cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Subsidizing Religious Participation Through Groups: A Model of the “Megachurch” Strategy for Growth

Either despite or because of their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the United States since 1980. This paper models religious participation as an imperfect public good which, absent intervention, yields suboptimal participation by members from the church’s perspective. Megachurches address this problem in part by employing secular-based group activities to subsidize religious participation that then translates into an increase in the attendees’ religious investment. This strategy not only allows megachurches to attract and retain new members when many traditional churches are losing members but also results in higher levels of an individual’s religious capital. As a result, the megachurch may raise expectations of members’ levels of commitment and faith practices. Data from the FACT2000 survey provide evidence that megachurches employ groups more extensively than other churches, and this approach is consistent with a strategy to use groups to help subsidize individuals’ religious investment. Religious capital rises among members of megachurches relative to members of non-megachurches as a result of this strategy.
Time Invariant Error Bounds for Modified-CS-Based Sparse Signal Sequence Recovery

In this paper, we obtain performance guarantees for modified-CS and for its improved version, modified-CS-Add-LS-Del, for recursive reconstruction of a time sequence of sparse signals from a reduced set of noisy measurements available at each time. Under mild assumptions, we show that the support recovery error of both algorithms is bounded by a time-invariant and small value at all times. The same is also true for the reconstruction error. Under a slow support change assumption: 1) the support recovery error bound is small compared with the support size and 2) our results hold under weaker assumptions on the number of measurements than what l 1 minimization for noisy data needs. We first give a general result that only assumes a bound on support size, number of support changes, and number of small magnitude nonzero entries at each time. Later, we specialize the main idea of these results for two sets of signal change assumptions that model the class of problems in which a new element that is added to the support either gets added at a large initial magnitude or its magnitude slowly increases to a large enough value within a finite delay. Simulation experiments are shown to back up our claims.
Transition-Metal-Mediated Cleavage and Activation of C–C Single Bonds

The activation and cleavage of C–C single bonds mediated by transition metal complexes is one of the most challenging reactions, both practically and in terms of understanding, in the field of metal organic chemistry. In this review the fundamental reactions – oxidative addition, β-carbon elimination, retro-allylation, and radical cleavage – so far successfully applied for this transformation are discussed in terms of their mechanisms, their intrinsic problems, and their published examples, which are still fairly rare. Decarbonylation, as another fundamental reaction, is only touched briefly. This group of reactions is today poised to set aside its shadow existence as an exotic reaction class. Meanwhile the number of catalytic and even enantioselective processes involvingC–C single bond cleavage is slowly increasing, although the substrates used in these reactions are still limited to quite special connection patterns. The basic challenges for the future and the paradigms concerning this reaction are presented.
Reflections on the Future Electric Power Grid Monitoring System

A shortcoming of the contemporary power grid monitoring is that the system does not know its own state. Instead of taking automatic note of energy-flow disruptions, one deals with haphazard telephone reports of “no light in our house”. We propose a novel monitoring system that requires no restructuring of the power distribution network and can be applied both to the existing grids and the future “smart grids”. The proposed system is based on a network of inexpensive sensors, installed on every connecting line and communicating measured data to a central processing unit. Our approach is topological in nature, based on the connectivity aspects of the power grid embodied in Kirchhoff's current law that must be valid at every node of the network. We argue that the state of the network can be adequately characterized by specifying the RMS currents and the direction of energy flow in all connecting lines. It is essential that in this description one does not have to know the magnitude of the energy flow, only its direction. This eliminates the need to measure voltage, which would be prohibitively costly on the massive scale. In contrast, the relative phase between the current and voltage can be measured easily. Another essential point is that the instantaneous RMS currents are impractical to record and communicate, hence local averaging is required. Since Kirchhoff's law should remain valid upon averaging, the latter must be carried out at each sensor synchronously over the entire network with global synchronization provided by the GPS.
Manipulation through Bribes

We consider allocation rules that choose outcomes and transfers, based on agents' reported valuations of the outcomes. A bribing situation exists when one agent could pay another to misreport his valuations, resulting in a net gain to both. A bribe-proof rule eliminates such opportunities. We show that under a bribe-proof rule, each agent's payoff is a continuous function of other agents' reported valuations. Furthermore, on connected domains, if the set of outcomes is finite or the domain is smoothly connected, each agent's payoff is a constant function of other agents' reports. Finally, under a domain-richness condition, a bribe-proof rule must be constant. The results apply to a broad class of economies. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C70, D70.
Green chemistry aspects of fluorous techniques—opportunities and challenges for small-scale organic synthesis

