cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ON THE IONIZATION OF LUMINOUS WMAP SOURCES IN THE GALAXY: CONSTRAINTS FROM He RECOMBINATION LINE OBSERVATIONS WITH THE GBT

Murray & Raham used the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) free-free foreground emission map to identify diffuse ionized regions (DIRs) in the Galaxy. It has been found that the 18 most luminous WMAP sources produce more than half of the total ionizing luminosity of the Galaxy. We observed radio recombination lines (RRLs) toward the luminous WMAP source G49.75–0.45 with the Green Bank Telescope near 1.4 GHz. Hydrogen RRL is detected toward the source but no helium line is detected, implying that . This limit puts severe constraint on the ionizing spectrum. The total ionizing luminosity of G49 (3.05 × 1051 s–1) is ~2.8 times the luminosity of all radio H II regions within this DIR and this is generally the case for other WMAP sources. Murray & Rahman propose that the additional ionization is due to massive clusters (~7.5 × 103 M ☉ for G49) embedded in the WMAP sources. Such clusters should produce enough photons with energy ≥24.6 eV to fully ionize helium in the DIR. Our observations rule out a simple model with G49 ionized by a massive cluster. We also considered "leaky" H II region models for the ionization of the DIR, suggested by Lockman and Anantharamaiah, but these models also cannot explain our observations. We estimate that the helium ionizing photons need to be attenuated by 10 times to explain the observations. If selective absorption of He ionizing photons by dust is causing this additional attenuation, then the ratio of dust absorption cross sections for He and H ionizing photons should be 6.
Compensation in epitaxial cubic SiC films

Hall measurements on four n-type cubic SiC films epitaxially grown by chemical vapor deposition on SiC substrates are reported. The temperature dependent carrier concentrations indicate that the samples are highly compensated. Donor ionization energies, E sub D, are less than one half the values previously reported. The values for E sub D and the donor concentration N sub D, combined with results for small bulk platelets with nitrogen donors, suggest the relation E sub D (N sub D) = E sub D(O) - alpha N sub N sup 1/3 for cubic SiC. A curve fit gives alpha is approx 2.6x10/5 meV cm and E sub D (O) approx 48 meV, which is the generally accepted value of E sub D(O) for nitrogen donors in cubic SiC.
Judicial review of restrictions on gamete donation in Europe

The decision of S.H. and Others v. Austria vindicates the right of governments to enact restrictions on gamete donation against claims that these restrictions violate the guarantees of the European Convention on Human Rights. Van Hoof and Pennings in this issue predict that legal diversity on the question of gamete donation will persist in the wake of this decision and discuss how the decision itself is insufficiently protective of the private and family interests of individuals who seek reproduction-assisting medical treatment. This commentary discusses the difficult balancing work of the European Court of Human Rights, its questionable expansion of the margin appreciation doctrine in S.H. and Others v. Austria and how the decision might influence national courts in the future.
The in-situ preparation of well-defined, single crystal electrodes

Abstract A new method of single crystal preparation for electrochemical application is described in this report. This method does not require the annealing-quenching procedure or ultra-high vacuum methodology. The crystal is annealed and cooled in iodine vapor, then transferred to an electrochemical cell where the chemisorbed iodine is replaced by carbon monoxide present in the electrolyte. The carbon monoxide is subsequently electrooxidized from the surface, leaving the clean, ordered surface exposed to the electrolyte. Thus, the crystal is obtained in situ. The ordered crystal is not subject to the strains imposed by quenching and at no time is the unprotected surface exposed to the atmosphere. The voltammetric evidence presented shows that this procedure is successful in the characterization of a clean and adsorbate-covered Pt(111) surface.
Numerical Methods for the Simulation of Dynamical Mass Transfer in Binaries

We describe computational tools that have been developed to simulate dynamical mass transfer in semidetached, polytropic binaries that are initially executing synchronous rotation upon circular orbits. Initial equilibrium models are generated with a self-consistent field algorithm; models are then evolved in time with a parallel, explicit, Eulerian hydrodynamics code with no assumptions made about the symmetry of the system. Poisson's equation is solved along with the equations of ideal fluid mechanics to allow us to treat the nonlinear tidal distortion of the components in a fully self-consistent manner. We present results from several standard numerical experiments that have been conducted to assess the general viability and validity of our tools, and from benchmark simulations that follow the evolution of two detached systems through five full orbits (up to approximately 90 stellar dynamical times). These benchmark runs allow us to gauge the level of quantitative accuracy with which simulations of semidetached systems can be performed using presently available computing resources. We find that we should be able to resolve mass transfer at levels /M > few × 10-5 per orbit through approximately 20 orbits with each orbit taking about 30 hours of computing time on parallel computing platforms.
What's A Just War Theorist?

