cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pattern-Based Modeling and Solution of Probabilistically Constrained Optimization Problems

We propose a new modeling and solution method for probabilistically constrained optimization problems. The methodology is based on the integration of the stochastic programming and combinatorial pattern recognition fields. It permits the fast solution of stochastic optimization problems in which the random variables are represented by an extremely large number of scenarios. The method involves the binarization of the probability distribution and the generation of a consistent partially defined Boolean function pdBf representing the combination F,p of the binarized probability distribution F and the enforced probability level p. We show that the pdBf representing F,p can be compactly extended as a disjunctive normal form DNF. The DNF is a collection of combinatorial p-patterns, each defining sufficient conditions for a probabilistic constraint to hold. We propose two linear programming formulations for the generation of p-patterns that can be subsequently used to derive a linear programming inner approximation of the original stochastic problem. A formulation allowing for the concurrent generation of a p-pattern and the solution of the deterministic equivalent of the stochastic problem is also proposed. The number of binary variables included in the deterministic equivalent formulation is not an increasing function of the number of scenarios used to represent uncertainty. Results show that large-scale stochastic problems, in which up to 50,000 scenarios are used to describe the stochastic variables, can be consistently solved to optimality within a few seconds.
Organometallic Hydroxides of Transition Elements

Northern Illinois University DeKalb,Institut fu¨r Anorganische Chemie & Southern Methodist University
Reaction of α-(N-Carbamoyl)alkylcuprates with Enantioenriched Propargyl Electrophiles: Synthesis of Enantioenriched 3-Pyrrolines

Enantioenriched propargyl mesylates or perfluorobenzoates react with α-(N-carbamoyl)alkylcuprates to afford scalemic α-(N-carbamoyl) allenes which undergo N-Boc deprotection and AgNO3-promoted cyclization to afford N-alkyl-3-pyrrolines. The synthetic sequence proceeds under optimal conditions with no loss of enantiopurity relative to the starting propargyl alcohols prepared by asymmetric addition of terminal alkynes to aldehydes.
Fiscal Reform and Government Debt in Japan: A Neoclassical Perspective

Abstract Past government spending in Japan is imposing a significant fiscal burden that is reflected in a net debt to output ratio near 150%. In addition, an aging Japanese society implies that public expenditures and transfers payments relative to output are projected to continue to rise until at least 2050. In this paper we use a standard growth model to measure the size of this burden in the form of additional taxes required to finance these projected expenditures and to stabilize government debt. The fiscal adjustment needed is very large, in the range of 30–40% of total consumption expenditures. Using a distorting tax such as the consumption tax or the labor income tax requires either tax to rise to unprecedented highs, although the former is much less distorting than the latter. The extremely high tax rates we find highlight the importance of considering alternatives that attenuate the projected increases in public spending and/or enlarge the tax base.
Networked Infomechanical Systems (NIMS) for Ambient Intelligence

Networked embedded sensor and actuator technology has developed over the last decade to now enable the vision of Ambient Intelligence. This will fundamentally advance our ability to monitor and control the physical world with applications for consumers, healthcare, the commercial enterprise, security, and for science and engineering in the natural environment. Significant progress has been made in the development of algorithms and complete systems for scalable, energy-aware networking, sensing, signal processing, and embedded computing. Now, new information technology, microelectronics, and sensor systems are being integrated and deployed in some of the first applications in critical environmental monitoring. This progress, however, reveals a new set of challenges. Specifically, distributed sensor networks have not yet acquired the essential capability to monitor and report their own spatiotemporallydependent sensing uncertainty. Thus, while sensor networks may acquire information on events in the environment, these systems are not yet able to determine the probability that events may be undetected or determine how the combination of calibration error and unknown signal propagation characteristics may degrade the ability to fuse data across a distribution of sensors. For example, in virtually all important application areas, static sensor nodes are confronted with unknown and evolving obstacles to vision or acoustic signal propagation that severely limit the ability to characterize features of interest and introduce uncertainty. Most importantly, self-awareness of sensing uncertainty will be required, for in many applications it is only the sensor network that may be present in an environment and must be depended upon to report its true performance. It is important to note that since it is physical phenomena and evolving environmental structures that induce uncertainty, then physical adaptation of a sensor network (for example, through robotic mobility) may provide the only practical method for detection and reduction of uncertainty.
Quasi-Orthogonal Wideband Radar Waveforms Based on Chaotic Systems

