cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Feature Extraction Techniques for the Analysis of Spectral Polarization Profiles

This paper introduces a novel feature extraction technique for the analysis of spectral line Stokes profiles. The procedure is based on the use of an autoassociative artificial neural network containing nonlinear hidden layers. The neural network extracts a small subset of parameters from the profiles (features), from which it is then able to reconstruct the original profile. This new approach is compared to two other procedures that have been proposed in previous works, namely principal component analysis and Hermitian function expansions. Depending on the target application, each of these three techniques has some advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed here.
The Here and Now: Theory, Technology, and Actuality

Central figures of American mainstream philosophy have at crucial points in their work been concerned with the concreteness of actual reality, but have in various ways been deflected to primarily technical issues of philosophical analysis. It is possible, however, to see in these concerns a line of inquiry that leads to an examination of what is characteristic of actual reality today and of what is troubling and what is hopeful in it. Technology is a helpful term for the character of contemporary reality, commodification for what is questionable and moments of completeness for what is promising in it.
Proper time formalism and gauge invariance in open string interactions

The issue of gauge invariances in the sigma model formalism is discussed at the free and interacting level. The problem of deriving gauge invariant interacting equations can be addressed using the proper time formalism. This formalism is discussed, both for point particles and strings. The covariant Klein-Gordon equation arises in a geometric way from the boundary terms. This formalism is similar to the background independent open string formalism introduced by Witten.
Thermohydrodynamic Analysis of Laminar Incompressible Journal Bearings

Thermohydrodynamic effects in journal bearings operating under steady-state loading are investigated. An analytical model for the finite journal bearings was formulated. The model includes correction factors for the cavitation effects and the mixing of the recirculating oil and supply oil at the inlet. A finite difference computer program was developed to numerically solve the Reynolds, energy, Laplace heat-conduction equations, and a viscosity-temperature relation simultaneously. The program includes a numerical solution technique for obtaining an isothermal shaft temperature and handles the mixing of the recirculating oil and supply oil. Good agreement with published experimental tests was obtained. It was also found that conservative solutions for the film temperature and load-carrying capacity can be obtained by imposing an adiabatic boundary condition on the bush inner surface. Such simple boundary conditions result in significant computational savings and, therefore, may be attractive to the practic...
Metallic properties of Ba2Cu3P4 and BaCu2Pn2 (Pn=As, Sb)

Abstract We report the synthesis of ternary barium copper pnictides, Ba2Cu3P4 and BaCu2Pn2 (Pn=As, Sb), and their structural, magnetic, and transport properties. They all crystallize in different structures shown by X-ray diffraction, although their structures reveal close relations. The body-centered tetragonal BaCu2As2 adopts ThCr2Si2-type (I4/mmm) structure, whereas Ba2Cu3P4 is a copper-deficient derivative of this phase, crystallizing in the body-centered orthorhombic space group, Ibam. There are two polymorphs of BaCu2Sb2: α-BaCu2Sb2 that adopts CaBe2Ge2-type structure; β-BaCu2Sb2 that is a 2:1 combination of CaBe2Ge2- and ThCr2Si2-type structural segments. All phases are metallic and non-magnetic. The room temperature thermal conductivity for polycrystalline BaCu2As2 is ≈ 2 W/(m K) and the Seebeck coefficient is ≈ 15 μV/K, which result in a small (≈0.03) thermoelectric figure of merit.
Four-dimensional gravity on a thick domain wall

We consider an especially simple version of a thick domain wall in AdS space and investigate how four-dimensional gravity arises in this context. The model we consider has the advantage, that the equivalent quantum mechanics problem can be stated in closed form. The potential in this Schrodinger equation suggests that there could be resonances in the spectrum of the continuum modes. We demonstrate that there are no such resonances in the model we consider.
Arenes to Anilines and Aryl Ethers by Sequential Iridium-Catalyzed Borylation and Copper-Catalyzed Coupling

N-Alkyl- and N-arylanilines were synthesized from arenes by a two-step sequence of iridium-catalyzed borylation and copper-catalyzed coupling with amines. Diaryl ethers were obtained by a related sequence of arene borylation, followed by coupling with phenols. In particular, 3,5-disubstituted arylamines and aryl ethers were prepared by initiating this sequence with meta-substituted arenes.
Multisatellite Observations of Geomagnetic Pulsations

The technique of using simultaneous data from more than one spacecraft to study hydromagnetic waves in space is proving to be a very powerful one which will undoubtedly become more widespread in the future. We review the results obtained using this technique thus far. All of the work has involved longer period (>20 s) pulsations and most of the data has come from near geostationary orbit. Attempts to measure the thickness of field line resonance regions have not so far been conclusive, but they suggest that values of about (l/2)R E are typical. Signals in the Pc3 and 4 bands in the morning are coherent over at least 20° of longitude while in the afternoon they are much more localized. One afternoon source is resonance with hot ions. Pi 2’s on the nightside can also be confined to small regions of longitude.
Cooperative earthquake research between the United States and the People's Republic of China

