cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Guide for Local Benefit Sharing in Hydropower Projects

Local benefit sharing in hydropower projects can be defined as the systematic efforts by project proponents to sustainably benefit local communities affected by hydropower investments. Benefit sharing is a promising approach for implementing hydropower projects sustainably, and is emerging as a supplement to the requirements of compensation and mitigation. Benefit sharing can provide equitable development, sustainability, and smooth project implementation for hydropower development. For benefit sharing mechanisms to work, the key enabling conditions are government policies, the legal and regulatory framework, corporate social responsibility strategies of development companies, and the capacity of local communities. Stakeholder engagement is essential in initiating and designing benefit sharing programs. This guide provides some advice to task teams on how to design effective local benefit sharing mechanisms in hydropower projects. Benefit sharing arrangements would ensure that local communities have the opportunity to benefit directly from hydropower development, which will make hydropower projects more environmentally and socially sustainable. As a long-term arrangement, benefit sharing can facilitate local development. It can respond to unexpected environmental circumstances in the operation of dams to ensure local communities receive adequate benefits. Arrangements for the equitable sharing of benefits can offer scope for local communities and all other stakeholders to avoid conflicts and focus on creating synergies to maximize local development opportunities.
Characteristic random subgroups of geometric groups and free abelian groups of infinite rank

We show that if $G$ is a non-elementary word hyperbolic group, mapping class group of a hyperbolic surface or the outer automorphism group of a nonabelian free group then $G$ has $2^{\aleph_0}$ many continuous ergodic invariant random subgroups. If $G$ is a nonabelian free group then $G$ has $2^{\aleph_0}$ many continuous $G$-ergodic characteristic random subgroups. We also provide a complete classification of characteristic random subgroups of free abelian groups of countably infinite rank and elementary $p$-groups of countably infinite rank.
Union Membership and Political Inclusion

Using county-level data, the author evaluates how labor affected the general population's political behavior during the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Voter turnout increased with unionization, but at declining rates with higher levels of unionization. The unionization/voter turnout link was stronger in counties with lower median incomes, higher income inequality, and lower levels of education, suggesting that unions partially closed the political participation gap between low- and high-SES (socioeconomic status) populations. State right-to-work laws, and the absence of collective bargaining rights for public employees, reduced labor's ability to increase voter turnout. The union effect on candidate preference had a positive, curvilinear association with union membership, but this effect was stronger in high-SES regions than in low-SES regions. Overall, these results imply a paradox for organized labor: unions can effectively increase working-class voter turnout, but they have difficulty persuading the ...
Kes 73: A Young Supernova Remnant with an X-Ray-bright, Radio-quiet Central Source

We clarify the nature of the small-diameter supernova remnant (SNR) Kes 73 and its central compact source, 1E 1841-045, using X-ray data acquired with ASCA. We introduce a spatiospectral decomposition technique necessary to disentangle the ASCA spectrum of the compact source from the barely resolved shell-type remnant. The source spectrum (1-8 keV) is characterized by an absorbed power law with a photon index α 3.4 and NH 3.0 × 1022 cm-2, possibly nonthermal in nature. This bright X-ray source is likely a slowly spinning pulsar, whose detection is reported in our companion paper. The SNR spectrum is characteristic of a thermal plasma, with kT 0.6 keV and emission lines typical of a young remnant. The element Mg and possibly O and Ne are found to be overabundant, qualitatively suggesting an origin from a massive progenitor. We find that Kes 73 is a young (2000 yr) Type II/Ib SNR containing a neutron star pulsar spinning anomalously slowly for its age. Kes 73 is yet another member of a growing class of SNRs containing radio-quiet compact sources with a hard spectral signature.
An information theoretic representation of agent dynamics as set intersections

We represent agents as sets of strings. Each string encodes a potential interaction with another agent or environment. We represent the total set of dynamics between two agents as the intersection of their respective strings, we prove complexity properties of player interactions using Algorithmic Information Theory. We show how the proposed construction is compatible with Universal Artificial Intelligence, in that the AIXI model can be seen as universal with respect to interaction.
Active Classification: Theory and Application to Underwater Inspection

We discuss the problem in which an autonomous vehicle must classify an object based on multiple views. We focus on the active classification setting, where the vehicle controls which views to select to best perform the classification. The problem is formulated as an extension to Bayesian active learning, and we show connections to recent theoretical guarantees in this area. We formally analyze the benefit of acting adaptively as new information becomes available. The analysis leads to a probabilistic algorithm for determining the best views to observe based on information theoretic costs. We validate our approach in two ways, both related to underwater inspection: 3D polyhedra recognition in synthetic depth maps and ship hull inspection with imaging sonar. These tasks encompass both the planning and recognition aspects of the active classification problem. The results demonstrate that actively planning for informative views can reduce the number of necessary views by up to 80 % when compared to passive methods.
Disequilibrium, Development and Resilience Through Adult Life