Many radar applications, such as those involving multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) radar, require sets of waveforms that are orthogonal, or nearly orthogonal. As shown in the work presented here, a set of nearly orthogonal waveforms with a high cardinality can be generated using chaotic systems, and this set performs comparably to other waveform sets used in pulse compression radar systems. Specifically, the nearly orthogonal waveforms from chaotic systems are shown to possess many desirable radar properties including a compact spectrum, low range sidelobes, and an average transmit power within a few dB of peak power. Moreover, these waveforms can be generated at essentially any practical time length and bandwidth. Since these waveforms are generated from a deterministic process, each waveform can be represented with a small number of system parameters. Additionally, assuming these waveforms possess a large time-bandwidth product, a high number of nearly orthogonal chaotic waveforms exist for a given time and bandwidth. Thus the proposed generation procedure can potentially be used to generate a new transmit waveform on each pulse.
Zero-Rate Feedback Can Achieve the Empirical Capacity

The utility of limited feedback for coding over an individual sequence of discrete memoryless channels is investigated. This study complements recent results showing how limited or noisy feedback can boost the reliability of communication. A strategy with fixed input distribution P is given that asymptotically achieves rates arbitrarily close to the mutual information induced by P and the state-averaged channel. When the capacity-achieving input distribution is the same over all channel states, this achieves rates at least as large as the capacity of the state-averaged channel, sometimes called the empirical capacity.
Looking for $U(1)_A$ Restoration in Hot QCD with Domain Wall Fermions

The effects of the axial anomaly are suppressed at high temperatures due to screening effects in the quark-gluon plasma. If the suppression is nearly complete close to the chiral transition temperature, this can have consequences for the nature of th e phase transition. The use of a chiral action such as Domain Wall Fermions allows us to gain a deeper insight into the issue. Our lattice sizes were 16 3 × 8× Ls, with Ls = 32 or 48, and our pion mass was approximately 200 MeV. We found that U(1)A stayed broken above the chiral transition. However the brea king was found to be due to topologically nontrivial configurations which raise s the question as to whether it persists in the thermodynamic limit. We also present results for the eig envalue density of the Dirac operator. It is seen that although the density decreases dramatically across the chiral transition temperature, U(1)A still remains broken at our current volume and quark mass due to the presence of zero modes.
One-Pot Route to New α,α-Difluoroamides and α-Ketoamides

New α,α-difluoroamides (4a−d, 6a−d) and α-ketoamides (5a−d, 7a−d) result from one-pot reactions of α-ketoacids, RCOCO2H (R = C6H5, CH3, CH3CH2, thienyl) (1a−d) with bis(2-methoxyethyl)aminosulfur trifluoride [(CH3OCH2CH2)2NSF3] (2) (Deoxofluor) or diethylaminosulfur trifluoride [(CH3CH2)2NSF3)] (3) (DAST). Product yields depend on reaction times and the ratio of reagents used. Longer reaction times (∼36 h) with a 1:2 ratio of α-ketoacids and 2 or 3 gave major yields of the α,α-difluoroamides, and shorter reaction times (∼l h) produced α-ketoamides as the major products. Reactants in a 1:1 ratio resulted in α-ketoamides only.
Lattice Quantization With Side Information: Codes, Asymptotics, and Applications in Sensor Networks

In this paper, we consider the problem of rate/distortion with side information available only at the decoder. For the case of jointly Gaussian source X and side information Y, and mean-squared error distortion, Wyner proved in 1976 that the rate/distortion function for this problem is identical to the conditional rate/distortion function R X|Y, assuming the side information Y is available at the encoder. In this paper we construct a structured class of asymptotically optimal quantizers for this problem: under the assumption of high correlation between source X and side information Y, we show there exist quantizers within our class whose performance comes arbitrarily close to Wyner's bound. As an application illustrating the relevance of the high-correlation asymptotics, we also explore the use of these quantizers in the context of a problem of data compression for sensor networks, in a setup involving a large number of devices collecting highly correlated measurements within a confined area. An important feature of our formulation is that, although the per-node throughput of the network tends to zero as network size increases, so does the amount of information generated by each transmitter. This is a situation likely to be encountered often in practice, which allows us to cast under new-and more "optimistic"-light some negative results on the transport capacity of large-scale wireless networks
Asymmetric Intermolecular C−H Functionalization of Benzyl Silyl Ethers Mediated by Chiral Auxiliary-Based Aryldiazoacetates and Chiral Dirhodium Catalysts

C−H functionalization of benzyl silyl ethers by means of rhodium-catalyzed insertions of aryldiazoacetates can be achieved in a highly diastereoselective and enantioselective manner by judicious choice of chiral catalyst or auxiliary. The dirhodium tetraprolinates such as Rh2((S)-DOSP)4 have been widely successful as chiral catalysts in the C−H functionalization chemistry of aryldiazoacetates, but give poor enantioselectivity in the reactions of aryldiazoacetates with benzyl silyl ether derivatives. The use of (S)-lactate as a chiral auxiliary resulted in C−H functionalization with moderately high diastereoselectivity (79−88% de) and enantioselectivity (68−85% ee). The best results (91−95% de, 95−98% ee), however, were achieved using Hashimoto's Rh2((S)-PTTL)4 catalyst.
A New Approach to Estimating the Production Function for Housing