Described in this paper is a personal overview of the green chemistry aspects of fluorous technologies. The unique phase separation and broad combinatorial capabilities of fluorous technologies have led to the development of fluorous chromatography-free separations, chemical recycling techniques, atom economic reactions, energy-focused microwave reactions, metal-free organocatalysis, aqueous media reactions, and modified reagents. These green chemistry techniques have been demonstrated in discovery chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and academic research labs dealing with small-scale organic synthesis. Issues such as the environmental impact of fluorous chemicals are also discussed.
An Alternating Recognition Model of English Auctions

We present an alternative abstraction of an English oral ascending auction to the standard, in Milgrom and Weber 1982, that accords more closely with practices in some auction markets. In particular, the assumptions that exits are irrevocable and necessarily public are dropped, making endogenous the decision to compete silently and privately, or openly. In the model, the price rises in a stylization of an auctioneer alternately recognizing two bidders who affirm willingness to pay the current price. The auctioneer pays attention to other bidders only when a recognized bidder exits. Such exits may be temporary, although we construct an equilibrium in which there is no benefit to exit and reentry. The number of public exits is stochastic; frequently a losing "bidder" will remain silent, giving no indication of his willingness to pay, and hence yielding no useful inference about his private information. Thus, the source of the expected revenue advantage of English auctions over second-price auctions is only stochastically available. Moreover, when public exits are incomplete, the ordinal rank of the bidder whose private information can be inferred is unknown, making that information less valuable. Consequently, the simpler formula for expected revenue in second-price auctions may be the preferred approximation for English auctions.
Breaking the energy-bandwidth limit of electro-optic modulators: Theory and a device proposal

We analytically derive the energy-bandwidth limit for electro-optic modulators based on intra-cavity index modulation, and propose a dual cavity modulator using coupling modulation to simultaneously achieve high bandwidth (80 GHz) and ultra-low energy-per-bit (0.26 aJ).
A systematic search method for obtaining multiple local optimal solutions of nonlinear programming problems

We propose, in this paper, a systematic method to find several local optimal solutions for general nonlinear optimization problems. We have developed some analytical results for quasi-gradient systems and reflected gradient systems, applying these results to derive topological and geometric properties of the critical points of the underlying objective function. A mechanism has also been devised to escape from a local optimal solution and proceed into another local optimal solution via decomposition points. By properly switching between quasi-gradient systems and reflected gradient systems, our proposed method can attain a set of local optimal solutions. The proposed method is applied to two test examples with promising results.
Triggered Convection, Gravity Waves, and the MJO: A Shallow-Water Model

The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is the dominant mode of intraseasonal variability in the tropics. Despite its primary importance, a generally accepted theory that accounts for fundamental features of the MJO, including its propagation speed, planetary horizontal scale, multiscale features, and quadrupole structures, remains elusive. In this study, the authors use a shallow-water model to simulate the MJO. In this model, convection is parameterized as a short-duration localized mass source and is triggered when the layer thickness falls below a critical value. Radiation is parameterized as a steady uniform mass sink. The following MJO-like signals are observed in the simulations: 1) slow eastward-propagating large-scale disturbances, which show up as low-frequency, low-wavenumber features with eastward propagation in the spectral domain, 2) multiscale structures in the time–longitude (Hovmoller) domain, and 3) quadrupole vortex structures in the longitude–latitude (map view) domain. The authors propose that the simulated MJO signal is an interference pattern of westward and eastward inertia–gravity (WIG and EIG) waves. Its propagation speed is half of the speed difference between the WIG and EIG waves. The horizontal scale of its large-scale envelope is determined by the bandwidth of the excited waves, and the bandwidth is controlled by the number density of convection events. In this model, convection events trigger other convection events, thereby aggregating into large-scale structures, but there is no feedback of the large-scale structures onto the convection events. The results suggest that the MJO is not so much a low-frequency wave, in which convection acts as a quasi-equilibrium adjustment, but is more a pattern of high-frequency waves that interact directly with the convection.
A wide aperture quadrupole for the Fermilab main injector synchrotron

During the design of the Fermilab Main Injector synchrotron it was recognized that the aperture was limited at the beam transfer and extraction points by the combination of the Lambertson magnets and the reused Main Ring quadrupoles located between the Lambertsons. Increased intensity demands on the Main Injector from antiproton production for the collider program, slow spill to the meson fixed target program, and high intensity beam to the high energy neutrino program have led us to replace the aperture-limiting quadrupoles with newly built magnets that have the same physical length but a larger aperture. The magnets run on the main quadrupole bus, and must therefore have the same excitation profile as the magnets they replaced. We present here the design of the magnets, their magnetic performance, and the accelerator performance.
The Briefest of Glances The Time Course of Natural Scene Understanding

