cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Firm/Employee Matching: An Industry Study of American Lawyers

We study the sources of match-specific value at large American law firms by analyzing how graduates of law schools group into law firms. We measure the degree to which lawyers from certain schools concentrate within firms and then analyze how this agglomeration can be explained by "natural advantage" factors (such as geographic proximity) and by productive spillovers across graduates of a given school. We show that large law firms tend to be concentrated with regard to the law schools they hire from and that individual offices within these firms are substantially more concentrated. The degree of concentration is highly variable, as there is substantial variation in firms' hiring strategies. There are two main drivers of variation in law school concentration within law offices. First, geography drives a large amount of concentration, as most firms hire largely from local schools. Second, we show that school-based networks (and possibly productive spillovers) are important because partners' law schools drive associates' law school composition even controlling for firm, school, and firm/school match characteristics and when we instrument for partners' law schools.
Digital signal array processor for NSLS booster power supply upgrade

The booster at the NSLS is being upgraded from 0.75 to 2 pulses per second. To accomplish this; new power supplies for the dipole, quadrupole, and sextupole have been installed. This paper will outline the design and function of the digital signal processor used as the primary control element in the power supply control system. >
Stochastic Bridges of Linear Systems

We consider particles obeying Langevin dynamics while being at known positions and having known velocities at the two end-points of a given interval. Their motion in phase space can be modeled as an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process conditioned at the two end-points—a generalization of the Brownian bridge. Using standard ideas from stochastic optimal control we construct a stochastic differential equation (SDE) that generates such a bridge that agrees with the statistics of the conditioned process, as a degenerate diffusion. Higher order linear diffusions are also considered. In general, a time-varying drift is sufficient to modify the prior SDE and meet the end-point conditions. When the drift is obtained by solving a suitable differential Lyapunov equation, the SDE models correctly the statistics of the bridge. These types of models are relevant in controlling and modeling distribution of particles and the interpolation of density functions.
On the evaluation of the characteristic polynomial of a chemical graph

Formulation de deux algorithmes pour le calcul du polynome caracteristique d'un graphe chimique. Le premier combine la diagonalisation QL de Householder avec la methode de Le Verrier-Faddeev-Frame; le second combine la tridiagonalisation de Householder avec la formation de la sequence de Sturm. On montre que les deux algorithmes sont d'ordre n 3
The Idea of Justice

* Preface * Acknowledgements * Introduction: An Approach to Justice Part I: The Demands of Justice * Reason and Objectivity * Rawls and Beyond * Institutions and Persons * Voice and Social Choice * Impartiality and Objectivity * Closed and Open Impartiality Part II: Forms of Reasoning * Position, Relevance and Illusion * Rationality and Other People * Plurality of Impartial Reasons * Realizations, Consequences and Agency Part III: The Materials of Justice * Lives, Freedoms and Capabilities * Capabilities and Resources * Happiness, Well-being and Capabilities * Equality and Liberty Part IV: Public Reasoning and Democracy * Democracy as Public Reason * The Practice of Democracy * Human Rights and Global Imperatives * Justice and the World * Notes * Name Index * Subject Index
Local well-posedness of the (4+1)-dimensional Maxwell-Klein-Gordon equation at energy regularity

This paper is the first part of a trilogy [22, 23] dedicated to a proof of global well-posedness and scattering of the \((4+1)\)-dimensional mass-less Maxwell–Klein–Gordon equation (MKG) for any finite energy initial data. The main result of the present paper is a large energy local well-posedness theorem for MKG in the global Coulomb gauge, where the lifespan is bounded from below by the energy concentration scale of the data. Hence the proof of global well-posedness is reduced to establishing non-concentration of energy. To deal with non-local features of MKG we develop initial data excision and gluing techniques at critical regularity, which might be of independent interest.
Is Bowling together Sociologically Lite

Robert Putnam's new book raises crucial questions for the analysis of the social and moral future of American society. He demonstrates that the old, 1950s social fabric, and the white male dominated social bonds on which it was based, have largely frayed. Numerous kinds of civic engagement have declined, including participation in voluntary associations, public life, and religious activities. Putnam documents well that the anomie that followed this disengagement has had numerous ill effects on individuals and on society that are usually associated with the breakdown of social order, such as the increase in violent crime. The unavoidable question therefore is: What is going to fill the gnawing social vacuum? While he addresses this question largely in terms of a need to recreate social connectedness or community, it cannot be adequately answered, I shall argue, without examining the sources and content of a new shared moral culture.
Improving performance in size-constrained extended classifier systems