The article provides an account of the unlikely revival of the medieval Just War Theory, due in large part to the efforts of Michael Walzer. Its purpose is to address the question: What is a just-war theorist? By exploring contrasts between scholarly activity and forms of international activism, the paper argues that just war theorists appear to be just war criminals, both on the count of aiding and abetting aggression and on the count of inciting troops to commit war crimes.
Absence of Anomalous Dissipation of Energy in Forced Two Dimensional Fluid Equations

We prove the absence of anomalous dissipation of energy for long time averaged solutions of the forced critical surface quasi-geostrophic equation in two spatial dimensions.
Evidence for triangular moment arrangements in MO · Mn2O3

Ferrimagnetic spinel-type compounds frequently have lower spontaneous magnetizations than predicted by the simple Neel model in which tetrahedral A-site moments are antiparallel to octahedral B-site moments. Yafet and Kittel (Phys. Rev. 87, 290 (1952)) suggested triangular moment arrangements, in which the moments on one kind of site subdivide into two groups making angles with each other. A linear increase in net magnetization with field at high field and low temperature is expected for the triangular arrangement, but not for the antiparallel ferrimagnetic one. Such an increase, or differential susceptibility at high fields, is observed on magnetization curves at 4.2°K in pulsed fields up to 140 kOe on compounds of the form MO · Mn2O3 where M is Mn, Co, Zn or Mg, and mixtures thereof. It is absent in Fe3O4. These results support a triangular model and enable a direct measurement of the strength of the B-B interaction. The observed composition-dependence of the spontaneous moment and the high-field susceptibility are in approximate agreement with simple molecular field models. Assuming the absence of anisotropy fields exceeding 70 kOe, the spontaneous moment of Mn3O4 is found to be 1.56 ± 0.04 Bohr magnetons/molecule, with the B-site moments sub-divided into groups at angles. From a comparison with magnetic measurements at other temperatures, it is suggested that the net A-site moment is dominant.
Biproportional Methods of Structural Change Analysis: A Typological Survey

Analysts often are interested in learning how much an exchange system has changed over time or how two different exchange systems differ. Identifying structural difference in exchange matrices can be performed using either 'directed' or 'undirected' methods. Directed methods are based on the computation and comparison of column- or row-normalizations of the matrices. The choice of row or column for the normalization implies a specific direction of the exchanges, so that the column-wise normalized results should not be compared to the row-wise normalized results. In this category fall the simple comparison of coefficient matrices and the causative method. Undirected methods do not impose such underlying constraints on exchanges. Hence, I present a set of undirected methods that can be used to compare structural matrices: the biproportional ordinary filter, the biproportional mean filter and the bi-Markovian filter. While doing so, I recall why the bicausative method must be dismissed. I then classify the m...
Populating Stellar Orbits inside a Rotating, Gaseous Bar

In an effort to understand better the formation and evolution of barred galaxies, we have examined the properties of equatorial orbits in the effective potential of one specific model of a rapidly rotating, steady state gasdynamical bar that has been constructed via a self-consistent hydrodynamical simulation. At a given value of the Jacobi constant, roughly half of all test particles (stars) that are injected into the equatorial plane of this potential follow quasi-ergodic orbits; most regular prograde orbits have an overall bow tie shape; and some trace out trajectories that resemble the x4 family of regular, retrograde orbits. The bow tie orbits appear to be related to the 4/1 orbit family discussed by Contopoulous in 1988, but particles moving along a bow tie orbit pass very close to the center of the bar twice each orbit. Unlike the barlike configurations that previously have been constructed using dissipationless, N-body simulation techniques, the effective potential of our gasdynamical bar is very shallow and generally does not support the x1 family of orbits. If primordial galaxies evolve to a rapidly rotating barlike configuration before a significant amount of star formation has taken place and then stars form from the gas that makes up the bar, the initial stellar distribution function should consist of orbits that are (1) supported by the gaseous barlike potential and (2) restricted to have initial conditions dictated by the gasdynamics of the bar. With this restriction hypothesis in mind, we propose that stellar dynamical systems that form from gaseous bars will have characteristics that differ significantly from systems that form from a bisymmetric instability in an initially axisymmetric stellar system. Since bow tie orbits are preferred over x1 orbits, for example, such systems should have a more boxy or peanut shape when seen face-on; there will be a mechanism for funneling material more directly into the center of the galaxy; and, near the galaxy center, stars may appear to move along retrograde trajectories.
New algorithms for online rectangle filling with k-lookahead

We study the online rectangle filling problem which arises in channel aware scheduling of wireless networks, and present deterministic and randomized results for algorithms that are allowed a k-lookahead for k?2. Our main result is a deterministic min?{1.848,1+2/(k?1)}-competitive online algorithm. This is the first algorithm for this problem with a competitive ratio approaching 1 as k approaches +?. The previous best-known solution for this problem has a competitive ratio of 2 for any k?2. We also present a randomized online algorithm with a competitive ratio of 1+1/(k+1). Our final result is a closely matching lower bound (also proved in this paper) of $1+1/(\sqrt{k+2}+\sqrt{k+1})^{2}>1+1/(4(k+2))$ on the competitive ratio of any randomized online algorithm against an oblivious adversary. These are the first known results for randomized algorithms for this problem.
Prototype of fault adaptive embedded software for large-scale real-time systems

