cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High throughput data center topology design

With high throughput networks acquiring a crucial role in supporting data-intensive applications, a variety of data center network topologies have been proposed to achieve high capacity at low cost. While this work explores a large number of design points, even in the limited case of a network of identical switches, no proposal has been able to claim any notion of optimality. The case of heterogeneous networks, incorporating multiple line-speeds and port-counts as data centers grow over time, introduces even greater complexity.In this paper, we present the first non-trivial upper-bound on network throughput under uniform traffic patterns for any topology with identical switches. We then show that random graphs achieve throughput surprisingly close to this bound, within a few percent at the scale of a few thousand servers. Apart from demonstrating that homogeneous topology design may be reaching its limits, this result also motivates our use of random graphs as building blocks for design of heterogeneous networks. Given a heterogeneous pool of network switches, we explore through experiments and analysis, how the distribution of servers across switches and the interconnection of switches affect network throughput. We apply these insights to a real-world heterogeneous data center topology, VL2, demonstrating as much as 43% higher throughput with the same equipment.
Comparison of electrostatic and aerodynamic forces during parachute opening

The work reported here seeks to determine the conditions, if any, under which electrostatic effects become comparable to aerodynamic forces during parachute opening. A simple Bernoulli model is used to estimate the principal aerodynamic forces during the early stages of inflation. The electrostatic forces during this period are found by computing the Coulomb attraction between two folds of parachute cloth charged to opposite polarity. These attractive Coulomb forces produce an inward "electrostatic tension" that acts to oppose the outwardly directed tension caused by the Bernoulli pressure. The investigation involves theoretical analysis, small-scale wind tunnel tests, and extrapolations to full-size parachutes. Our present estimates suggest that aerodynamic forces are two to three orders of magnitude larger than electrostatic forces for typical levels of air velocity and charge density. Typical levels of charge density are defined as those easily obtained in the laboratory via the process of triboelectrification (creation of static charge by friction).
New PF3 and Carbonyl Chemistry of Tantalum

Reduction of [TaCl5] by six equivalents of alkali metal naphthalenide in 1,2-dimethoxyethane at −60°C followed by treatment with gaseous PF3 provides the first homoleptic phosphane complex containing tantalum in the −1 oxidation state, [Ta(PF3)6]−. This can be protonated by concentrated sulfuric acid to yield the previously unknown highly acidic and volatile hydride [HTa(PF3)6]. An improved normal-pressure synthesis of [Ta(CO)6]− is described. Reduction of the latter species by sodium in liquid ammonia gives the carbonyl trianion [Ta(CO)5]3− which undergoes monoprotonation and stannylation to form [HTa(CO)5]2− and [Ph3SnTa(CO)5]2−, respectively. The hydride is a useful precursor to [(Ph3PAu)3Ta(CO)5], the only known gold cluster of tantalum.
A search for candidate light echoes: Photometry of supernova environments

Supernova (SN) light echoes could be a powerful tool for determining distances to galaxies geometrically, Sparks (1994). In this paper we present CCD photometry of the environments of 64 historical supernovae, the rst results of a program designed to search for light echoes from these SNe. We commonly nd patches of optical emission at, or close to, the sites of the supernovae. The color distribution of these patches is broad, and generally consistent with stellar population colors, possibly with some reddening. However there are in addition patches with both unusu- ally red and unusually blue colors. We expect light echoes to be blue, and while none of the objects are quite as blue in V R as the known light echo of SN 1991T, there are features that are unusually blue and we identify these as candidate light echoes for follow-on observations.
The luteinizing hormone receptor.

Both major and incremental advances in the past decade have provided important insights into the structure, function, and regulation of the luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) and its gene. The availability of the crystal structure of the extracellular domain of the follicular stimulating hormone receptor-hormone complex, and its applicability to other members of the gonadotropin receptor family, has facilitated prediction of the localized areas of specific interaction between the LHR and its cognate hormone. This has been supported by the incorporation of information derived from mutational and chimeric studies. The nature of the structural and molecular changes involved in the initiation and propagation of signaling is beginning to be revealed by the various models. It is likely that components of each domain of the LHR, the hinge region of the extracellular domain, and the LH/human chorionic gonadotrophin α-1,3 loops participate in the receptor activation. Naturally occurring and created mutations have provided fertile ground for modeling, leading to plausible proposals for the regions of the receptor that participate in receptor coupling functions. The knockout mouse model has demonstrated the lack of participation of the hormone/receptor in fetal gonadal development, in contrast with the situation in the human, where the essentiality of the LHR is exemplified by Leydig cell hypoplasia. The association of an LHR polymorphism with breast cancer age of onset and severity has been documented. Significant advances have been achieved in studies on LHR gene structure and regulation of transcription. Two independent mechanism of repression/derepression have been identified. Studies on the epigenetic control of LHR transcription have revealed the combined importance of promoter methylation status; and changes in histone acetylation/methylation in the association/release of inhibitory complexes from the promoter, and recruitment of the preinitiation complex and polymerase II. Furthermore, major advances await elucidation of the participation and molecular mechanisms of signaling pathways involved in the transcription of the LHR.
A marginal model approach for analysis of multi-reader multi-test receiver operating characteristic (ROC) data.

