the announcement. There is little evidence to indicate that shareholders outside of the banking industry experienced similar abnormal gains.
Big Ideas for Big Problems: Lessons from Conflict Resolution for Public Administration

Christina Merchant bridged the worlds of conflict resolution and public administration. Her message to her students in her later years was simple: the field of conflict resolution has a long and deep tradition reflected in literature and practice from which the field of public administration can benefit. In the spirit of her life and work, this article discusses five big ideas from conflict resolution that public administrators should embrace.
Estimability in the multinomial probit model

Random utility models often involve terms which represent alternative-specific errors, and the main attractive feature of the multinomial probit (MNP) model is that it allows a rather general covariance structure for these errors. However, since observed choices only reveal information regarding utility differences, and since scale cannot be determined, not all parameters in an arbitrary MNP specification may be identified. This paper examines identification restrictions that arise in the linear-in-parameters multinomial probit framework, and provides discussion and recommendations for estimation and analysis of probit normalizations.
Radical-cured block copolymer-modified thermosets

Poly(ethylene-alt-propylene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEP-PEO) diblock copolymers were synthesized and added at 4 wt % to 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropoxy)phenyl]propane (BisGMA), a monomer that cures using free radical chemistry. In separate experiments, poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) was combined as a secondary monomer with BisGMA and the monomers were loaded with 4 wt % PEP-PEO. The diblock copolymers self-assembled into well-dispersed spherical micelles with PEP cores and PEO coronas. No appreciable change in the final extent of cure of the thermosets was caused by the addition of diblock copolymer, except in the case of BisGMA, where the addition of the block copolymer increased extent of cure by 12%. Furthermore, the extent of cure was increased by 29% and 37% with the addition of 25 and 50 wt % PEGDMA, respectively. Elastic modulus and fracture resistance were also determined, and the values indicate that the addition of block copolymers does not significantly toughen the thermoset materials. This finding is surprising when compared with the large increase in fracture resistance seen in block copolymer-modified epoxies, and an explanation is proposed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011
Preadaptation, Firm Heterogeneity, and Technological Performance: A Study on the Evolution of Fiber Optics, 1970-1995

Strategy research typically traces stable performance differences among firms to a priori heterogeneity in initial resource endowments or in expected flows of resources. The objective of this paper is to explore how this heterogeneity is created and how it affects firm technological performance. Within the framework of an evolutionary view of technological change, we develop the notion of technological preadaptation to describe that part of a firm's prior experience that is accumulated without anticipation of subsequent uses. In particular, we hypothesize that (technological) performance differences are positively related to (1) firms' stock of relevant skills and knowledge potentially available for applications other than those for which they were originally developed and (2) the extent to which firms actually build on these skills and knowledge in new domains. The empirical setting is fiber optics technology as it evolved for use in long-distance communications between 1970 and 1995. We find that "preadapted" firms that consistently leveraged their prior experience achieved higher levels of performance than did firms that did not leverage that experience or did not have prior experience. The study illustrates the importance of preadaptation in capability development and technological competition.
DOS Kapital: Has antitrust action against Microsoft created value in the computer industry?

Antitrust enforcement that e$ciently constrains Microsoft’s behavior bene"ts "rms supplying complements to and/or substitutes for Microsoft’s operating system and applications software. However, from 1991 through 1997, 29 reports of federal antitrust enforcement action against Microsoft were accompanied by declines in the value of an index of 159 computer industry "rms (excluding Microsoft). The mean loss to those "rms exceeded $1 billion per event. Eight retreats or setbacks in enforcement were associated with increased computer sector value. Thus, "nancial markets reveal compelling evidence against the joint hypothesis that (a) Microsoft conduct is anticompetitive and (b) antitrust policy enforcement produces net e$ciency gains. ( 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. JEL classixcation: G1; K2; L1; L4; L5
Allocations for heterogenous distributed storage

We study the problem of storing a data object in a set of data nodes that fail independently with given probabilities. Our problem is a natural generalization of a homogenous storage allocation problem where all the nodes had the same reliability and is naturally motivated for peer-to-peer and cloud storage systems with different types of nodes. Assuming optimal erasure coding (MDS), the goal is to find a storage allocation (i.e, how much to store in each node) to maximize the probability of successful recovery. This problem turns out to be a challenging combinatorial optimization problem. In this work we introduce an approximation framework based on large deviation inequalities and convex optimization. We propose two approximation algorithms and study the asymptotic performance of the resulting allocations.
Efficient Conversion of Sulfones into β-Keto Sulfones by N-Acylbenzotriazoles§