This paper describes a comprehensive prototype of large-scale fault adaptive embedded software developed for the proposed Fermilab BTeV high energy physics experiment. Lightweight self-optimizing agents embedded within Level 1 of the prototype are responsible for proactive and reactive monitoring and mitigation based on specified layers of competence. The agents are self-protecting, detecting cascading failures using a distributed approach. Adaptive, reconfigurable, and mobile objects for reliablility are designed to be self-configuring to adapt automatically to dynamically changing environments. These objects provide a self-healing layer with the ability to discover, diagnose, and react to discontinuities in real-time processing. A generic modeling environment was developed to facilitate design and implementation of hardware resource specifications, application data flow, and failure mitigation strategies. Level 1 of the planned BTeV trigger system alone will consist of 2500 DSPs, so the number of components and intractable fault scenarios involved make it impossible to design an `expert system' that applies traditional centralized mitigative strategies based on rules capturing every possible system state. Instead, a distributed reactive approach is implemented using the tools and methodologies developed by the Real-Time Embedded Systems group.
THE MINIMAL LENGTH AND LARGE EXTRA DIMENSIONS

Planck scale physics represents a future challenge, located between particle physics and general relativity. The Planck scale marks a threshold beyond which the old description of spacetime breaks down and conceptually new phenomena must appear. Little is known about the fundamental theory valid at Planckian energies, except that it necessarily seems to imply the occurrence of a minimal length scale, providing a natural ultraviolet cutoff and a limit to the possible resolution of spacetime. Motivated by String Theory, the models of large extra dimensions lower the Planck scale to values soon accessible. These models predict a vast number of quantum gravity effects at the lowered Planck scale, among them the production of TeV-mass black holes and gravitons. Within the extra dimensional scenario, the minimal length also comes into the reach of experiment and sets a fundamental limit to short distance physics. We review the status of Planck scale physics in these effective models.
Grand unification and B&L conservation

A brief summary of some of the recent developments in grand unification and B&L conservation is given. Proton stability in supergravity unified models is discussed. Also discussed are the effects of supersymmetric dark matter constraints and the constraints of proton lifetime on the SUSY spectrum. Other topics reviewed include Planck scale effects and p decay, effects of textures, and extension to nonminimal models including models with many Higgs triplets. Recent developments in GUTs and strings are also discussed.
The arrow of time and the initial conditions of the universe

Abstract The existence of a thermodynamic arrow of time in the present universe implies that the initial state of the observable portion of our universe at (or near) the “big bang” must have been very “special”. We argue that it is not plausible that these special initial conditions have a dynamical origin.
Bayesian variable selection with related predictors

In data sets with many predictors, algorithms for identifying a good subset of predictors are often used. Most such algorithms do not allow for any relationships between predictors. For example, stepwise regression might select a model containing an interaction AB but neither main effect A or B. This paper develops mathematical representations of this and other relations between predictors, which may then be incorporated in a model selection procedure. A Bayesian approach that goes beyond the standard independence prior for variable selection is adopted, and preference for certain models is interpreted as prior information. Priors relevant to arbitrary interactions and polynomials, dummy variables for categorical factors, competing predictors, and restrictions on the size of the models are developed. Since the relations developed are for priors, they may be incorporated in any Bayesian variable selection algorithm for any type of linear model. The application of the methods here is illustrated via the stochastic search variable selection algorithm of George and McCulloch (1993), which is modified to utilize the new priors. The performance of the approach is illustrated with two constructed examples and a computer performance dataset.
Iterative Scheme for Solving Optimal Transportation Problems Arising in Reflector Design

We consider the geometric optics problem of finding a system of two reflectors that transform a spherical wavefront into a beam of parallel rays with prescribed intensity distribution. Using techniques from optimal transportation theory, it has been shown previously that this problem is equivalent to an infinite-dimensional linear programming (LP) problem. Here we investigate techniques for constructing the two reflectors numerically by considering the finite-dimensional LP problems which arise as approximations to the infinite-dimensional problem. A straightforward discretization has the disadvantage that the number of constraints increases rapidly with the mesh size, so only very coarse meshes are practical. To address this well-known issue we propose an iterative solution scheme. In each step, an LP problem is solved, where information from the previous iteration step is used to reduce the number of necessary constraints. As an illustration, we apply our proposed scheme to solve a problem with synthetic data, demonstrating that the method allows for much finer meshes than a simple discretization. We also give evidence that the scheme converges. There exists a growing literature for the application of optimal transportation theory to other beam shaping problems, and our proposed scheme is easy to adapt for these problems as well.
Crystal field effects in chromium and its partitioning in the mantle

Abstract Cr 3+ ions have a strong preference for octahedral sites in mineral structures and discriminate against tetrahedral sites, whereas Cr 2+ ions favor distorted environments, according to crystal field theory. All structure-types proposed for the transition zone and lower mantle contain six-coordinated sites, so that Cr 3+ ions may be distributed over several phases in the Earth's interior. In the upper mantle, however, stabilization energies derived from crystal field spectra suggest that the enrichment of Cr 3+ follows the sequence: spinel > garnet > pyroxene or olivine. High-spin Cr 2+ ions, which may occur at very high pressures and low oxygen fugacities, are predicted to be stabilized in deformed sites of the olivine and Sr 2 PbO 4 structure-types. Low-spin Cr 2+ ions may also occur in the CaFe 2 O 4 structure-type in the lower mantle. It is proposed that some chromite inclusions in forsterites from the upper mantle are formed by pressure-released oxidation of Cr 2+ ions originally present in olivine or spinel modifications of Mg 2 SiO 4 .
Optimal Microlensing Observations