SUMMARY The receiver operating characteristic curve is a popular tool to characterize the capabilities of diagnostic tests with continuous or ordinal responses. One common design for assessing the accuracy of diagnostic tests involves multiple readers and multiple tests, in which all readers read all test results from the same patients. This design is most commonly used in a radiology setting, where the results of diagnostic tests depend on a radiologist’s subjective interpretation. The most widely used approach for analyzing data from such a study is the Dorfman–Berbaum–Metz (DBM) method (Dorfman et al., 1992) which utilizes a standard analysis of variance (ANOVA) model for the jackknife pseudovalues of the area under the ROC curves (AUCs). Although the DBM method has performed well in published simulation studies, there is no clear theoretical basis for this approach. In this paper, focusing on continuous outcomes, we investigate its theoretical basis. Our result indicates that the DBM method does not satisfy the regular assumptions for standard ANOVA models, and thus might lead to erroneous inference. We then propose a marginal model approach based on the AUCs which can adjust for covariates as well. Consistent and asymptotically normal estimators are derived for regression coefficients. We compare our approach with the DBM method via simulation and by an application to data from a breast cancer study. The simulation results show that both our method and the DBM method perform well when the accuracy of tests under the study is the same and that our method outperforms the DBM method for inference on individual AUCs when the accuracy of tests is not the same. The marginal model approach can be easily extended to ordinal outcomes.
Voluntary amalgamation of local governments: the Swiss debate in the European context

The debate about the amalgamation of local government units stems from the fact that their political borders (the institutional territory) do no longer coincide with the functional territory required for an efficient provision of most local public services. And both do not correspond with the relational territory which arises out of the private and professional activities of LGUs' residents as they commute daily or periodically for work, shopping and leisure. The core question of this paper is how to reform the institutional and functional territories in such a way that public services are delivered efficiently, according to local preferences and in a way that responds to the needs expressed in the larger relational territory. The paper is divided in six sections. Section one summarizes the debate about LGUs' amalgamation in the Swiss context. Section two tackles the fundamental problem: if too many LGUs are too small, when is small too small and why? Horizontal cooperation is one possible solution, but it creates serious problems in terms of principal-agent, democracy, information asymmetry and moral hazard, explained in Section 3. Section 4 presents the core concept of noyaux durs which is one of the effective approaches to LGUs amalgamation. Section 5 details the cantonal financial incentives that are needed to encourage voluntary amalgamation, besides a cantonal planning strategy and technical help in the process of amalgamation. Section 6 concludes with some notes on the performance of the system.
Rydberg atom mediated polar molecule interactions: a tool for molecular-state conditional quantum gates and individual addressability

We study the possibility to use interaction between a polar molecule in the ground electronic and vibrational state and a Rydberg atom to construct two-qubit gates between molecular qubits and to coherently control molecular states. A polar molecule within the electron orbit in a Rydberg atom can either shift the Rydberg state, or form a Rydberg molecule. Both the atomic shift and the Rydberg molecule states depend on the initial internal state of the polar molecule, resulting in molecular state dependent van der Waals or dipole–dipole interaction between Rydberg atoms. Rydberg atoms mediated interaction between polar molecules can be enhanced up to 103 times. We describe how the coupling between a polar molecule and a Rydberg atom can be applied to coherently control molecular states, and specifically, to individually address molecules in an optical lattice, and to non-destructively readout molecular qubits.
Recent developments in the chemistry of low valent Group 14 hydrides

This Perspective discusses the synthesis and reactivity of low valent Group 14 hydrides of germanium and tin. The use of hindered terphenyl ligands has facilitated the isolation of a number of unusual new main group hydride structural types (each predicted by computational work), and has culminated in the use of these species as precursors to new cluster archetypes.
R&D FOR FUTURE DETECTORS

Research and development of detector technology are critical to the future particle physics program. The goals of the International Linear Collider, in particular, require advances that are challenging, despite the progress driven in recent years by the needs of the Large Hadron Collider. The ILC detector goals and challenges are described and the program to address them is summarized.
Thermodynamically efficient solar concentrators

Nonimaging Optics is the theory of thermodynamically efficient optics and as such depends more on thermodynamics than on optics. Hence, I propose a condition for the best design based on purely thermodynamic arguments, which I believe has profound consequences for design of thermal and even photovoltaic systems. This new way of looking at the problem of efficient concentration depends on probabilities, the ingredients of entropy, and information theory while optics in the conventional sense recedes into the background. The paper takes a pedagogical and retrospective approach, as to place the new approach in perspective, it helps to first appreciate what has succeeded in nonimaging optics, and turned some devices [e.g. the compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) cone] into a commodity. I will conclude with some speculative directions on where the new ideas might lead.
Cubic Partial Cubes from Simplicial Arrangements