*tion for housing has played a central role in urban economics and local public finance. This paper provides a new flexible approach for estimating the hous ing production function which treats housing quantities and prices as latent variables. The empirical analysis is based on a comprehensive database of recently built properties in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. We find that the new method proposed in this paper works well in the application and provides reasonable estimates for the underlying production function. (JEL C51, D24, R11, R31)
Intermolecular Metal‐Catalyzed Carbenoid Cyclopropanations

The metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds in the presence of alkenes is a well-established reaction. Since the original Organic Reactions review on the reaction of ethyl diazoacetate with alkenes and aromatic compounds in 1970, several new developments have revolutionized this area of chemistry. Most notably, major advances have been made in catalyst design such that highly chemoselective, diastereoselective and enantioselective carbenoid transformations can now be achieved. Furthermore, it has been recognized that a wide array of carbenoid structures can be utilized in this chemistry, leading to a broad range of synthetic applications. This chapter comprises coverage of the metal-catalyzed intermolecular cyclopropanations of diazo compounds containing at least one adjacent electron-withdrawing group. The coverage of diazoacetate chemistry will be limited to material since 1970 because the previous Organic Reactions review covers the earlier literature. The alkene component is limited to alkenes, dienes, furans, and pyrroles because these are the systems that have resulted in the greatest developments since the 1970 review. Metal-carbenoid intermediates derived from diazo compounds undergo a variety of useful reactions, including cyclopropanation, insertion, and ylide formation. In recent years several excellent reviews have appeared on various aspects of this chemistry. Three recent reviews have focused on asymmetric intermolecular cyclopropanations. Several books and reviews on carbenoid chemistry have major sections on intermolecular cyclopropanations. Because of the historical central prominence of carbenoids derived from diazoacetates, most reviews have tended to focus on this class of carbenoids. In this chapter, a comparison is presented of the chemical differences that exist among the major classes of carbenoids that contain adjacent electron-withdrawing groups. The extensive nature of the topic precludes coverage of related reactions such as the metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes, phenyldiazoalkanes, or vinyldiazoalkanes that lack adjacent electron-withdrawing functionality. Other cyclopropanation reactions such as the Simmons-Smith reaction, photochemical or thermal decomposition of diazo compounds in the presence of alkenes, and cyclopropanation using stoichiometric metal carbenes are not covered. Keywords: intermolecular reaction; metal catalyzed; carbenoid; cyclopropanation; diazo compound; alkene; insertion reaction
New methods for finding common insertion sites and co-occurring common insertion sites in transposon- and virus-based genetic screens

Insertional mutagenesis screens in mice are used to identify individual genes that drive tumor formation. In these screens, candidate cancer genes are identified if their genomic location is proximal to a common insertion site (CIS) defined by high rates of transposon or retroviral insertions in a given genomic window. In this article, we describe a new method for defining CISs based on a Poisson distribution, the Poisson Regression Insertion Model, and show that this new method is an improvement over previously described methods. We also describe a modification of the method that can identify pairs and higher orders of co-occurring common insertion sites. We apply these methods to two data sets, one generated in a transposon-based screen for gastrointestinal tract cancer genes and another based on the set of retroviral insertions in the Retroviral Tagged Cancer Gene Database. We show that the new methods identify more relevant candidate genes and candidate gene pairs than found using previous methods. Identification of the biologically relevant set of mutations that occur in a single cell and cause tumor progression will aid in the rational design of single and combinatorial therapies in the upcoming age of personalized cancer therapy.
Collective plume tracing: A minimal information approach to collective control

A team of simple robots are used to trace a chemical plume to its source in order to find buried landmines. The goal of this paper is to analyze and design ‘emergent’ behaviors to enable the team of simple robots to perform plume tracing with the assistance of information theory. The first step in the design process is to define a fundamental trade-off for collective systems between processing, memory, and communications for each robot in order to execute the desired collective behaviors. The baseline problem is to determine the minimum values for processing, memory, and communications simultaneously. This will enable the designer to determine the required information flow and how effectively the information resources are being utilized in collective systems. The solution to this baseline problem is an 8-bit processor, no memory, and three words to communicate. The details of this solution are described in this paper. The second step is to extend the previous kinematic solution to a more general Hamiltonian-based solution to develop a Fisher Information Equivalency. The Fisher Information Equivalency leads directly to necessary and sufficient conditions for stability and control of nonlinear collective systems via physical and information exergy flows. In particular, the creation of a ‘virtual/information potential’ by the team of robots via the decentralized distributed networked sensors produces a direct relationship between proportional feedback control, stored exergy in the system, and Fisher Information. This nonlinear stability formulation through Fisher Information directly provides an optimization problem to ‘tune’ the performance of the team of robots as a function of required information resources. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Catalytic Carbonyl Addition through Transfer Hydrogenation: A Departure from Preformed Organometallic Reagents