Extended Classifier Systems, or XCS, have been shown to be successful at developing accurate, complete and compact mappings of a problem's payoff landscape. However, the experimental results presented in the literature frequently utilize population sizes significantly larger than the size of the search space. This resource requirement may limit the range of problem/hardware combinations to which XCS can be applied. In this paper two sets of modifications are presented that are shown to improve performance in small sizeconstrained 6-Multiplexer and Woods-2 problems.
Reaction of thianthrene cation radical with grignard reagents : Evidence for electron transfer and trapping of alkyl radicals by the thianthrene cation radical

Abstract Reactions are reported between RMgCl and thianthrene cation radical perchlorate (Th .+ ClO - 4 ) suspended in ether and tetrahydrofuran (THF). In ether solution reactions R = Bu, s-Bu, t-Bu, 5-hexenyl, and cyclopentylmethyl. Major products were the alkane, the alkene R(-H) in some cases, and, in the cases of R = Bu, 5-hexenyl, and cyclopentylmethyl, the 5-alkylthianthrenium perchlorate (ThR + ClO - 4 ). When 5-hexenylMgCl was used a mixture of 5-(5-hexenyl)- and 5-(cyclopentylmethyl)thianthrenium per-chlorates in the ratio of approximately 2 was obtained. Since the ratio of 5-hexenyl/cyclopentylmethyl in the Grignard reagent was 10.4, it is concluded that the C 6 sulfonium ions were formed by radical trapping by Th .+ after single electron transfer from Grignard to cation radical had occurred, thus allowing for cyclization of 5-hexenyl radical. Formation of ThBu + ClO - 4 is attributed to the trapping of butyl radical by Th ·+ , while formation of RH and R(-H) is in all cases also attributed to alkyl radical reactions. Reactions in THF(R = Me, i-Pr, Bu, s-Bu, t-Bu, Ph) led almost exclusively to RH and Th. Polymerization of THF was also initiated and took place slowly giving rise to low molecular weight poly(THF). By using THF- d 8 , as solvent for reaction between BuMgCl and Th .+ , it was possible to find Bu groups ( 1 H-NMR) in the poly(THF- d 8 ). Polymerization of THF is attributed, in some cases (R = Me, Bu), to alkyl-cation transfer from ThR + to THF. In other cases initiation of polymerization by R + and THF(-H) + is considered.
Multiqubit entanglement of a general input state

Measurement of entanglement remains an important problem for quantum information. We present the design and simulation of an experimental method for an entanglement indicator for a general multiqubit state. The system can be in a pure or a mixed state, and it need not be "close" to any particular state. The system contains information about its own entanglement; we use dynamic learning methods to map this information onto a single experimental measurement which is our entanglement indicator. Our method does not require prior state reconstruction or lengthy optimization. An entanglement witness emerges from the learning process, beginning with two-qubit systems, and extrapolating this to three, four, and five qubit systems where the entanglement is not well understood. Our independently learned measures for three-qubit systems compare favorably with known entanglement measures. As the size of the system grows the amount of additional training necessary diminishes, raising hopes for applicability to large computational systems.
Bayesian inverse reinforcement learning

Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) is the problem of learning the reward function underlying a Markov Decision Process given the dynamics of the system and the behaviour of an expert. IRL is motivated by situations where knowledge of the rewards is a goal by itself (as in preference elicitation) and by the task of apprenticeship learning (learning policies from an expert). In this paper we show how to combine prior knowledge and evidence from the expert's actions to derive a probability distribution over the space of reward functions. We present efficient algorithms that find solutions for the reward learning and apprenticeship learning tasks that generalize well over these distributions. Experimental results show strong improvement for our methods over previous heuristic-based approaches.
Air Pollution and Procyclical Mortality

AbstractPrior research demonstrates that mortality rates increase during economic booms and decrease during economic busts, but little is known about the role of environmental risks as a potential mechanism for this relationship. We investigate the contribution of air pollution to the procyclicality of deaths by combining county-level data on overall, cause-specific, and age-specific mortality rates with county-level measures of ambient concentrations of three types of pollutants and the unemployment rate. After controlling for demographic variables and state-by-year fixed effects, we find a significant positive correlation between pollution concentrations and mortality rates. Controlling for carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and ozone attenuates the relationship between overall mortality and the unemployment rate by 17%. The findings are robust to the use of state- rather than county-level data and to a variety of alternative specifications, although the attenuation of the unemployment-mortality relat...
Applying economic analysis to technical assistance projects