We show how to construct a cubic partial cube from any simplicial arrangement of lines or pseudolines in the projective plane. As a consequence, we find nine new infinite families of cubic partial cubes as well as many sporadic examples.
Enzyme Mimics Based Upon Supramolecular Coordination Chemistry

Recent advances in supramolecular coordination chemistry have allowed chemists to synthesize macromolecular complexes that exhibit various properties intrinsic to enzymes. This Review focuses on structures inspired by properties and functions observed in enzymes rather than precise models of enzyme active sites. These structures are synthesized using convergent, modular, and high-yielding coordination-chemistry-based methods, which allow one to tailor the size, shape, and properties of the resulting complexes. Many of the structures discussed exhibit reactivity and specificity reminiscent of natural systems, and some of them have functions that exceed the natural systems which provided the inspiration for initially making them.
S-duality and the giant magnon dispersion relation

We use S-duality and planarity to propose an argument for the non-renormalization of the dispersion relation of giant magnon solutions in type IIB string theory on \(AdS_5 \times S^5\). We compute the spectrum of giant magnons for \((p,q)\)-strings from field theory at strong coupling by using the central charge properties of electrically and magnetically charged supersymmetric states in the Coulomb branch of \({\mathcal N}=4\) super Yang–Mills. We argue that the coupling dependence of the giant magnon dispersion relation conjectured in the literature using integrability assumptions is in fact the only functional dependence compatible with S-duality.
Estimating the causal effect of forced eradication on coca cultivation in Colombian municipalities

Summary Colombia has aggressively pursued forced coca eradication to reduce the amount of land that agricultural households devote to illegal crops. However, few rigorous empirical studies have assessed its causal effect on land allocation decisions. I use a 6-year panel covering the entire country for the years 2001–06 to estimate this effect. I instrument eradication with changes in the expected cost of protecting eradication crews as they get far from the airports used as a point of departure. Estimates show the causal effect of a 1% increase in eradication to be approximately a 1% increase in coca cultivation.
Synthesis of cyclopropanes via organoiron methodology: preparation of the C9-C16 alkenylcyclopropane segment of ambruticin.

A synthesis of the C9–C16 segment of ambruticin is described which relies on organoiron methodology to establish the 1,2,3-trisubstituted cyclopropane ring.
Effective potential and warp factor dynamics

We define an effective potential describing all massless and massive modes in the supergravity limit of string/M theory compactification which is valid off-shell, i.e. without imposing the equations of motion. If we neglect the warp factor, it is unbounded below, as is the case for the action in Euclidean quantum gravity. By study of the constraint which determines the warp factor, we solve this problem, obtaining a physically satisfying and tractable description of the dynamics of the warp factor.
An algorithm for state-space frequency domain identification without windowing distortions

An algorithm is presented for identifying state-space models from frequency-domain data. The main advantage of this approach is that it avoids windowing distortions associated with other frequency-domain methods. Other advantages are that an arbitrary frequency weighting can be introduced to shape the estimation error, and the system order can be overspecified. The numerical properties are demonstrated on real physical data taken on a complex flexible structure, leading to the successful identification of a multivariable (four-input/three-output) 100-state model over a bandwidth of 100 Hertz. The results indicate that the algorithm would be useful in applications requiring the accurate identification of high-order systems over wide bandwidths. >
Cosmic string production towards the end of brane inflation

Abstract Towards the end of the brane inflationary epoch in the brane world, cosmic strings (but not texture, domain walls or monopoles) are copiously produced during brane collision. These cosmic strings are Dp-branes with (p−1) dimensions compactified. We elaborate on this prediction of the superstring theory description of the brane world. Using the data on the temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background, we estimate the cosmic string tension μ to be around Gμ≃10−7. This in turn implies that the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background comes mostly from inflation, but with a component (of order 10%) from cosmic strings. This cosmic string effect should also be observable in gravitational wave detectors and maybe even pulsar timing measurements.
Global Solutions to the Ultra-Relativistic Euler Equations

We show that when entropy variations are included and special relativity is imposed, the thermodynamics of a perfect fluid leads to two distinct families of equations of state whose relativistic compressible Euler equations are of Nishida type. (In the non-relativistic case there is only one.) The first corresponds exactly to the Stefan-Boltzmann radiation law, and the other, emerges most naturally in the ultra-relativistic limit of a γ-law gas, the limit in which the temperature is very high or the rest mass very small. We clarify how these two relativistic equations of state emerge physically, and provide a unified analysis of entropy variations to prove global existence in one space dimension for the two distinct 3 × 3 relativistic Nishida-type systems. In particular, as far as we know, this provides the first large data global existence result for a relativistic perfect fluid constrained by the Stefan-Boltzmann radiation law.
Spatial Structure and Collisionless Electron Heating in Balmer-dominated Shocks