Cooperative research by scientists of the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) has resulted in important new findings concerning the fundamental characteristics of earthquakes and new insight into mitigating earthquake hazards. Much of the research is being conducted under the U.S. State Department Protocol for Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Earthquake Studies between the PRC State Seismological Bureau (SSB) and the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation. Activities and progress accomplished under the protocol will be the subject of two special sessions at the 1985 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. A special session in tectonophysics will emphasize cooperative activities in earthquake prediction research and intraplate faulting, and a special session in seismology will examine earth structure and seismicity. A delegation of 20 scientists from China will join their American colleagues in presenting papers on cooperative research.
Multiple-channel generalization of Lellouch-Luscher formula

We generalize the Lellouch-L\"uscher formula, relating weak matrix elements in finite and infinite volumes, to the case of multiple strongly coupled decay channels into two scalar particles. This is a necessary first step on the way to a lattice quantum chromodynamics calculation of weak decay rates for processes such as $D\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\pi}$ and $D\ensuremath{\rightarrow}K\overline{K}$. We also present a field theoretic derivation of the generalization of L\"uscher's finite-volume quantization condition to multiple two-particle channels. We give fully explicit results for the case of two channels, including a form of the generalized Lellouch-L\"uscher formula expressed in terms of derivatives of the energies of finite-volume states with respect to the box size. Our results hold for arbitrary total momentum and for degenerate or nondegenerate particles.
Neural blockade by local anesthetics.

Abstract The bimolecular phospholipid membrane that separates axoplasm from extracellular fluid holds the key to nerve excitability: and so to local anesthesia. Local anesthetics block impulse propagation by preventing membrane depolarization. They do this by occluding the sodium pores (probably by plugging the channel's internal axoplasmic mouth). The positively charged local anesthetic cation binds to oppositely charged anionic channel components, whereas the uncharged lipid soluble anesthetic base furnishes the carrier species that penetrates the membrane. Dissolved in water, local anesthetic salt crystals dissociate to yield anesthetic cation and base whose proportions are governed by the drug's fixed pKa and the tissue's variable pH. The more acid the surroundings, the more cation and the less base coexist. The cation/base concentration ratio is critical to optimal blockade. Too little base, and few anesthetic molecules manage to reach the neural target; too little cation, and few sodium channels will be plugged.
The unimolecular decomposition of vibrationally excited 1-deuterio-1,1,2-trifluoroethane

A study has been made of the unimolecular decomposition of the vibrationally excited molecule CF2DCFH2*, formed from the combination of CF2D and CFH2 radicals. The α,β-elimination channels lead to the products cis- and trans-CFDCFH and CF2CH2 and H(D)F. The α,α-elimination channel produces cis and trans-CFHCFH and DF. The pressure dependencies of the various isomer ratios have been examined. For the α,α elimination the energy partitioning pattern is such that subsequent isomerization of the olefin product can occur. This, and previous work on CDCl2CH2Cl*, clearly show that the energy partitioning in α,α and α,β eliminations is very different. It is tentatively concluded that HF (from the CFH2 group) and HD eliminations also take place.
Amorphous pharmaceutical solids: preparation, characterization and stabilization.

The importance of amorphous pharmaceutical solids lies in their useful properties, common occurrence, and physicochemical instability relative to corresponding crystals. Some pharmaceuticals and excipients have a tendency to exist as amorphous solids, while others require deliberate prevention of crystallization to enter and remain in the amorphous state. Amorphous solids can be produced by common pharmaceutical processes, including melt quenching, freeze- and spray-drying, milling, wet granulation, and drying of solvated crystals. The characterization of amorphous solids reveals their structures, thermodynamic properties, and changes (crystallization and structural relaxation) in single- and multi-component systems. Current research in the stabilization of amorphous solids focuses on: (i) the stabilization of labile substances (e.g., proteins and peptides) during processing and storage using additives, (ii) the prevention of crystallization of the excipients that must remain amorphous for their intended functions, and (iii) the selection of appropriate storage conditions under which amorphous solids are stable.
On the sufficiency of finite support duals in semi-infinite linear programming

Abstract We consider semi-infinite linear programs with countably many constraints indexed by the natural numbers. When the constraint space is the vector space of all real valued sequences, we show that the finite support (Haar) dual is equivalent to the algebraic Lagrangian dual of the linear program. This settles a question left open by Anderson and Nash (1987). This result implies that if there is a duality gap between the primal linear program and its finite support dual, then this duality gap cannot be closed by considering the larger space of dual variables that define the algebraic Lagrangian dual. However, if the constraint space corresponds to certain subspaces of all real-valued sequences, there may be a strictly positive duality gap with the finite support dual, but a zero duality gap with the algebraic Lagrangian dual.
Improving vortex models via optimal control theory