In the field of mental health, resilience is understood as a psychological characteristic intimately entwined with the experience of disequilibrium. Originally, the resilience literature focused on children. But psychological development can continue beyond childhood. Recently, psychologists have begun to examine the resilience that arises—or does not—through the vicissitudes of adult life as well. Psychologically, a human being can be considered a complex system of drives, conflicts, capacities, hopes and so on. The human life span can be conceptualized as repeated experiences of stability and disequilibrium for a person's psychological system. From that stability and disequilibrium come the emergence of new abilities and worldviews. One possible outcome of the experience of repeated psychological disequilibrium inherent to adult life is the development of psychological resilience. This paper examines the affective experience of psychological development through adult life and what it means to be actively receptive to development in a way that optimizes the growth of resilience throughout adulthood. This article aims to make several contributions to the systems sciences. First, it brings psychology back into conversation with the systems community after an absence, in the International Society for the Systems Sciences at least, of many years. Second, systems theorists have paid little attention to the affective experience of disequilibrium—a recognized systems process—in a human system like an adult person. Third, to the mental health community, this paper seeks to communicate that perhaps much of the suffering and negative affect people experience through adulthood can be reframed from psychopathology to developmental transition—to disequilibrium—and the vulnerability and challenges that go with it. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sensitivity analysis in decision circuits

Decision circuits have been developed to perform efficient evaluation of influence diagrams [Bhattacharjya and Shachter, 2007], building on the advances in arithmetic circuits for belief network inference [Darwiche, 2003]. In the process of model building and analysis, we perform sensitivity analysis to understand how the optimal solution changes in response to changes in the model. When sequential decision problems under uncertainty are represented as decision circuits, we can exploit the efficient solution process embodied in the decision circuit and the wealth of derivative information available to compute the value of information for the uncertainties in the problem and the effects of changes to model parameters on the value and the optimal strategy.
The exceptional persistence of India's unorganized sector

The transformation of India's unorganized sector is important to its modernization, growth, and attainment of regional economic equality. This paper documents several key facts about India's unorganized sector in manufacturing and services. First, the unorganized sector is large, accounting for more than 99 percent of establishments and 80 percent of employment in manufacturing. Second, the unorganized sector is stubbornly persistent -- it accounted for 81 percent of manufacturing employment in 1989 and 2005. Third, this persistence is not due to particular subsets of industries or states, as most industries and states show limited change in unorganized sector employment shares. Fourth, the degree to which localized unorganized activity exists is important as it is associated with weaker production functions for manufacturing firms. Building from these facts, the paper investigates conditions promoting transformation by state-industry. Decomposition exercises find that both within and between adjustments for state-industries weakly reduce unorganized sector shares. The aggregate persistence instead comes from the covariance term, where fast-growing state-industries witness rising unorganized sector activity. Regressions quantify that growth in the organized sector by state-industry reduces the unorganized sector employment share, but only marginally reduces employment levels in unorganized activity. Analysis of the establishment size distribution highlights that entrepreneurship and larger organized sector plants are most important for transitions in the manufacturing sector, while small establishments play a key role in the services sector.
Computing posterior probabilities of structural features in Bayesian networks

We study the problem of learning Bayesian network structures from data. Koivisto and Sood (2004) and Koivisto (2006) presented algorithms that can compute the exact marginal posterior probability of a subnetwork, e.g., a single edge, in O(n2n) time and the posterior probabilities for all n(n-1) potential edges in O(n2n) total time, assuming that the number of parents per node or the indegree is bounded by a constant. One main drawback of their algorithms is the requirement of a special structure prior that is non uniform and does not respect Markov equivalence. In this paper, we develop an algorithm that can compute the exact posterior probability of a subnetwork in O(3n) time and the posterior probabilities for all n(n - 1) potential edges in O(n3n) total time. Our algorithm also assumes a bounded indegree but allows general structure priors. We demonstrate the applicability of the algorithm on several data sets with up to 20 variables.
Cherry Picking, Disclosure Quality, and Comprehensive Income Reporting Choices: The Case of Property‐Liability Insurers*

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 130: Reporting Comprehensive Income encourages enterprises to report comprehensive income on a performance statement rather than on a statement of equity. We investigate the reporting decisions of 82 publicly traded property-liability insurers that are fairly evenly split in their choice. Our results demonstrate that insurers with a tendency to manage earnings through realized securities' gains and losses (that is, cherry pickers), as well as insurers with a reputation for poor disclosure quality, are more likely to report comprehensive income in a statement of equity. Apparently, these insurers face the highest cost of transparency. We do not find a relation between the reporting decision and the volatility of comprehensive income relative to the volatility of net income. Our findings that insurers' comprehensive income reporting choices are a reflection of their proclivity toward cherry picking as well as their level of disclosure quality should be of interest to standard-setters because of the controversy over standard-setters' preference for mandating all firms to report comprehensive income in a performance statement.
Fiscal sustainability in Burundi : baseline projections, stochastic simulations, and policy scenarios