What information is available from a brief glance at a novel scene? Although previous efforts to answer this question have focused on scene categorization or object detection, real-world scenes contain a wealth of information whose perceptual availability has yet to be explored. We compared image exposure thresholds in several tasks involving basic-level categorization or global-property classification. All thresholds were remarkably short: Observers achieved 75%-correct performance with presentations ranging from 19 to 67 ms, reaching maximum performance at about 100 ms. Global-property categorization was performed with significantly less presentation time than basic-level categorization, which suggests that there exists a time during early visual processing when a scene may be classified as, for example, a large space or navigable, but not yet as a mountain or lake. Comparing the relative availability of visual information reveals bottlenecks in the accumulation of meaning. Understanding these bottlenec...
Efficient Detection of Global Properties in Distributed Systems Using Partial-Order Methods

A new approach is presented for detecting whether a particular computation of an asynchronous distributed system satisfies \(\mathop{{\bf Poss}}\Phi\) (read “possibly Φ”), meaning the system could have passed through a global state satisfying predicate Φ, or \(\mathop{{\bf Def}}\Phi\) (read “definitely Φ”), meaning the system definitely passed through a global state satisfying Φ. Detection can be done easily by straightforward state-space search; this is essentially what Cooper and Marzullo proposed. We show that the persistent-set technique, a well-known partial-order method for optimizing state-space search, provides efficient detection. This approach achieves the same worst-case asymptotic time complexity as two special-purpose detection algorithms of Garg and Waldecker that detect \(\mathop{{\bf Poss}}\Phi\) and \(\mathop{{\bf Def}}\Phi\) for a restricted but important class of predicates. For \(\mathop{{\bf Poss}}\Phi\), our approach applies to arbitrary predicates and thus is more general than Garg and Waldecker’s algorithm. We apply our algorithm for \(\mathop{{\bf Poss}}\Phi\) to two examples, achieving a speedup of over 700 in one example and over 70 in the other, compared to unoptimized state-space search.
Blind adaptive estimation of KLT basis vectors

Several algorithms for estimating the basis vectors used in the Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT) are described. The algorithms are "blind" in the sense that they utilize minimal information about the data vector being encoded. This eliminates the need to repeatedly encode and transmit the KLT basis vectors in data compression applications.
Collaborative filtering by personality diagnosis: a hybrid memory- and model-based approach

The growth of Internet commerce has stimulated the use of collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms as recommender systems. Such systems leverage knowledge about the known preferences of multiple users to recommend items of interest to other users. CF methods have been harnessed to make recommendations about such items as web pages, movies, books, and toys. Researchers have proposed and evaluated many approaches for generating recommendations. We describe and evaluate a new method called personality diagnosis (PD). Given a user's preferences for some items, we compute the probability that he or she is of the same "personality type" as other users, and, in turn, the probability that he or she will like new items. PD retains some of the advantages of traditional similarity-weighting techniques in that all data is brought to bear on each prediction and new data can be added easily and incrementally. Additionally, PD has a meaningful probabilistic interpretation, which may be leveraged to justify, explain, and augment results. We report empirical results on the EachMovie database of movie ratings, and on user profile data collected from the CiteSeer digital library of Computer Science research papers. The probabilistic framework naturally supports a variety of descriptive measurements--in particular, we consider the applicability of a value of information (VOI) computation.
Tabu Search-Enhanced Graphical Models for Classification in High Dimensions

Data sets with many discrete variables and relatively few cases arise in health care, e-commerce, information security, text mining, and many other domains. Learning effective and efficient prediction models from such data sets is a challenging task. In this paper, we propose a tabu search-enhanced Markov blanket (TS/MB) algorithm to learn a graphical Markov blanket model for classification of high-dimensional data sets. The TS/MB algorithm makes use of Markov blanket neighborhoods: restricted neighborhoods in a general Bayesian network based on the Markov condition. Computational results from real-world data sets drawn from several domains indicate that the TS/MB algorithm, when used as a feature selection method, is able to find a parsimonious model with substantially fewer predictor variables than is present in the full data set. The algorithm also provides good prediction performance when used as a graphical classifier compared with several machine-learning methods.
Model Predictive Regulation

Abstract We show how optimal nonlinear regulation can be achieved in a model predictive control fashion.
Engaging students using social media: The students’ perspective