One of the major limitations of microlensing observations toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the low rate of event detection. What can be done to improve this rate? Is it better to invest telescope time in more frequent observations of the inner high-surface-brightness fields or in covering new, less populated outer fields? How would a factor 2 improvement in CCD sensitivity affect the detection efficiency? Would a series of major (factor 2-4) upgrades in telescope aperture, seeing, sky brightness, camera size, and detector efficiency increase the event rate by a huge factor, or only marginally? I develop a simplified framework to address these questions. With observational resources fixed at the level of the MACHO and EROS experiments, the biggest improvement (factor ~2) would come by reducing the time spent on the inner ~25 deg2 and applying it to the outer ~100 deg2. By combining this change with the characteristics of a good medium-size telescope (2.5 m mirror, 1'' point-spread function, thinned CCD chips, 1 deg2 camera, and dark sky), it should be possible to increase the detection of LMC events to more than 100 yr-1 (assuming current estimates of the optical depth apply to the entire LMC).
Syntheses and structures of three f-element selenite/hydroselenite compounds

Abstract The selenite/hydroselenite compounds Ce(SeO 3 )(HSeO 3 ), Tb(SeO 3 )(HSeO 3 )·2H 2 O, and Cs[U(SeO 3 )(HSeO 3 )]·3H 2 O were synthesized by hydrothermal means at 453 K from the reaction of CeO 2 or Tb 4 O 7 or UO 2 with SeO 2 and CsCl (as a mineralizer). Ce(SeO 3 )(HSeO 3 ) crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic space group Pca 2 1 . The structure comprises a two-dimensional network of interconnected CeO 10 bicapped distorted square antiprisms and SeO 3 trigonal pyramids. Tb(SeO 3 )(HSeO 3 )·2H 2 O crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic space group P 2 1 2 1 2 1 . The structure features a two-dimensional layer of interconnected TbO 8 distorted square antiprisms and SeO 3 trigonal pyramids. Cs[U(SeO 3 )(HSeO 3 )]·3H 2 O crystallizes in the centrosymmetric monoclinic space group P 2 1 / n . The structure consists of two-dimensional layers of interconnected UO 7 pentagonal bipyramids and SeO 3 trigonal pyramids. The layers in all three structures are held together by hydrogen-bonding networks.
RAPID PREPARATION OF VARIOUSLY PROTECTED GLYCALS USING TITANIUM(III)

Glycosyl chlorides and bromides can be rapidly converted to glycals in high yield by reaction with (Cp2Ti[III]Cl)2. This reagent tolerates a wide range of common carbohydrate protecting groups, including silyl ethers, acetals, and esters; the methodology provides a general route for the preparation of glycals substituted with both acid- and base-labile functionality. A reaction mechanism is proposed that is based on heteroatom abstraction to give an intermediate glycosyl radical. This radical reacts with a second equivalent of Ti(III) to yield a glycosyltitanium(IV) species. β-Heteroatom elimination from the glycosyltitanium(IV) complex gives the glycal.
Estimations of OH radical rate constants from H‐atom abstraction from C ? H and O ? H bonds over the temperature range 250‐1000 K

Rate constants for overall H-atom abstraction by hydroxyl radicals from CH and OH bonds are estimated for alkanes, haloalkanes, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, alcohols, nitriles, and nitrates over thetemperature range 250–1000 K. These estimated rate constants utilize the modified Arrhenius expression K = A'T2e−E'/T in combination with the recommendations given in the recent review and evaluation of OH radical kinetics of Atkinson [1]. This estimation procedure gives good agreement, generally to within better than a factor of 2, of the estimated rate constants with theserecommendations.
Thermoelectric and structural properties of a new Chevrel phase: Ti0.3Mo5RuSe8

The new Chevrel phase Ti{sub 0.3}Mo{sub 5}RuSe{sub 8} has been synthesized and characterized by quantitative microprobe analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, and high-temperature thermoelectric properties measurements. The thermoelectric properties of this compound are compared to the previously reported data for other related Chevrel phases. We report also the results of Rietveld analysis of powder X-ray diffraction data for Ti{sub 0.3}Mo{sub 5}RuSe{sub 8}. This compound adopts the rhombohedral Chevrel phase structure (space group R3-bar , Z=3) with hexagonal lattice constants a=9.75430(25)A and c=10.79064(40)A. The low level of incorporation and low scattering power of Ti precluded the identification of the Ti positions, and Rietveld refinement was carried out only for the Mo{sub 5}RuSe{sub 8} framework of Ti{sub 0.3}Mo{sub 5}RuSe{sub 8} (R{sub p}=10.5%, R{sub wp}=14.6%). Rietveld analysis was also used to refine the structure of the unfilled phase Mo{sub 5}RuSe{sub 8} (R3-bar , Z=3, a=9.63994(8)A, c=10.97191(11)A, R{sub p}=8.0%, R{sub wp}=10.5%). Comparisons between the two structures are made.
Comparison of Film Effectiveness and Cooling Uniformity of Conical and Cylindrical-Shaped Film Hole With Coolant-Exit Temperature Correction