Low-order inviscid point vortex models have demonstrated success in predicting the qualitative behavior of aerodynamic forces resulting from unsteady lifting surface maneuvers. However, the quantitative agreement is often lacking as a result of applying a Kutta condition at both edges in a fundamentally unsteady ow. The present work considers the low-order Eldredge-Wang impulse matching vortex model of a pitching plate. A constrained minimization problem is constructed within an optimal control framework and solved by means of variational principles. That is, we relax the Kutta condition imposed at the plate’s edges and seek the time rate of change of the vortex strength that minimizes the discrepancy between the model-predicted and high-delity simulation force histories, while adhering to the dynamics of the low-order model. The framework developed provides a systematic means of determining the shortcomings of low-order point vortex models, thus providing a path to improvement and renement. We nd that the Kutta condition still holds quite well at the trailing edge, but that the leading edge model requires adjustment. These results will aid our understanding of appropriate leading and trailing edge boundary conditions, and lead to improvements of low-order vortex models of maneuvering aerodynamic ight.
Evolution of the Intergalactic Opacity: Implications for the Ionizing Background, Cosmic Star Formation, and Quasar Activity

We investigate the implications of the intergalactic opacity for the evolution of the cosmic UV luminosity density and its sources. Our main constraint is our measurement of the Ly? forest opacity at redshifts -->2 ? z ? 4.2 from 86 high-resolution quasar spectra. In addition, we impose the requirements that H I must be reionized by -->z = 6 and He II by -->z ~ 3 and consider estimates of the hardness of the ionizing background from H I-to-He II column density ratios. The derived hydrogen photoionization rate is remarkably flat over the Ly? forest redshift range covered. Because the quasar luminosity function is strongly peaked near -->z ~ 2, the lack of redshift evolution indicates that star-forming galaxies likely dominate the photoionization rate at -->z 3. Combined with direct measurements of the galaxy UV luminosity function, this requires only a small fraction -->fesc ~ 0.5% of galactic hydrogen-ionizing photons to escape their source for galaxies to solely account for the entire ionizing background. Under the assumption that the galactic UV emissivity traces the star formation rate, current state-of-the-art observational estimates of the star formation rate density appear to underestimate the total photoionization rate at -->z ~ 4 by a factor of ~4, are in tension with recent determinations of the UV luminosity function, and fail to reionize the universe by -->z ~ 6 if extrapolated to arbitrarily high redshift. A theoretical star formation history peaking earlier fits the Ly? forest photoionization rate well, reionizes the universe in time, and is in better agreement with the rate of -->z ~ 4 gamma-ray bursts observed by Swift. Quasars suffice to doubly ionize helium by -->z ~ 3 and likely contribute a nonnegligible and perhaps dominant fraction of the hydrogen-ionizing background at their -->z ~ 2 peak.
Efficiency, Scale Economies, and the Risk/Return Performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts

Estimates from a directional output distance function are used to construct a risk/return frontier that defines the best-practice management technology for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). We model REIT performance as a production process in which each REIT produces a desirable output (return) and an undesirable output (risk) using inputs of managerial effort and financial capital. The results suggest that ignoring the effects of risk yields a management technology that is significantly different from one that incorporates risk. In addition, market valuation is inversely related to inefficiency and directly related to leverage.
Three-dimensional arytenoid movement induced by vocal fold injections.

Objectives/Hypothesis: To quantitatively characterize arytenoid movement induced by vocal fold injection augmentation in an excised larynx model. Study Design: Laboratory and computational. Methods: Vocal folds of human cadaveric larynges were injected with calcium hydroxylapatite. High-resolution computed tomography scans were obtained before and after injection. Densities corresponding to the arytenoid and cricoid cartilages were extracted and processed with custom MATLAB routines to generate selective three-dimensional reconstructions of the larynx. Pre- and postinjection positions of the arytenoid were compared. Results: Vocal fold injections resulted in predominantly small-magnitude medial rotation and medial translation of the arytenoid. Movements in other directions as would be expected in physiologic adduction were not observed. Conclusions: Vocal fold injection augmentation induced passive movement of the arytenoid that has not been described previously. This movement does not reproduce the trajectory of physiologic adduction. This finding has implications for the treatment of unilateral vocal fold paralysis without arytenoid repositioning maneuvers. Laryngoscope, 2010
Effect of Three-Dimensional Plasma Actuation on the Wake of a Circular Cylinder