Abstract Social media access and usage has grown rapidly in the past several years. In academia, social media is a new pedagogical tool that may be used to engage students both inside and outside the economics classroom, and impact their overall success. In this study we examine the students’ view of incorporating social media in the classroom. The survey was administered at three academic institutions. The results are based on a survey administered to students in Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics courses. Students have the strongest presence, in descending order, on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. However, based on their utilization preferences, these mediums are ranked as follows: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The results indicate that students are concerned with privacy but are more willing to connect with faculty if the connection is “one-way” and participate if social media is a voluntary part of class. Therefore Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, or Facebook “like” pages or groups are potentially better mediums for faculty to use in economic classrooms. The survey indicates that students use their social media accounts more frequently than email or Learning Management Systems and, therefore, social media may also be a more effective tool for spontaneous communication for many students.
Determination of unsaturation of synthetic and natural rubbers by means of iodine monochloride

Precise analytical methods are developed using iodine monochloride for the determination of unsaturation in polybutadiene and polyisoprene and their copolymers with styrene. The complicating side reactions, splitting out and substitution, as well as the influence of the solvent employed are investigated in detail. It is concluded that GR-S at various conversions has the theoretical unsaturation. Emulsion polybutadiene exhibits 97 to 98% of the theoretical unsaturation, emulsion polyisoprene 97% sodium polybutadiene 92%, and sodium polyisoprene 85%. The amount of unsaturation in these last two polymers as well as in the sodium copolymer of butadiene and styrene (75:25) is considerable less than theoretically expected.
The use of mechanical bowel preparation in laparoscopic gynecologic surgery: a decision analysis

Objective The use of mechanical bowel preparation prior to laparoscopy is common in gynecology, but its use may affect the rates of perioperative events and complications. Our objective was to compare different mechanical bowel preparations using decision analysis techniques to determine the optimal preparation prior to laparoscopic gynecological surgery. Study Design A decision analysis was constructed modeling perioperative outcomes with the following mechanical bowel preparations: magnesium citrate, sodium phosphate, polyethylene glycol, enema, and no bowel preparation. Comparisons were made using published utility values. Secondary analyses included the percentages that had 1 or more preoperative events and 1 or more intra- or postoperative complications. Results Overall, the highest utility values were for no bowel preparation (0.98) and magnesium citrate (0.97), whereas the other values were as follows: enema (0.95), sodium phosphate (0.94), and polyethylene glycol (0.91). The difference between no bowel preparation and magnesium citrate was less than the published minimally important differences for utilities, so there is likely no real difference between these strategies. The probability of having at least 1 preoperative event was lowest for no bowel preparation (1%), whereas the probability of having at least 1 intra- or postoperative complication was lowest with magnesium citrate (8%). Conclusion The highest utilities were seen with no bowel preparation, but the absolute difference between no bowel preparation and magnesium citrate was less than the minimally important difference. With similar overall utilities, our model raises questions as to whether mechanical bowel preparation is a necessary step prior to laparoscopic gynecological surgery. However, if a surgeon prefers a bowel preparation, magnesium citrate is the preferred option.
A Comparison of Descriptive Tagging Practices by Library, Archive, and Museum Professionals using an Inter-Indexing Consistency Approach

This study is a comparison of the descriptive tagging practices among library, archive, and museum professionals using an inter-indexing consistency approach. The first purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the similarities and differences among professional groups when assigning descriptive tags to different object types typically found within the library, archive and museum environments. The second purpose of this study was to compare the descriptive practices of these three professional groups to different object types typically found within the library, archive and museum environments. Findings from this study indicate while there were few differences in depth of indexing per object type among professional groups, various levels of description were applied to the different object types. Levels of description were derived from: (1) the three dimensional or physical media pictured; (2) the digital surrogate; (3) the objects aboutness;(4) the technique and materials used to make the physical object, and; (5) written text. Data analysis also indicates there was a significant difference between means in the total number of exact matched primary tags applied perobject type. As such, information retrieval within the online environment could be improved if there was better quality control in the application of thedifferent levels of description among information professionals.
Quantitative imaging of murine osteoarthritic cartilage by phase contrast micro-computed tomography

Objective—Mouse is an optimal model organism in which gene-environment interactions can be studied for the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. The gold standard in arthritis research in mice is based on histopathology and immunohistochemistry, which are labor intensive, prone to sampling bias and technical variability, and limited in throughput. This study aims to develop a new technique that assesses mouse cartilage by integrating quantitative volumetric imaging techniques. Methods—A novel mouse model of osteoarthritis was generated by cruciate ligament transection (CLT) and evaluated by histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Knee joint samples were then imaged by a novel technique that combines high resolution μ CT and phase-contrast optics followed by quantitative analyses. A comparative analysis was also performed on a previously established mouse model of osteoarthritis generated by destabilization of medial meniscus (DMM). Results—Phase contrast μ CT achieved cellular resolution of chondrocytes and quantitative assessment of parameters such as articular cartilage volume and surface area. In mouse models of OA generated by either CLT or DMM, we showed that phase contrast μ CT distinguished control and OA cartilage by providing quantitative measures with high reproducibility and minimal variability. Features of OA at the cellular or tissue levels could also be observed in images generated by phase contrast μ CT. Conclusion—We established an imaging technology that comprehensively assessed and quantified the 2 and 3 dimensional changes of articular cartilage. Application of this technology will facilitate the rapid and high throughput assessment of genetic and therapeutic models of OA in mice.
Widespread persistent near-surface ozone depletion at northern high latitudes in spring