Data from conical-shaped film cooling holes is extremely sparse in open literature, especially the cooling uniformity characteristic, an important criterion for evaluating any film cooling design. The authors will compare the performance of conical-shaped holes to cylindrical-shaped holes. Cylindrical-shaped holes are often considered a baseline in terms of film cooling effectiveness and cooling uniformity coefficient. The authors will study two coupons with conical-shaped holes, which have 3° and 6° diffusion angles, named CON3 and CON6 respectively. A conjugate heat transfer computational fluid dynamics model and an experimental wind tunnel will be used to study these coupons. The three configurations: cylindrical baseline, CON3, and CON6, have a single row of holes with an inlet metering diameter of 3mm, length-to-nominal diameter of 4.3, and an injection angle of 30°. In this study, the authors will also take into account the heat transfer into the coolant flow from the coolant channel. In other words, coolant temperature at the exit of the coolant hole will be different than that measured at the inlet, and the conjugate heat transfer model will be used to correct for this difference. For the numerical model, the realizable k-e turbulent model will be applied with a second order of discretization and enhanced wall treatment to provide the highest accuracy available. Grid independent studies for both cylindrical-shaped film cooling holes and conical-shaped holes will be performed and the results will be compared to data in open literature as well as in-house experimental data. Results show that conical-shaped holes considerably outperform cylindrical-shaped holes in film cooling effectiveness at all blowing ratios. In terms of cooling uniformity, conical-shaped holes perform better than cylindrical-shaped holes for low and mid-range blowing ratios, but not at higher levels.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
A mechanism of acquirement of cosmic ray energies by electrons

Publisher Summary The growth of stellar magnetic fields as occurring in sunspots can give rise, according to Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction, to electric fields capable of giving electrons energies corresponding to 1010 volts. Because of the repulsion of the current responsible for the magnetic field, the electron is hurled away from the spot as it acquires its energy. It is usually considered that the assumption of the existence of electronic energies of the order 1010 volts is attended with considerable theoretical difficulties. This chapter presents the possibility of the production of cosmic-ray energies in stellar spots, analogous to sunspots on the Sun. The sunspots possess considerable magnetic fields that grow in comparatively short intervals of time. A consideration of the existing magnitudes will show that line integrals of the electric field of the order 1010 volts may readily arise through the Faraday law as a result of the growth of such magnetic fields. However, the detailed working out of the matter involves certain considerations that require careful attention.
Divergent reaction pathways in amine additions to β-lactone electrophiles. An application to β-peptide synthesis

Abstract β-Lactone electrophiles are subject to regioselective addition–elimination (AE) or SN2 ring opening with various nitrogen-based nucleophiles. Primary and secondary amines promote AE ring opening to deliver products that are the functional equivalent of amide aldol adducts. Azide and sulfonamide anion nucleophiles engender SN2 lactone ring opening to deliver N-protected β-amino acid derivatives. These nucleophile-dependent ring opening pathways, coupled with the convenient access to highly enantoenriched β-lactones afforded by acyl halide–aldehyde cyclocondensations, constitute versatile methodologies for asymmetric organic synthesis. The application of this reaction technology to a new method for β-peptide synthesis based on the optically active β-azido acids emerging from the AAC-ring opening sequence is also described.
Stereospecificity of a new reaction of L-ascorbic acid with cis and trans olefinic 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds

Reactions de l'acide ascorbique et de malealdehyde, oxo-4 pentene-2al et fumaraldehyde: obtention de [furyl-2]-3- et [methyl-5 furyl-2]-3 perhydro trihydroxy-3,3a,b furo [3,2-b] furannones-2 et d'une perhydro trihydroxy furo [2″,3″-4',5'] furo [2',3'-3,4] furo [3,2-b] furannone. Etude RX de ce dernier compose
Random forests for metric learning with implicit pairwise position dependence

Metric learning makes it plausible to learn semantically meaningful distances for complex distributions of data using label or pairwise constraint information. However, to date, most metric learning methods are based on a single Mahalanobis metric, which cannot handle heterogeneous data well. Those that learn multiple metrics throughout the feature space have demonstrated superior accuracy, but at a severe cost to computational efficiency. Here, we adopt a new angle on the metric learning problem and learn a single metric that is able to implicitly adapt its distance function throughout the feature space. This metric adaptation is accomplished by using a random forest-based classifier to underpin the distance function and incorporate both absolute pairwise position and standard relative position into the representation. We have implemented and tested our method against state of the art global and multi-metric methods on a variety of data sets. Overall, the proposed method outperforms both types of method in terms of accuracy (consistently ranked first) and is an order of magnitude faster than state of the art multi-metric methods (16x faster in the worst case).
Site-specific microinjection of Gaboxadol into the infralimbic cortex modulates ethanol intake in male C57BL/6J mice.