Dielectric-barrier discharge plasma actuators were mounted on a circular cylinder in a square wave pattern for active forcing of the cylinder wake. The intermittent spacing of the buried electrodes created a spanwise-modulated blowing profile with a spanwise wavelength of four cylinder diameters, such that three-dimensional instabilities in the wake were targeted for control. Considerable spanwise variation in the wake was achieved with low-power forcing when the actuators were mounted at the location of maximum shear layer receptivity. This spanwise variation was a direct consequence of the difference in the vorticity levels of the shed vortices from the cylinder. High power forcing nearly eliminated vortex shedding, leading to a considerable amount of drag reduction as measured in the intermediate wake.
Concerning the electronic structure of the ions M(bpy)33+ (M = Fe, Ru, Os; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine)

In the complexes M(bpy)/sub 3//sup 3 +/ (M = Fe, Ru, Os; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), the metal d..pi.. (t/sub 2g/) orbitals are resolved into A/sub 1/ and E components. Analysis of the electronic absorption and EPR spectra show that the A/sub 1/ orbital lies higher in energy than the E orbitals, so that the complexes have an /sup 2/A/sub 1/ ground state. An /sup 2/A/sub 1/ ground state is consistent with theoretical expectations. Further, the orbital splitting in the d..pi.. levels is argued to increase in the order Fe < Ru < Os. The information obtained in the analysis should prove useful in analyzing the metal to ligand charge transfer (MLCT) absorption spectra of the analogous species M(bpy)/sub 3//sup 2 +/. 2 figures, 1 table.
Ovarian androgen production in postmenopausal women.

Context: Several studies previously reported that the postmenopausal ovary produces androgens. However, these findings have recently been questioned in a group of women with adrenal insufficiency. Objective: We sought to use contemporary assay methodologies to investigate whether the postmenopausal ovary is hormonally active and contributes to the circulating pool of androgens. Design and Patients: Serum was collected from the ovarian veins of 13 postmenopausal women undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy, with sufficient quantities obtained to allow for measurement of several hormones. Serum was also analyzed from peripheral blood collected preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively. Setting: The study took place at the Los Angeles County Women’s and Children’s Hospital, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Main Outcome Measures: Testosterone (T), androstenedione (A), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), estrone (E1), and estradiol (E2) were measured by RIA with preceding organic solvent extraction and Celite column chromatography. Results: Statistically significant gradients were seen between the ovarian venous and peripheral samples for T, A, DHEA, E1, and E2. Postoperative levels of T and E1, but not A, DHEA, or E2, were statistically significantly lower than preoperative levels. A gradient for T between the ovarian venous and peripheral blood was present in four of five women who were menopausal for more than 10 yr. Conclusions: The postmenopausal ovary is hormonally active, contributing significantly to the circulating pool of T. Furthermore, this contribution appears to persist in women as long as 10 yr beyond the menopause. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 92: 3040–3043, 2007)
A link between polygon and grid representations of land resource information systems

Land-use planners, foresters, agricultural scientists, and others involved in land-based resource decision-making have been presented in recent years with a computer tool for examining land attributes: the resource data base. Innumerable developments have been made in this field. A few examples are:WRIS---the Wildland Resource Inventory System, developed and in use within the U.S. Forest Service California Region.COMARC---a commercial geographic data base system, developed by Comarc Design Systems of San Francisco, California.PLOT---the Polygon Layer Overlay Technique, developed by the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region, and currently used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.MAP---the Map Analysis Package, developed at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.TRI---the Total Resource Inventory system, developed and in use by the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region.
ZnO NANOCRYSTALLINE HIGH PERFORMANCE THIN FILM TRANSISTORS

In this study, nc-ZnO films deposited in a Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) system at various temperatures were used to fabricate high performance transistors. As determined by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) images, nc-ZnO films deposited at a temperature range of 25°C to 400°C were made of closely packed nanocolums showing strong orientation. The influences of film growth temperature and post growth annealing on device performance were investigated. Various gate dielectric materials, including SiO2, Al2O3, and HfO2 were shown to be suitable for high performance device applications. Bottom-gate FETs fabricated on high resistivity (>2000 ohm-cm) Si substrates demonstrated record DC and high speed performance of any thin film transistors. Drain current on/off ratios better than 1012 and sub-threshold voltage swing values of less than 100mV/decade could be obtained. Devices with 2μm gate lengths produced exceptionally high current densities of >750mA/mm. Shorter gate length devices (LG=1.2μm) had current and power gain cut-off frequencies, fT and fmax, of 2.9GHz and 10GHz, respectively.
Priority scheduling in wireless ad hoc networks

Ad hoc networks formed without the aid of any established infrastructure are typically multi-hop networks. Location dependent contention and hidden terminal problem make priority scheduling in multi-hop networks significantly different from that in wireless LANs. Most of the prior work related to priority scheduling addresses issues in wireless LANs. In this paper, priority scheduling in multi-hop networks is discussed. We propose a scheme using two narrow-band busy tone signals to ensure medium access for high priority source stations. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
The controversial protein-only hypothesis of prion propagation.