Classical protocols for carbonyl allylation, propargylation and vinylation typically rely upon the use of preformed allyl metal, allenyl metal and vinyl metal reagents, respectively, mandating stoichiometric generation of metallic byproducts. Through transfer hydrogenative CC coupling, however, carbonyl addition may be achieved from the aldehyde or alcohol oxidation level in the absence of stoichiometric organometallic reagents or metallic reductants. Here, we review transfer hydrogenative methods for carbonyl addition, which encompass the first catalytic protocols enabling direct CH functionalization of alcohols.
LDV measurements and investigation of flow field through radial turbine guide vanes

The results of LDV measurements and investigation of the detailed flowfield ina radial inflow turbine nozzle are presented. The flow velocities were measured at upstream, inside and downstream of the nozzle blades for two different mass flow rates, using a three-component LDV system. Results are presented as contour plots of mean velocities, flow angles, and turbulence intensities.
Characterizing and modeling the free recovery and constrained recovery behavior of a polyurethane shape memory polymer

In this work, tensile tests and one-dimensional constitutive modeling were performed on a high recovery force polyurethane shape memory polymer that is being considered for biomedical applications. The tensile tests investigated the free recovery (zero load) response as well as the constrained displacement recovery (stress recovery) response at extension values up to 25%, and two consecutive cycles were performed during each test. The material was observed to recover 100% of the applied deformation when heated at zero load in the second thermomechanical cycle, and a stress recovery of 1.5–4.2 MPa was observed for the constrained displacement recovery experiments. After the experiments were performed, the Chen and Lagoudas model was used to simulate and predict the experimental results. The material properties used in the constitutive model—namely the coefficients of thermal expansion, shear moduli, and frozen volume fraction—were calibrated from a single 10% extension free recovery experiment. The model was then used to predict the material response for the remaining free recovery and constrained displacement recovery experiments. The model predictions match well with the experimental data.
Pressure-Gradient Effects on Hypersonic Turbulent Skin-Friction and Boundary-Layer Profiles

Local skin friction, total-temperature profiles, and pitot-pressure profiles were measured on the wall of a Mach-7.4 wind tunnel. The wall to adiabatic wall temperature ratio was varied from 0.3 to 0.5. Boundary-layer characteristics were compared with those predicted by a finite-difference method. Local skin friction was predicted to within 15%. Pressure-gradient effects on the temperature and Mach number distributions and the shape factor (displacement thickness/momentum thickness) were underpredicted, but the velocity distributions were closely predicted.
Privacy in psychiatric treatment: threats and responses.

OBJECTIVE: The author provides an overview of the current status of privacy in psychiatric treatment, with particular attention to the effects of new federal regulations authorized by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). METHOD: The author reviews the ethical and legal underpinnings for medical privacy, including the empirical data supporting its importance; discusses those portions of the new federal regulations most relevant to psychiatric practice; and suggests steps that psychiatrists can take to maintain their patients’ privacy in the new environment. RESULTS: Medical ethics and law, in keeping with patients’ preferences, traditionally have provided strong protection for the information that patients communicate while receiving medical care. In general, release of information has required patients’ explicit consent. However, limitations of the consent model and technological innovations that permit the aggregation of computerized medical information have led to pressure fo...
The Impact of Supervisory Characteristics on Goal Acceptance

Numerous studies have documented the important role that goals play in regulating task motivation and performance (9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17). These studies have been conducted in laboratory situations with college students (9) as well as in real world organizations with managers involved in MBO programs (14). Most of the research has focused on the performance consequences of various aspects of the goal setting process. In particular, Locke and his colleagues have shown that hard goals produce a higher level of performance than do easy goals or goals of the "do your best" type (10). In most of the studies conducted by Locke, subjects have been assigned goals at various difficulty levels by the experimenter. Locke and Bryan argue, however, that goal instructions do not inevitably or automatically affect an individual's behavior (11). Only when assigned goals have been consciously accepted by individuals have significant relationships been discovered between goal level and performance. This suggests that supervisors must select the appropriate goal assignment method if subordinates are to accept difficult goals and thus perform at high levels. Unfortunately, little research has examined the relationship between the methods by which goals are set and the degree to which those goals are accepted by the performer.
A Fourier theory for cast shadows

Cast shadows can be significant in many computer vision applications, such as lighting-insensitive recognition and surface reconstruction. Nevertheless, most algorithms neglect them, primarily because they involve nonlocal interactions in nonconvex regions, making formal analysis difficult. However, many real instances map closely to canonical configurations like a wall, a V-groove type structure, or a pitted surface. In particular, we experiment with 3D textures like moss, gravel, and a kitchen sponge, whose surfaces include canonical configurations like V-grooves. This paper takes a first step toward a formal analysis of cast shadows, showing theoretically that many configurations can be mathematically analyzed using convolutions and Fourier basis functions. Our analysis exposes the mathematical convolution structure of cast shadows and shows strong connections to recent signal-processing frameworks for reflection and illumination.
Can Micro-Credit Bring Development?

