cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Flood Insurance Demand along the Gulf and Florida Coast

The objective of this research is to identify factors that influence both the decision (yes or no) and level of flood insurance among coastal homeowners in the southeast U.S. Recently flood damage has dramatically increased (Flood), and Crossett et al. (2004) report that coastal populations are growing. And in spite of rising costs of living in coastal areas, people are willing to pay more for access to ocean views and other natural amenities associated with coastal living (Bin and Kruse, 2006). Although the federal government provides flood insurance programs and encourages at-risk residents to insure their property from flood, rates of uptake remain low (Burby, 2001; Kunreuther, 2006; Landry and Jahan-Parvar, 2009). The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created to provide often subsidized premiums to cover losses which private insurance markets failed to offer. However, as Kunreuther et al.(1978) argue, many people do not bother to prepare, and have a low willingness to pay for coverage, even if subsidized (Kunreuther 1996). However, of those who have previously experienced flooding, they tend to insure their properties more (McClelland, Schulze, and Coursey 1993). Based on previous literature, we identified key factors to establish testable hypotheses regarding effect on flood insurance demand. These include: income, previous flood experience, the presence of a mortgage, home location (both flood zone status and distance from the shore), participation in CRS, the distance from the coast, the house construction year as well as measures of respondent risk preferences and perceptions. Data on flood coverage level and the above explanatory variables were obtained via revealed-preference online survey method, contracted through Knowledge Networks (KN) during August-September 2010. We chose to contract with KN for several reasons. First, they are, to our knowledge, the only survey firm that can legitimately say they have a true probability based sample for an online survey because they recruit by phone and/or mail (randomly selected using random-digit dialing (RDD) or by using address-based sampling); additionally they provide internet access to households that do not have it. KN was also contracted to overcome the typical of low response rate when surveying the general public. KN uses an online panel (called the “Knowledge Panel”). KN Panel members that were homeowners were sampled from 95 counties in Gulf Coast and Florida Atlantic Coast counties in AL, FL, LA, MS, and TX, with an 47% response rate (720 observations), with 67% from FL, 24% from TX, 5% from LA, and 4% collectively from AL and MS. As expected, insurance purchase is positively affected by the individual’s risk perception, their risk preference, whether or not they have a mortgage, flood zone residence, their income, CRS, previous flood experience, and the year of construction of house. Coefficients of mortgage and risk perception, income, flood zone are significant at 0.05 the level. Additionally, the coefficient of distance from the coast is only significant at the 0.1 level.
An asymptotic-numerical approach for examining global solutions to an ordinary differential equation

Purely numerical methods do not always provide an accurate way to find all the global solutions to nonlinear ODE on infinite intervals. For example, finite-difference methods fail to capture the asymptotic behavior of solutions, which might be critical for ensuring global existence. We first show, by way of a detailed example, how asymptotic information alone provides significant insight into the structure of global solutions to a nonlinear ODE. Then we propose a method for providing this missing asymptotic data to a numerical solver, and show how the combined approach provides more detailed results than either method alone.
A subjective assessment of alternative mission architectures for the human exploration of Mars at NASA using multicriteria decision making

The primary driver for developing missions to send humans to other planets is to generate significant new scientific knowledge. NASA plans human planetary explorations with an acceptable level of risk consistent with other manned operations. Space exploration risks cannot be completely eliminated. Therefore, an acceptable level of cost, technical, safety, schedule, and political risks and benefits must be established for exploratory missions. This study uses a multicriteria decision model to identify the risks and benefits associated with three alternative mission architecture scenarios for the human exploration of Mars. The three alternatives identified by the Mission Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center include split, combo lander, and dual scenarios. The model considers seven phases of the mission: (1) Earth vicinity/departure, (2) Mars transfer, (3) Mars arrival, (4) planetary surface, (5) Mars vicinity/departure, (6) Earth transfer, and (7) Earth arrival. Analytic hierarchy process, subjective probability estimation, and the entropy method are used to capture experts' beliefs concerning the risks and benefits of the three alternative scenarios through a series of sequential, rational, and analytical processes.
A Short Diastereoselective Synthesis of the Putative Alkaloid Jamtine, Using a Tandem Pummerer/Mannich Cyclization Sequence

Treatment of 2-phenylhex-5-enal with benzylamine followed by sequential reaction with ethylthioacetyl chloride and sodium periodate oxidation afforded a E/Z mixture of α-sulfinylamides. As anticipated from a 4π-conrotatory mechanism, cyclization of each olefin afforded fused isoquinoline lactams as single diastereomers epimeric at the ethylthio position without any cross contamination. Some preliminary studies were directed toward the synthesis of mesembrine using a 3,4-dimethoxy aryl group. In this case, the Z-enamide prefers to undergo electrophilic aromatic substitution to give a substituted azepinone as the preferred product in 87% yield. In contrast, the E-enamide isomer provided the desired hydroindolone. The convergency and stereochemical control associated with the tandem Pummerer /Mannich cyclization make it particularly suited for the assembly of jamtine, a tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid reputed for its therapeutic properties. The key step in the synthesis involves a domino thionium/N-acylimini...
Hypoxia and HIF‐1α in Chondrogenesis

