cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stick-breaking policy learning in Dec-POMDPs

Expectation maximization (EM) has recently been shown to be an efficient algorithm for learning finite-state controllers (FSCs) in large decentralized POMDPs (Dec-POMDPs). However, current methods use fixed-size FSCs and often converge to maxima that are far from the optimal value. This paper represents the local policy of each agent using variable-sized FSCs that are constructed using a stick-breaking prior, leading to a new framework called decentralized stick-breaking policy representation (Dec-SBPR). This approach learns the controller parameters with a variational Bayesian algorithm without having to assume that the Dec-POMDP model is available. The performance of Dec-SBPR is demonstrated on several benchmark problems, showing that the algorithm scales to large problems while outperforming other state-of-the-art methods.
Early Temperatures Observed with the Extremely Sensitive Rayleigh Lidar at Utah State University

Rayleigh-scatter lidar observations were made at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) at Utah State University (USU) from 1993–2004 from 45–90 km. The lidar operated at 532 nm with a power-aperture-product (PAP) of ~3.1 Wm2. The sensitivity of the lidar has since been increased by a factor of 66 to 205 Wm2, extending the maximum altitude into new territory, the lower thermosphere. Observations have been extended up to 115 km, almost to the 120 km goal. Early temperatures from four ~4-week periods starting in June 2014 are presented and discussed. They are compared to each other, to the ALO climatology from the original lidar [1], and to temperatures from the NRLMSISe00 empirical model [2].
Model-Based Individualized Treatment of Chemotherapeutics: Bayesian Population Modeling and Dose Optimization

6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) is one of the key drugs in the treatment of many pediatric cancers, auto immune diseases and inflammatory bowel disease. 6-MP is a prodrug, converted to an active metabolite 6-thioguanine nucleotide (6-TGN) through enzymatic reaction involving thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT). Pharmacogenomic variation observed in the TPMT enzyme produces a significant variation in drug response among the patient population. Despite 6-MP’s widespread use and observed variation in treatment response, efforts at quantitative optimization of dose regimens for individual patients are limited. In addition, research efforts devoted on pharmacogenomics to predict clinical responses are proving far from ideal. In this work, we present a Bayesian population modeling approach to develop a pharmacological model for 6-MP metabolism in humans. In the face of scarcity of data in clinical settings, a global sensitivity analysis based model reduction approach is used to minimize the parameter space. For accurate estimation of sensitive parameters, robust optimal experimental design based on D-optimality criteria was exploited. With the patient-specific model, a model predictive control algorithm is used to optimize the dose scheduling with the objective of maintaining the 6-TGN concentration within its therapeutic window. More importantly, for the first time, we show how the incorporation of information from different levels of biological chain-of response (i.e. gene expression-enzyme phenotype-drug phenotype) plays a critical role in determining the uncertainty in predicting therapeutic target. The model and the control approach can be utilized in the clinical setting to individualize 6-MP dosing based on the patient’s ability to metabolize the drug instead of the traditional standard-dose-for-all approach.
Has the Affordable Care Act increased part-time employment?

AbstractWe examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on part-time employment. Because the ACA’s employer health insurance mandate applies to individuals who work 30 or more hours per week, employers may try to avoid the mandate by cutting workers’ hours below the 30-hour threshold in order to avoid having to provide them with health insurance. Although the employer mandate only went into effect in 2015, many observers have argued that forward-looking employers began to shift towards a part-time workforce well in advance of the mandate. To test this hypothesis, we examine relative shifts across two categories of part-time workers (25–29 hours and 31–35 hours). We find some evidence of a shift from the 31–35-hour category into the 25–29-hour category after the passage of ACA in March 2010. However, that shift is not more pronounced among low-wage workers or among workers in industries and occupations most likely to be affected by the mandate. Thus, there is little evidence that the ACA has caused ...
How Critical is a Good Location to a Regional Shopping Center

The goal of this paper is to empirically measure the consumer utility trade-off between store location (i.e., distance to a shopping center) and retail agglomeration in regional shopping centers. U...
Chirality-assisted electronic cloaking of confined States in bilayer graphene.