Abstract We examine the long-run effects of micro-credit on development in an occupational choice model similar to Banerjee and Newman (JPE, 1993). Micro-credit is modeled as a pure improvement in the credit market that opens up self-employment options to some agents who otherwise could only work for wages or subsist. Micro-credit can either raise or lower long-run GDP, since it can lower use of both subsistence and full-scale industrial technologies. It typically lowers long-run inequality and poverty, by making subsistence payoffs less widespread. Thus, an equity-efficiency tradeoff may be involved in the promotion of micro-credit. However, in a worst case scenario, micro-credit has purely negative long-run effects. The key to micro-credit's long-run effects is found to be the “graduation rate”, defined as the rate at which the self-employed build up enough wealth to start full-scale firms. We distinguish between two avenues for graduation: “winner” graduation (of those who earn above-average returns in self-employment) and “saver” graduation (due to gradual accumulation of average returns in self-employment). Long-run development is not attainable via micro-credit if “winner” graduation is the sole avenue for graduation. In contrast, if the saving rate and self-employment returns of the average micro-borrower are jointly high enough, then micro-credit can bring an economy from stagnation to full development through “saver” graduation. Thus the lasting effects of micro-credit may partially depend on simultaneous facilitation of micro-saving. Eventual graduation of the average borrower, rather than indefinite retention, should be the goal of micro-banks if micro-credit is to be a stepping stone to broad-based development rather than at best an anti-poverty tool.
Inner models with large cardinal features usually obtained by forcing

We construct a variety of inner models exhibiting features usually obtained by forcing over universes with large cardinals. For example, if there is a supercompact cardinal, then there is an inner model with a Laver indestructible supercompact cardinal. If there is a supercompact cardinal, then there is an inner model with a supercompact cardinal ? for which 2 ? = ? +, another for which 2 ? = ? ++ and another in which the least strongly compact cardinal is supercompact. If there is a strongly compact cardinal, then there is an inner model with a strongly compact cardinal, for which the measurable cardinals are bounded below it and another inner model W with a strongly compact cardinal ?, such that $${H^{V}_{\kappa^+} \subseteq {\rm HOD}^W}$$ . Similar facts hold for supercompact, measurable and strongly Ramsey cardinals. If a cardinal is supercompact up to a weakly iterable cardinal, then there is an inner model of the Proper Forcing Axiom and another inner model with a supercompact cardinal in which GCH + V = HOD holds. Under the same hypothesis, there is an inner model with level by level equivalence between strong compactness and supercompactness, and indeed, another in which there is level by level inequivalence between strong compactness and supercompactness. If a cardinal is strongly compact up to a weakly iterable cardinal, then there is an inner model in which the least measurable cardinal is strongly compact. If there is a weakly iterable limit ? of <?-supercompact cardinals, then there is an inner model with a proper class of Laver-indestructible supercompact cardinals. We describe three general proof methods, which can be used to prove many similar results.
Urban Land Price: The Extraordinary Case of Honolulu, Hawaii:

The price of land in Honolulu is higher than in any other major US urban area. This paper examines several determinants of the supply and demand for land and discusses their likely influence on Honolulu's land price. It utilises comparisons between demand and supply conditions in Honolulu and in the forty most populous US urban areas to ascertain the strength of the respective determinants. The regression results confirm that natural and institutional constraints restricting the supply of land play an important role in determining price in Honolulu and in the forty-city sample.
Einstein’s equations in the presence of signature change

We discuss Einstein’s field equations in the presence of signature change using variational methods, obtaining a generalization of the Lanczos equation relating the distributional term in the stress tensor to the discontinuity of the extrinsic curvature. In particular, there is no distributional term in the stress tensor, and hence no surface layer, precisely when the extrinsic curvature is continuous, in agreement with the standard result for constant signature.
UAV formations control using high order sliding modes