In endochondral bone development chondrocytes undergo proliferation, hypertrophic differentiation, mineralization of the surrounding matrix, death, blood vessel invasion, and finally replacement of cartilage with bone. The chondrocytic growth plate is a unique mesenchymal tissue, as it is avascular but it requires blood vessel invasion in order to be replaced by bone. We have recently provided evidence that the growth plate is hypoxic during fetal development. Adaptation to hypoxia is a critical event in numerous pathological settings, such as tumor progression and survival of tissues in which blood flow has been suddenly interrupted. One of the hallmarks of the response to hypoxia is activation of the transcription factor HIF-1alpha. The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor protein is a component of a ubiquitin ligase promoting proteolysis of HIF-1alpha. By using a genetic approach, we have demonstrated that VHL and HIF-1alpha are critical regulators of endochondral bone development.
Parallel intersecting compressed bit vectors in a high speed query server for processing postal addresses

A parallel architecture is proposed for a high speed query server to process postal addresses with several fields. For a given component in a field, the offset addresses of records which contain the component in a postal address database are coded into a Compressed Bit Vector (CBV). Finding the appropriate CBVs and performing intersections to get matching offset addresses are key bottleneck for the performance in the query server. They are accomplished by a specialized hardware embedded in a general purpose computer for a cost effective solution. This hardware directly operates on the CBVs using parallel schemes. The architecture and algorithms for expanding a CBV, for synchronizing the parallel processing of the processing units, and for balancing the load in the pipelined stages are presented with simulation results.
The Effect of a Thermotropic Material on the Optical Efficiency and Stagnation Temperature of a Polymer Flat Plate Solar Collector

Solar hot water and space heating systems constructed of commodity polymers have the potential to reduce the initial cost of solar thermal systems. However, a polymer absorber must be prevented from exceeding its maximum service temperature during stagnation. Here, the addition of a thermotropic material to the surface of the absorber is considered. The thermotropic layer provides passive overheat protection by switching from high transmittance during normal operation to high reflectance if the temperature of the absorber becomes too high. A one dimensional model of a glazed, flat-plate collector with a polymer absorber and thermotropic material is used to determine the effects of the optical properties of the thermotropic material on the optical efficiency and the stagnation temperature of a collector. A key result is identification of the reflectance in the translucent state required to provide overheat protection for potential polymer absorber materials. For example, a thermotropic material in its translucent state should have a solar-weighted reflectance greater than or equal to 52% to protect a polypropylene absorber which has a maximum service temperature of 115 °C.
Political and economic inequality and the environment

Abstract This paper analyzes and tests the hypothesis that political and economic equality result in lower levels of environmental degradation. Based on formal statements of the argument put forward by Boyce, R., 1994, Ecological Economics, 11, 169–178, I show that equality may or may not be necessary to minimize degradation. Under some plausible conditions, greater inequality may even be conducive to lower degradation. Actual results depend primarily on the intersection between the distribution of preferences across groups and the institutional rules. Two cross-national empirical tests tend to support the contention that distributional issues do not systematically explain variations in environmental quality. The results reinforce the conclusion that assumptions about the structure of preferences and workings of social choice institutions ignore complex interactions which influence the relationship between degradation and equality.
Conciseness through Aggregation in Text Generation

Aggregating different pieces of similar information is necessary to generate concise and easy to understand reports in technical domains. This paper presents a general algorithm that combines similar messages in order to generate one or more coherent sentences for them. The process is not as trivial as might be expected. Problems encountered are briefly described.
TNF Is Necessary for Castration-Induced Prostate Regression, Whereas TRAIL and FasL Are Dispensable

TNF, a proinflammatory and immune-regulatory cytokine, is a potent apoptotic stimulus in vitro. However, there have been few examples of a physiologic role for TNF-induced apoptosis in vivo. Here, we describe a novel role for TNF in prostate epithelial cell apoptosis after androgen withdrawal. Employing high-resolution serial magnetic resonance imaging to measure mouse prostate volume changes over time, we demonstrate that the extent of castration-induced prostate regression is significantly reduced in mice null for either the Tnf or Tnfr1 genes but not mice deficient for TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand or Fas signaling. Wild-type mice receiving soluble TNF (sTNF) receptor 2 (to bind TNF and block signaling) before castration exhibit an identical reduction of prostate regression. Together, these data indicate that uniquely among known extrinsic death signals, TNF is required for castration-induced prostate regression. Additionally, membrane-bound TNF protein and stromal cell specific TNF mRNA levels increase in rat prostate after castration. This is consistent with a paracrine role for TNF in prostate regression. When injected into the peritoneum of Tnf(-/-) mice at the time of castration, sTNF restores normal levels of prostate regression. However, wild-type mice receiving sTNF in the absence of castration do not exhibit prostate regression, indicating that TNF alone is not sufficient but acts in the context of additional castration-induced signals. These findings support a physiologic role for TNF in prostate regression after androgen withdrawal. Understanding this role may lead to novel therapies for prostate cancer.
Automated vocabulary discovery for geo-parsing online epidemic intelligence