The author recommends using more quantitative economic analysis in appraising technical assistance loans and loan components. After giving a brief history of tecnhical assistance and the problems commonly associated with it, he describes classifications of technical assistance, proposes a new typology to be used for project appraisal, suggests methods for screening projects, and discusses different levels of economic analysis. He shows how the typology and economic analysis could be applied to 40 projects in the Europe and Central Asia region, Although some of the suggested approaches are sophisticated and demanding, much of it relies on fairly simple techniques. The author estimates that roughly 60 percent of the technical assistance in his sample was suitable for quantitative analysis. Using four case studies, he demonstrates how quantitative economic analysis could be used more frequently in the appraisal process. The author recommends that all technical assistance be classified according to the methodology suitable for its appraisal and evaluation. In cases in which little or no quantitative analysis is used, the staff officer can and should provide a justification -in which case it should still be possible to conceptualize the problem in economic terms. Essential technical assistance should be included when calculating the economic rate of return on a project. When technical assistance is excluded from this calculation, a strong justification for such assistance should be given or it should be omitted from the project. In his sample, the author estimates that about 80 percent of the technical assistance in investment projects was not essential for project implementation. In the 12 projects for which an economic rate of return was calculated in the appraisal, the technical assistance was not included in the estimate -even though 53 percent of this technical assistance was deemed necessary to the project.
What Is a Question

A given question can be defined in terms of the set of statements or assertions that answer it. Application of the logic of inference to this set of assertions allows one to derive the logic of inquiry among questions. There are interesting symmetries between the logics of inference and inquiry; where probability describes the degree to which a premise implies an assertion, there exists an analogous quantity that describes the bearing or relevance that a question has on an outstanding issue. These have been extended to suggest that the logic of inquiry results in functional relationships analogous to, although more general than, those found in information theory. Employing lattice theory, I examine in greater detail the structure of the space of assertions and questions demonstrating that the symmetries between the logical relations in each of the spaces derive directly from the lattice structure. Furthermore, I show that while symmetries between the spaces exist, the two lattices are not isomorphic. The lattice of assertions is described by a Boolean lattice 2(sup N) whereas the lattice of real questions is shown to be a sublattice of the free distributive lattice FD(N) = 2(sup 2(sup N)). Thus there does not exist a one-to-one mapping of assertions to questions, there is no reflection symmetry between the two spaces, and questions in general do not possess unique complements. Last, with these lattice structures in mind, I discuss the relationship between probability, relevance and entropy.
Cosmology and Particle Physics

The cosmic connections between physics on the very largest and very smallest scales are reviewed with an emphasis on the symbiotic relation between elementary particle physics and cosmology. After a review of the early Universe as a cosmic accelerator, various cosmological and astrophysical constraints on models of particle physics are outlined. To illustrate this approach to particle physics via cosmology, reference is made to several areas of current research: baryon non-conservation and baryon asymmetry; free quarks, heavy hadrons and other exotic relics; primordial nucleosynthesis and neutrino masses. In the last few years we have witnessed the birth and growth to healthy adolescence of a new collaboration between astrophysicists and particle physicists. The most notable success of this cooperative effort has been to provide the framework for understanding, within the context of GUTs and the hot big-bang cosmology, the universal baryon asymmetry. The most exciting new predictions this effort has spawned are that exotic relics may exist in detectable abundances. In particular, we may live in a neutrino-dominated Universe. In the next few years, accummulating laboratory data (for example proton decay, neutrino masses and oscillations) coupled with theoritical work in particle physics and cosmology will ensure the growth to maturity of this joint effort.
The Serendipitous Discovery of a Group or Cluster of Young Galaxies at z 2.40 in Deep Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Images

We report the serendipitous discovery of a group or cluster of young galaxies at z 2.40 in a 24 orbit Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 exposure of the field around the weak radio galaxy 53W002. Potential cluster members were identified on ground-based narrowband redshifted Lyα images and confirmed via spectroscopy. In addition to the known weak radio galaxy 53W002 at z = 2.390, two other objects were found to have excess narrowband Lyα emission at z 2.40. Both have been spectroscopically confirmed, and one clearly contains a weak active galactic nucleus (AGN). They are located within 1' of 53W002 or ~0.23 h -->100−1 Mpc (q0 = 0.5) at z 2.40, which is the physical scale of a group or small cluster of galaxies. Profile fitting of the WFPC2 images shows that the objects are very compact, with scale lengths 01 (0.39 h -->100−1 kpc), and are rather faint (luminosities < L*), implying that they may be subgalactic-sized objects. We discuss these results in the context of galaxy and cluster evolution and the role that weak AGNs may play in the formation of young galaxies.
VLBI Neutron Star Astrometry: Techniques and Initial Results

We outline some new techniques being used and present initial results from a pulsar astrometry program at the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). We find a proper motion of 89.0±0.4 mas/yr and a preliminary parallax of 1.05±0.25 mas for B0919+06.
Molecular Hydrogen in Orion as Observed by the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer

Diffuse far-ultraviolet stellar emission scattered by dust grains has been observed in a region near the Orion Nebula. In addition to the scattered stellar continuum, emission and absorption features produced by molecular hydrogen have been identified. In this Letter, we present an analysis of this absorption and fluorescent emission from molecular hydrogen in Orion. We model the spectra obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer using optical depth templates and a fluorescent-emission code. These results are surprising because previous studies have found little ultraviolet absorption from H2 in this region, and the emission is coming from a seemingly empty part of the nebula. We find that the emission fills in the observed absorption lines where the two overlap. These data support the claim that fluorescent excitation by ultraviolet photons is the primary mechanism producing the near-infrared emission spectrum observed in the outer regions of the Orion Nebula.
Optimal driver seat suspension design for heavy trucks

This paper presents a computer controlled driver's seat suspension model for heavy trucks that isolates the driver from external excitation and minimises the transmission of vibration to the driver upper body. The vehicle is modelled as a 2 degrees–of–freedom lumped mass system with suspension characteristics of a single axle vehicle and a tyre with a mass and a stiffness which conform to a truck model known as a "quarter–vehicle" model. The seat is supported by a linear spring and damper whose characteristics are time dependent. The ride comfort is measured by an index of accelerations of the human body parts. An optimisation of the seat suspension parameters is carried out by minimising the work performed by the internal forces to the driver, as well as the body accelerations. In this paper, both constrained and unconstrained optimisation of the seat suspension design parameters are performed seeking for optimal values of the damping and spring constants as a function of time. Based on the results of the constrained optimisation, two approximate solutions are proposed: the semi–active damping concept and the variable structure controller.
On the Generation of the Hubble Sequence Through an Internal Secular Dynamical Process

The secular evolution process, which slowly transforms the morphology of a galaxy over its lifetime, could naturally account for observed properties of the great majority of physical galaxies if both stellar and gaseous accretion processes are taken into account. As an emerging paradigm for galaxy evolution, its dynamical foundation had been established in the past few years, and its observational consequences are yet to be fully explored. The secular evolution picture provides a coherent framework for understanding the extraordinary regularity and the systematic variation of galaxy properties along the Hubble sequence.
Distance education at the graduate level: a viable alternative?

A prior comparative study examining learning outcomes between traditional classroom and web-based education at the graduate level provided little evidence of differences in success measures between delivery methods [3]. This research explores underlying factors that may explain why little difference was found.
Functional Relations and Bethe Ansatz for the XXZ Chain

There is an approach due to Bazhanov and Reshetikhin for solving integrable RSOS models which consists of solving the functional relations which result from the truncation of the fusion hierarchy. We demonstrate that this is also an effective means of solving integrable vertex models. Indeed, we use this method to recover the known Bethe Ansatz solutions of both the closed and open XXZ quantum spin chains with U(1) symmetry. Moreover, since this method does not rely on the existence of a pseudovacuum state, we also use this method to solve a special case of the open XXZ chain with nondiagonal boundary terms.
Tax Base Erosion and Inequity from Michigan’s Assessment Growth Limit The Case of Detroit

We examine the degree to which Michigan’s property value assessment growth cap has eroded the tax base and created substantial differences in effective tax rates among residential properties within the City of Detroit. While the analysis focuses on a specific city with significant tax base erosion challenges, it is relevant to other cities in Michigan and across the nation, particularly in states that impose assessment growth limits. Using quantile regression techniques, we examine how an assessment growth cap alters effective tax rate distributions within and across property value groups. Results show that the cap creates a wide range of effective tax rates across properties of similar value (horizontal inequity) and similar tax payments for properties of differing values (vertical inequity).
Estimation of probability densities using scale-free field theories.

The question of how best to estimate a continuous probability density from finite data is an intriguing open problem at the interface of statistics and physics. Previous work has argued that this problem can be addressed in a natural way using methods from statistical field theory. Here I describe results that allow this field-theoretic approach to be rapidly and deterministically computed in low dimensions, making it practical for use in day-to-day data analysis. Importantly, this approach does not impose a privileged length scale for smoothness of the inferred probability density, but rather learns a natural length scale from the data due to the tradeoff between goodness of fit and an Occam factor. Open source software implementing this method in one and two dimensions is provided. © Published by the American Physical Society.
ROAD TRAFFIC INJURIES: A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS IN MENA

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has made dramatic progress in lowering premature death and disability from most communicable, newborn, nutritional, and maternity causes. However, non-communicable diseases are still extremely high. Road traffic injuries, for example, are the fourth leading cause of death in MENA. Compared to other developing countries, the composition of road injury deaths in the MENA region is much greater. This brief sheds light on the occurrences of such road injuries in MENA, and the possible measures to reduce the frequency of these occurrences.
Small and medium enterprises : a cross-country analysis with a new data set