Prion diseases are some of the most intriguing infectious disorders affecting the brains of humans and animals. The prevalent hypothesis proposes that the infectious agent is a misfolded protein that propagates in the absence of nucleic acid by transmission of its altered folding to the normal host version of the protein. This article details the evidence for and against the prion hypothesis, including results of recent studies in yeast, in which a prion phenomenon has also been identified. The evidence in favor of the prion model is very strong, but final proof—consisting of the generation of infectious prions in vitro—is still missing.
An Evaluation of Government and Industry Proposed Restrictions on Television Advertising of Breakfast Cereals to Children

In the United States, both industry and the federal government have worked to establish voluntary guidelines for how firms market food to children and to establish a threshold for the nutritional quality of foods marketed to children. The authors evaluate three US guidelines that deal with television advertising of breakfast cereals, which is both heavily advertised and a common meal item for children. They find that the majority of cereals advertised primarily to children from 2006 to 2008 do not meet any of the current and proposed self-regulatory nutrition guidelines, and that this is generally due to excessive sugar content. Further, children and adolescents are exposed to more advertising for products that do not meet the nutritional guidelines. We evaluate the extent to which each of the guidelines impacts advertising of cereals that are most viewed by children and purchased by households with children. The results provide insight for policy makers concerned with limiting the extent to which children see television advertising and ultimately consume unhealthy breakfast cereals.
Notes on Landauer's Principle, Reversible Computation, and Maxwell's Demon

Abstract Landauer's principle, often regarded as the basic principle of the thermodynamics of information processing, holds that any logically irreversible manipulation of information, such as the erasure of a bit or the merging of two computation paths, must be accompanied by a corresponding entropy increase in non-information-bearing degrees of freedom of the information-processing apparatus or its environment. Conversely, it is generally accepted that any logically reversible transformation of information can in principle be accomplished by an appropriate physical mechanism operating in a thermodynamically reversible fashion. These notions have sometimes been criticized either as being false, or as being trivial and obvious, and therefore unhelpful for purposes such as explaining why Maxwell's Demon cannot violate the second law of thermodynamics. Here I attempt to refute some of the arguments against Landauer's principle, while arguing that although in a sense it is indeed a straightforward consequence or restatement of the Second Law, it still has considerable pedagogic and explanatory power, especially in the context of other influential ideas in nineteenth and twentieth century physics. Similar arguments have been given by Jeffrey Bub (2002).
Miller spaces and spherical resolvability of finite complexes

We show that if $K$ is a nilpotent finite complex, then $\Omega K$ can be built from spheres using fibrations and homotopy (inverse) limits. This is applied to show that if ${\mathrm {map}}_*(X,S^n)$ is weakly contractible for all $n$, then ${\mathrm {map}}_*(X,K)$ is weakly contractible for any nilpotent finite complex $K$.
Recording Streamer Chamber Tracks with Charge Coupled Devices

Streamer chamber tracks have been recorded using charge coupled optical arrays. Some preliminary results regarding light sensitivity and spatial accuracy are given.
Study of magnetic moments of nuclear excited states at TRISTAN

Facilities at the TRISTAN mass separator for measurement of magnetic moments of nuclear excited states are described and recent results for the N=82 isotones are presented.
New instantons in the double-well potential☆

Abstract A new solution of the Euclidean equations of motion is found for the quantum-mechanical double-well potential with a four-fermion term. It extends the usual kink-instanton solution in which both the kink field and the fermionic fields contain a finite number of new terms which are polynomial in the fermionic collective coordinates. The solution has finite action, S=− m 3 3λ + 9 140 m g ϵ ijkl ξ i ξ j ξ k ξ l , where ξ i ,i=1,… ,4 , are fermionic collective coordinates and g , m and λ are coupling constants. We explain why in general the instanton action can depend on collective coordinates.
Near-Optimal Location Tracking Using Sensor Networks

We consider the problem of tracking mobile objects using a sensor network. We present a distributed tracking algorithm, called Mobile Object Tracking using Sensors (MOT), that scales well with the number of sensors and also with the number of mobile objects. MOT maintains a hierarchical structure of detection lists of objects that can efficiently track mobile objects and resolve object queries at any time. MOT guarantees that the cost to update (or maintain) its data structures will be at most O (min { log n, log D } ) times the optimal update cost and query cost will be within O (1) of the optimal query cost in the constant-doubling graph model, where n and D , respectively, are the number of nodes and the diameter of the network. MOT achieves polylogarithmic approximations for both costs in the general graph model. MOT balances the object and bookkeeping information load at each node in the expense of only O (log n ) increase in the update and query costs. The experimentation evaluation in both one by one and concurrent execution situations shows that MOT performs well in practical scenarios. To the best of our knowledge, MOT is the first algorithm for this problem in a distributed setting that is traffic-oblivious, i.e. agnostic to a priori knowledge of objects movement patterns, mobility and query rate, etc., and is load balanced. All previous solutions for this problem assumed traffic-consciousness in constructing the tracking data structure.Â
Stochastic convexity in dynamic programming