Formations of unmanned aerial vehicles' (UAV) using high/second order sliding mode (HOSM/SOSM) controllers are studied. The purpose of the study is to control the formation of several agents, or a swarm of UAVs, using robust and continuous controllers to achieve leader/followers collision-free path-tracking formation in the presence of unknown bounded disturbances acting on each UAV. A strategic formation expansion process is developed allowing extensive formation of n agents through a chain of predefined strategies. Computer simulations of three, four, and six UAVs demonstrate a collision-free flight formation while continuing on a specific path. All formations remain in the presence of unknown bounded disturbances via bounded, robust, accurate and continuous SOSM controls, specifically applying super-twist control method.
Estimating and Testing Structural Changes in Multivariate Regressions

This paper considers issues related to estimation, inference, and computation with multiple structural changes that occur at unknown dates in a system of equations. Changes can occur in the regression coefficients and/or the covariance matrix of the errors. We also allow arbitrary restrictions on these parameters, which permits the analysis of partial structural change models, common breaks that occur in all equations, breaks that occur in a subset of equations, and so forth. The method of estimation is quasi-maximum likelihood based on Normal errors. The limiting distributions are obtained under more general assumptions than previous studies. For testing, we propose likelihood ratio type statistics to test the null hypothesis of no structural change and to select the number of changes. Structural change tests with restrictions on the parameters can be constructed to achieve higher power when prior information is present. For computation, an algorithm for an efficient procedure is proposed to construct the estimates and test statistics. We also introduce a novel locally ordered breaks model, which allows the breaks in different equations to be related yet not occurring at the same dates.
Characterization of the Rate-Dependent Mechanical Properties and Failure of Human Knee Ligaments

The structural properties of the four major human knee ligaments were investigated at different loading rates. Bone-ligament-bone specimens of the medial and lateral collateral ligaments and the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, obtained from post-mortem human donors, were tested in knee distraction loading in displacement control. All ligaments were tested in the anatomical position corresponding to a fully extended knee. The rate dependence of the structural response of the knee ligaments was investigated by applying loading- unloading cycles at a range of distraction rates. Ramps to failure were applied at knee distraction rates of 0.016 mm/s, 1.6 mm/s, or 1,600 mm/s. Averages and corridors were constructed for the force response and the failure point of the different ligaments and loading rates. The structural response of the knee ligaments was found to depend on the deformation rate, being both stiffer and more linear at high loading rates. This rate dependence was found to be more pronounced at high loading rates.
Earnings Over the Lifecycle: The Mincer Earnings Function and Its Applications

In 1958 Jacob Mincer pioneered an important approach to understand how earnings are distributed across the population. In the years since Mincer’s seminal work, he as well as his students and colleagues extended the original human capital model, reaching important conclusions about a whole array of observations pertaining to human well-being. This line of research explained why education enhances earnings; why earnings rise at a diminishing rate throughout one’s life; why earnings growth is smaller for those anticipating intermittent labor force participation; why males earn more than females; why whites earn more than blacks; why occupational distributions differ by gender; why geographic and job mobility predominate among the young; and why numerous other labor market phenomena occur. This paper surveys the answers to these and other questions based on research emanating from Mincer’s original earnings function specification.
Does Generosity Beget Generosity? Alumni Giving and Undergraduate Financial Aid

We investigate how undergraduates? financial aid packages affect their subsequent dona-tive behavior as alumni. The empirical work is based upon a rich set of micro data on alumni giving at an anonymous research university, which we call Anon U. We focus on three types of financial aid, scholarships, loans, and campus jobs. A novel aspect of our modeling strategy is that, consistent with the view of some professional fundraisers, we allow the receipt of a given form of aid per se to affect alumni giving. At the same time, our model allows the amount of the support to affect giving behavior nonlinearly. Our main findings are: 1) Individuals who took out student loans are less likely to make a gift, other things being the same. Further, individuals who take out large loans make smaller con-tributions as alumni, conditional on making a gift. This effect is unlikely to be due to the fact that repaying the loan reduces the alumnus?s capacity to give. We conjecture that, rather, it is caused by an ?annoyance effect? ? alumni resent the fact that they are burdened with loans. 2) Scholar-ship aid reduces the size of a gift, conditional on making a gift, but has little effect on the proba-bility of making a donation. Students who received scholarships are also less likely to be in the top 10 percent of givers in their class in a given year. The negative effect of receiving a scholar-ship on the amount donated decreases in absolute value with the size of the scholarship. Again, we do not find any evidence of income effects, i.e., that scholarship recipients give less because they have relatively low incomes post graduation. 3) Aid in the form of campus jobs does not have a strong effect on donative behavior.
Digital PCR provides sensitive and absolute calibration for high throughput sequencing