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, there has been an increased interest in the role of small and medium enterprises in job creation and economic growth. However the lack of consistent indicators at the country level restricts extensive cross-country analyses of lending to small and medium enterprises. This paper introduces a new dataset to fill this gap in the small and medium enterprise data landscape. In addition, it provides the first set of results of analyses with this new dataset, predicting the global small and medium enterprise lending volume to be $10 trillion. The bulk of this volume, 70 percent, is in high-income countries. On average, small and medium enterprise loans constitute 13 percent of gross domestic product in developed countries and 3 percent in developing countries. Note that although a unique small and medium enterprise definition does not exist, differences in definitions across countries are not statistically significant in explaining the differences in small and medium enterprise lending volumes.
How to lift positive Ricci curvature

Remark Various definitions of lower Ricci curvature bounds on metric spaces are proposed in Kuwae and Shioya [23], Lott and Villani [25], Ohta [28], Sturm [40; 41] and Zhang and Zhu [50]. Our proof only requires that the quotient space of the principal orbits, M reg=G , has Ricci curvature greater than or equal to 1, and since M reg=G is a Riemannian manifold, it does not matter which definition we choose.
The Effect of Dental Insurance on the Use of Dental Care for Older Adults: A Partial Identification Analysis

We evaluate the impact of dental insurance on the use of dental services using a potential outcomes identification framework designed to handle uncertainty created by unknown counterfactuals – that is, the endogenous selection problem – as well as uncertainty about the reliability of self-reported insurance status. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we estimate that utilization rates of adults older than 50 would increase from 75% to around 80% under universal dental coverage.
The DIY Digital Exhibition Experience at Tarrant County College

The Northeast Campus Library of Tarrant County College District in Texas used a Title III Grant to support an innovative project consisting of repurposing old laptops as digital exhibition platforms available to students, faculty and staff. A small number of the frames are used for library promotion displaying FAQs, new acquisitions, and events. The rest of the digital frames are used for exhibition purposes. The projectâs mission is to promote student success by increasing library attendance, promote the use of library services by building dynamic and long-term partnerships with other departments, and provide exposure and recognition to students, faculty and staff members. This paper describes the project from the grant application to the preparation and installation of the frames, as well as the evaluation of the project. Â
Sinusitis: Bench to bedside: Current findings, future directions

Sinusitis, an inflammatory disease of the sinus, is one of the most commonly reported diseases in the United States, affecting an estimated 14% of the population. The prevalence of sinusitis is rising. Between 1990 and 1992, persons with sinusitis reported approximately 73 million restricted activity days—an increase from the 50 million restricted activity days reported between 1986 and 1988. Because critical questions remain unanswered about its cause, pathophysiology, and optimal treatment, sinusitis continues to generate significant health care costs and affects the quality of life of a large segment of the U.S. population. To identify critical directions for research on sinus disease, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, Inc., convened a meeting in January 1996 in collaboration with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease. This document summarizes the proceedings of that meeting and presents what is intended to be the background for future investigation of the many unanswered questions related to sinusitis.
Financial intermediation in the pre-consolidated banking sector in Nigeria

This paper uses unique bank-by-bank balance sheet and income statement information to investigate the intermediation efficiency in the Nigerian pre-consolidated banking sector during 2000-05. The author analyzes whether the Central Bank of Nigeria's policy of recent banking consolidation can be justified and rationalized by looking at the determinants of spreads. A spread decomposition and panel estimations show that the reform of the banking sector could be the first step to raise the intermediation efficiency of the Nigerian banking sector. The author finds that larger banks have enjoyed lower overhead costs, increased concentration in the banking sector has not been detrimental to the spreads, both increased holdings of liquidity and capital might have led to lower spreads in 2005, and a stable macroeconomic environment is conducive to a more efficient channeling of savings to productive investments.
Managing agricultural risk at the country level : the case of index-based livestock insurance in Mongolia

This paper describes the index-based livestock insurance program in Mongolia designed in the context of a World Bank lending operation with Government of Mongolia and implemented on a pilot basis in 2005. This program involves a combination of self-insurance by herders, market-based insurance, and social insurance. Herders retain small losses, larger losses are transferred to the private insurance industry, and extreme or catastrophic losses are transferred to the government using a public safety net program. A syndicate pooling arrangement protects participating insurance companies against excessive insured losses, with excess of loss reinsurance provided by the government. The fiscal exposure of Government of Mongolia toward the most extreme losses is protected with a contingent credit facility. The insurance program relies on a mortality rate index by species in each local region. The index provides strong incentives to individual herders to continue to manage their herds so as to minimize the impacts of major livestock mortality events; individual herders receive an insurance payout based on the local mortality, irrespective of their individual losses. This project offered the first opportunity to design and implement an agriculture insurance program using a country-wide agricultural risk management approach. During the first sales season, 7 percent of the herders in the three pilot regions purchased the insurance product.
Scalable Bayesian Non-negative Tensor Factorization for Massive Count Data