This paper explores sufficient conditions for a continuous stationary Markov optimal policy and a concave value function in stochastic dynamic programming problems. Also, the paper addresses conditions needed for the differentiability of the value function. The paper uses conditions such as first order stochastic dominance, second order stochastic dominance and concave stochastic dominance that are widely applied in economics.
Quantum gravitational measure for three-geometries

Abstract The gravitational measure on an arbitrary topological three-manifold is constructed. The nontrivial dependence of the measure on the conformal factor is discussed. We show that only in the case of a compact manifold with boundary the measure acquires a nontrivial dependence on the conformal factor which is a surface term given by the Liouville action. A nontrivial jacobian (the divergent part of it) also generates the Einstein-Hilbert action. The Hartle-Hawking wave function of the universe is given in terms of the Liouville action.
Feedback-aided error resilience technique based on Wyner-Ziv coding

Compressed video is very sensitive to channel errors. A few bit losses can stop the entire decoding process. Therefore, protecting compressed video is always necessary for reliable visual communications. In recent years, Wyner-Ziv lossy coding has been used for error resilience and has achieved improvement over conventional techniques. In our previous work, we proposed an unequal error protection algorithm for protecting data elements in a video stream using a Wyner-Ziv codec. We also presented an improved method by adapting the parity data rates of protected video information to the video content. In this paper, we describe a feedback aided error resilience technique, based on Wyner-Ziv coding. By utilizing feedback regarding current channel packet-loss rates, a turbo coder can adaptively adjust the amount of parity bits needed for correcting corrupted slices at the decoder. This results in an effcient usage of the data rate budget for Wyner-Ziv coding while maintaining good quality decoded video when the data has been corrupted by transmission errors.
QUANTUM CRITICAL BEHAVIOR IN KONDO SYSTEMS

This article briefly reviews three topics related to the quantum critical behavior of certain heavy-fermion systems. First, we summarize an extended dynamical mean-field theory for the Kondo lattice, which treats on an equal footing the quantum fluctuations associated with the Kondo and RKKY couplings. The resulting dynamical mean-field equations describe a Kondo impurity model with an additional coupling to vector bosons. Two types of quantum phase transition appear to be possible within this approach — the first a conventional spin-density-wave transition, the second driven by local physics. For the second type of transition to be realized, the effective impurity model must have a quantum critical point exhibiting an anomalous local spin susceptibility. In the second part of the paper, such a critical point is shown to occur in two variants of the Kondo impurity problem. Finally, we propose an operational test for the existence of quantum critical behavior driven by local physics. Neutron scattering results suggest that CeCu6-xAux passes this test.
Through quartz metrology in an automated chemical process

This paper introduces the theory of operation for `through-quartz' metrology as it applies to endpoint detection in an automated chemical processor, the Siscan IMPACT 7000. Further, a statistical analysis of actual manufacturing results will be presented with a focus on improvements in manufacturing process capability over standard manufacturing techniques as well as improved reticle performance in the wafer lithographers' environment through tighter image fidelity to design rules.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Expert systems for legal decision making

: AI technology is being used to develop expert systems that solve complex problems in the legal area. Most of these systems employ rules to describe the strategies and procedures used by litigators to analyze legal issues. The tasks performed by these systems include interpreting the law, anticipating the legal consequences of proposed actions, predicting the effects of changes in legislation, as well as analyzing and managing cases. The special characteristics of the legal domain cause certain problems for expert system builders. We discuss some of these problems and describe LDS and SAL, two expert systems we have developed for case evaluation and settlement in the product liability area. SAL (System for Asbestos Litigation) evolved from the earlier and more general expert system, LDS (Legal Decisionmaking System). We also describe XPL, an explanation facility we developed for use by SAL and other expert system applications.
An operator algebraic proof of Agler's factorization theorem

We give a short direct proof of Agler's factorization theorem that uses the Blecher-Ruan-Sinclair characterization of operator algebras. The key ingredient of this proof is an operator algebra factorization theorem. Our proof provides some additional information about these factorizations in the case of polynomials.
Automata and cells in affine Weyl groups

Let W be an affine Weyl group, and let C be a left, right, or twosided Kazhdan–Lusztig cell in W . Let Red(C) be the set of all reduced expressions of elements of C, regarded as a formal language in the sense of the theory of computation. We show that Red(C) is a regular language. Hence the reduced expressions of the elements in any Kazhdan–Lusztig cell can be enumerated by a finite state automaton.
J. S. Mill and the American Law of Quarantine