This paper analyzes Burundi's medium-term fiscal sustainability in the light of the country's vulnerability to various shocks. Earlier studies have highlighted the country's vulnerability to exogenous shocks related to commodity exports, rain-fed agriculture, and volatile foreign aid. Internally, uncertainty about the implementation of the government's fiscal reforms is a key risk. The earlier studies, however, did not quantify the size and impact of the risks on the country's fiscal sustainability. Drawing initially on the standard inter-temporal sustainability framework, the baseline analysis shows that Burundi's ongoing fiscal policy strategy is not sustainable, even with a gradually improving external environment and relatively strong growth. Stochastic simulations show that adverse shocks to rainfall or coffee prices could increase the country's debt-to-gross domestic product ratio by 5 to 7 percentage points above the projected baseline ratio. Aid shocks could have an even larger impact but the estimates are less statistically reliable because of the short time series and because historical volatility in part reflects endogenous shocks (such as reform implementation) as well as exogenous shocks (donors' behavior). The policy scenario analysis shows that future fiscal sustainability will hinge on the government's ability to stick to its plans to broaden the tax base, streamline generous tax incentives and exemptions, and control civil service wages and short-run expenditure pressures -- risks that need to be monitored closely over the political cycle in the country.
The Interaction of Testosterone and Cortisol Is Associated With Attained Status in Male Executives

Are hormone levels associated with the attainment of social status? Although endogenous testosterone predicts status-seeking social behaviors, research suggests that the stress hormone cortisol may inhibit testosterone's effects. Thus, individuals with both high testosterone and low cortisol may be especially likely to occupy high-status positions in social hierarchies while individuals with high testosterone and high cortisol may not. We tested this hypothesis by recruiting a sample of real executives and examining testosterone, cortisol, and a concrete indicator of attained status: the number of subordinates over which the executive has authority. Despite the myriad nonhormonal factors that determine organizational promotion, the executives' endogenous testosterone and cortisol interacted to significantly predict hierarchical position: Testosterone positively predicted executives' number of subordinates, but only among low-cortisol executives. The results imply that reducing cortisol levels via stress reduction may be a critical goal not only because doing so will improve health but also because doing so may enhance leadership potential. (PsycINFO Database Record
ANCOVA: a heteroscedastic global test when there is curvature and two covariates

For two independent groups, let $$M_j(\mathbf {X})$$Mj(X) be some conditional measure of location for the jth group associated with some random variable Y given $$\mathbf {X}=(X_1, X_2)$$X=(X1,X2). Let $$\Omega =\{\mathbf {X}_1, \ldots , \mathbf {X}_K\}$$Ω={X1,ź,XK} be a set of K points to be determined. An extant technique can be used to test $$H_0$$H0: $$M_1(\mathbf {X})=M_2(\mathbf {X})$$M1(X)=M2(X) for each $$\mathbf {X} \in \Omega $$XźΩ without making any parametric assumption about $$M_j(\mathbf {X})$$Mj(X). But there are two general reasons to suspect that the method can have relatively low power. The paper reports simulation results on an alternative approach that is designed to test the global hypothesis $$H_0$$H0: $$M_1(\mathbf {X})=M_2(\mathbf {X})$$M1(X)=M2(X) for all $$\mathbf {X} \in \Omega $$XźΩ. The main result is that the new method offers a distinct power advantage. Using data from the Well Elderly 2 study, it is illustrated that the alternative method can make a practical difference in terms of detecting a difference between two groups.
Utility and privacy of data sources: Can Shannon help conceal and reveal information?

The problem of private information “leakage” (inadvertently or by malicious design) from the myriad large centralized searchable data repositories drives the need for an analytical framework that quantifies unequivocally how safe private data can be (privacy) while still providing useful benefit (utility) to multiple legitimate information consumers. Rate distortion theory is shown to be a natural choice to develop such a framework which includes the following: modeling of data sources, developing application independent utility and privacy metrics, quantifying utility-privacy tradeoffs irrespective of the type of data sources or the methods of providing privacy, developing a side-information model for dealing with questions of external knowledge, and studying a successive disclosure problem for multiple query data sources.
Continuing education in power electronics

Continuing education has become an increasingly important part of the mission of higher education in the United States and around the world. The objective of engineering continuing education is to help practicing engineers stay current with technological advances relevant to their current or future job assignments. This work presents the strategies and guidelines for continuing education in power electronics. Critical issues pertaining to engineering education, such as how to identify learning needs, define learning outcomes, design course contents, select instructional methods, assess student performance, and conduct course evaluation, are discussed in detail.
Efficient and Regioselective Halogenations of 2-Amino-1,3-thiazoles with Copper Salts