Next-generation DNA sequencing on the 454, Solexa, and SOLiD platforms requires absolute calibration of the number of molecules to be sequenced. This requirement has two unfavorable consequences. First, large amounts of sample-typically micrograms-are needed for library preparation, thereby limiting the scope of samples which can be sequenced. For many applications, including metagenomics and the sequencing of ancient, forensic, and clinical samples, the quantity of input DNA can be critically limiting. Second, each library requires a titration sequencing run, thereby increasing the cost and lowering the throughput of sequencing. We demonstrate the use of digital PCR to accurately quantify 454 and Solexa sequencing libraries, enabling the preparation of sequencing libraries from nanogram quantities of input material while eliminating costly and time-consuming titration runs of the sequencer. We successfully sequenced low-nanogram scale bacterial and mammalian DNA samples on the 454 FLX and Solexa DNA sequencing platforms. This study is the first to definitively demonstrate the successful sequencing of picogram quantities of input DNA on the 454 platform, reducing the sample requirement more than 1000-fold without pre-amplification and the associated bias and reduction in library depth. The digital PCR assay allows absolute quantification of sequencing libraries, eliminates uncertainties associated with the construction and application of standard curves to PCR-based quantification, and with a coefficient of variation close to 10%, is sufficiently precise to enable direct sequencing without titration runs.
Vision-based fuzzy controllers for navigation tasks

This paper deals with vision-based fuzzy closed-loop control schemes for collision avoidance as well as maintenance of clearance in a-priori unknown textured environments. These control schemes employ a visual motion cue, we call the visual threat cue (VTC) that provides some measure for a relative change in range as well as clearance between 3D surface and a fixated observer in motion. It is a collective measure obtained directly from the raw data of gray level images and is independent of the type of 3D surface texture. This motion cue is scale-independent, rotation independent, needs no 3D reconstruction and is measured in [time/sup -1/] units. Fuzzy control is closer in spirit to human thinking and can implement linguistically-expressed heuristic control policies directly without any knowledge about the dynamics of the complex process. The fuzzy controllers were implemented in real-time using a 486-based personal computer and a camera capable of undergoing 6-DOF motion. Results are highly encouraging.
A calculus for computing Filippov's differential inclusion with application to the variable structure control of robot manipulators

This paper develops a calculus for computing Filippov's differential inclusion which simplifies the analysis of dynamical systems described by differential equations with a discontinuous right-hand side. In particular, when a slightly generalized Lyapunov theory is used, the rigorous stability analysis of variable structure systems is routine. As an example, a variable structure control law for rigid-link robot manipulators is described and its stability is proved.
Detection and Polarization of Introgression in a Five-Taxon Phylogeny

When multiple speciation events occur rapidly in succession, discordant genealogies due to incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) can complicate the detection of introgression. A variety of methods, including the D-statistic (a.k.a. the "ABBA- BABA test"), have been proposed to infer introgression in the presence of ILS for a four-taxon clade. However, no integrated method exists to detect introgression using allelic patterns for more complex phylogenies. Here we explore the issues associated with previous systems of applying D-statistics to a larger tree topology, and propose new DFOIL tests as an integrated framework to infer both the taxa involved in and the direction of introgression for a symmetric five-taxon phylogeny. Using theory and simulations, we show that the DFOIL statistics correctly identify the introgression donor and recipient lineages, even at low rates of introgression. DFOIL is also shown to have extremely low false-positive rates. The DFOIL tests are computationally inexpensive to calculate and can easily be applied to phylogenomic data sets, both genome-wide and in windows of the genome. In addition, we explore both the principles and problems of introgression detection in even more complex phylogenies. (ABBA-BABA; D-statistics; genomics; hybridization; incomplete lineage sorting; introgression; phylogenetics; phylogenomics.)
Distributed diagnosis for homogeneous systems

A distributed diagnosis algorithm for homogeneous systems is presented. It uses local comparison among units in a system. Fault diagnosis is done by finding groups of units which behave in the same way. Faults in diagnostic circuits, which have been typically assumed to be fault free, are also covered by the diagnosis algorithm. The algorithm compares favorably with other existing algorithms. In the case in which two nonadjacent units are to be compared bye exchanging data through a faulty intermediate unit, the possibility of data corruption is also taken into account. >
Having Tea with Your Demons and Creating in the Tension: A Tribute to Christina Sickles Merchant

This article describes the process Christina Sickles-Merchant and Cathy Costantino used to write Designing Conflict Management Systems. The article explores the interplay of organization development (OD), alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and dispute systems design (DSD), which the authors used to create an approach to interest-based conflict management systems design (CMSD) that develops systems in concert with the stakeholders.
21-cm fluctuations from inhomogeneous X-ray heating before reionization