Acyclic sulfones 4a-f and alicyclic sulfone 7 react with readily available N-acylbenzotriazoles 3a-g (derived from aliphatic, aromatic, and heteroaromatic carboxylic acids) to provide the corresponding beta-keto sulfones 5a-n and 8a-c, respectively, in good to excellent yields.
Consumption, Dividends, and the Cross Section of Equity Returns

We show that aggregate consumption risks embodied in cash flows can account for the puzzling differences in risk premia across book-to-market, momentum, and sizesorted portfolios. The dynamics of aggregate consumption and cash flow growth rates, modeled as a vector autoregression, are used to measure the consumption beta of discounted cash flows. Differences in these cash flow betas account for more than 60% of the cross-sectional variation in risk premia. The market price for risk in cash flows is highly significant. We argue that cash flow risk is important for interpreting differences in risk compensation across assets. THE IDEA THAT DIFFERENCES IN EXPOSURE to systematic risk should justify differences in risk premia across assets is central to asset pricing. The static CAPM (capital asset-pricing model) (see Sharpe (1964) and Lintner (1965)) implies that assets’ exposures to aggregate wealth should determine cross-sectional differences in risk premia. The work of Lucas (1978) and Breeden (1979) argues that the risk premium on an asset is determined by its ability to insure against consumption fluctuations. Hence, the exposure of asset returns to movements in aggregate consumption (i.e., the consumption betas) should determine cross-sectional differences in risk premia. Evidence presented in Hansen and Singleton (1982) for the consumption-based models, and in Fama and French (1992) for the CAPM, shows that these models have considerable difficulty in justifying the differences in observable rates of return across assets. Consequently, identifying economic sources of risks that justify differences in the measured risk premia continues to be an important economic issue. Asset prices reflect the discounted value of cash flows; return news, consequently, reflects revisions in expectations about the entire path of future
Static arbitrage bounds on basket option prices

We consider the problem of computing upper and lower bounds on the price of an European basket call option, given prices on other similar options. Although this problem is hard to solve exactly in the general case, we show that in some instances the upper and lower bounds can be computed via simple closed-form expressions, or linear programs. We also introduce an efficient linear programming relaxation of the general problem based on an integral transform interpretation of the call price function. We show that this relaxation is tight in some of the special cases examined before.
Aortic-Based Therapy for Cardiac Arrest

After the failure of electrical countershock, the successful treatment of cardiac arrest is a function of raising aortic pressure so as to improve vital organ perfusion. Pharmacologic pressor agents have until recently been the most direct means of increasing aortic pressure. We have now begun to reevaluate direct aortic techniques including occlusion, infusion, counter-pulsation, and combinations of these. Clinical studies have demonstrated that the aorta can be accessed quickly and reliably even under emergency conditions. Initial laboratory studies indicate that some nonpharmacologic aortic therapies hold promise as adjuncts to external chest compression, or even as stand-alone therapies. Considerable research will be needed to identify the most effective approach before clinical trials can be considered.
Emotion recognition (sometimes) depends on horizontal orientations

Face recognition depends critically on horizontal orientations (Goffaux & Dakin, Frontiers in Psychology, 1(143), 1–14, 2010): Face images that lack horizontal features are harder to recognize than those that have this information preserved. We asked whether facial emotional recognition also exhibits this dependency by asking observers to categorize orientation-filtered happy and sad expressions. Furthermore, we aimed to dissociate image-based orientation energy from object-based orientation by rotating images 90 deg in the picture plane. In our first experiment, we showed that the perception of emotional expression does depend on horizontal orientations, and that object-based orientation constrained performance more than image-based orientation did. In Experiment 2, we showed that mouth openness (i.e., open vs. closed mouths) also influenced the emotion-dependent reliance on horizontal information. Finally, we describe a simple computational analysis that demonstrates that the impact of mouth openness was not predicted by variation in the distribution of orientation energy across horizontal and vertical orientation bands. Overall, our results suggest that emotion recognition largely does depend on horizontal information defined relative to the face, but that this bias is modulated by multiple factors that introduce variation in appearance across and within distinct emotions.
Triepitopic antibody fusions inhibit cetuximab-resistant BRAF- and KRAS-mutant tumors via EGFR signal repression

Dysregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a hallmark of many epithelial cancers, rendering this receptor an attractive target for cancer therapy. Much effort has been focused on the development of EGFR-directed antibody-based therapeutics, culminating in the clinical approval of the drugs cetuximab and panitumumab. Unfortunately, the clinical efficacy of these drugs has been disappointingly low, and a particular challenge to targeting EGFR with antibody therapeutics has been resistance, resulting from mutations in the downstream raf and ras effector proteins. Recent work demonstrating antibody cocktail-induced synergistic downregulation of EGFR motivated our design of cetuximab-based antibody-fibronectin domain fusion proteins that exploit downregulation-based EGFR inhibition by simultaneously targeting multiple receptor epitopes. We establish that, among our engineered multiepitopic formats, trans-triepitopic antibody fusions demonstrate optimal efficacy, inducing rapid EGFR clustering and internalization and consequently ablating downstream signaling. The combined effects of EGFR downregulation, ligand competition, and immune effector function conspire to inhibit tumor growth in xenograft models of cetuximab-resistant BRAF and KRAS mutant cancers. Our designed triepitopic constructs have the potential to enhance the efficacy and expand the scope of EGFR-directed therapies, and our multiepitopic may be readily applied to other receptor targets to formulate a new class of antibody-based therapeutics.
Bounds on Treatment Effects from Studies with Imperfect Compliance

Abstract This article establishes nonparametric formulas that can be used to bound the average treatment effect in experimental studies in which treatment assignment is random but subject compliance is imperfect. The bounds provided are the tightest possible, given the distribution of assignments, treatments, and responses. The formulas show that even with high rates of noncompliance, experimental data can yield useful and sometimes accurate information on the average effect of a treatment on the population.
Trade-offs drive resource specialization and the gradual establishment of ecotypes

Speciation is driven by many different factors. Among those are trade-offs between different ways an organism utilizes resources, and these trade-offs can constrain the manner in which selection can optimize traits. Limited migration among allopatric populations and species interactions can also drive speciation, but here we ask if trade-offs alone are sufficient to drive speciation in the absence of other factors. We present a model to study the effects of trade-offs on specialization and adaptive radiation in asexual organisms based solely on competition for limiting resources, where trade-offs are stronger the greater an organism’s ability to utilize resources. In this model resources are perfectly substitutable, and fitness is derived from the consumption of these resources. The model contains no spatial parameters, and is therefore strictly sympatric. We quantify the degree of specialization by the number of ecotypes evolved and the niche breadth of the population, and observe that these are sensitive to resource influx and trade-offs. Resource influx has a strong effect on the degree of specialization, with a clear transition between minimal diversification at high influx and multiple species evolving at low resource influx. At low resource influx the degree of specialization further depends on the strength of the trade-offs, with more ecotypes evolving the stronger trade-offs are. The specialized organisms persist through negative frequency-dependent selection. In addition, by analyzing one of the evolutionary radiations in greater detail we demonstrate that a single mutation alone is not enough to establish a new ecotype, even though phylogenetic reconstruction identifies that mutation as the branching point. Instead, it takes a series of additional mutations to ensure the stable coexistence of the new ecotype in the background of the existing ones. Trade-offs are sufficient to drive the evolution of specialization in sympatric asexual populations. Without trade-offs to restrain traits, generalists evolve and diversity decreases. The observation that several mutations are required to complete speciation, even when a single mutation creates the new species, highlights the gradual nature of speciation and the importance of phyletic evolution.
Power or Plenty How Do International Trade Institutions Affect Economic Sanctions

Does the dramatic rise of the number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) worldwide make economic sanctions more likely through increasing the leverage of the powerful and pitting states against each other in competition (power) or less likely through increasing the benefits of trade, resolving disputes, and promoting likeminded communities (plenty)? The authors offer the first systematic test of these propositions, testing hypotheses on sanctions onset using a data set of episodes from 1947 through 2000. In favor of the plenty argument, increases in bilateral trade do decrease sanctioning behavior; in favor of the power argument, an increase in the potential sanctioner’s GDP or centrality in the network of all PTAs make sanctioning much more likely. However, mutual membership in PTAs has no direct effect on the propensity of states to sanction each other.
Dynamics of a family of piecewise-linear area-preserving plane maps: I. Rational rotation numbers