Abstract Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors, often identified as those containing both α4 and δ subunits, demonstrate super-sensitivity to GABA and are involved in tonic inhibitory processes regulating activity within mesolimbocortical circuitry. Rodent studies testing the effects of the δ-subunit selective agonist Gaboxadol (THIP) on alcohol consumption have produced mixed results. The goal of this study was to determine the role of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors located in the infralimbic cortex (ILC) in the alcohol consumption of male C57BL/6J (B6) mice. The ILC is of interest due to its demonstrated involvement in stress reactivity. Furthermore, alcohol exposure has been shown to interfere with extinction learning; impairments of which may be related to inflexible behavior (i.e., problematic alcohol consumption). Adult male B6 mice were bilaterally implanted with guide cannulas aimed at the ILC and were subsequently offered daily limited access to 20% ethanol or 5% sucrose for 7 days. Immediately prior to ethanol or sucrose access on day 7, mice were bilaterally injected with 50 or 100 ng THIP (25 or 50 ng per side respectively) or saline vehicle into the ILC. The highest dose of intra-ILC THIP (100 ng/mouse) increased alcohol intake relative to vehicle controls, although control animals consumed relatively little ethanol following infusion. Intra-ILC THIP had no effect on sucrose consumption (p > 0.05), suggesting that the effect of THIP was selective for ethanol consumption. Together, these findings suggest that THIP may have effectively prevented the decrease in ethanol intake on day 7 induced by the microinjection process, perhaps supporting a suggested role for the ILC in adaptive learning processes and behavioral flexibility.
Picazoplatin, an Azide-Containing Platinum(II) Derivative for Target Analysis by Click Chemistry

Despite the broad use of platinum-based chemotherapeutics, identification of their full range of cellular targets remains a significant challenge. In order to identify, visualize, and isolate cellular targets of Pt(II) complexes, we have modified the chemotherapeutic drug picoplatin with an azide moiety for subsequent click reactivity. The new compound picazoplatin readily binds DNA and RNA oligonucleotides and undergoes facile post-labeling click reactions to alkyne-fluorophore conjugates. Pt-fluorophore click reactions in rRNA purified from drug-treated Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrate its potential for future in vivo efforts.
Rational curves on K3 surfaces

We show that projective K3 surfaces with odd Picard rank contain infinitely many rational curves. Our proof extends the Bogomolov-Hassett-Tschinkel approach, i.e., uses moduli spaces of stable maps and reduction to positive characteristic.
X-Ray Absorption Line Spectroscopy of the Galactic Hot Interstellar Medium

We present an X-ray absorption line spectroscopic study of the large-scale hot interstellar medium (HISM) in the Galaxy. We detect Ne IX Kα absorption lines in the Chandra grating spectra of seven Galactic low-mass X-ray binaries. Three of these sources also show absorption of O VII Kα, O VII Kβ, and/or O VIII Kα. Both the centroid and width of the lines are consistent with a Galactic HISM origin of the absorption. By jointly fitting the multiple lines, accounting for line saturation, and assuming the collisional ionization equilibrium, we estimate the average absorbing gas temperature as ~(2.4 ± 0.3) × 106 K (90% confidence errors). We further characterize the spatial density distribution of the gas as 6.4 exp(-|z|/1.2 kpc) × 10-3 cm-3 (a disk morphology) or 6.2[1 + (R/2.3 kpc)2]-1 × 10-3 cm-3 (a sphere morphology), where z and R are the distances from the Galactic plane and Galactic center (GC) respectively. Since nearly all the sight lines with significant absorption lines detected are somewhat toward GC and at low Galactic latitudes, these results could be severely biased. More observations toward off-GC sight lines and at high latitudes are urgently needed to further the study. Nevertheless, the results demonstrate the excellent potential of X-ray absorption line spectroscopy in the study of the HISM.
A Model-independent Photometric Redshift Estimator for Type Ia Supernovae

The use of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) as cosmological standard candles is fundamental in modern observational cosmology. In this Letter, we derive a simple empirical photometric redshift estimator for SNe Ia using a training set of SNe Ia with multiband (griz) light curves and spectroscopic redshifts obtained by the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). This estimator is analytical and model-independent; it does not use spectral templates. We use all the available SNe Ia from SNLS with near-maximum photometry in griz (a total of 40 SNe Ia) to train and test our photometric redshift estimator. The difference between the estimated redshifts zphot and the spectroscopic redshifts zspec, (zphot - zspec)/(1 + zspec), has rms dispersions of 0.031 for 20 SNe Ia used in the training set, and 0.050 for 20 SNe Ia not used in the training set. The dispersion is of the same order of magnitude as the flux uncertainties at peak brightness for the SNe Ia. There are no outliers. This photometric redshift estimator should significantly enhance the ability of observers to accurately target high-redshift SNe Ia for spectroscopy in ongoing surveys. It will also dramatically boost the cosmological impact of very large future supernova surveys, such as those planned for the Advanced Liquid-mirror Probe for Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Asteroids (ALPACA) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).
Potential order-of-magnitude enhancement of wind farm power density via counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbine arrays