Monohalo and dihalo 1,3-thiazole derivatives can be efficiently and selectively prepared under mild conditions from 2-amino-1,3-thiazoles. Halogenations proceed easily in the presence of copper(I) or copper(II) chlorides, bromides, or iodides directly in solution or with supported copper halides.
Do Clients Avoid “Contaminated” Offices? The Economic Consequences of Low-Quality Audits

ABSTRACT: This study investigates whether the market for audit clients penalizes auditors following association with low-quality audits. Specifically, we examine whether audit offices experience a loss in local market share following client restatements. We document that the frequency of restatement announcements within an office-year (“contamination”) is inversely related to subsequent year-over-year change in local market share. Further analysis indicates that restatements impair the office's ability to both attract and retain audit clients. We find that this effect is strongest in high competition markets and diminished in low competition markets. We also examine auditor retention decisions at the client level and find that the likelihood of auditor dismissal increases with contamination, even for non-restating clients. We also find that, on average, clients dismissing their auditor select less contaminated audit offices. Taken together, our results suggest that market forces penalize auditors for asso...
Arc Statistics in Clusters: Galaxy Contribution

The frequency with which background galaxies appear as long arcs as a result of gravitational lensing by foreground clusters of galaxies has recently been found by Bartelmann et al. to be a very sensitive probe of cosmological models. They have found that such arcs would be expected far less frequently than observed (by an order of magnitude) in the currently favored model of the universe, with a large cosmological constant, ΩΛ ~ 0.7. Here we analyze whether including the effect of cluster galaxies on the likelihood of clusters to generate long-arc images of background galaxies can change the statistics. Taking into account a variety of constraints on the properties of cluster galaxies, we find that there are not enough sufficiently massive galaxies in a cluster for them to significantly enhance the cross section of clusters and generate long arcs. We find that cluster galaxies typically enhance the cross section by only 15%.
The Aerodynamics of an Oscillating Cascade in a Compressible Flow Field

Fundamental experiments are performed in the NASA Lewis Research Center Transonic Oscillating Cascade Facility to investigate and quantify the aerodynamics of a cascade of bioconvex airfoils executing torsion mode oscillations at realistic reduced frequency values. Both steady and unsteady airfoil surface pressures are measured at two inlet Mach numbers, 0.65 and 0.80. and two incidence angles, 0 and 7 deg, with the harmonic torsional airfoil cascade oscillations at realistic high reduced frequency and unsteady data obtained at several interblade phase angle values
Direct Carbon−Carbon Bond Formation via Soft Enolization: A Biomimetic Asymmetric Mannich Reaction of Phenylacetate Thioesters

An asymmetric Mannich reaction of phenylacetate thioesters and sulfonylimines using cinchona alkaloid-based amino (thio)urea catalysts is reported that employs proximity-assisted soft enolization. This approach to enolization is based on the cooperative action of a carbonyl-activating hydrogen bonding (thio)urea moiety and an amine base contained within a single catalytic entity to facilitate intracomplex deprotonation. Significantly, this allows thioesters over a range of acidity to react efficiently, thereby opening the door to the development of a general mode of enolization-based organocatalysis of monocarboxylic acid derivatives.
The History of the Mysterious Eclipses of KH 15D: Asiago Observatory, 1967-1982*

We are gathering archival observations to determine the photometric history of the unique and unexplained eclipses of the pre–main-sequence star KH 15D. Here we present a light curve from 1967 to 1982, based on photographic plates from Asiago Observatory. During this time, the system alternated periodically between bright and faint states, as observed today. However, the bright state was 0.9 mag brighter than the modern value, and the fractional variation between bright and faint states (ΔI = 0.7 mag) was smaller than observed today (3.5 mag). A possible explanation for these findings is that the system contains a second star that was previously blended with the eclipsing star but is now completely obscured.
Theory of continuum random walks and application to chemotaxis

We formulate the general theory of random walks in continuum, essential for treating a collision rate which depends smoothly upon direction of motion. We also consider a smooth probability distribution of correlations between the directions of motion before and after collisions, as well as orientational Brownian motion between collisions. These features lead to an effective Smoluchowski equation. Such random walks involving an infinite number of distinct directions of motion cannot be treated on a lattice, which permits only a finite number of directions of motion, nor by Langevin methods, which make no reference to individual collisions. The effective Smoluchowski equation enables a description of the biased random walk of the bacterium Escherichia coli during chemotaxis, its search for food. The chemotactic responses of cells which perform temporal comparisons of the concentration of a chemical attractant are predicted to be strongly positive, whereas those of cells which measure averages of the ambient attractant concentration are predicted to be negative. The former prediction explains the observed behavior of wild-type (naturally occurring) cells; however, the latter behavior has yet to be observed, even in cells defective in adaption.
Study of blast-bow wave interactions in a shock tube and shock tunnel.