[1] Springtime near-surface ozone depletion has been observed at northern high latitudes. Due to limited observations, the spatial and temporal extent of low O3 concentrations near the surface is still unknown. A regional 3-D chemistry and transport model is applied to simulate surface O3 depletion catalyzed by bromine radicals at northern high latitudes in March and April 2000. Satellite observations of BrO column by the ESA Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) were processed to specify the BrO concentrations in the lower troposphere. In view of the GOME measurement and model uncertainties, the model results show an adequate agreement with the O3 depletion events observed at two surface sites, Alert, Canada (82.5°N, 62.3°W) and Barrow, Alaska (71.3°N, 156.6°W), and by airborne in situ and DIAL instrument during the TOPSE experiments at northern high latitudes. Low O3 events at Alert appear to be mostly driven by transport of O3-poor air from high BrO regions. Model results indicate that low O3 concentrations (<20 ppbv) near the surface cover ∼60% of the northern high latitudes and that the depleted O3 concentrations (<10 ppbv) cover ∼20% of the region in April. The high BrO events tend to be large-scale and persistent (1–2 weeks). We find that they are correlated with low temperature, a condition conducive for heterogeneous reactions on frozen snow or aerosol surfaces.
Advances in the chemical modification of epitaxial graphene

Chemistry will play an increasingly important role in the realization of graphene applications. The chemical formation of covalent carbon–carbon bonds involving the basal plane carbon atoms offers an alternative approach to the control of the electronic properties of graphene, and potentially allows the generation of insulating and semiconducting regions in graphene wafers. This review summarizes recent progress in the covalent modification of epitaxial graphene and the effect that chemistry has on the electronic and magnetic properties of the material.
Primal-Dual Algorithms for Deterministic Inventory Problems

We consider several classical models in deterministic inventory theory: the single-item lot-sizing problem, the joint replenishment problem, and the multistage assembly problem. These inventory models have been studied extensively, and play a fundamental role in broader planning issues, such as the management of supply chains. For each of these problems, we wish to balance the cost of maintaining surplus inventory for future demand against the cost of replenishing inventory more frequently. For example, in the joint replenishment problem, demand for several commodities is specified over a discrete finite planning horizon, the cost of maintaining inventory is linear in the number of units held, but the cost incurred for ordering a commodity is independent of the size of the order; furthermore, there is an additional fixed cost incurred each time a nonempty subset of commodities is ordered. The goal is to find a policy that satisfies all demands on time and minimizes the overall holding and ordering cost. We shall give a novel primal-dual framework for designing algorithms for these models that significantly improve known results in several ways: the performance guarantees for the quality of the solutions improve on or match previously known results; the performance guarantees hold under much more general assumptions about the structure of the costs, and the algorithms and their analysis are significantly simpler than previous known results. Finally, our primal-dual framework departs from the structure of previously studied primal-dual approximation algorithms in significant ways, and we believe that our approach may find applications in other settings. More specifically, we provide 2-approximation algorithms for the joint replenishment problem and for the assembly problem, and solve the single-item lot-sizing problem to optimality. The results for the joint replenishment and the lot-sizing problems also hold for their generalizations with back orders allowed. As a byproduct of our work, we prove known and new upper bounds on the integrality gap of some linear-programming (LP) relaxations of the abovementioned problems.
Effect of Nonideal Solution Behavior on Desalination of a Sodium Chloride Solution and Comparison to Seawater

Proper evaluation of the Gibbs free energy and other properties of seawater and other aqueous solutions is essential in the analysis of desalination systems. Standard seawater has been studied extensively and property data are readily accessible. However, many aqueous solutions requiring desalination have significantly different composition from seawater and seawater data is generally not accurate for these solutions. Experimental data for a given aqueous solution may be unavailable under the conditions of interest. Therefore, there is a need to model relevant physical properties from chemical thermodynamic principles. In particular, for solutions that are not ideal, the activity and fugacity coefficients must be considered. In this paper, the effect of nonidealities in sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions is considered through a parametric study of the least work of separation for a desalination system. This study is used to determine the conditions under which the ideal solution approximation is valid and also to determine when an NaCl solution is a good approximation to standard seawater. It is found that the ideal solution approximation is reasonable within ranges of salinities and recovery ratios typical of those found in the seawater desalination industry because many of the nonidealities cancel out, but not because the solution behaves ideally. Additionally, it is found that NaCl solutions closely approximate natural seawater only at salinities typically found in seawater and not for salinities found in typical brackish waters. NOMENCLATURE
Heat Kernel Asymptotics of Zaremba Boundary Value Problem