Automated surveillance of the Internet provides a timely and sensitive method for alerting on global emerging infectious disease threats. HealthMap is part of a new generation of online systems designed to monitor and visualize, on a real-time basis, disease outbreak alerts as reported by online news media and public health sources. HealthMap is of specific interest for national and international public health organizations and international travelers. A particular task that makes such a surveillance useful is the automated discovery of the geographic references contained in the retrieved outbreak alerts. This task is sometimes referred to as "geo-parsing". A typical approach to geo-parsing would demand an expensive training corpus of alerts manually tagged by a human. Given that human readers perform this kind of task by using both their lexical and contextual knowledge, we developed an approach which relies on a relatively small expert-built gazetteer, thus limiting the need of human input, but focuses on learning the context in which geographic references appear. We show in a set of experiments, that this approach exhibits a substantial capacity to discover geographic locations outside of its initial lexicon. The results of this analysis provide a framework for future automated global surveillance efforts that reduce manual input and improve timeliness of reporting.
Nonperturbative Renormalization in Light-Cone Quantization

Light-cone quantization1 has attracted some interest as a means to perform nonperturbative analyses of quantum field theories.2 There are good reasons to hope that this technique will provide the leverage needed to obtain a qualitative, and perhaps quantitative, connection between quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and the constituent quark model.3 Given the complexity of QCD, it is useful to first study simpler theories such as quantum electrodynamics (QED) and even models in 1 + 1 spacetime dimensions rather than 3 + 1 dimensions.
Forming the Centre of a Transnational Economic Legal Order? Thoughts on the Current and Future Position of Non-State Actors in WTO Law

The position of non-State actors — including individuals and non-governmental organisations, as well as private corporations and their respective business associations — in WTO law is one of the most contentious topics currently discussed in the field of international economic law. The purpose of this article is not only to show that this discussion raises fundamental questions as to the aims pursued by the WTO, but also to explore the possible consequences of the changing character of international economic law itself, which have so far been little noted in the legal literature. The article starts with an evaluation of the possibilities for individual rights granted to private actors by WTO law. In this connection, the authors come to the conclusion that, judged by its goals and its normative construction, the WTO legal order is not only suitable for according rights directly to individuals, but is actually designed precisely for this purpose. The authors continue with an analysis of the current legal and factual opportunities for non-State actors to participate in the decision-making processes and dispute settlement system of the WTO. In this regard, it is submitted that a number of non-State entities already play an important, albeit mostly informal role in the WTO at present. Furthermore, this participation is likely to increase in the future, due to the currently visible changes in the normative structure of the international economic system, which are leading to the evolution of what can most accurately be characterised as the development of a ‘transnational economic law’. Following an evaluation of these structural changes and their possible impact on the future role played by non-State actors in the international economic system, the article concludes that the WTO and other relevant international organisations obviously need to adapt to the changing normative structure of international economic law, in order to be able to continue performing the regulatory tasks assigned to them.
Doppler-Free Two-Photon Spectroscopy Applied to Molecular Electronic Transitions

A method is described for eliminating the Doppler effect by the counterpropagating-beam two-photon technique. Emphasis is placed on gas-phase molecular electronic-state spectroscopy. Past accomplishments with this method are summarized and applications of the method are discussed.
A REEXAMINATION OF MIGRATION, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE*

The paper lacks an abstract, but corrects an earlier paper and introduces a more nuanced approach to the role of climate in human location and relocation.
The Born and lens–lens corrections to weak gravitational lensing angular power spectra

We revisit the estimation of higher order corrections to the angular power spectra of weak gravitational lensing. Extending a previous calculation of Cooray and Hu, we find two additional terms to the fourth order in potential perturbations of large-scale structure corresponding to corrections associated with the Born approximation and the neglect of line-of-sight coupling of two foreground lenses in the standard first order result. These terms alter the convergence (κκ), the lensing shear E-mode (), and their cross-correlation (κ) power spectra on large angular scales, but leave the power spectra of the lensing shear B-mode (ββ) and rotational (ωω) component unchanged as compared to previous estimates. The new terms complete the calculation of corrections to weak lensing angular power spectra associated with both the Born approximation and the lens–lens coupling to an order in which the contributions are most significant. Taking these features together, we find that these corrections are unimportant for any weak lensing survey, including for a full sky survey limited by cosmic variance.
The oxidation of CFClCFCl and CF2CCl2