A double-driver shock tube was developed firing tandem shocks to study the interaction of a (second) shock with a bow shock (established by the first shock). The model was mounted at the open end of the tube. For observing real-air effects (to 7900 °K, 210 atm) on the interactions, a high-energy shock tube was used. The stagnation-point pressure had a peak jump of 1.3 to 1.85 times the steady-state jump. Several one-dimensional and three-dimensional theoretical methods for predicting the stagnation-point pressure are evaluated in comparison with the data.
Attenuation of the vasoconstrictor effects of thromboxane and endothelin by nitric oxide in the human fetal-placental circulation†

Objective: We hypothesized that the endothelial-derived relaxing factor nitric oxide may contribute to low resting vascular tone and may attenuate vasoconstrictor action in the human fetal-placental circulation. Study design: Isolated human placental cotyledons were dually perfused in vitro, and the effects of N-monomethyl-L-arginine and N-nitro-L-arginine (3 × 10 −4 mol/L), which are nonmetabolizable analogs of L-arginine, the substrate for nitric oxide synthase, on resting perfusion pressure and on the fetal-placental circulation preconstricted with U46619 (10 −8 mol/L) or endothelin-1 (10 −8 mol/L) were established. Responses before and after inhibition were compared by paired f test. The effects of glyceryl trinitrate (10 −6 mol/L), acetylcholine (10 −4 mol/L), the calcium ionophore A23187 (10 −6 mol/L), and histamine (10 −8 to 10 −4 mol/L) were also determined in the preconstricted fetal-placental circulation. Results: Both N-monomethyl-L-arginine and N-nitro-L-arginine (3 × 10 −4 mol/L) increased resting perfusion pressure ( p p p p p −6 to 10 −4 mol/L) above those shown to release nitric oxide in other systems. Conclusion: The stimulus to nitric oxide generation in the fetal-placental circulation may be hydrodynamic. Nitric oxide appears to contribute to maintenance of basal vascular tone and to attenuate the actions of vasoconstrictors in this circulation.
Enantioselective Total Synthesis and Confirmation of the Absolute and Relative Stereochemistry of Streptorubin B

The enantioselective total synthesis of the pyrrolophane natural product streptorubin B is described. Key steps in the concise route include the application of a one-pot enantioselective aldol cyclization/Wittig reaction and an anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement to forge the crucial 10-membered ring. Comparisons between CD spectra of synthetic and natural samples of streptorubin B coupled with X-ray crystallography allowed for the determination of the absolute stereochemistry of this natural product for the first time. These studies also provided unambiguous proof of the relative configuration between the butyl side chain and the bispyrrole subunit. Additional studies revealed a novel atropstereoselective Paal−Knorr pyrrole condensation and provided fundamental experimental insight into the barrier for atropisomerization of the natural product.
Control With an Eye for Perception: Precursors to an Active Psychophysics

The perception-action cycle is viewed within the context of research in manual control. A portrait of a perception-action system is derived from the primitives of control theory in order to evaluate the promise of this perspective for what R. Warren and McMillan (1984) termed active psychophysics-a study of human performance that does justice to the intimate coupling between perception and action.
Nickel-Catalyzed Asymmetric Cross-Couplings of Racemic Propargylic Halides with Arylzinc Reagents

A stereoconvergent method for the catalytic asymmetric Negishi cross-coupling of racemic secondary propargylic halides with arylzinc reagents has been developed. Neither family of compounds has previously been shown to be a suitable partner in such coupling processes. From a practical point of view, it is noteworthy that the catalyst components (NiCl2·glyme and pybox ligand 1) are commercially available.
Boundary conditions for Einstein's field equations: Analytical and numerical analysis

Outer boundary conditions for strongly and symmetric hyperbolic formulations of 3D Einstein's field equations with a live gauge condition are discussed. The boundary conditions have the property that they ensure constraint propagation and control in a sense made precise in this article the physical degrees of freedom at the boundary. We use Fourier–Laplace transformation techniques to find necessary conditions for the well posedness of the resulting initial-boundary value problem and integrate the resulting three-dimensional nonlinear equations using a finite-differencing code. We obtain a set of constraint-preserving boundary conditions which pass a robust numerical stability test. We explicitly compare these new boundary conditions to standard, maximally dissipative ones through Brill wave evolutions. Our numerical results explicitly show that in the latter case the constraint variables, describing the violation of the constraints, do not converge to zero when resolution is increased while for the new boundary conditions, the constraint variables do decrease as resolution is increased. As an application, we inject pulses of "gravitational radiation" through the boundaries of an initially flat spacetime domain, with enough amplitude to generate strong fields and induce large curvature scalars, showing that our boundary conditions are robust enough to handle nonlinear dynamics. We expect our boundary conditions to be useful for improving the accuracy and stability of current binary black hole and binary neutron star simulations, for a successful implementation of characteristic or perturbative matching techniques, and other applications. We also discuss limitations of our approach and possible future directions.
Vacuum Electronics: Status and Trends