This paper looks at the American law of quarantine in light of the teachings of John Stuart Mill, whose harm principle has often been used to justify the practice of isolating and/or quarantining individuals to prevent the spread of an infectious disease. The paper shows that despite important parallels between quarantine law and both the authorizing and prohibitive aspects of Mill's harm principle, the contemporary law of quarantine does not reflect either Mill's concern for the potential abuse of executive authority nor his recognition that quarantine is only ethically justified when the broader public health policy environment in which quarantine is applied is itself ethically sound.
New Architectures for Radio-Frequency DC&#8211;DC Power Conversion

This document proposes two new architectures for switched-mode dc–dc power conversion. The proposed architectures enable dramatic increases in switching frequency to be realized while preserving features critical in practice, including regulation of the output across a wide load range and high light-load efficiency. This is achieved in part by how the energy conversion and regulation functions are partitioned. The structure and control approach of the new architectures are described, along with representative implementation methods. The design and experimental evaluation of prototype systems with cells operating at 100MHz are also described. It is anticipated that the proposed approaches and ones like them will allow substantial improvements in the size of switching power converters and, in some cases, will permit their integrated fabrication.
Spallation of Iron in Black Hole Accretion Flows

In the local Galactic interstellar medium there is approximate energy equipartition between cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and radiation. If this holds in the central regions of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), in particular Seyfert galaxies, then considerable nuclear spallation of Fe occurs, resulting in enhanced abundances of the sub-Fe elements Ti, V, Cr, and Mn. These elements produce a cluster of X-ray fluorescence lines at energies just below the 6.4 keV Fe Kα line. It is suggested that the red wings on the Fe lines observed with ASCA from various Seyfert AGNs are due to the unresolved line emission from these elements. Future observations with more sensitive X-ray instruments should resolve these lines. The estimated gamma-ray emission from nuclear de-excitation and neutral pion production is calculated and found to be below the sensitivities of any current instruments. However, very luminous nearby Seyferts displaying Fe lines with red wings could have >100 MeV continuum emissions detectable by future instruments such as the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope.
Reflectionless Filter Structures

This paper expands on the previously described reflectionless filters—i.e., filters having, in principle, identically zero reflection coefficient at all frequencies—by introducing a wide variety of new reflectionless structures that were not part of the original publication. In addition to extending the lumped-element derivation to include transmission line filters, this is achieved by the introduction of a novel method wherein the left- and right-hand-side stopband terminations are coupled to each other using a two-port sub-network. Specific examples of the sub-network are given, which increase the stopband attenuation per filter cell and steepen the cutoff response without disrupting the reflectionless property or increasing the insertion loss in the passband. It is noteworthy that a common feature of all the structures derived by these methods is that most, if not all, of the reactive elements are of equal normalized value. This greatly simplifies the tuning requirements, and has facilitated their implementation as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). A number of examples of MMIC reflectionless filters constructed in this way are presented and their results compared to the theory.
Unified Iso-Response Curves for Orthotropic Plates Under Lateral Pressure Pulse

Presentation de courbes sans dimension d'isodeflexion et de moments d'iso-flexion. Ces courbes representent la reponse maximum pour des combinaisons variees de densite, d'orthotropie, de geometrie, et de chargement. Etude valable pour les petites deflexions elastiques
Liquid Helium Scintillation Detection with Germanium Photodiodes

Special high-purity germanium photodiodes have been developed for the direct detection of vacuum ultraviolet scintillations in liquid helium. The photodiodes are immersed in the liquid helium, and scintillations are detected through one of the bare sides of the photodiodes. Test results with scintillation photons produced by 5.3MeV ? particles are presented. The use of these photodiodes as liquid helium scintillation detectors may offer substantial improvements over the alternate detection method requiring the use of wavelength shifters and photomultiplier tubes.
Chemical Analysis of Five Red Giants in the Globular Cluster M10 (NGC 6254)

We have determined Al, α, Fe-peak, and neutron capture elemental abundances for five red-giant branch (RGB) stars in the Galactic globular cluster M10. Abundances were determined using equivalent width analyses of moderate-resolution (R ~ 15,000) spectra obtained with the Hydra multifiber positioner and bench spectrograph on the WIYN telescope. The data sample the upper RGB from the luminosity level near the horizontal branch to about 0.5 mag below the RGB tip. We find, in agreement with previous studies, that M10 is moderately metal-poor with [Fe/H] = -1.45 (σ = 0.04). All stars appear enhanced in Al with [Al/Fe] = +0.33 (σ = 0.19), but no stars have [Al/Fe] +0.55. We find the α elements to be enhanced by +0.20 to +0.40 dex and the Fe-peak elements to have [el/Fe] ~ 0, which are consistent with predictions from type II SNe ejecta. Additionally, the cluster appears to be r-process rich with [Eu/La] = +0.41.
Movement Planning in the Presence of Flows