The oxidation of CFClCFCl and CF2CCl2 were studied at room temperature by chlorine- and oxygen-atom initiation. The chlorine-atom initiated oxidation of CFClCFCl yields CCl2FCF(O) as the exclusive product. Its quantum yield is ∼420, which gives k3a/k3b=210 where reactions (3a) and (3b) are The O(3P)CFClCFCl reaction gives CClFO with a quantum yield of 0.80, polymer, and small amounts of an unidentified product which is probably cyclo-(CFCl)3. Thereaction paths are with k9a/k9=0.80. The overall reaction of O(3P) with CFClCFCl proceed one fifth as fast as the O(3P)-C2F4 reaction. When O2 is also present, the same free-radical chain oxidation occurs by O(3P)initiation as by chlorine-atom initiation. The chlorine-atom initiated oxidation of CF2CCl2 gives CF2ClCCl(O) as the major product, with quantum yields ranging from 42 to 85. Smaller amounts of CF2O and CCl2O are produced in equal amounts with quantum yields of ∼3.5. The reactions responsible for the products are The O(3P)-CF2CCl2interaction yields CF2O and with quantum yields of 1.0 and ∼0.85, respectively. In thepresence of O2 the radical chain products are observed, but the mechanism is different than that for other chloroolefins.
Supporting Runtime Tool Interaction for Parallel Simulations

Scientists from many disciplines now routinely use modeling and simulation techniques to study physical and biological phenomena. Advances in high-performance architectures and networking have made it possible to build complex simulations with parallel and distributed interacting components. Unfortunately, the software needed to support such complex simulations has lagged behind hardware developments. We focus here on one aspect of such support: runtime program interaction. We have developed a runtime interaction framework and we have implemented a specific instance of it for an application in seismic tomography. That instance, called TierraLab, extends the geoscientists' existing (legacy) tomography code with runtime interaction capabilities which they access through a MATLAB interface. The scientist can stop a program, retrieve data, analyze and visualize that data with existing MATLAB routines, modify the data, and resume execution. They can do this all within a familiar MATLAB-like environment without having to be concerned with any of the low- level details of parallel or distributed data distribution. Data distribution is handled transparently by the Distributed Array Query and Visualization (DAQV) system. Our framework allows scientists to construct and maintain their own customized runtime interaction system.
Diastereoselective synthesis of N-benzoyl mycalamine, the fully elaborated trioxadecalin nucleus of mycalamide. A. Control of the key N-acyl aminal stereocenter via carbamate acylation

Abstract A highly diastereoselective synthesis of N-benzoyl mycalamine (8), corresponding to the C(10)-C(18) amine fragment of mycalamide A, is described. The synthesis features a highly stereoselective acylation of carbamate 7 that permits the stereochemistry of the key C(10)-N-acyl aminal center to be controlled.
Optical tracking and auto-alignment transceiver system

Free-space optic (FSO) technology transmits information using a modulated light beam traveling through the atmosphere. In certain situations, when compared with wireless communication, it proves to be more effective by providing higher data rates at reduced size and cost. Current FSO technology transmits data, video, and voice communications at a bandwidth of up to 2.5 Gbps. FSO system transceivers rely on a line-of-sight connection to maintain a continuous exchange of data. Because atmospheric conditions can greatly affect FSO communications, facilitating continuous alignment requirements has been the primary concentration of mobile FSO research to date. This introduces a fully automatic, advanced FSO alignment system that has been tested to provide both continuous and simultaneous transmission and reception of data and modulated signal during mobile conditions. Building sway and aerial-to-base station communication were considered in this study.
Additive effects on the CIDNP, cage effect, and exit rate of micellized radical pairs

The effects of additives on the recombination efficiency and exit rates of micellized benzyl radicals have been studied by steady-state CIDNP, steady-state product analysis, and time resolved optical absorption techniques. The results indicate that the efficiency of triplet geminate pair recombination increases monotonically as the micellar volume increases. Aggregation numbers of SDS micelles were deduced as a function of additive concentration from CIDNP measurements and were found to be consistent with literature values.
Blow-up of Electric Fields between Closely Spaced Spherical Perfect Conductors

The electric field increases toward infinity in the narrow region between closely adjacent perfect conductors as they approach each other. Much attention has been devoted to the blow-up estimate, e...
The dynamic response of the two-electrode conductivity cell

The dynamic response of the two-electrode conductivity cell in the dual-needle configuration of M.C. Gregg et al. (1981) was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A theory is presented which answers fundamental questions regarding the effective cell volume and the mathematical form of the transfer function. These characteristics are shown to be functionally dependent on the spacing between the wires. Experimental determinations of cell response were performed with a thermal plume as the stimulus rather than with the step-response-in-salinity method of Gregg et al. The data are shown to confirm the theoretical form of the transfer function. >
Universal manifold pairings and positivity