Many models of early structure formation predict a period of heating immediately preceding reionization, when X-rays raise the gas temperature above that of the cosmic microwave background. These X-rays are often assumed to heat the intergalactic medium (IGM) uniformly, but in reality will heat the gas more strongly closer to the sources. We develop a framework for calculating fluctuations in the 21-cm brightness temperature that originate from this spatial variation in the heating rate. High-redshift sources are highly clustered, leading to significant gas temperature fluctuations (with fractional variations ∼40 per cent, peaking on k∼0.1 Mpc^−1 scales). This induces a distinctive peak-trough structure in the angle-averaged 21-cm power spectrum, which may be accessible to the proposed Square Kilometre Array. This signal reaches the ∼10 mK level, and is stronger than that induced by Lyα flux fluctuations. As well as probing the thermal evolution of the IGM before reionization, this 21-cm signal contains information about the spectra of the first X-ray sources. Finally, we consider disentangling temperature, density and Lyα flux fluctuations as functions of redshift.
Effect of pressure on counterflow H2–air partially premixed flames

A computational investigation of high-pressure hydrogen–air partially premixed flames (PPFs) is reported to characterize the effect of pressure on the flame structure, and the relevance of reaction limits for these flames. The flames are computed using the Mueller mechanism consisting of 19 elementary reactions and 9 species. Although the mechanism has been validated during previous investigations, additional validations are provided at high pressure. The PPF structure is characterized by two spatially distinct reaction zones, namely a rich premixed zone on the fuel side and a nonpremixed zone on the air side. In both reaction zones, consumption of reactants occurs primarily through reactions H + O2 ↔ OH+ O( R1), H 2 + O ↔ OH+ H( R2), H 2 + OH ↔ H2O + H( R3), and H + O2 + M ↔ HO2 + M (R9). As pressure increases, it decreases the physical separation between the two reaction zones. This can be attributed to the effects of pressure on (i) flame speed associated with the rich premixed zone, which moves this zone further downstream and (ii) mass diffusivity which moves the nonpremixed zone further upstream (toward the fuel nozzle). At higher pressures, however, these effects are significantly reduced, and the flame maintains its twin-flame structure even at very high pressures. Three reaction limits are identified for these flames. While the chemical structure of the nonpremixed zone is characterized by the first reaction limit in the range of pressure investigated (p = 1 to 40 atm), that of the rich premixed zone is characterized by transition from first to second limit, and then from second to third limit, as pressure is increased. This implies that H 2–air PPFs can exploit the advantages of the two reaction zones; each dominated by different reaction limits or chain reactions. Thermal radiation is found to have a negligible effect on the flame structure, while the Soret effect is found to cause transition between the reaction limits at lower pressure.
An integrable generalization of the sine–Gordon equation on the half-line

We analyse a generalization of the sine-Gordon equation in laboratory coordinates on the half-line. Using the Fokas transform method for the analysis of initial boundary-value problems for integrable partial differential equations, we show that the solution u(x, t) can be constructed from the initial and boundary values via the solution of a 2 × 2-matrix Riemann-Hilbert problem.
Comparison of numerical capture cross sections with experimental reaction cross sections for NH3+ + NH3

Abstract Numerically calculated capture cross sections σ c are compared with Ryan's experimental reaction cross sections for NH 3 + + NH 3 → NH 4 + + NH 2 . The numerical reaction cross section σ R = 0.6σ c is obtained assuming that vibrationally excited NH 3 + do not react. Theory and experiment agree satisfactorily from thermal energy to nearly 1 eV although their slopes are slightly different and both steeper than Langevin's formula.
Does Analyst Behavior Explain Market Mispricing of Foreign Earnings for U.S. Multinational Firms

The general theme of examining components of earnings is of interest to both practitioners and academics, given its potential for allowing investors and analysts to more precisely forecast earnings and estimate firm value. For U.S. multinational firms, prior research indicates that while the foreign and domestic earnings components are value relevant, the market fails to fully incorporate the higher persistence of foreign earnings. However, findings of potential market mispricing can be attributed to alternative explanations such as unidentified risk factors or flaws in research design.In this study, we seek to circumvent these concerns by examining whether financial analysts (who are deemed to be sophisticated users of financial statements and act as intermediaries between companies and investors) fully incorporate the time-series properties of foreign and domestic earnings in formulating their earnings forecasts. Similar to market-based studies, we find that analysts do distinguish between foreign and d...
A boundary crossing model of counterparty risk

Abstract This paper develops a market-implied credit score as a complement to internal and agency ratings. In its general form, the implied score is a multidimensional process whose passage through regions in space signals different credit events. The model offers analytical tractability and the flexibility to handle complex contract structures including, for example, claims with payoffs that are dependent on multiple credit events and multiple contracting parties. A numerical example on pricing Republic of Argentina bonds and credit derivatives tests the feasibility of the model. The study shows how to overcome several practical challenges of using structural models.