Modern wind farms comprised of horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) require significant land resources to separate each wind turbine from the adjacent turbine wakes. This aerodynamic constraint limits the amount of power that can be extracted from a given wind farm footprint. The resulting inefficiency of HAWT farms is currently compensated by using taller wind turbines to access greater wind resources at high altitudes, but this solution comes at the expense of higher engineering costs and greater visual, acoustic, radar, and environmental impacts. We investigated the use of counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in order to achieve higher power output per unit land area than existing wind farms consisting of HAWTs. Full-scale field tests of 10-m tall VAWTs in various counter-rotating configurations were conducted under natural wind conditions during summer 2010. Whereas modern wind farms consisting of HAWTs produce 2–3 W of power per square meter of land area, these field tests indicate that power densities an order of magnitude greater can potentially be achieved by arranging VAWTs in layouts that enable them to extract energy from adjacent wakes and from above the wind farm. Moreover, this improved performance does not require higher individual wind turbine efficiency, only closer wind turbine spacing and a sufficient vertical flux of turbulence kinetic energy from the atmospheric surface layer. The results suggest an alternative approach to wind farming that has the potential to concurrently reduce the cost, size, and environmental impacts of wind farms.
Baryon helicity in B decay

We extend the perturbative argument of helicity amplitudes to the two-body baryonic decays of B decays.
Perhydropyrrolo[1,2-a]indole synthesis: Diastereoselection in an intramolecular conjugate addition of an amine to a 1,4-cyclohexadienone

Abstract Cyclization of amino-cyclohexadienone 4 occurs with a high level of diastereoselection to afford perhydroindole 13. The relationship of this observation to controlling the relative stereochemistry between C34 and other stereogenic centers in the manzamine family of alkaloids is discussed.
The Global Retirement Crisis

Over the next few decades, the rapid aging of populations in Europe, Japan, and North America threatens the stability of the world’s major economies. A determined push for reform can still avert fiscal and economic crisis. But the time for corrective action is running out. And the problem is worse than is generally assumed.
Consistency of theory and experiment in the ethane–methyl radical system

The thermal decomposition of ethane has been reinvestigated using the single pulse, reflected shock technique. Reflected shock temperatures were corrected for boundary layer-induced nonidealities using the thermal decomposition of cyclohexene as a kinetic standard. The rate constant for the reaction was calculated from the rate of formation of methane under conditions of very low extent of reaction, over a temperature range of 1000–1241 K. Ethane compositions of 1% and 3% in argon at total reaction pressures of 3 and 9 atm were used, and a small pressure dependence of k1 was observed. An RRKM model is described which gives excellent agreement with this and other recent dissociation and recombination rate constant data in light of a recent revision to the thermochemistry of the methyl radical. In the range of 1000–1300 K an RRKM extrapolated k is given by the expression, log k = 17.2 − 91,000/2.3RT, while at 298 K the calculation gives log k (l/mol sec) = 10.44, where k is calculated from k and the equilibrium constant.
MCPBA Epoxidation of Alkenes: Reinvestigation of Correlation between Rate and Ionization Potential

A kinetic equation provides relative rate constants from product analysis under competition conditions. This has been applied to the epoxidation of a large number of alkenes with m-chloroperbenzoic acid in methylene chloride. The rate constants are well correlated with ionization potentials, but there are separate linear correlations for aliphatic and aromatic alkenes. However, the extent of electron transfer to the peracid is minimal. These results can be interpreted in terms of transition-state imbalance (“nonperfect synchronization”), frontier-orbital theory, and a transition state (1) that has little charge development at carbon.
Extension of weakly and strongly F-regular rings by flat maps

This is a preprint of an article published in the Journal of Algebra, vol. 241 (2001), no. 2, 799-807.
Refined Astrometry and Positions for 179 Swift X-Ray Afterglows

We present a refined catalog for the positions of 179 gamma-ray burst (GRB) X-ray afterglows observed by the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) on Swift prior to 2006 November 1. The positions are determined by detecting X-ray field sources in the deep X-ray images and comparing the centroids to those of optical sources in the Digitized Sky Survey red2 catalog or the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 catalog. Half of the 90% confidence error region radii are 20 ks) and cannot be generated nearly as rapidly after the GRB. The positions derived for >90% of 77 bursts with optical afterglows are consistent with the optical transient positions, without the need for systematic error. About 20% of the afterglow positions require a sizable shift in the Swift satellite aspect. We discuss the optical/X-ray properties of the field sources and discuss the implications of the frame offsets for studies of optically dark GRBs.
Neurologic aspects of eclampsia

Eclampsia continues to be a significant cause of maternal and fetal death throughout the world. Neurologists have a specific role to play in the diagnosis and management of patients who have eclampsia, especially those who have recurrent seizures, raised intracranial pressure, and coma. Postpartum patients may be admitted to a neurology service when they present to the emergency department with seizures. The cornerstone of treatment has been blood pressure control and magnesium sulfate with its antivasospastic effect. Should this fail, antiepileptic drugs of proved efficacy, such as diazepam and phenytoin, can be used. Recent studies reveal genetic and mitochondrial defects in eclampsia, but further investigation is warranted to determine the complex underlying pathophysiologic interplay and the optimum prophylactic and therapeutic management.
Lower order terms of the second moment of S(t)