We present a Bayesian non-negative tensor factorization model for count-valued tensor data, and develop scalable inference algorithms both batch and online for dealing with massive tensors. Our generative model can handle overdispersed counts as well as infer the rank of the decomposition. Moreover, leveraging a reparameterization of the Poisson distribution as a multinomial facilitates conjugacy in the model and enables simple and efficient Gibbs sampling and variational Bayes VB inference updates, with a computational cost that only depends on the number of nonzeros in the tensor. The model also provides a nice interpretability for the factors; in our model, each factor corresponds to a "topic". We develop a set of online inference algorithms that allow further scaling up the model to massive tensors, for which batch inference methods may be infeasible. We apply our framework on diverse real-world applications, such as multiway topic modeling on a scientific publications database, analyzing a political science data set, and analyzing a massive household transactions data set.
Tracking moving objects with few handovers

We study the online problem of assigning a moving point to a base-station region that contains it. Our goal is to minimize the number of handovers that occur when the point moves outside its assigned region and must be assigned to a new one. We study this problem in terms of a competitive analysis measured as a function of Δ, the ply of the system of regions, that is, the maximum number of regions that cover any single point.
Ponzis : the science and mystique of a class of financial frauds

Ponzis are among the most ubiquitous and least understood phenomena of economic life. They acquired a certain salience with the global financial crisis of 2008 and the crash of Bernie Madoffs celebrated Ponzi scheme. This paper explains the structure of Ponzi schemes and goes on to argue that what makes this such a troubling phenomenon is its ability to be camouflaged amidst legitimate practices. It is shown, for instance, that the common practice of giving stock options to employees could be a potential Ponzi that allows corporations to flourish for a while by borrowing from its own future. The paper goes on to discuss the need for intelligent regulation to incise harmful Ponzis (not all Ponzis are harmful) while taking care not to damage other legitimate activities that surround them.
Effects of Transplant Season and Container Size on Landscape Establishment of Kalmia latifolia L.

Abstract Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.) is a common native shrub in the Eastern United States; however, this species can be difficult to establish in landscapes. Two experiments were conducted to test the effects of transplant season and container size on landscape establishment of Kalmia latifolia L. ‘Olympic Wedding’. In experiment one, 7.6 liter (2 gal) and 19 liter (5 gal) container-grown plants were planted into a simulated landscape (Blacksburg, VA, USDA plant hardiness zone 6A) in early fall 2000 and in late spring 2001. Plants in 19 liter (5 gal) containers had the lowest leaf xylem potential (more stressed) near the end of the first post-transplant growing season, and leaf dry weight and area were higher for spring transplants than for fall transplants. For spring transplants, 7.6 liter (2 gal) plants had the highest visual ratings, but 19 liter (5 gal) plants had the highest visual ratings for fall transplants three growing seasons after transplanting. Plants grown in 7.6 liter (2 gal) co...
Theory of Single Spin Detection with STM

We propose a mechanism for detection of a single spin center on a non-magnetic substrate. In the detection scheme, the STM tunnel current is correlated with the spin orientation. In the presence of magnetic field, the spin precesses and the tunnel current is modulated at the Larmor frequency. The mechanism relies on the effective spin-orbit interaction between the injected unpolarized STM current and the local spin center, which leads to the nodal structure of the spatial signal profile. Based on the proposed mechanism, the strongest spin-related signal can be expected for the systems with large spin-orbit coupling and low carrier concentration. PACS: 74.40.Gk; 72.70.+m; 73.63.Kv; 85.65.+h
Homogenization of Stokes Systems and Uniform Regularity Estimates

This paper is concerned with uniform regularity estimates for a family of Stokes systems with rapidly oscillating periodic coefficients. We establish interior Lipschitz estimates for the velocity and $L^\infty$ estimates for the pressure as well as a Liouville property for solutions in $\mathbb{R}^d$. We also obtain the boundary $W^{1,p}$ estimates in a bounded $C^1$ domain for any $1<p<\infty$.
Special Interests, Regime Choice, and Currency Collapse

With heterogeneous productivity and sticky prices in the short run, exchange rate changes can generate real effects on agents in the economy; the result is that the currency regime becomes a policy variable amenable to political competition. This paper discusses how special interests and government policymakers interact in the decisionmaking processes concerning the optimal level of the exchange rate, and how these interactions may lead to a disconnect between the exchange rate and economic fundamentals which---under appropriate conditions---may affect the timing, and possibility, of a currency crisis. The model is also tested empirically with exchange rate data from 25 countries.
Estimation of the parameters of a linear expenditure system (LES) demand function for a small African economy