Balmer-dominated shocks in supernova remnants (SNRs) produce strong hydrogen lines with a two-component profile composed of a narrow contribution from cold upstream hydrogen atoms and abroad contribution from hydrogen atoms that have undergone charge transfer reactions with hot protons. Observations of emission lines from edgewise shocks in SNRs can constrain the gas velocity and collisionless electron heating at the shock front. Downstream hydrogen atoms engage in charge transfer, excitation, and ionization reactions, defining an interaction region called the shock transition zone. The properties of hot hydrogen atoms produced by charge transfers (called broad neutrals) are critical for accurately calculating the structure and radiation from the shock transition zone. This paper is the third in a series describing the kinetic, fluid, and emission properties of Balmer-dominated shocks, and it is the first to properly treat the effect of broad neutral kinetics on the shock transition zone structure. We use our models to extract shock parameters from observations of Balmer-dominated SNRs. We find that the inferred shock velocities and electrontemperaturesarelower thanthoseof previouscalculations by 1500 km s � 1 . This effect is primarily due to the fact that excitation by proton collisions and charge transfer to excitedlevelsfavorthehigh-speedpartof theneutralhydrogenvelocitydistribution.Ourresultshaveastrongdependence on the ratio of the electron to proton temperatures, � � Te/Tp, which allows us to construct a relation � (vs) between the temperature ratio and the shock velocity.We compare our calculations to previous results byGhavamian and coworkers. Subject headingg shock waves — supernova remnants Online material: color figures
Coordination of economic activity: An example

In this paper we consider issues of organization of economic activity, especially coordination of productive activity. We begin with a classic question; “Which economic activities are (or should be) coordinated by markets, and which by other means?” “Other means” usually refers to administrative or bureaucratic mechanisms; sometimes the word “hierarchies” is used. This paper presents a formal model focused on productive activities, in which this question can be asked. The paper also presents an example — a specialization of the model — in which efficient coordination means just-in-time production. The example has two cases. In Case 1 it is shown that the market mechanism cannot achieve efficient coordination, even though there are market equilibria. There are alternative mechanisms, especially one called a direct mechanism, that does achieve efficient coordination. In Case 2 both types of mechanism achieve efficient coordination, but the market mechanism has higher informational costs. The two cases are the same except in one respect. Therefore the different outcomes in the two cases cannot be due to properties that are the same in both cases.
A bidentate borane as colorimetric fluoride ion sensor

The bright yellow bidentate diborane (3), obtained by reaction of 10-bromo-9-thia-10-boraanthracene (1) with dimesityl-1,8-naphthalenediylborate (2), serves as a colorimetric anion sensor and selectively complexes fluoride with an association constant greater than 5 × 109 M−1 in THF.
Extreme-rate capable and highly stable SiCO–TiO2 hybrids for Li ion battery anodes

A novel hybrid material for Li ion battery anodes, synthesized from polysiloxane-derived SiCO and nanoparticulate TiO2, exhibited specific capacity in excess of 850 mA h g−1, fully recoverable capacity after cycling at severe current densities, as high as 20000 mA g−1 or 300 C rate, and exceptional stability beyond 1000 charge discharge cycles without capacity fading. Microscopy of the anodes after 3000 cycles showed no degradation or loss of materials.
Comprehensive ESD protection for RF inputs

We demonstrate that narrow-band tuned circuits may be used for ESD protection of RF inputs, and a figure of merit for optimization of these circuits is presented. The performance of the ESD-protected RF circuit is dependent on the quality factor of the ESD device, and various protection devices are evaluated in this work. Record-breaking human body model (HBM) protection levels, exceeding 5 kV, have been achieved without significantly degrading the RF performance at 5 GHz. Broadband circuit protection is also addressed.
Internet time synchronization: the network time protocol

The network time protocol (NTP), which is designed to distribute time information in a large, diverse system, is described. It uses a symmetric architecture in which a distributed subnet of time servers operating in a self-organizing, hierarchical configuration synchronizes local clocks within the subnet and to national time standards via wire, radio, or calibrated atomic clock. The servers can also redistribute time information within a network via local routing algorithms and time daemons. The NTP synchronization system, which has been in regular operation in the Internet for the last several years, is described, along with performance data which show that timekeeping accuracy throughout most portions of the Internet can be ordinarily maintained to within a few milliseconds, even in cases of failure or disruption of clocks, time servers, or networks. >
No externalities: a characterization of efficiency and incentive compatibility with public goods