Gluing two manifolds M1 and M2 with a common boundary S yields a closed manifold M. Extending to formal linear combinations x = �aiMi yields a sesquilinear pairing p = h , i with values in (formal linear combinations of) closed manifolds. Topological quantum field theory (TQFT) represents this universal pairing p onto a finite dimensional quotient pairing q with values in C which in physically motivated cases is positive definite. To see if such a “unitary” TQFT can potentially detect any nontrivial x, we ask if h x, xi 6 = 0 whenever x 6 0. If this is the case, we call the pairing p positive. The question arises for each dimension d = 0,1,2, . . .. We find p(d) positive for d = 0,1, and 2 and not positive for d = 4. We conjecture that p(3) is also positive. Similar questions may be phrased for (manifold, submanifold) pairs and manifolds with other additional structure. The results in dimension 4 imply that unitary TQFTs cannot distinguish homotopy equivalent simply connected 4–manifolds, nor can they distinguish smoothly s–cobordant 4–manifolds. This may illuminate the difficulties that have been met by several authors in their attempts to formulate unitary TQFTs for d = 3 + 1. There is a further physical implication of this paper. Whereas 3–dimensional Chern– Simons theory appears to be well-encoded within 2–dimensional quantum physics, e.g. in the fractional quantum Hall effect, Donaldson–Seiberg–Witten theory cannot be captured by a 3–dimensional quantum system. The positivity of the physical Hilbert spaces means they cannot see null vectors of the universal pairing; such vectors must map to zero. AMS Classification numbers Primary: 57R56, 53D45 Secondary: 57R80, 57N05, 57N10, 57N12, 57N13
Bit weaving: a non-prefix approach to compressing packet classifiers in TCAMs

Ternary content addressable memories (TCAMs) have become the de facto standard in industry for fast packet classification. Unfortunately, TCAMs have limitations of small capacity, high power consumption, high heat generation, and high cost. The well-known range expansion problem exacerbates these limitations as each classifier rule typically has to be converted to multiple TCAM rules. One method for coping with these limitations is to use compression schemes to reduce the number of TCAM rules required to represent a classifier. Unfortunately, all existing compression schemes only produce prefix classifiers. Thus, they all miss the compression opportunities created by non-prefix ternary classifiers. In this paper, we propose bit weaving, the first non-prefix compression scheme. Bit weaving is based on the observation that TCAM entries that have the same decision and whose predicates differ by only one bit can be merged into one entry by replacing the bit in question with . Bit weaving consists of two new techniques, bit swapping and bit merging, to first identify and then merge such rules together. The key advantages of bit weaving are that it runs fast, it is effective, and it is composable with other TCAM optimization methods as a pre/post-processing routine. We implemented bit weaving and conducted experiments on both real-world and synthetic packet classifiers. Our experimental results show the following: 1) bit weaving is an effective standalone compression technique (it achieves an average compression ratio of 23.6%); 2) bit weaving finds compression opportunities that other methods miss. Specifically, bit weaving improves the prior TCAM optimization techniques of TCAM Razor and Topological Transformation by an average of 12.8% and 36.5%, respectively.
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Education and Health Interventions in Developing Countries

High-quality impact evaluations, including randomised experiments, are increasingly popular, but cannot always inform resource allocation decisions unless the costs of interventions are considered alongside their effects. Cost-effectiveness analysis is a straightforward but under-utilised tool for determining which of two or more interventions provides a (non-pecuniary) unit of effect at least cost. This paper reviews the framework and methods of cost-effectiveness analysis, emphasising education and health interventions, and discusses how the methods are currently applied in the literature.
Optical projection lithography at half the Rayleigh resolution limit by two-photon exposure

In recent years, with the advent of femtosecond pulse technology, two-photon absorption has commenced to be used for exposing photo-resists. It is natural to ask then, what is the spatial resolution of two-photon lithography? There has already been some discussion of resolution limits in two-photon, scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy. We will find that ordinary two-photon exposure of photo-resist merely enhances the photographic contrast, or gamma. While this improves the spatial resolution somewhat, it does so at the expense of a requirement for tighter control over the incident light intensity. Instead, we introduce a new type of exposure system employing a multiplicity of 2-photon excitation frequencies which interfere with one another to produce a super-resolution stationary image, exhibiting a true doubling of the spatial resolution.
Model-driven validation of SystemC designs