This paper studies the behavior under iteration of the maps T ab (x, y) = (F ab (x) − y, x) of the plane in which F ab (x) = ax if x ≥ 0 and bx if x < 0. The orbits under iteration correspond to solutions of the nonlinear difference equation x n+2 = 1/2(a − b)|x n+1|+1/2(a+b)x n+1 − x n . This family of piecewise-linear maps has the parameter space These maps are area-preserving homeomorphisms of that map rays from the origin into rays from the origin. The action on rays gives an auxiliary map S ab : S 1 → S 1 of the circle, which has a well-defined rotation number. This paper characterizes the possible dynamics under iteration of T ab when the auxiliary map S ab has rational rotation number. It characterizes cases where the map T ab is a periodic map.
Optimal streamwise vortices intended for supersonic mixing enhancement

The theory of optimal, spatially growing disturbances is applied to a compressible turbulent mixing layer. It is suggested that the weak, steady disturbances generated by tiny vortex generators be considered as in the triple-decomposition method. The linearized equations for the disturbances are closed via the eddy viscosity model with a turbulent Prandtl number equal to one. The optimization procedure is formulated in terms of Mack's energy norm. As an example, a parallel flow with a hyperbolic tangent velocity profile and a temperature profile following from the Crocco-Busemann relation is analyzed
Zero Knowledge and Soundness Are Symmetric

We give a complexity-theoretic characterization of the class of problems in NP having zero-knowledge argument systems. This characterization is symmetric in its treatment of the zero knowledge and the soundness conditions, and thus we deduce that the class of problems in NP ? coNP having zero-knowledge arguments is closed under complement. Furthermore, we show that a problem in NP has a statisticalzero-knowledge argument system if and only if its complement has a computational zero-knowledge proofsystem. What is novel about these results is that they are unconditional, i.e., do not rely on unproven complexity assumptions such as the existence of one-way functions. Our characterization of zero-knowledge arguments also enables us to prove a variety of other unconditional results about the class of problems in NP having zero-knowledge arguments, such as equivalences between honest-verifier and malicious-verifier zero knowledge, private coins and public coins, inefficient provers and efficient provers, and non-black-box simulation and black-box simulation. Previously, such results were only known unconditionally for zero-knowledge proof systems, or under the assumption that one-way functions exist for zero-knowledge argument systems.
The Suspect Handmaiden: The Evolution of Politics and Administration in the American State

Scholars of an earlier era predicted a more secure role for the administrative state in American political culture. This vision overlooked a historical irony that governs the relationship between politics and administration. For American society, the administrative state is a suspect handmaiden. Citizens have looked to public administration to enable extraordinary growth while simultaneously distrusting it. In recent decades, these contradictory trends have grown. The growth of the state, increased polarization, and political attacks on government have produced a set of values, perspectives, and capabilities that often do not mesh with one another or with many governmental activities. As a result, we find outdated mechanisms of accountability, politicization, and a broader illegitimacy that threatens the capacity of the state to act effectively. Guest editors’ note: In 1942, the University of Chicago Press published a book edited by Leonard D. White titled The Future of Government in the United States. Each chapter in the book presents predictions concerning the future of U.S. public administration. In this article, Donald P. Moynihan and Patricia W. Ingraham examine the predictions of V. O. Key in his famous essay on politics and administration published in that book, comment on whether Key’s predictions were correct, and look to the future to examine public administration in 2020.
Radical-induced epoxide fragmentation chemistry. Atom transfer cyclization of iodoepoxides to cyclopentanols

Abstract Iodoepoxides, formed by the reaction of PhI(OAc)2 and I2 with an allylic alcohol, can be rearranged to cis-fused bicyclic compounds using catalytic amounts of (n-Bu3Sn)2 and AIBN. Formally an atom transfer cyclization, the reaction proceeds through a tandem radical-induced epoxide fragmentation-H·abstraction-cyclization process.
A New Keynesian Perspective on the Great Recession