We show that efficient anonymous incentive compatible (dominant strategy) mechanisms for public goods eliminate externalities, i.e., each individual is unable to change the welfare of anyone else. The characterization is used to derive existence and non-existence results for models with a finite number of individuals and to explain existence results in the continuum. A similar characterization and conclusions are demonstrated for private goods in (J Econ Theory 85:169–225, 1999). However, unlike private goods, elimination of externalities with public goods implies that individuals cannot change the outcome. Hence, such mechanisms provide only weak incentives for truth-telling.
Transcriptional Profiles in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Prognostic of Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Purpose: Given their accessibility, surrogate tissues, such as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), may provide potential predictive biomarkers in clinical pharmacogenomic studies. In leukemias and lymphomas, the prognostic value of peripheral blast expression profiles is clear; however, it is unclear whether circulating mononuclear cells of patients with solid tumors might yield profiles with similar prognostic associations. Experimental Design: In this study, we evaluated the association of expression profiles in PBMCs with clinical outcomes in patients with advanced renal cell cancer. Transcriptional patterns in PBMCs of 45 renal cell cancer patients were compared with clinical outcome data at the conclusion of a phase II study of the mTOR kinase inhibitor CCI-779 to determine whether pretreatment transcriptional patterns in PBMCs were correlated with eventual patient outcomes. Results: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of the PBMC profiles using all expressed genes identified clusters of patients with significant differences in survival. Cox proportional hazards modeling showed that the expression levels of many PBMC transcripts were predictors for the patient outcomes of time to progression and overall survival (time to death). Supervised class prediction approaches identified multivariate expression patterns in PBMCs capable of assigning favorable outcomes of time to death and time to progression in a test set of renal cancer patients, with overall performance accuracies of 72% and 85%, respectively. Conclusions: The present study provides the first example of gene expression profiling in peripheral blood, a clinically accessible surrogate tissue, for identifying patterns of gene expression associated with higher likelihoods of positive outcome in patients with a solid tumor.
ASYMMETRIC PRICE ADJUSTMENTS AND BEHAVIOR UNDER RISK: EVIDENCE FROM PERUVIAN AGRICULTURAL MARKETS

Most studies measuring asymmetric adjustments in vertical price transmissions fail to provide empirical support to explain such behavior. The literature invokes theoretical models, which derive asymmetric behavior based on variables that are difficult to measure such as oligopolies' coordination policies, market imperfections or menu costs. Therefore, with no empirical support explaining the asymmetries, these studies leave no room for policy implementation. In this paper I relate asymmetric price responses to a theory of behavior under risk driven by the perishable rate of the goods. Retailers of a perishable good facing an increment in the wholesale price may decide not to increase their prices for fear of being left with a spoiled product. Using three agricultural products with different perishable rates I reject the null hypothesis of symmetric adjustments in the most perishable product but fail to reject for the less perishable goods. The nonlinear responses are consistent with the prediction of the model. The test for asymmetries uses a threshold cointegration technique where the threshold level and the cointegration vector are estimated from the data instead of being imposed by the econometrician.
Interval-Valued Reduced-Order Statistical Interconnect Modeling

We show how advances in the handling of correlated interval representations of range uncertainty can be used to approximate the mass of a probability density function as it moves through numerical operations and, in particular, to predict the impact of statistical manufacturing variations on linear interconnect. We represent correlated statistical variations in resistance-inductance-capacitance parameters as sets of correlated intervals and show how classical model-order reduction methods - asymptotic waveform evaluation and passive reduced-order interconnect macromodeling algorithm - can be retargeted to compute interval-valued, rather than scalar-valued, reductions. By applying a simple statistical interpretation and sampling to the resulting compact interval-valued model, we can efficiently estimate the impact of variations on the original circuit. Results show that the technique can predict mean delay and standard deviation with errors between 5% and 10% for correlated parameter variations up to 35%.
Stereoselective construction of cis-2,6-disubstituted tetrahydropyrans via an intramolecular bismuth-mediated oxa-conjugate addition reaction

The intramolecular oxa-conjugate addition of tethered triethylsilyloxy substituted α,β-unsaturated ketones mediated by bismuth(III) nitrate pentahydrate provides a mild and efficient method for the stereoselective construction of cis-2,6-disubstituted tetrahydropyrans.
Combining chiral elements: a novel approach to asymmetric phase-transfer catalyst design

A new dicationic asymmetric phase-transfer catalyst, designed by combining chiral elements, is described. Catalytic testing using standard glycine imino ester alkylations shows good yields and moderate enantioselectivities.
Is Bariatric Surgery an Effective Treatment for Type II Diabetic Kidney Disease