The vast preponderance of US radar transmitters today use vacuum electronic amplifiers, spanning the spectrum from UHF to EHF. Enhancements to performance, reliability, and cost of ownership are being applied continuously to these systems: routine in-service life extensions mandate continuing vacuum electronics research and development to support system needs for the foreseeable future. In addition, exciting advances in vacuum electronics will provide dramatic improvements in millimeter-wave radar resolution, broadband low-noise power at microwave frequencies, compact high power sources operating at lower voltages, and life-cycle cost improvement. Recent progress in key enabling technologies, e.g., advanced device modeling and micro-fabrication, is expected to continue. This reviews the status and trends of vacuum electronics, with selected applications emphasizing recent advances in device performance in the microwave regime: multiple-beam klystrons (MBKs), microwave power modules (MPMs), and gyro-amplifiers in the millimeter-wave regime.
New Efficient Synthesis of Resorcinylic Macrolides via Ynolides: Establishment of Cycloproparadicicol as Synthetically Feasible Preclinical Anticancer Agent Based on Hsp90 as the Target

A program currently ongoing in our laboratory envisions natural macrolide radicicol-based inhibitors targeting the molecular chaperone Hsp90. Such inhibitors can be potential anticancer agents due to their ability to induce the breakdown of a variety of oncogenic proteins. In this account, we first concern ourselves with a vastly important total synthesis of such an inhibitor. We accomplished this via a new approach, which we term the “ynolide method”, directed to the synthesis of resorcinylic macrolides, including cycloproparadicicol and aigialomycin D. The key features of the syntheses involve cobalt-complexation-promoted ring-closing metathesis (RCM) to generate ynolides, followed by Diels−Alder reaction with dimedone-derived bis-siloxy dienes to elaborate the benzo system. A number of interesting analogues were synthesized using this protocol. They were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against the growth of breast cancer cell line, MCF-7. The potency of their cytotoxicity was found to be consis...
Analytical comparison of condensing flows inside tubes under Earth-gravity and space environments

Abstract The heat transfer behavior of flow condensation inside horizontal tubes under zero-gravity and Earth-gravity conditions is modelled and analyzed. For Earth conditions for wetting fluids the annular flow region changes to a stratified flow pattern owing to gravity drainage of the condensate from the upper portion of the tube. The stratified condensate layer is considered inactive in the heat transfer process; its magnitude is determined along the tube length using the analytical results of Rufer and Kezios. Under zero-gravity conditions no such gravity drainage occurs and so the flow is considered to be annular along the complete length of the tube. The analytical approach of Bae was used to evaluate the heat transfer rates under zero gravity conditions. The results indicate a substantially poorer condensing performance under zero-gravity conditions. These results can be simply explained in terms of the smaller condensate film thickness over the upper portion of the tube periphery at any axial location under earth-gravity conditions because of gravity drainage of the condensate.
Trucking Industry Demand for Urban Shared Use Freight Terminals

The issue of shared use urban freight facilities first received attention during the 1970's when it was observed that, while inter-urban freight movements were becoming increasingly efficient, there were significant diseconomies in the movement of freight via truck within urban areas. Early research suggested that shared urban freight facilities should be constructed so that trucking companies could consolidate smaller shipments into larger ones. In the past few years, the concept of “Urban Ports” has gained increasing attention, not just for carriers who need to load and unload freight, but to provide a place near the urban center for truckers to wait out peak traffic periods. In this paper, using recently developed survey data, we examine trucking company interest in such facilities by examining the results of an ordered probit demand model.
Numerical solution of the expanding stellar atmosphere problem

Abstract In this paper we discuss numerical methods and algorithms for the solution of NLTE stellar atmosphere problems involving expanding atmospheres, e.g., found in novae, supernovae and stellar winds. We show how a scheme of nested iterations can be used to reduce the high dimension of the problem to a number of problems with smaller dimensions. As examples of these sub-problems, we discuss the numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation for relativistically expanding media with spherical symmetry, the solution of the multi-level nonLTE statistical equilibrium problem for extremely large model atoms, and our temperature correction procedure. Although modern iteration schemes are very efficient, parallel algorithms are essential in making large-scale calculations feasible, therefore we discuss some parallelization schemes that we have developed.
Metaphor and Davidson's Theory of Interpretation

L'A. defend la these selon laquelle la critique de la metaphore est la consequence, chez Davidson, de sa theorie empirique de l'interpretation. Mesurant l'utilite de la metaphore en termes de communication et d'explication de l'action, l'A. montre que la signification metaphorique releve selon Davidson de la strategie linguistique de la communaute des locuteurs.
Prematurity and respiratory outcomes program (PROP): study protocol of a prospective multicenter study of respiratory outcomes of preterm infants in the United States