We show that the strong coupling of pseudospin orientation and charge carrier motion in bilayer graphene has a drastic effect on transport properties of ballistic $p\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}n\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}p$ junctions. Electronic states with zero momentum parallel to the barrier are confined under it for one pseudospin orientation, whereas states with the opposite pseudospin tunnel through the junction totally uninfluenced by the presence of confined states. We demonstrate that the junction acts as a cloak for confined states, making them nearly invisible to electrons in the outer regions over a range of incidence angles. This behavior is manifested in the two-terminal conductance as transmission resonances with non-Lorentzian, singular peak shapes. The response of these phenomena to a weak magnetic field or electric-field-induced interlayer gap can serve as an experimental fingerprint of electronic cloaking.
Towards an Optimal Algorithm for Recognizing Laman Graphs

A graph G with n vertices and m edges is a Laman graph, or equivalently a generically minimally rigid graph, if m = 2n - 3 and every induced subset of k vertices spans at most 2k - 3 edges. Laman graphs play a fundamental role in rigidity theory. We discuss the Verification problem: Given a graph G with n vertices, decide if it is Laman. We present an algorithm that recognizes Laman graphs in O(Tst(n) + n log n) time, where Tst(n) is the best time to extract two edge disjoint spanning trees from a graph with n vertices and 2n - 2 edges, or decide no such trees exist. So far, it is known that Tst(n) is O(n3/2/spl radic/log n).
Financial protection of the state against natural disasters : a primer

This paper has been prepared for policy makers interested in establishing or strengthening financial strategies to increase the financial response capacity of governments of developing countries in the aftermath of natural disasters, while protecting their long-term fiscal balances. It analyzes various aspects of emergency financing, including the types of instruments available, their relative costs and disbursement speeds, and how these can be combined to provide cost-effective financing for the different phases that follow a disaster. The paper explains why governments are usually better served by retaining most of their natural disaster risk while using risk transfer mechanisms to manage the excess volatility of their budgets or access immediate liquidity after a disaster. Finally, it discusses innovative approaches to disaster risk financing and provides examples of strategies that developing countries have implemented in recent years.
El retrato y la alegoría satírico-burlesca en Rosas de Oquendo

Entre las tempranas obras satiricas hispanoamericanas Sf- destaca el largo romance de Mateo Rosas de Oquendo, Satira a las cosas que pasan en el Piru, aiio de 1598, obra que a pesar ue ser repetidamente mencionada en los manuales e historias de la literatura, todavia no ha recibido una adecuada atencion critica. Desde las primeras aproximaciones al poema, las de Antonio Paz y Mella y Alfonso Reyes, se vienen repitiendo algunas opiniones que se limitan a subrayar su valor historico y documental, pero que no toman en consideracion sus cualidades mas propiamente literarias
An Estimable Demand System for a Large Auction Platform Market

Economists have developed a range of empirically tractable demand systems for fixed price markets. But auction mechanisms also play an important part in allocating goods, and yet existing empirical auction techniques treat each auction in isolation, obscuring market interactions. Here we provide a framework for estimating a demand system in a large auction platform market with a dynamic population of buyers, heterogeneous objects and unit demand. We construct a model of repeated second-price auctions in which bidders have multidimensional private valuations, developing an equilibrium concept under which strategies reflect option values. We prove existence of this equilibrium and characterize the ergodic distribution of types. Having developed a demand system, we show that it is non-parametrically identified from panel data. Relatively simple nonparametric and semiparametric estimation procedures are proposed and tested by Monte Carlo simulation. Our analysis highlights the importance of both dynamic bidding strategies and panel data sample selection issues when analyzing these markets.
Collusion set detection through outlier discovery

The ability to identify collusive malicious behavior is critical in today's security environment. We pose the general problem of Collusion Set Detection (CSD): identifying sets of behavior that together satisfy some notion of “interesting behavior”. For this paper, we focus on a subset of the problem (called CSD′), by restricting our attention only to outliers. In the process of proposing the solution, we make the following novel research contributions: First, we propose a suitable distance metric, called the collusion distance metric, and formally prove that it indeed is a distance metric. We propose a collusion distance based outlier detection (CDB) algorithm that is capable of identifying the causal dimensions (n) responsible for the outlierness, and demonstrate that it improves both precision and recall, when compared to the Euclidean based outlier detection. Second, we propose a solution to the CSD′ problem, which relies on the semantic relationships among the causal dimensions.
Spinal Cord Astrocytomas of Childhood

Intramedullary spinal cord astrocytomas are a relatively uncommon neoplasm, accounting for only 4% of central nervous system tumors of childhood (Anderson and Carson 1953; Areseni et al. 1967). Because of its rarity, individual neurosurgeons have relatively little experience with surgical management and long term follow-up of afflicted patients. There has been little impetus to modify the traditional treatment of biopsy, dural decompression and radiation therapy despite the recognition that after a relatively short remission serious disability or death ensues.
Linking Indigenous Social Capital to a Global Economy