Type II diabetic kidney disease is devastating to patients and society alike. This review will evaluate bariatric surgery as a treatment for diabetic kidney disease primarily through its ability to induce and maintain regression of type II diabetes. The review begins by outlining the global challenge of diabetic kidney disease, its link to obesity, and the comparative benefits of bariatric surgery on weight and type II diabetes. It then surveys comprehensively the relevant literature, which reports that although bariatric surgery is associated with reductions in albuminuria, its effect on harder clinical end points like progression of diabetic kidney disease is not known. The review also includes a critical assessment of the risks and costs of bariatric surgery and concludes by acknowledging the major knowledge gaps in the field and providing research strategies to overcome them. Until these knowledge gaps are filled, clinicians will be forced to rely on their own subjective judgment in determining the benefit-risk ratio of bariatric surgery for patients with diabetic kidney disease.
Novel carboranylporphyrins for application in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) of tumors

Abstract Condensation of a new carboranylpyrrole 1 with benzaldehydes leads to β-carboranylporphyrins 2 and 3 in good yields. These new porphyrins of high boron content (32–43%) have potential as boron delivery agents for BNCT. The X-ray structures of one β-carboranylporphyrin, of a carboranylpyrrole, and of a side-product are presented.
A Novel Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing System Based on Parallel Computing

A new Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry (BOTDR) based on parallel computing method to extract the spontaneous Brillouin scattering spectra is proposed. By use of parallel computing method, the speed of digital signal processing unit in the new BOTDR can be improved by more than 40 times, which benefits dynamic measurement of the temperature and/or strain along the fiber under test.
Parallel operation of CartaBlanca on shared and distributed memory computers

We describe the parallel performance of the pure Java CartaBlanca code on heat transfer and multiphase fluid flow problems. CartaBlanca is designed for parallel computations on partitioned unstructured meshes. It uses Java's thread facility to manage computations on each of the mesh partitions. Inter-partition communications are handled by two compact objects for node-by-node communication along partition boundaries and for global reduction calculations across the entire mesh. For distributed calculations, the JavaParty package from the University of Karlsruhe is demonstrated to work with CartaBlanca. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Solution syntheses of protected type II Lewis blood group oligosaccharides: study for automated synthesis.

Glycosyl phosphate and trichloroacetimidate monosaccharide building blocks were used in a stepwise solution-phase synthesis of three Lewis blood group oligosaccharides. The syntheses were conducted to establish general routes for the automated assembly of the oligosaccharide portion of biologically important glycolipids. The H-type II pentasaccharide, Lex pentasaccharide, and Ley hexasaccharide were prepared in high yield. These syntheses served to evaluate the utility and limitations of the 2-(azidomethyl)benzoate ester (AZMB) for the construction of complex carbohydrates. Development of a glucosamine building block containing a N-trichloroacetamide group to mask the C2 amine improved coupling yields and was key for completion of the Lex and Ley structures.
In the Belly of the Whale

SHE WAS BEGGING ME to let her out. "I'm scared," she whimpered. "I'm scared of the dark. No kidding, I really really really am." She held to the word, clinging to the long vowel like a life-ring: ree-ee-lly ree-ee-lly ree-ee-lly. No anger, no outrage. Just that panicky voice, clutching sincerity. This was the voice of Sheila Phalen, my best friend. I had pinned her in Sister Immaculata's broom closet, an airless cube at the back of our second grade classroom, next to the cloakroom. The hempy, not-quite-dead smell of wet wool rose from the jackets hanging on pegs in the cloakroom; black slush puddled on the floor from the boys' rubber overshoes. Y m really really scared. Really. Anyone would have taken pity on this voice, limp with fright. Not me. I hove in, drove my shoulder harder against the narrow closet door, put some real muscle into it: You just stay there till you're good and scared. You just stay there. I had my reasons.
On Management Matters: Why We Must Improve Public Health Management Through Action: Comment on "Management Matters: A Leverage Point for Health Systems Strengthening in Global Health"

Public health management is a pillar of public health practice. Only through effective management can research, theory, and scientific innovation be translated into successful public health action. With this in mind, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed an innovative program called Improving Public Health Management for Action (IMPACT) which aims to address this critical need by building an effective cadre of public health managers to work alongside scientists to prepare for and respond to disease threats and to effectively implement public health programs. IMPACT is a 2-year, experiential learning program that provides fellows with the management tools and opportunities to apply their new knowledge in the field, all while continuing to serve the Ministry of Health (MoH). IMPACT will launch in 2016 in 2 countries with the intent of expanding to additional countries in future years resulting in a well-trained cadre of public health managers around the world.
Why we should care about AIDS overseas.