Functional test generation for dynamic validation of current system level designs is a challenging task. Manual test writing or automated random test generation techniques are often used for such validation practices. However, directing tests to particular reachable states of a SystemC model is often difficult, especially when these models are large and complex. In this work, we present a model-driven methodology for generating directed tests that take the SystemC model under validation to specific reachable states. This allows the validation to uncover very specific scenarios which lead to different corner cases. Our formal modeling is done entirely within the Microsoft SpecExplorer tool to formally describe the specification of the system under validation in the formal notation of AsmL. We also exploit SpecExplorer's abilities for state space exploration for our test generation, and its APIs for connecting the model to real programs to drive the validation of SystemC models with the generated test cases.
Congenital Melanocytic Nevi

This article reviews congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN), which are present at birth or appear shortly thereafter, and their main histologic features. Several histologic variants and histopathologic criteria that differentiate CMN from other nevi, such as atypical or dysplastic nevi, and from nevoid malignant melanoma, are discussed. Histologic pitfalls in the correct identification of lentiginous melanocytic hyperplasia, pagetoid scatter, and proliferative nodules in the context of CMN are discussed. The risk for development of malignant melanoma in association with a congenital melanocytic nevus and variable causes for changing mole are discussed.
A modular approach to nonracemic cyclo-BINOLs. Preparation of symmetrically & unsymmetrically substituted ligands

Abstract A new series of substituted cyclo-BINOLs is described, constructed using individually fashioned naphthol units which are tethered and oxidized to arrive at nonracemic materials.
To stay or to switch: Multiuser dynamic channel access

In this paper we study opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) policies in a multiuser multichannel random access setting, where users perform channel probing and switching in order to obtain better channel condition or higher instantaneous transmission quality. However, unlikely many prior works in this area, including channel probing and switching policies for a single user to exploit spectral diversity, and probing and access policies for multiple users over a single channel to exploit temporal and multiuser diversity, in this study we consider the collective switching of multiple users over multiple channels. In addition, we consider finite arrivals, i.e., users are not assumed to always have data to send and demand for channel follow a certain arrival process. Under such a scenario, the users' ability to opportunistically exploit temporal diversity (the temporal variation in channel quality over a single channel) and spectral diversity (quality variation across multiple channels at a give time) is greatly affected by the level of congestion in the system. We investigate the optimal decision process in this case, and evaluate the extent to which congestion affects potential gains from opportunistic dynamic channel switching.
Profiling Float Observations of the Upper Ocean under Sea Ice off the Wilkes Land Coast of Antarctica

AbstractMultiyear under-ice temperature and salinity data collected by profiling floats are used to study the upper ocean near the Wilkes Land coast of Antarctica. The study region is in the seasonal sea ice zone near the southern terminus of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The profiling floats were equipped with an ice-avoidance algorithm and had a survival rate of 74% after 2.5 yr in the ocean. The data show that, in this part of Antarctica, the rate of sea ice decay exceeds the rate of sea ice growth. During the sea ice growth period, the water column is weakly stratified because of brine rejection and is only marginally stable. The average winter mixed layer temperature is about 0.12°C above the surface freezing point, providing evidence of entrainment of warmer water from the permanent pycnocline. The average mixed layer salinity increases by 0.127 from June to October. A one-dimensional model is used to quantify evolution of the winter mixed layer under a sea ice cover. The local winter entrainme...
Spectral Methods in Fluid Dynamics

Fundamental aspects of spectral methods are introduced. Recent developments in spectral methods are reviewed with an emphasis on collocation techniques. Their applications to both compressible and incompressible flows, to viscous as well as inviscid flows, and also to chemically reacting flows are surveyed. The key role that these methods play in the simulation of stability, transition, and turbulence is brought out. A perspective is provided on some of the obstacles that prohibit a wider use of these methods, and how these obstacles are being overcome.
Dendritic polymers as bonded stationary phases in capillary electrochromatography

Dendrimers are an interesting new class of polymers. Their unusual chemical and physical properties have great potential in many applications. Polyamidoamine starburst dendrimers (PAMAM-SBDs) have shown promising results as a pseudostationary phase in Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography (MECC). However, few chromatographic applications have been explored using dendrimers. The objective of our study is to explore the potential of using poly(aryl ether) monodendrons as a bonded stationary phase in open tubular Capillary Electrochromatography (CEC). Organic materials were bonded to the interior of silica capillaries through a triethoxy-(3-isocyanatopropyl)silane linker. Bonded materials included G0, G1, and G2 poly(aryl ether) monodendrons and C18 alkyl chains. The bonded materials tended to reduce the EOF, and showed promise in a number of test separations, including neutral aromatic hydrocarbons and basic proteins. This method shows promise for the development of new CEC methods for separation science.
International Actors on the Domestic Scene: Membership Conditionality and Socialization by International Institutions