With an estimated New Keynesian model, this paper compares the \great recession" of 2007-09 to its two immediate predecessors in 1990-91 and 2001. The model attributes all three downturns to a similar mix of aggregate demand and supply disturbances. The most recent series of adverse shocks lasted longer and became more severe, however, prolonging and deepening the great recession. In addition, the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate prevented monetary policy from stabilizing the US economy as it had previously; counterfactual simulations suggest that without this constraint, output would have recovered sooner and more quickly in 2009. JEL: E32, E52.
Frequency dependent electrical properties of minerals and partial-melts

The resistance to current flow of minerals and partial-melts is a frequency dependent electrical property. Measurements of the frequency dependent electrical impedance of single crystal olivine, polycrystalline olivine, dunites, metapelites, and partial-melts, between 10−4 and 105 Hz, when plotted in the complex impedance plane, reveal arcs that correspond to different conduction mechanisms in the material being studied. In polycrystalline materials, two impedance arcs related to material properties (as opposed to electrode properties or electrode-sample interactions) are observed. Each impedance arc is activated over a distinct range of frequency, that is, the mechanisms occur in series. Based on experiments comparing single and polycrystalline impedance spectra, experiments on samples with different electrode configurations, and on samples of varying dimension, the mechanisms responsible for these impedance arcs are interpreted as grain interior conduction (σgi), grain boundary conduction (in polycrystalline materials;σgb), and sample-electrode interface effects, from highest to lowest frequency, respectively. Impedance spectra of natural dunitic rocks reveal analogous behavior, that is,σgb andσgi add in series. The grain boundaries do not enhance the conductivity of any of the materials studied (a direct result of the observed series electrical behavior) and, under certain conditions, limit the total conductivity of the grain interior-grain boundary system. By examining the frequency dependence of the electrical properties of partial-melts, it is possible to gain information about microstructure and the distribution of the melt phase and to determine the conditions under which the presence of melt enhances the total conductivity. Impedance spectra of olivine-basalt partial-melts indicate that at least two conduction mechanisms occur in series over the frequency range 10−4-105 Hz, similar to the observed electrical response of melt-absent polycrystalline materials. In a sample containing isolated melt pockets the intermediate frequency grain boundary impedance arc is modified by the presence of melt indicating series conduction behavior. In a sample with an interconnected melt phase the high frequency grain interior impedance arc is modified by the melt phase, indicating the initiation of parallel conduction behavior. Because field EM response versus frequency curves are used to derive conductivity versus depth profiles, it is important to perform laboratory experiments to understand the frequency-dependent electrical behavior of Earth materials. Activation energies determined from studies that measure conductivity at a single frequency may be erroneous because of the shift of the dominant conduction mechanism with frequency as temperature is varied.
Financial Decisions and Investment Outcomes in Developing Countries: The Role of Institutions

This paper analyzes how differences in legal origin, judicial efficiency, and investor protection affect firm leverage and earnings volatility across developing countries. Using a large number of developing countries, four main findings are highlighted. First, firms in civil legal origin countries rely more on debt financing compared to firms in common law countries, and they exhibit lower earnings volatility. Second, under weak judicial enforcement, firms tend to borrow more but they take less risk. Third, stronger creditor rights increase debt financing and reduce earnings volatility. Fourth, firm listing on a developed stock exchange shifts the capital structure towards more equity financing, and it increases the firm’s ability to borrow more when the judicial system is inefficient. The results reinforce the importance of strengthening laws and institutions as well as deepening capital markets in developing countries to improve financing conditions and investment outcomes.
Information dependent games: Can common sense be common knowledge?

Abstract This paper attempts to study the consistency of several basic game-theoretic axioms. Two by-products are the introduction of information-dependent games, and a formal treatment of the framework of game theoretic axioms. In this setup a version of the Surprise Test Paradox is used to prove that common sense cannot be common knowledge.
Adaptive dynamic programming as a theory of sensorimotor control