Although the concept of social capital is intuitively appealing, policy-makers and scholars have been frustrated by difficulties in finding practical ways to build social capital where it is either weak or absent. Of particular concern in development work has been the difficulty of building bridging forms of social capital to more effectively integrate isolated groups into a global economy. A main source of resistance, in this regard, is the apparent unwillingness of groups with highly dense social networks to invest some of their resources in building less dense but more extensive ties that will connect them to more distant markets, resources, and information. This concern is central to the larger issue of reducing economic inequalities between groups that are based on differential access to social capital, such as the entrepreneurial advantages of one ethnic or religious group vis-a-vis another. In the long run, a solution to this problem will reduce inter-group tensions where two groups with different levels of social capital occupy the same space. The thesis of this paper is that the main obstacle to solving the aforementioned problem is the failure to distinguish between the "structural properties" of effective bridging social networks and the "paths" through which individual groups create bridging networks. The starting point of the paper is the assumption that the structural properties of effective bridging networks can be defined quite easily. The work of Mancur Olson has been most useful in this regard. However, the identification of different paths through which the same structural network properties may be created has received much less attention in the literature. In fact, the notion of "path dependencies" has oftentimes resulted in a view that different paths must mean different structural network property outcomes. This limited view of paths to effective social capital neglects the real concerns and potentially serious costs of destroying "bonding" social capital in the process of building bridging ties. The psychological and spiritual damage to Native Americans through the boarding school programs in the 19th and early 20th centuries is an illustration of this danger. Thus, the task for researchers is to identify specific paths through which indigenous social capital may be connected to bridging ties without creating costs to essential bonding tie relationships. Empirical research examples from thirty years of the author's study of collective action in communities in a variety of settings is used to illustrate how different paths can achieve the same outcomes with respect to building bridging ties for isolated communities. This includes: urban neighborhood organization, Japanese American ethnic communities, rural Midwestern American rural community leaders' networks. Village communities in post-Soviet Russia, Tribal Colleges on Native American reservations and Nationalist and Republican communities in Northern Ireland.
Achieving private recommendations using randomized response techniques

Collaborative filtering (CF) systems are receiving increasing attention. Data collected from users is needed for CF; however, many users do not feel comfortable to disclose data due to privacy risks. They sometimes refuse to provide information or might decide to give false data. By introducing privacy measures, it is more likely to increase users' confidence to contribute their data and to provide more truthful data. In this paper, we investigate achieving referrals using item-based algorithms on binary ratings without greatly exposing users' privacy. We propose to use randomized response techniques (RRT) to perturb users' data. We conduct experiments to evaluate the accuracy of our scheme and to show how different parameters affect our results using real data sets.
Cold Facts on Cold Starting

Analysis of emergency road service data from the American Automobile Association illustrates conclusively that there is a cold starting problem and that it is not confined to the extreme northern areas. It becomes apparent whenever temperature nears the freezing point, and is experienced to some extent by motorists in almost all states.
The implicit function theorem and free algebraic sets

We prove an implicit function theorem for non-commutative functions. We use this to show that if p(X, Y ) is a generic non-commuting polynomial in two variables, and X is a generic matrix, then all solutions Y of p(X, Y ) = 0 will commute with X.
Globular Cluster Systems of Elliptical Galaxies

We review the observed properties of globular cluster systems and their implications for models of galaxy formation. Observations show that globular clusters form in gas-rich mergers, and that bimodal metallicity distributions are common in the globular cluster systems of ellipticals, with the metal-poor population more extended than the metal-rich one. These are three of the four predictions of the simple merger model of Ashman & Zepf (1992). The fourth prediction concerns the properties of the globular cluster systems of spirals, and is still to be tested by observation. Adopting Occam’s razor, the confirmation of the fundamental predictions of the merger model from both young and old globular cluster systems is strong evidence that typical elliptical galaxies formed from the mergers of spiral galaxies. However, the simplifying assumptions of the Ashman-Zepf merger model limit its applicability to certain complex situations such as the formation of cD galaxies. We conclude this review by introducing new observational and theoretical programs that will further the understanding of the physical mechanisms of globular cluster and galaxy formation.
Combination of Standard Model Higgs searches at CDF