Why does the HIV epidemic in the developing world threaten our own economy? With more and more jobs in this country dependent on foreign trade a crisis in any part of the world threatens our economic security. If AIDS spreads at its current rate the consequences to the US economy may be similar to the recent turmoil created when Asian economies soured. (excerpt)
Two decades of spatiotemporal variations in subduction zone coupling offshore Japan

Abstract Spatial patterns of interplate coupling on global subduction zones can be used to guide seismic hazard assessment, but estimates of coupling are often constrained using a limited temporal range of geodetic data. Here we analyze ∼19 years of geodetic observations from the GEONET network to assess time-dependent variations in the spatial distribution of coupling on the subduction zones offshore Japan. We divide the position time series into five, ∼3.75-year epochs each decomposed into best-fit velocity, annual periodic signals, coseismic offsets, and postseismic effects following seven major earthquakes. Nominally interseismic velocities are interpreted in terms of a combination of tectonic block motions and earthquake cycle activity. The duration of the inferred postseismic activity covaries with the linear velocity. To address this trade-off, we assume that the nominally interseismic velocity at each station varies minimally from epoch to epoch. This approach is distinct from prior time-series analysis across the earthquake cycle in that position data are not detrended using preseismic velocity, which inherently assumes that interseismic processes are spatially stable through time, but rather the best-fit velocity at each station may vary between epochs. These velocities reveal significant consistency since 1996 in the spatial distribution of coupling on the Nankai subduction zone, with variation limited primarily to the Tokai and Bungo Channel regions, where long-term slow slip events have occurred, and persistently coupled regions coincident with areas that slipped during historic great earthquakes. On the Sagami subduction zone south of Tokyo, we also estimate relatively stable coupling through time. On the Japan–Kuril Trench, we image significant coupling variations owing to effects of the 1994 M W = 7.7 Sanriku-oki, 2003 M W = 8.2 Tokachi-oki, and 2011 M W = 9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquakes. In particular, strong coupling becomes more spatially extensive following the 1994 event until 2011, coseismic-sense slip precedes the Tohoku-oki event, and coupling offshore northern Honshu is reduced after the 2011 earthquake. Despite the occurrence of the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, persistent coupling offshore Hokkaido suggests ongoing seismic hazard, possibly similar to past M W ∼ 9 -class earthquakes interpreted from coastal paleoseismic records. This time-dependent analysis of interseismic deformation illuminates rich diversity in the distribution of subduction zone coupling, including spatiotemporal stability in coupling, effective reduction in strongly coupled regions due to aseismic thrust-sense slip events, and broad changes in the distribution of coupling following major earthquakes.
Synthesis and Structure of Three New Oxychalcogenides: A2O2Bi2Se3 (A = Sr, Ba) and Sr2O2Sb2Se3

Three new compounds have been added to the alkali chalcogenide and oxychalcogenide families: Sr2O2Bi2Se3, Ba2O2Bi2Se3, and Sr2O2Sb2Se3 were synthesized by direct combination of SrO or BaO with Bi2Se3 or Sb2Se3. The structure, determined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data, consists of double chains of edge-sharing BiSe4O square pyramids. Temperature-dependent resistance data reveal all three compounds to be insulators, while heat capacity data of Ba2O2Bi2Se3 and Sr2O2Bi2Se3, in conjunction with the literature reports, reveal low energy phonon modes due to bismuth lone pair effects. We propose a specific materials design principle connecting electron count to structural dimensionality by comparison to related chalcogenides, including the BiS2 superconductors.
Analyzing Latency-Aware Self-Adaptation Using Stochastic Games and Simulations

Self-adaptive systems must decide which adaptations to apply and when. In reactive approaches, adaptations are chosen and executed after some issue in the system has been detected (e.g., unforeseen attacks or failures). In proactive approaches, predictions are used to prepare the system for some future event (e.g., traffic spikes during holidays). In both cases, the choice of adaptation is based on the estimated impact it will have on the system. Current decision-making approaches assume that the impact will be instantaneous, whereas it is common that adaptations take time to produce their impact. Ignoring this latency is problematic because adaptations may not achieve their effect in time for a predicted event. Furthermore, lower impact but quicker adaptations may be ignored altogether, even if over time the accrued impact is actually higher. In this article, we introduce a novel approach to choosing adaptations that considers these latencies. To show how this improves adaptation decisions, we use a two-pronged approach: (i) model checking of Stochastic Multiplayer Games (SMGs) enables us to understand best- and worst-case scenarios of optimal latency-aware and non-latency-aware adaptation without the need to develop specific adaptation algorithms. However, since SMGs do not provide an algorithm to make choices at runtime, we propose a (ii) latency-aware adaptation algorithm to make decisions at runtime. Simulations are used to explore more detailed adaptation behavior and to check if the performance of the algorithm falls within the bounds predicted by SMGs. Our results show that latency awareness improves adaptation outcomes and also allows a larger set of adaptations to be exploited.
Renforcement de la sûreté des joints d’arbres des groupes motopompes primaires (GMPP)