This paper investigates the problem of time-optimum movement planning in two and three dimensions for a point robot which has bounded control velocity through a set of n polygonal regions of given translational flow velocities. This intriguing geometric problem has immediate applications to macro-scale motion planning for ships, submarines, and airplanes in the presence of significant flows of water or air. Also, it is a central motion planning problem for many of the meso-scale and micro-scale robots that have been constructed recently, that have environments with significant flows that affect their movement. In spite of these applications, there is very little literature on this problem, and prior work provided neither an upper bound on its computational complexity nor even a decision algorithm. It can easily be seen that an optimum path for the 2D version of this problem can consist of at least an exponential number of distinct segments through flow regions. We provide the first known computational complexity hardness result for the 3D version of this problem; we show the problem is PSPACE hard. We give the first known decision algorithm for the 2D flow path problem, but this decision algorithm has very high computational complexity. We also give the first known efficient approximation algorithms with bounded error.
Spatial Competition and Shopping Externalities: Evidence from the Housing Market

In search markets, greater spatial concentration of sellers increases price competition. At the same time, though, a greater concentration of sellers can create a shopping externality by attracting more buyers to the site. Using housing sales data, we test for spatial competition and shopping externality effects on prices and marketing time. We find that they reflect both competitive and shopping externality effects from surrounding houses, although the relative strength varies with how fresh the house is in the market, the freshness of surrounding houses, and the phase of the market cycle. New listings have the strongest shopping externality effect on neighboring houses that have been on the market for some time. Vacant houses have their strongest competition effects in the declining market and externality effects in the rising market. Fresh houses on the market reap little benefit from shopping externalities in all phases of the market cycle.
Exchanging good ideas

Abstract This paper develops a framework to describe how the existence of technological spillovers leads to a distribution of technology clusters. Marshallian spillovers in this paper are assumed to be due to interaction of labor. The dynamics of cluster size, composition, and technology accumulation are characterized.
Hyperbolic convex cores and simplicial volume

This article investigates the relationship between the topology of hyperbolizable 3-manifolds M with incompressible boundary and the volume of hyperbolic convex cores homotopy equivalent to M. Specifically, it proves a conjecture of Bonahon stating that the volume of a convex core is at least half the simplicial volume of the doubled manifold DM, and this inequality is sharp. This article proves that the inequality is, in fact, sharp in every pleating variety of AH(M)
High-dimensional diffusive growth

We consider a model of aggregation, both diffusion-limited and ballistic, based on the Cayley tree. Growth is from the leaves of the tree towards the root, leading to non-trivial screening and branch competition effects. The model exhibits a phase transition between ballistic and diffusion-controlled growth, with non-trivial corrections to cluster size at the critical point. Even in the ballistic regime, cluster scaling is controlled by rare events due to the branching structure of the Cayley tree; it is this that enables us to solve the model.
Large Eddy Simulations of Film-Cooling Flows With a Micro-Ramp Vortex Generator

Large Eddy Simulations were performed to study the effect of a micro-ramp on an inclined turbulent jet interacting with a cross-flow in a film-cooling configuration. The micro-ramp vortex generator is placed downstream of the film-cooling jet. Changes in vortex structure and film-cooling effectiveness are evaluated and the genesis of the counter-rotating vortex pair in the jet is discussed. Results are reported with the jet modeled using a plenum/pipe configuration. This configuration was designed based on previous wind tunnel experiments at NASA Glenn Research Center, and the present results are meant to supplement those experiments. It is found that the micro-ramp improves film-cooling effectiveness by generating near-wall counter-rotating vortices which help entrain coolant from the jet and transport it to the surface. The pair of vortices generated by the micro-ramp are of opposite sense to the vortex pair embedded in the jet.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
The minimum rank problem: A counterexample

We provide a counterexample to a recent conjecture that the minimum rank over the reals of every sign pattern matrix can be realized by a rational matrix. We use one of the equivalences of the conjecture and some results from projective geometry. As a consequence of the counterexample we show that there is a graph for which the minimum rank of the graph over the reals is strictly smaller than the minimum rank of the graph over the rationals. We also make some comments on the minimum rank of sign pattern matrices over different subfields of R.
Macroeconomic fluctuations and motorcycle fatalities in the U.S

The effects of business cycles on health outcomes in general, and on traffic fatalities in particular, have received much attention recently. In this paper, we focus on motorcycle safety and examine the impact of changing levels of economic activity on fatal crashes by motorcyclists in the United States. We analyze state-level longitudinal data with 1,104 state/year observations from the 1988-2010 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Using the extensive motorcycle crash characteristics available in FARS, we examine not only total fatality rates but also rates decomposed by crash type, day, time, and the level of the motorcycle operator's blood alcohol content. Our results are consistent with much of the existing literature showing that traffic fatality rates are pro-cyclical. The estimates suggest that a 10% increase in real income per capita is associated with a 10.4% rise in the total motorcycle fatality rate. Along with potential mechanisms, policymakers and public health officials should consider the effects of business cycles on motorcycle safety. Language: en