The Zaremba boundary-value problem is a boundary value problem for Laplace-type second-order partial differential operators acting on smooth sections of a vector bundle over a smooth compact Riemannian manifold with smooth boundary but with discontinuous boundary conditions, which include Dirichlet boundary conditions on one part of the boundary and Neumann boundary conditions on another part of the boundary. We study the heat kernel asymptotics of Zaremba boundary value problem. The construction of the asymptotic solution of the heat equation is described in detail and the heat kernel is computed explicitly in the leading approximation. Some of the first nontrivial coefficients of the heat kernel asymptotic expansion are computed explicitly.
Selection of acceptance sampling plans with multi - attribute defects in computer-aided quality control

Abstract A multicriteria quality control model for acceptance sampling is developed which defines several conflicting and non-commensurate objectives. The following objectives are proposed and quantified in this model: (1) to minimize the cost of inspection, (2) to minimize the number of critical defects, (3) to minimize the number of major defects, and (4) to minimize the number of minor defects. The interactive paired comparison method identifies the most desirable sample sizes and acceptance levels for critical, major, and minor defects for a given lot size. At each iteration a small number of alternatives is presented to a decision maker. The decision maker chooses the most favourable alternative by expressing his/her strength of preference for pairs of alternatives. An unknown non-linear utility function of objectives is assumed. The optimal sampling plan is determined using a minimal number of interactions. A computer package is developed and used to determine the optimal sampling plan for an applic...
Some logical and numerical aspects of pattern recognition and artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has received the attentions and contributions of workers in many varied disciplines and of many varied interests. As a result there has arisen a large and diverse body of research literature in the field. The task of sorting out and comparing some threads of continuity through this rich and variegated tapestry presents a tempting prospect.
To Lead As Equals: Rural Protest and Political Consciousness in Chinandega, Nicaragua, 1912-1979

This book is a carefully argued study of peasants and labor during the Somoza regime, focusing on popular movements in the economically strategic department of Chinandega in western Nicaragua. Jeffrey Gould traces the evolution of group consciousness among peasants and workers as they moved away from extreme dependency on the patron to achieve an autonomous social and political ideology. In doing so, he makes important contributions to peasant studies and theories of revolution, as well as our understanding of Nicaraguan history. According to Gould, when Anastasio Somoza first came to power in 1936, workers and peasants took the Somocista reform program seriously. Their initial acceptance of Somocismo and its early promises of labor rights and later ones of land redistribution accounts for one of the most peculiar features of the pre-Sandinista political landscape: the wide gulf separating popular movements and middle-class opposition to the government. Only the alliance of the Frente Sandinista (FSLN) and the peasant movement would knock down the wall of silence between the two forces.
Women's power, conditional cash transfers, and schooling in Nicaragua

The Social Safety Net (Red de Proteccion Social, (RPS) program in Nicaragua is one of many conditional cash transfer programs that pay households cash stipends in exchange for school attendance and regular visits to health clinics by the children. A key feature is that payments go to the female head of household. Previous research suggests that exogenous transfers to women are more likely to be spent on their children's health, nutrition, and education and thus to reinforce the goals of these programs. Randomized experimental data from RPS are used to test for heterogeneous program impacts on school enrollment and spending based on a woman's power, as proxied by her years of schooling relative to her husband's years of schooling. The results confirm previous findings that more household resources are devoted to children when women are more powerful. However, when a woman's power greatly exceeds her husband's, additional female power reduces school enrollment. RPS impacts on schooling are much larger than the expected income effects estimated from the control group, although no evidence is found that female power alters the impact of RPS on school enrollment. The conditionality of RPS is probably decisive. While RPS significantly increases food and education expenditures, the impact is attributable primarily to income effects.
Nonlinear Time-Step Constraints Based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Numerical calculations for a time-accurate solution of the equations of e uid dynamics often require a timestep constraint. One can reduce this constraint to an inequality relating the time step, the grid spacing, and some reference wave velocity. Historically, the literature in numerical analysis refers to this parametric cluster as the Courant number (nondimensional) and the condition for the linear case as the Courant ‐Friedrichs‐Lewy (CFL)condition. Classically, numerical analysis relies on linearization and von Neumann’ s useof Fourier series to derive the CFL condition. In practice, computational e uid dynamics mostly relies on rules of thumb and heuristic arguments to justify the equation that determines time-step size and numerical stability for complicated and nonlinear calculations. The approach proposed in this paper uses the second law of thermodynamics as a way of imposing a restriction on the time step, applied to linear and nonlinear equations and systems of equations like the equations of gas dynamics. Basically, by transforming the truncation error for the numerical formula approximating a conservation equation into an equation representing the balance of entropy, one can obtain an inequality that restricts the time step to satisfy the second law. The second law as developed extends its role by analogy for the simple linear advection equation, then a nonlinear equation, and e nally a system of equations representing the one-dimensional equations of gas dynamics. In each case results obtained agree with the classical approachforlinearequationsbutdifferinothers,indicatingthatthesecondlawhassignie cantimplicationsbeyond its role in thermodynamics. This work develops the topic only for explicit numerical algorithms with truncation errors no greater than second order. By conjecture one expects that the most general conclusions will hold for implicit and higher-order methods because of the universality of the second law and the concept of entropy.
Pd Asymmetric Allylic Alkylation (AAA). A Powerful Synthetic Tool