En cas de Perte Totale des Alimentations Electriques (PTAE ou SBO) de la centrale nucleaire, l’eau du circuit primaire a temperature et pression elevees remonte le long de l’arbre des groupes motopompes primaires (GMPP) jusqu’au systeme de joint d’arbre qui en assure l’etancheite. Dans ces conditions de fonctionnement extremement severes, ce systeme doit limiter la fuite du fluide primaire de maniere a limiter le risque de decouvrement du coeur.Pour repondre de facon innovante aux exigences renforcees exprimees par les autorites de surete notamment depuis l’accident de Fukushima, AREVA a developpe et qualifie un systeme de joints permettant d’accroitre de maniere extremement significative la surete de l’installation. Ce nouveau systeme est base sur la technologie de joint hydrodynamique et se monte en lieu et place du systeme hydrostatique actuel. Outre sa resistance aux conditions extremes de fonctionnement, le systeme de joint hydrodynamique apporte un confort de conduite a l’exploitant et permet d’elargir l’intervalle de maintenance sur site.
Institutional Inertia: Persistent Inefficient Institutions in Spain

In 1966, after more than 700 years, the irrigation community in Mula (Spain) switched from auctions to quotas to allocate water from its river. This change happened in the absence of either political or technological change. Quotas were more efficient, but required that farmers own water property rights. I develop a model in which poor farmers cannot credibly commit to purchase water rights. I show that empirical evidence on savings and prices is consistent with this interpretation. A temporary increase in output prices in the 1950s and better financial institutions allowed farmers to accumulate savings and solve the commitment problem. “There is nothing more difficult to arrange, more doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through, than to initiate a new order of things.” Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
The distribution and origin of lunar light plains around Orientale basin

Abstract Lunar light plains are relatively flat, smooth to gently rolling deposits that occur in crater floors and other topographic lows in the lunar highlands, with albedo values comparable to surrounding highland terrain. Once interpreted to be the product of highland volcanism, Apollo 16 samples from the light plains of the Cayley Formation led to the interpretation that most light plains form from the deposition of fluidized basin ejecta. Conflicting relative age estimates suggest that light plains are ejecta from the Orientale and Imbrium basins, or from a larger number of impact events combined with possible volcanic eruptions. Here we examine the distribution, variability, and origin of light plains associated with the Orientale basin using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). We find that the distribution, composition, and age of the light plains to the north and northwest of the Orientale basin are consistent with an origin with the formation of Orientale. In this case, the Orientale basin-forming impact significantly altered the surface within four basin radii from the rim.
Immigration and Access to Fringe Benefits: Evidence from the Tobacco Use Supplements

�We examine the extent to which assimilation and residential ethnic enclaves are associated with immigrant access to smoking-related fringe benefits. In particular, we consider access to office smoking bans and employer-sponsored smoking cessation programs. These worksite characteristics are important and understudied fringe benefits. They are critical because they can protect immigrants from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace and can help immigrant smokers quit smoking. We first document that immigrants have lower access to these benefits than natives. Second, we show that assimilation is positively associated with smoking-related fringe benefit access while enclave residence does not predict access.
Bang-bang shortcut to adiabaticity in trapped-ion quantum simulators

We model the bang-bang optimization protocol as a shortcut to adiabaticity in the ground-state preparation of a trapped-ion quantum simulator. Compared to a locally adiabatic evolution, the bang-bang protocol typically produces a lower ground-state probability, but its implementation is so much simpler than the locally adiabatic approach, that it can become a competitive choice to use for maximizing ground-state preparation in systems that cannot be solved with conventional computers. We describe how one can optimize the shortcut and provide specific details for how it can be implemented with current trapped-ion quantum simulators. However, when frustration is strong enough, no method appears to work well for adiabatic state preparation within the experimental time frames, and one must confront the issue of dealing with diabatic excitations within the simulation.
Synthesis of 2-aryl-2H-tetrazoles via a regioselective [3+2] cycloaddition reaction

A regioselective cycloaddition reaction of arenediazonium salts with trimethylsilyldiazomethane is reported. A series of 2-aryltetrazoles were obtained in good to moderate yields with wide functional group compatibility. Furthermore, this cycloaddition reaction opens the way to build up the versatile intermediate 2-aryl-5-bromotetrazole.
The case of public involvement in transportation planning using social media

Abstract Public involvement in transportation planning using social media is gaining much popularity in an open government era that emphasizes transparency and engagement of the public in meaningful ways. The recent advancements in communications technology have made it possible for many local government agencies, like regional transportation planning organizations, to use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and others to provide information to the public, educate them, and seek their inputs and ideas for meaningful decision making in transportation projects. This exploratory study has tried to gauge the extent of social media use in transportation planning among local government agencies and identify the challenges encountered in its use. Using the survey instrument, data has been collected from the regional councils of government in the state of Texas. From the analysis of data, it is evident that fifty percent of local government agencies use social media for public involvement in transportation planning. Those who use social media, use it in a one way communication with people which often precludes their scope of participation. Among the non-users of social media, digital divide, absence of organizational policies and lack of knowledge on best practices serve as impediments. To make use of social media as a supplemental tool to traditional modes of public involvement in transportation planning, local governments need to develop distinct policies and invest resources.