The validity of the key behavioral parameters used in the calibration process of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models remains a debated issue in the CGE literature. CGE modelers prefer to borrow from the handful of estimates available in the literature rather than estimating these parameters empirically. The dearth of data is often mentioned as the major reason for compromises to the empirical basis for the parameters used in CGE models. While the empirical literature on demand elasticities based on household expenditure surveys has been relatively available for both developed and developing countries, it remains lacking for African countries. This paper uses a seemingly unrelated regressions method to estimate own-price and income elasticities, as well as Frisch parameters for households whose consumption behavior is described by a Linear Expenditure System (LES) demand function. All the parameters estimated are intended for use in a Lesotho CGE model. The estimation results are generally consistent with the theory predictions.
The changing face of diabetes in youth: lessons learned from studies of type 2 diabetes

The incidence of youth type 2 diabetes (T2D), linked with obesity and declining physical activity in high-risk populations, is increasing. Recent multicenter studies have led to a number of advances in our understanding of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and complications of this disease. As in adult T2D, youth T2D is associated with insulin resistance, together with progressive deterioration in β cell function and relative insulin deficiency in the absence of diabetes-related immune markers. In contrast to adult T2D, the decline in β cell function in youth T2D is three- to fourfold faster, and therapeutic failure rates are significantly higher in youth than in adults. Whether the more aggressive nature of youth T2D is driven by genetic heterogeneity or physiology/metabolic maladaptation is yet unknown. Besides metformin, the lack of approved pharmacotherapeutic agents for youth T2D that target the pathophysiological mechanisms is a major barrier to optimal diabetes management. There is a significant need for effective therapeutic options, in addition to increased prevention, to halt the projected fourfold increase in youth T2D by 2050 and the consequences of heightened diabetes-related morbidity and mortality at younger ages.
Energy in gravitational theories. Definition, positivity theorems, and stability.

The physical meaning of energy in generally covariant gravitational models is analyzed and shown to lead to a simple invariant formal definition. The derivation of the recent positive energy and stability theorems for Einstein and supergravities with arbitrary cosmological constant are derived. Other models, such as tensor-scalar and higher derivative gravity, are briefly considered, as are semiclassical stability and Kaluza-Klein theory. It is concluded that energy is unique, well-defined, and has all the desirable stability properties for physically relevant solutions in most gravitational models with or without cosmological constant. It is positive-definite for all classical solutions of Einstein's equations asymptotic to the appropriate vacuum-Minkowski or de Sitter spaces. Energy positivity also holds, at least formally, in all supergravities with arbitrary N. 31 references.
Fiscal rules, public investment, and growth

Solvency is an intertemporal concept, relating to the present value of revenues and expenditures, and encompassing both assets and liabilities. But the standard practice among policy makers, financial market participants and international financial institutions is to assess the strength of the fiscal accounts solely on the basis of the cash deficit. Short-term cash flows matter, but a preponderant focus on them can encourage governments to invest too little, especially during episodes of fiscal tightening. This has potentially adverse consequences for growth and, paradoxically, even for fiscal solvency itself. The paper offers an overview of the links between fiscal targets, public investment, and public sector solvency. After reviewing the international experience with public investment under fiscal adjustment, the paper lays out an analytical framework to illustrate the consequences of using the public deficit as a guide to solvency. The paper then discusses some alternatives to conventional cash deficit rules and their implications for investment and fiscal solvency.
Urbanization in Ukraine during the 1990s

An American geographer specializing in population change and urbanization in countries of the former USSR analyzes spatial patterns of urban population change in Ukraine from 1989 to 1999, utilizing data from the 1989 USSR census and official 1999 population estimates. General urban population dynamics first are investigated at the national and oblast levels, with a focus on the effects of natural population dynamics and migration. The analysis then shifts to individual urban centers, focusing on rapidly growing, declining, and disappearing and new towns. Linkages are explored between towns of each type and their major economic functions. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, R12, R23. 3 figures, 6 tables, 87 references.
Health care decisions as a family matter - intra-household education externalities and the utilization of health services

The author is concerned with the role of education as a determinant of health care choices. His central premise is that utilization of health services is determined not solely by an individual's own education, but rather by a notion of effective education, which incorporates the educational attainment of other household members. The author sets out a general framework for representing intra-household education externalities, and proposes a number of specific hypotheses concerning the way in which the education of different household members affects health care choices. He tests these hypotheses on data from Mozambique, focusing on maternity services and child immunizations. The author draws five major conclusions from the analysis. First, while maternal education seems to be the education variable of primary importance for the health care choices under consideration, the education of other household members has a significant and sometimes large effect. Second, his analysis suggests that while the education of the person (non-spouse) in the household with the highest-level education is important, the level of education of additional household members does not have an impact on health care choices. Third, the data provide no evidence of a gender difference in education externalities. Fourth, the author examines the merits of two alternative representations of the education externality, but is unable to conclude unambiguously in favor of one specification over the other. Finally, although the analysis highlights the importance of both education and a number of other explanatory variables in understanding health care choices, spatial fixed effects remain highly significant.
A compact heat transfer model based on an enhanced Fourier law for analysis of frequency-domain thermoreflectance experiments