Many characteristics of sensorimotor control can be explained by models based on optimization and optimal control theories. However, most of the previous models assume that the central nervous system has access to the precise knowledge of the sensorimotor system and its interacting environment. This viewpoint is difficult to be justified theoretically and has not been convincingly validated by experiments. To address this problem, this paper presents a new computational mechanism for sensorimotor control from a perspective of adaptive dynamic programming (ADP), which shares some features of reinforcement learning. The ADP-based model for sensorimotor control suggests that a command signal for the human movement is derived directly from the real-time sensory data, without the need to identify the system dynamics. An iterative learning scheme based on the proposed ADP theory is developed, along with rigorous convergence analysis. Interestingly, the computational model as advocated here is able to reproduce the motor learning behavior observed in experiments where a divergent force field or velocity-dependent force field was present. In addition, this modeling strategy provides a clear way to perform stability analysis of the overall system. Hence, we conjecture that human sensorimotor systems use an ADP-type mechanism to control movements and to achieve successful adaptation to uncertainties present in the environment.
Phases of the 2D Hubbard model at low doping

We study the equilibrium spin configuration of the 2D Hubbard model for a low degree of doping, x, when a long-range magnetic order is still present. We show that the conventional planar spiral phase has negative bosonic modes and is therefore unstable. The novel equilibrium state that we find at low doping is incommensurate and non-coplanar with the inverse pitch of the spiral varying as square root x; nevertheless this state has a dominant peak in the susceptibility at ( pi , pi ).
The Institutional Crisis of the Corporate-Welfare State

The initial response to the crisis of the corporate-welfare state is nativistic: ‘Give us that old time religion.’ In almost every democratic industrial society, retrenchment has become the primary motive of social economic policy. In the name of nineteenth-century economic wisdom, the inter-war and postwar commitment to human development, collective goals, and social justice is being abandoned. In this chapter I examine the current institutional crisis in an attempt to show that it is rooted in the holdover of an outmoded ideology and culture that has as its concomitant result a profound ideological lacuna. The implication is that it is not the last half-century’s social economic goals that should be abandoned but rather the nineteenth-century folkways and folklore that frustrate their achievement and advocate their abandonment.
Using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to Improve the Efficiency of Accounting Transactions

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is an information technology that standardizes the exchange of information between transacting parties. Using data from a major U.S. office furniture manufacturer that adopted EDI primarily to improve the efficiency of accounting transactions, we evaluate whether EDI reduces order‐processing time (the time from sales order receipt to sales order scheduling) and whether this improvement is greater for more complex orders. Our measure of complexity reflects both the mix of different products the dealer orders as well as features and options the dealer selects for each product in the order. We find that EDI is associated with faster order processing, independent of complexity, and that EDI mitigates most of the negative effects of complexity on processing time. We also find that dealers learn to submit error‐free orders to the manufacturer, and that previous errors provide feedback that helps dealers submit more accurate orders. However, we find only mixed evidence that orde...
SOME EXAMPLES OF BLACKADAR AND KIRCHBERG'S MF ALGEBRAS

In the paper, we provide some examples of Blackadar and Kirchberg's MF algebras by considering minimal and maximal tensor products of MF algebras and crossed products of MF algebras by finite groups or an integer group. We also present some examples of C*-algebras, which BDF extension semigroups are not groups. These examples include, for example, , and with 2 ≤ |H1| < ∞ and 3 ≤ |H2| < ∞ where |H1| and |H2| are the orders of the groups H1 and H2 respectively, and several others similarly.
Zig-zag sort: a simple deterministic data-oblivious sorting algorithm running in O(n log n) time

We describe Zig-zag Sort---a deterministic data-oblivious sorting algorithm running in O(n log n) time that is arguably simpler than previously known algorithms with similar properties, which are based on the AKS sorting network. Because it is data-oblivious and deterministic, Zig-zag Sort can be implemented as a simple O(n log n)-size sorting network, thereby providing a solution to an open problem posed by Incerpi and Sedgewick in 1985. In addition, Zig-zag Sort is a variant of Shellsort, and is, in fact, the first deterministic Shellsort variant running in O(n log n) time. The existence of such an algorithm was posed as an open problem by Plaxton et al. in 1992 and also by Sedgewick in 1996. More relevant for today is the fact that the existence of a simple data-oblivious deterministic sorting algorithm running in O(n log n) time simplifies the "inner-loop" computation in several proposed oblivious-RAM simulation methods (which utilize AKS sorting networks), and this, in turn, implies simplified mechanisms for privacy-preserving data outsourcing in several cloud computing applications.