International relations scholars increasingly debate when and how international institutions influence domestic policy. This examination of ethnic politics in four Baltic and East European countries during the 1990s shows how European institutions shaped domestic policy, and why these institutions sometimes failed. Comparing traditional rational choice mechanisms such as membership conditionality with more socialization-based efforts, I argue that conditionality motivated most behavior changes, but that socialization-based efforts often guided them. Furthermore, using new case studies, statistics, and counterfactual analysis, I find that domestic opposition posed far greater obstacles to socialization-based methods than it did to conditionality: when used alone, socialization-based methods rarely changed behavior; when they did, the domestic opposition was usually low and the effect was only moderate. In contrast, incentive-based methods such as membership conditionality were crucial in changing policy: As domestic opposition grew, membership conditionality was not only increasingly necessary to change behavior, but it was also surprisingly effective.Many panel and seminar participants have offered useful comments on this work, but my thanks goes in particular to Michael Zurn, Alexandra Gheciu, Frank Schimmelfennig, Jeff Checkel, Robert Keohane, Steven Wilkinson, Robert Putnam, Milada Vachudova, and the editors and anonymous reviewers of International Organization. I also thank Princeton University Press for allowing me to use material from my book Ethnic Politics in Europe: The Power of Norms and Incentives. The usual caveats apply. This research was funded by a grant from the Danish Research Academy (former Forskerakademiet), and by travel support from the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard.
Content modeling using latent permutations

We present a novel Bayesian topic model for learning discourse-level document structure. Our model leverages insights from discourse theory to constrain latent topic assignments in a way that reflects the underlying organization of document topics. We propose a global model in which both topic selection and ordering are biased to be similar across a collection of related documents. We show that this space of orderings can be effectively represented using a distribution over permutations called the Generalized Mallows Model. We apply our method to three complementary discourse-level tasks: cross-document alignment, document segmentation, and information ordering. Our experiments show that incorporating our permutation-based model in these applications yields substantial improvements in performance over previously proposed methods.
Media coverage and location choice

Emphasizing the importance of informed location choice, prior strategy research has examined how private information about locations affects foreign direct investment. Publicly available media information has received little attention, however, perhaps because its impact on location choice is expected to be trivial. This study examines the relationship between the extent of a location's media coverage and the number of entering foreign firms in Russia, using a novel instrumental variable for media coverage, a major anniversary of a city's establishment date. The results suggest that extensive foreign media coverage of a city increases the number of foreign entrants. This effect is stronger for firms with less private information about Russian cities; i.e., more socially and geographically distant firms and foreign entrepreneurs.
Solving models with external habit

Habit utility has been the focus of a large and growing body of literature in financial economics. This study investigates ways of accurately and efficiently solving the Campbell and Cochrane [1999. Journal of Political Economy 107, 205–251] external habit model. Solutions for this model based on a grid of values for the state variable are shown to converge as the grid becomes increasingly fine. Convergence is substantially faster if the price–dividend ratio is computed as a series of “zero-coupon equity” claims rather than as the fixed point of the Euler equation. Fitting the model to the term structure as well as to equity moments (as in [Wachter, J.A., 2005. A consumption-based model of the term structure of interest rates.
NeTra: a toolbox for navigating large image databases

We present here an implementation of NeTra, a prototype image retrieval system that uses color, texture, shape and spatial location information in segmented image regions to search and retrieve similar regions from the database. A distinguishing aspect of this system is its incorporation of a robust automated image segmentation algorithm that allows object- or region-based search. Image segmentation significantly improves the quality of image retrieval when images contain multiple complex objects. Images are segmented into homogeneous regions at the time, of ingest into the database, and image attributes that represent each of these regions are computed. In addition to image segmentation, other important components of the system include an efficient color representation, and indexing of color, texture, and shape features for fast search and retrieval. This representation allows the user to compose interesting queries such as "retrieve all images that contain regions that have the color of object A, texture of object B, shape of object C, and lie in the upper of the image", where the individual objects could be regions belonging to different images. A Java-based web implementation of NeTra is available at http://vivaldi.ece.ucsb.edu/Netra.
Grazing Management Effects on Sediment and Phosphorus in Surface Runoff