Palladium catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylations represent a challenging problem because the mechanism of the reaction places the chiral environment distal to the bond breaking or making events responsible for the asymmetric induction. Furthermore, unlike virtually every other asymmetric process, many strategies can be employed for introduction of asymmetry and many different types of bonds can be formed. While over 100 different ligands have been designed, a family of ligands derived from 2-diphenylphosphinobenzoic or 1-naphthoic acid and chiral scalemic diamines have been successful in inducing excellent enantioselectivity by five different enantiodiscriminating events. These methods have already provided practical strategies towards numerous biological targets—some of which are adenosine and its enantiomer, aflatoxin B, aristeromycin, calanolide A and B, carbovir, cyclophellitol, ethambutol, galanthamine, mannostatin, neplanocin, phyllanthocin, sphingofungins E and F, tetraponaines, vigabatrin, and valienamine.
Joint Source-Channel Coding with Correlated Interference

We study the joint source-channel coding problem of transmitting a discrete-time analog source over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with interference known at transmitter. We consider the case when the source and the interference are correlated. We first derive an outer bound on the achievable distortion and then, we propose two joint source-channel coding schemes. The first scheme is the superposition of the uncoded signal and a digital part which is the concatenation of a Wyner-Ziv encoder and a dirty paper encoder. In the second scheme, the digital part is replaced by the hybrid digital and analog scheme proposed by Wilson et al. When the channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is perfectly known at the transmitter, both proposed schemes are shown to provide identical performance which is substantially better than that of existing schemes. In the presence of an SNR mismatch, both proposed schemes are shown to be capable of graceful enhancement and graceful degradation. Interestingly, unlike the case when the source and interference are independent, neither of the two schemes outperforms the other universally. As an application of the proposed schemes, we provide both inner and outer bounds on the distortion region for the generalized cognitive radio channel.
The Accident Externality from Driving

We estimate auto accident externalities (more specifically insurance externalities) using panel data on state‐average insurance premiums and loss costs. Externalities appear to be substantial in traffic‐dense states: in California, for example, we find that the increase in traffic density from a typical additional driver increases total statewide insurance costs of other drivers by $1,725–$3,239 per year, depending on the model. High–traffic density states have large economically and statistically significant externalities in all specifications we check. In contrast, the accident externality per driver in low‐traffic states appears quite small. On balance, accident externalities are so large that a correcting Pigouvian tax could raise $66 billion annually in California alone, more than all existing California state taxes during our study period, and over $220 billion per year nationally.
A 17-mW transmitter and frequency synthesizer for 900-MHz GSM fully integrated in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS

A fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL) serves as a Gaussian minimum-shift keying (GMSK) transmitter and a receive frequency synthesizer for GSM. The entire transmitter/synthesizer is fully integrated in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS and consumes 17.4 and 12 mW from 2.5 V in the transmit and receive modes, respectively, including an on-chip voltage-controlled oscillator. The circuit meets GSM specifications on modulation accuracy in transmit mode, and measured phase noise from the closed-loop PLL is -148 dBc/Hz and -162 dBc/Hz, respectively, at 3- and 20-MHz offset. Worst case spur at 13-MHz offset is -77 dBc.
Topological analysis of the power grid and mitigation strategies against cascading failures