A recently developed enhanced Fourier law is applied to the problem of extracting thermal properties of materials from frequency-domain thermoreflectance (FDTR) experiments. The heat transfer model comprises contributions from two phonon channels: one a high-heat-capacity diffuse channel consisting of phonons of mean free path (MFP) less than a threshold value, and the other a low-heat-capacity channel consisting of phonons with MFP higher than this value that travel quasi-ballistically over length scales of interest. The diffuse channel is treated using the Fourier law, while the quasi-ballistic channel is analyzed using a second-order spherical harmonic expansion of the phonon distribution function. A recent analysis of FDTR experimental data suggested the use of FDTR in deriving large portions of the MFP accumulation function; however, it is shown here that the data can adequately be explained using our minimum-parameter model, thus highlighting an important limitation of FDTR experiments in exploring the accumulation function of bulk matter.
GEOMETRIC KNOT SPACES AND POLYGONAL ISOTOPY

The space of n-sided polygons embedded in three-space consists of a smooth manifold in which points correspond to piecewise linear or "geometric" knots, while paths correspond to isotopies which preserve the geometric structure of these knots. The topology of these spaces for the case n=6 and n=7 is described. In both of these cases, each knot space consists of five components,but contains only three (when n=6) or four (when n=7) topological knot types. Therefore "geometric knot equivalence" is strictly stronger than topological equivalence. This point is demonstrated by the hexagonal trefoils and heptagonal figure-eight knots, which, unlike their topological counterparts, are not reversible. Extending these results to the cases n≥8 will also be discussed.
Paging tradeoffs in distributed-shared-memory multiprocessors

Massively parallel processors have begun using commodity operating systems that support demand-paged virtual memory. To evaluate the utility of virtual memory, we measured the behavior of seven shared-memory parallel application programs on a simulated distributed-shared-memory machine. Our results (1) confirm the importance of gang CPU scheduling, (2) show that a page-faulting processor should spin rather than invoke a parallel context switch, (3) show that our parallel programs frequently touch most of their data, and (4) indicate that memory, not just CPUs, must be “gang scheduled.” Overall, our experiments demonstrate that demand paging has limited value on current parallel machines because of the applications' synchronization and memory reference patterns and the machines' high page-fault and parallel context-switch overheads.
Formation of Vinyl-, Vinylhalide- or Acyl-Substituted Quaternary Carbon Stereogenic Centers through NHC−Cu-Catalyzed Enantioselective Conjugate Additions of Si-Containing Vinylaluminums to β-Substituted Cyclic Enones

A catalytic method for enantioselective conjugate addition (ECA) of Si-containing vinylaluminum reagents to β-substituted cyclopentenones and cyclohexenones is described. Reactions are promoted by 1.0−5.0 mol % of a bidentate NHC−Cu complex, which is prepared from air-stable CuCl2•2H2O and used in situ, and typically proceed to completion within 15−20 min. The requisite vinylmetals are generated efficiently by a site-selective hydroalumination of an alkyne with dibal-H. The desired products, containing a quaternary carbon stereogenic center, are obtained in 48−95% yield after purification and in 89:11 to >98:2 enantiomer ratio (er). The vinylsilane moiety within the products can be functionalized to afford acyl, vinyliodide, or desilylated alkenes in 67% to >98% yield and with >90% retention of the alkene’s stereochemical identity. The utility of the catalytic process is illustrated in the context of a concise enantioselective synthesis of riccardiphenol B.
Image reconstruction from projections

Abstract This article covers the problem of reconstruction of structures from data collected based on transmitted or emitted radiation. The problem occurs in a wide range of areas, such as X-ray CT, emission tomography, photon migration imaging, electron microscopic reconstruction, etc. The article addresses the design, implementation, evaluation, and application of computer algorithms for solving the reconstruction problem in various biomedical areas and emphasizes the essential role of computers, which is due to the fact that the underlying biomedical problems result in mathematical problems in which the number of unknowns is in the millions.
ACTIVE-SITE-DIRECTED ENZYME-ACTIVATED N-NITROSOAMIDE INHIBITORS OF TRYPSIN

(1996). ACTIVE-SITE-DIRECTED ENZYME-ACTIVATED N-NITROSOAMIDE INHIBITORS OF TRYPSIN. Organic Preparations and Procedures International: Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 65-76.