In this article, we derive an asymptotic formula for the second moment of $S(t)$ which includes the lower order terms using a prediction from the ratios conjecture of Conrey, Farmer and Zirnbauer. The formula matches very well with actual values of the second moment.
The Dynamical Structure of Nonradiative Black Hole Accretion Flows

We analyze three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a nonradiative accretion flow around a black hole using a pseudo-Newtonian potential. The flow originates from a torus initially centered at 100 gravitational (Schwarzschild) radii. Accretion is driven by turbulent stresses generated self-consistently by the magnetorotational instability. The resulting flow has three well-defined dynamical components: a hot, thick, rotationally dominated Keplerian disk; a surrounding magnetized corona with vigorous circulation and outflow; and a magnetically confined jet along the centrifugal funnel wall. Inside 10 gravitational radii, the disk becomes very hot, more toroidal, and highly intermittent. These results contrast sharply with quasi-spherical, self-similar viscous models. There are no significant dynamical differences between simulations that include resistive heating and those that do not. We conclude by deducing some simple radiative properties of our solutions, and apply the results to the accretion-powered Galactic center source Sgr A*.
EUV SpectroPhotometer (ESP) in Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE): Algorithms and Calibrations

The Extreme ultraviolet SpectroPhotometer (ESP) is one of five channels of the Extreme ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) onboard the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The ESP channel design is based on a highly stable diffraction transmission grating and is an advanced version of the Solar Extreme ultraviolet Monitor (SEM), which has been successfully observing solar irradiance onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) since December 1995. ESP is designed to measure solar Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) irradiance in four first-order bands of the diffraction grating centered around 19 nm, 25 nm, 30 nm, and 36 nm, and in a soft X-ray band from 0.1 to 7.0 nm in the zeroth-order of the grating. Each band’s detector system converts the photo-current into a count rate (frequency). The count rates are integrated over 0.25-second increments and transmitted to the EVE Science and Operations Center for data processing. An algorithm for converting the measured count rates into solar irradiance and the ESP calibration parameters are described. The ESP pre-flight calibration was performed at the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Calibration parameters were used to calculate absolute solar irradiance from the sounding-rocket flight measurements on 14 April 2008. These irradiances for the ESP bands closely match the irradiance determined for two other EUV channels flown simultaneously: EVE’s Multiple EUV Grating Spectrograph (MEGS) and SOHO’s Charge, Element and Isotope Analysis System/Solar EUV Monitor (CELIAS/SEM).
Molybdenum‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic Alkylation of 3‐Alkyloxindoles: Reaction Development and Applications

We report a full account of our work towards the development of Mo-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation reactions with 3-alkyloxindoles as nucleophiles. The reaction is complementary to the Pd-catalyzed reaction with regard to the scope of oxindole nucleophiles. A number of 3-alkyloxindoles were alkylated successfully under mild conditions to give products with excellent yields and good-to-excellent enantioselectivities. Applications of this method to the preparation of indoline alkaloids such as (−)-physostigmine, ent-(−)-debromoflustramine B, and the indolinoquinoline rings of communesin B are reported.
SPEDEN: reconstructing single particles from their diffraction patterns

SPEDEN is a computer program that reconstructs the electron density of single particles from their X-ray diffraction patterns, using a single-particle adaptation of the holographic method in crystallography [Szoke, Szoke & Somoza (1997). Acta Cryst. A53, 291-313]. The method, like its parent, is unique because it does not rely on 'back' transformation from the diffraction pattern into real space and on interpolation within measured data. It is designed to deal successfully with sparse, irregular, incomplete and noisy data. It is also designed to use prior information for ensuring sensible results and for reliable convergence. This article describes the theoretical basis for the reconstruction algorithm, its implementation, and quantitative results of tests on synthetic and experimentally obtained data. The program could be used for determining the structures of radiation-tolerant samples and, eventually, of large biological molecular structures without the need for crystallization.
A solution to de Groot’s absolute cone conjecture

Abstract A compactum X is an ‘absolute cone’ if, for each of its points x , the space X is homeomorphic to a cone with x corresponding to the cone point. In 1971, J. de Groot conjectured that each n -dimensional absolute cone is an n -cell. In this paper, we give a complete solution to that conjecture. In particular, we show that the conjecture is true for n ≤ 3 and false for n ≥ 5 . For n = 4 , the absolute cone conjecture is true if and only if the 3-dimensional Poincare Conjecture is true.
On the welfare effects of mergers: Short run vs. long run

Abstract We use a two-period model to analyze the short run and long run profitability and welfare consequences of horizontal mergers, where the equilibrium responses to a merger can differ over time. Although firms can anticipate the merger, they can only adjust their capacity in the long run. We find a greater range of profitable mergers than in static models. For a merger to raise welfare, it is sufficient that the short run welfare effects are positive and necessary that the long run effects are positive. We relate these conditions to the inside firms' market shares and the Herfindahl index.