This paper presents a complex systems overview of a power grid network. In recent years, concerns about the robustness of the power grid have grown because of several cascading outages in different parts of the world. In this paper, cascading effect has been simulated on three different networks, the IEEE 300 bus test system, the IEEE 118 bus test system, and the WSCC 179 bus equivalent model. Power Degradation has been discussed as a measure to estimate the damage to the network, in terms of load loss and node loss. A network generator has been developed to generate graphs with characteristics similar to the IEEE standard networks and the generated graphs are then compared with the standard networks to show the effect of topology in determining the robustness of a power grid. Three mitigation strategies, Homogeneous Load Reduction, Targeted Range-Based Load Reduction, and Use of Distributed Renewable Sources in combination with Islanding, have been suggested. The Homogeneous Load Reduction is the simplest to implement but the Targeted Range-Based Load Reduction is the most effective strategy.
Enantioselective total synthesis of tricyclic myrmicarin alkaloids.

An enantioselective gram-scale synthesis of a key dihydroindolizine intermediate for the preparation of myrmicarin alkaloids is described. Key transformations in this convergent approach include a stereospecific palladium-catalyzed N-vinylation of a pyrrole with a vinyl triflate, a copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate reduction of a β-pyrrolyl enoate, and a regioselective Friedel−Crafts reaction. The synthesis of optically active and isomerically pure samples of (4aR)-myrmicarins 215A, 215B, and 217 in addition to their respective C4a-epimers is presented.
The Multiple Assignment Statement

The conventional axiomatic definitions are given for multiple assignment to simple variables and for assignment to a single subscripted variable, along with examples to illustrate their use. The original contributions of this paper are the extension of the definition to include multiple assignment to several subscripted variables, and the development of a nontrivial, practical algorithm in which multiple assignment to several subscripted variables is indeed useful. Arguments are given to support the conjecture that the use of subscripted variables, like the use of pointers, can lead to exponential explosion of the length of a proof (and thus of the time needed to understand a program) unless the programmer is careful.
Calculation of the Defect and Interface Properties of Ni3Al

The structure and energetics of point defects, surfaces and grain boundaries in Ni 3 A1 are investigated using the Embedded Atom Method. The approach is shown to reproduce the experimental phase diagram of the Ni-Al system and the elastic properties of Ni 3 AL. The vacancy and anti-site defect energies are calculated and used to predict the vacancy concentration as a function of bulk composition. The preferred geometries and energies of the low index surfaces are also computed. The equilibrium structure of certain ideal grain boundaries are computed by Monte Carlo computer simulations as a function of bulk composition. It is found that the boundaries act as a sink for anti-sitedefects and the degree of ordering at the boundaries is strongly affected by the bulk composition. The cohesive energy of grain boundaries in Ni 3 A1 is computed and is found to be comparable to that for pure Ni.
A Roadmap for Implementing Minichannels in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Systems—Current Status and Future Directions

The evolution of compact heat exchangers was driven by the need for reducing their size and weight and enhancing individual components and overall system performance. These needs are also becoming relevant in stationary refrigeration and air conditioning applications. The reduction in volume and footprint of the systems is foremost in the minds of urban architects, while refrigerant charge reduction and performance enhancement remain important safety and operating considerations. Minichannels provide a viable solution to address these concerns and are expected to be used widely in large as well as small commercial, industrial, and residential systems. This paper provides a roadmap for their implementation, with a critical review of the current status of our understanding in this field, recommendations for obtaining fundamental performance data and correlations, and an emphasis on innovative designs of minichannel heat exchangers.
A Ceramic Plaque Representing a Part of the Moses Panel by Lorenzo Ghiberti in the East Baptistery Doors (Florence, Italy)

A ceramic plaque was studied that depicts the figurative part of the lower half of the Moses Panel from the gilt bronze doors that Lorenzo Ghiberti and his workshop installed on the east side of the San Giovanni Baptistery in Florence, Italy. The doors were completed in 1452, and thermoluminescence dating of two areas of the ceramic relief panel gave a broad, but consistent fifteenth century date. No differences were found in the composition, microstructure or phase assemblage of the two stylistically distinct parts of the ceramic panel. Microscopy and radiography were used to reconstruct the forming methods and sequence of steps in manufacture and restoration.
Integrated Savitzky-Golay Filter from Inverse Taylor Series Approach

The purpose of this paper is to use the Inverse Taylor series approach on the Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filter to derive an Integrated S-G filter which acts as a low-pass filter for noise while simultaneously directly estimating values of signal x(t) and its first k ---1 derivatives. It is similar in structure to a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter, and its coefficients are calcuated using the method of least squares. Initial tests indicate that this filter has significantly greater attenuation of frequencies above the cutoff frequency than the S-G filter does.