Sediment and phosphorus (P) in runoff from pastures are potential non–point-source pollutants in surface waters that may be influenced by surface cover, sward height, treading damage, surface slope, soil moisture, and soil P. The objectives of the current study were to quantify sediment and total P loads in runoff produced during simulated rainfall from pastures and to evaluate their relationships with the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and sward. Five forage management treatments— ungrazed (U), hay harvest/fall stockpile grazing (HS), continuous stocking to a sward height of 5 cm (5C), and rotational stocking to sward heights of 5 (5R) or 10 (10R) cm—were established in triplicate 0.40-ha paddocks in 3 smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) pastures for 3 years. Rainfall simulations were conducted at a rainfall intensity of 7.1 cm � h � 1 for 1.5 hours over a 0.5-m 2 area in 3 locations at 2 slope ranges in each paddock in June, August, and October of each year and the subsequent April. Forage management did not affect mean sediment load (7.3 6 5.0 kg � ha � 1 � h � 1 ). Mean total P load was greatest from 5C treatment (0.071 6 0.011 kg � ha � 1 � h � 1 ), did not differ among the U, HS, and 10R treatments (0.019 6 0.011 kg � ha � 1 � h � 1 ), and was intermediate in the 5R treatment (0.053 6 0.011 kg � ha � 1 � h � 1 ). Of the soil and sward characteristics measured, percentage surface cover was most highly related to sediment load (R 2 ¼ 0.16) and total P load (R 2 ¼ 0.10). Surface runoff from pastures managed to maintain adequate residual forage cover did not contribute greater sediment or P to surface waters than an ungrazed grassland.
Resolved Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of WISE J104915.57-531906.1AB: A Flux-Reversal Binary at the L dwarf/T dwarf Transition

We report resolved near-infrared spectroscopy and photometry of the recently identified brown dwarf binary WISE J104915.57 531906.1AB, located 2.02±0.15 pc from the Sun. Low-resolution spectral data from Magellan/FIRE and IRTF/SpeX reveal strong H2O and CO absorption features in the spectra of both components, with the secondary also exhibiting weak CH4 absorption at 1.6 µm and 2.2 µm. Spectral indices and comparison to low-resolution spectral standards indicate component types of L7.5 and T0.5, the former consistent with the optical classification of the primary. Relative photometry reveals a flux reversal between the J- and K-bands, with the T dwarf component being brighter in the 0.95–1.3 µm range. As with other L/T transition binaries, this reversal likely reflects significant depletion of condensate opacity across the transition, a behavior that may be enhanced in WISE J1049 5319AB if the unusual red color of its L dwarf component is indicative of thick clouds. On the other hand, differing cloud properties may have modified the evolutionary paths of these two components, and we propose a scenario in which the cooler secondary could be the more massive of the two components. Fortunately, the proximity, brightness and small separation (3.12±0.25 AU) of this system make it amenable to astrometric and radial velocity orbit measurement during its estimated 25 yr orbit, providing a rare opportunity for the direct determination of individual brown dwarf masses and a unique benchmark for studying cloud evolution across the L dwarf/T dwarf transition.
CTEQ parton distributions and flavor dependence of sea quarks

Abstract This paper describes salient features of new sets of parton distributions obtained by the CTEQ Collaboration based on a comprehensive QCD global analysis of all available data. The accuracy of the new data on deep inelastic scattering structure functions obtained by the very high statistics NMC and CCFR experiments provides unprecedented sensitivity to the flavor dependence of the sea-quark distributions. In addition to much better determination of the small-x dependence of all parton distributions, we found: (i) the strange quark distribution is much softer than the non-strange sea quarks and rises above the latter at small-x; and (ii) the difference d - u changes sign as a function of x. A few alternative sets of viable distributions with conventional assumptions are also discussed.
EFFECT OF PLASMA PROCESSING ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF THIN FILMS

The effects of low energy plasma processing on the morphological evolution of copper thin films is examined using atomic force microscopy. It is shown that there appears to be a coupling between the shape evolution of the surface morphology of the thin film to the grain size evolution within the internal microstructure of the film. A linear perturbation model based on localized changes in grain boundary curvature due to preferential grain boundary grooving, is developed to couple the microstructural stability of thin films to dynamic effects due to processing parameters. It is suggested that prior grain size gradients existing in the as-deposited nature of the film have a significant effect on the grain size stability based on flow by mean curvature concepts. Based on this approach, a theoretical framework using the formalism of Fokker-Planck equations, to relate the stochastic nature of atomistic processes Such as plasma processing to the physics of grain growth are also proposed.
Computing elevation maxima by searching the gauss sphere

The elevation function on a smoothly embedded 2-manifold in ℝ3 reflects the multiscale topography of cavities and protrusions as local maxima. The function has been useful in identifying coarse docking configurations for protein pairs. Transporting the concept from the smooth to the piecewise linear category, this article describes an algorithm for finding all local maxima. While its worst-case running time is the same as of the algorithm used in prior work, its performance in practice is orders of magnitudes superior. We cast light on this improvement by relating the running time to the total absolute Gaussian curvature of the 2-manifold.
Topological change in mean convex mean curvature flow

Consider the mean curvature flow of an (n+1)-dimensional compact, mean convex region in Euclidean space (or, if n<7, in a Riemannian manifold). We prove that elements of the mth homotopy group of the complementary region can die only if there is a shrinking S k ×R n−k singularity for some k≤m. We also prove that for each m with 1≤m≤n, there is a nonempty open set of compact, mean convex regions K in R n+1 with smooth boundary ∂K for which the resulting mean curvature flow has a shrinking S m ×R n−m singularity.