With improved survival rates, short- and long-term respiratory complications of premature birth are increasing, adding significantly to financial and health burdens in the United States. In response, in May 2010, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded a 5-year $18.5 million research initiative to ultimately improve strategies for managing the respiratory complications of preterm and low birth weight infants. Using a collaborative, multi-disciplinary structure, the resulting Prematurity and Respiratory Outcomes Program (PROP) seeks to understand factors that correlate with future risk for respiratory morbidity. The PROP is an observational prospective cohort study performed by a consortium of six clinical centers (incorporating tertiary neonatal intensive care units [NICU] at 13 sites) and a data-coordinating center working in collaboration with the NHLBI. Each clinical center contributes subjects to the study, enrolling infants with gestational ages 23 0/7 to 28 6/7 weeks with an anticipated target of 750 survivors at 36 weeks post-menstrual age. In addition, each center brings specific areas of scientific focus to the Program. The primary study hypothesis is that in survivors of extreme prematurity specific biologic, physiologic and clinical data predicts respiratory morbidity between discharge and 1 year corrected age. Analytic statistical methodology includes model-based and non-model-based analyses, descriptive analyses and generalized linear mixed models. PROP incorporates aspects of NICU care to develop objective biomarkers and outcome measures of respiratory morbidity in the <29 week gestation population beyond just the NICU hospitalization, thereby leading to novel understanding of the nature and natural history of neonatal lung disease and of potential mechanistic and therapeutic targets in at-risk subjects. Clinical Trials.gov NCT01435187 .
Interseismic strain accumulation and anthropogenic motion in metropolitan Los Angeles

[1] We use global positioning system (GPS) geodesy and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry to distinguish between interseismic strain accumulation and anthropogenic motion in metropolitan Los Angeles. We establish a relationship between horizontal and vertical seasonal oscillations of the Santa Ana aquifer, use this relationship to infer cumulative horizontal anthropogenic motions from cumulative vertical motions caused by water and oil resource management, and estimate horizontal interseismic velocities corrected for anthropogenic effects. Vertical anthropogenic rates from 1992 to 1999 are slower than 3 mm yr−1 in the Santa Ana and San Gabriel aquifers and faster than 5 mm yr−1 in the Chino aquifer and in many oil fields. Inferred horizontal anthropogenic velocities are faster than 1 mm yr−1 at 18 of 46 GPS sites. Northern metropolitan Los Angeles is contracting, with the 25 km south of the San Gabriel Mountains shortening at 4.5 ± 1 mm yr−1 (95% confidence limits). The thrust fault in an elastic edge dislocation model of the observed strain is creeping at 9 ± 2 mm yr−1 beneath and north of a position 6 ± 2 km deep and 8 ± 8 km north of downtown Los Angeles. The model fault is near the Los Angeles segment of the Puente Hills thrust but south of the Sante Fe Springs segment of the thrust. Disagreement between the 6 km locking depth in the model and the 15 km seismogenic depth inferred from earthquakes suggests that the elastic continuum model may be unsatisfactory; models with different stiffnesses of sedimentary basin and crystalline basement must be investigated.
An analysis of time-sharing computer systems using Markov models

The development of RQA (Recursive Queue Analyzer), a program for the numerical solution of the stationary distribution of large scale Markov processes, has made possible the accurate analysis of large stochastic systems with modest computational costs. In particular, time-shared computer systems with their random program and user characteristics are examples of systems which can be modeled as multidimensional Markov queueing processes and analyzed by the method. Having obtained a solution for the limiting state probabilities of the model using RQA, one can readily derive many time average performance and usage characteristics. Thus a useful tool is available to provide guides in the design and modification of such systems and to forecast user response and system capacity in terms of the number of users and the operating statistics.
An efficient and versatile synthesis of the butenolide subunit of 4-hydroxylated annonaceous acetogenins

Abstract Title butenolides 2 have been synthesized by an efficient and versatile route that provides access to any stereoisomer by use of individual enantiomers of the precursors 3-butyn-2-ol and terminal epoxides.
Synthesis of novel boron containing unnatural cyclic amino acids as potential therapeutic agents

Abstract Two boronated α-amino acids, 1-amino-3-boronocyclopentanecarboxylic acid and 1-amino-3-boronocycloheptanecarboxylic acid were prepared. The key step in the syntheses was the 1,4-boration of the α,β-unsaturated cyclic ketones using the bis-pinacolatodiboron ester to generate the boronated ketones which were then converted to the corresponding amino acids.
CHROMIUM(0)-PROMOTED HIGHER-ORDER CYCLOADDITIONS OF 1,3,5-CYCLOOCTATRIENE AND CYCLOOCTATETRAENE

Summary Photochemically and thermally activated chromium(0)-mediated [6π+2π] cycloadditions of 1,3,5-cyclooctatriene and cyclooctatetraene are reported.
Interaction of nanometer-sized gold nanocrystals with rutile (110) surface steps revealed at atomic resolution

Abstract We show that progress in atomic resolution Z-contrast imaging now enables a detailed understanding of nanocrystal (NC) interaction with surface steps. The interaction is measured based on the shape, orientation, strain and interfacial energy of Au NCs on surface steps of rutile (TiO2) (110) surfaces with a small miscut. Au NCs with the approximate Au(111)[− 110] || TiO2(110)[001] epitaxial relationship are selected for study. Results show that the presence of surface steps induces a small rotation in the NCs in an amount less than the surface miscut angle. Atomic displacements measured from atomic resolution images show significant strain near the surface steps inside Au NCs. The shape of Au NCs on low miscut surfaces, however, is approximately similar. From this, an analysis of the average NC shape is performed using the modified Wulff–Kaishew theorem. Compared to Au NCs on flat surfaces, the measurements show a large height/width ratio, lowered interfacial energy and increased triple line energy for NCs observed on surface steps.
Bayesian estimation for rheological MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used, in addition to its well known medical and biological applications, for the study of a variety of fluid dynamic phenomena. This paper focuses on the MRI imaging of liquid foams to aid the study of their temporal and spatial dynamics. The three dimensional image reconstruction problem is relatively low SNR, with the ultimate goal of analyzing the foam's structure and its evolution. We demonstrate substantial improvement of image quality with Bayesian estimation using simple edge preserving Markov random field (MRF) models of the fluid field. In terms of total computation time, speed of convergence of estimates is similar between gradient based methods and sequential greedy voxel updates, with the former requiring more iterations and the latter requiring more operations per iteration. The paper shows also some preliminary results in the analysis of the reconstructed imagery using a simple parametric model of foam cells.
The financing and growth of firms in China and India : evidence from capital markets

This paper studies the extent to which firms in China and India use capital markets to obtain financing and grow. Using a unique data set on domestic and international capital raising activity and firm performance, it finds that the expansion of financial market activity since the 1990s has been more limited than what the aggregate figures suggest. Relatively few firms raise capital. Even fewer firms capture the bulk of the financing. Moreover, firms that issue equity or bonds are different and behave differently from other publicly listed firms. Among other things, they are typically larger and grow faster. The differences between users and non-users exist before the capital raising activity, are associated with the probability of raising capital, and become more accentuated afterward. The distribution of issuing firms shifts more over time than the distribution of those that do not issue, suggesting little convergence in firm size among listed firms.
Embodying a cognitive model in a mobile robot

The ADAPT project is a collaboration of researchers in robotics, linguistics and artificial intelligence at three universities to create a cognitive architecture specifically designed to be embodied in a mobile robot. There are major respects in which existing cognitive architectures are inadequate for robot cognition. In particular, they lack support for true concurrency and for active perception. ADAPT addresses these deficiencies by modeling the world as a network of concurrent schemas, and modeling perception as problem solving. Schemas are represented using the RS (Robot Schemas) language, and are activated by spreading activation. RS provides a powerful language for distributed control of concurrent processes. Also, The formal semantics of RS provides the basis for the semantics of ADAPT's use of natural language. We have implemented the RS language in Soar, a mature cognitive architecture originally developed at CMU and used at a number of universities and companies. Soar's subgoaling and learning capabilities enable ADAPT to manage the complexity of its environment and to learn new schemas from experience. We describe the issues faced in developing an embodied cognitive architecture, and our implementation choices.
Differential Scanning Calorimetry Study of Phase Transitions Affecting the Quality of Dehydrated Materials

Differential scanning calorimetry was used to determine the phase transitions of dried and rehumidified amorphous lactose, sucrose, and a mixture of sucrose and Amioca. Glass-transition, crystallization, and melting temperatures decreased with increasing moisture content. The time to crystallization of amorphous lactose held isothermally above the glass-transition temperature decreased as the temperature was increased. Isothermal crystallization time of lactose was a function of the temperature difference between the holding temperature and the glass-transition temperature independently of moisture content. Amorphous biological materials are metastable showing temperature, moisture content, and time-dependent phase transitions that affect their drying behavior, stickiness, storage stability, and quality.
Periodic optimal flight

For a host of dynamic systems, periodic motion is more efficient than steady-state operation. This work focuses on atmospheric fuel-efficient periodic flight. To understand some of the generic properties of periodic optimal flight, the theoretical aspects are presented, which form the basis for the numerical computation of periodic optimal paths. Furthermore, the simplest problem for which periodic optimal control can be induced is formulated and various solutions based on asymptotic analysis are given. Intuitive physical mechanisms that contribute to producing periodic optimal flight are discussed on the basis of various levels of approximation of the aircraft dynamic models and upon perturbation analysis about the steady-state cruise path. The performance improvement and the dramatic periodic optimal flight path of a hypersonic vehicle are computed. To mechanize this flight path, a neighboring optimum perturbation guidance law is developed and its performance is presented.
Rational function certification of multisum/integral/``$q$'' identities

The method of rational function certification for proving terminating hypergeometric identities is extended from single sums or integrals to multi-integral/sums and q integral/sums