We present the latest combination of searches for a standard model (SM) Higgs boson in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. Using data corresponding to 2.3-5.9 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity, we perform searches in a number of different production and decay modes and then combine them to improve sensitivity. No excess in data above that expected from backgrounds is observed; therefore, we set upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction as a function of the SM Higgs boson mass (m{sub H}). The combined observed (expected) limit is 1.9 (1.8) times the SM prediction at m{sub H} =115 GeV/c{sup 2} and 1.0 (1.1) times the SM prediction at m{sub H} = 165 GeV/c{sup 2}.
Joblessness and precarious work in Bulgaria : addressing the multiple aspects of vulnerability in the labour market

This paper uses data from the Bulgarian Integrated Household Surveys, and the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) to examine the multiple aspects of vulnerability in the labor market in Bulgaria, in the late 1990s. The paper starts by examining the links between poverty, and labor market outcomes, drawing a particular attention to the heterogeneity of jobs, and the multiple aspects of poverty. It then identifies those groups art risk of one, or more poor labor market outcomes, revealing the existence of particularly vulnerable groups, who cumulate a high risk of being unemployed, of remaining longer in unemployment, and if employed, of being low-paid, and working under precarious conditions.
Task-Oriented web user modeling for recommendation

We propose an approach for modeling the navigational behavior of Web users based on task-level patterns. The discovered “tasks” are characterized probabilistically as latent variables, and represent the underlying interests or intended navigational goal of users. The ability to measure the probabilities by which pages in user sessions are associated with various tasks, allow us to track task transitions and modality shifts within (or across) user sessions, and to generate task-level navigational patterns. We also propose a maximum entropy recommendation system which combines the page-level statistics about users' navigational activities together with our task-level usage patterns. Our experiments show that the task-level patterns provide better interpretability of Web users' navigation, and improve the accuracy of recommendations.
One-Step Estimator Paths for Concave Regularization

ABSTRACTThe statistics literature of the past 15 years has established many favorable properties for sparse diminishing-bias regularization: techniques that can roughly be understood as providing estimation under penalty functions spanning the range of concavity between l0 and l1 norms. However, lasso l1-regularized estimation remains the standard tool for industrial Big Data applications because of its minimal computational cost and the presence of easy-to-apply rules for penalty selection. In response, this article proposes a simple new algorithm framework that requires no more computation than a lasso path: the path of one-step estimators (POSE) does l1 penalized regression estimation on a grid of decreasing penalties, but adapts coefficient-specific weights to decrease as a function of the coefficient estimated in the previous path step. This provides sparse diminishing-bias regularization at no extra cost over the fastest lasso algorithms. Moreover, our gamma lasso implementation of POSE is accompani...
Atomic Physics and Quantum Electrodynamics in the Infinite Momentum Frame

Over the past few years it has been shown that the use of an “infinite momentum” Lorentz frame1 has remarkable advantages for calculations in elementary particle physics and field theory, especially in the areas of current algebra sum rules,2 parton models, 3,4 and eikonal scattering.5,6 One important advantage is that it allows a straightforward application of the impulse and incoherence approximations familiar in nonrelativistic atomic and nuclear physics to relativistic field theory and bound state problems.
Structural Change in U.S. Consumer Response to Food Safety Recalls

This study presents evidence of a structural change in consumer behavior to recalls of ground beef made by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) after the December 2003 announcement confirming the discovery of a dairy cow infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States. A conditional, fixed-effects logit model was estimated using household-level data of biweekly fresh ground beef purchases from 1999 through 2005. The household consumption data were matched with ground beef recall data from FSIS over the same period. The results of the estimation indicate that while recalls of ground beef do not have a measurable impact on the probability of a household purchasing ground beef in a given two week period prior to the BSE event, there is a statistically significant and negative effect after the event. The findings from this research suggest a longer-term impact on consumer demand not previously detected by other studies.
Bank Monitoring and Investment: Evidence from the Changing Structure of Japanese Corporate Banking Relationships

During this decade the structure of corporate finance in Japan has changed dramatically. Japanese firms that once used bank debt as their prime source of financing now rely more heavily on the public capital markets. This trend was facilitated by the substantial deregulation of the Japanese capital markets. In an earlier paper (Moshi, Kashyap, and Scharfstein 1988). we demonstrated that investment by firms with close bank relationships appears to be less liquidity constrained than investment by firms without close bank ties. We interpreted this finding as evidence that bank ties tend to mitigate information problems in the capital market. This paper tracks the investment behavior of firms that have recently weakened their bank ties in favor of greater reliance on the bond market. The results suggest that these firms are now more liquidity constrained. The paper concludes with a discussion of why firms would loosen their bank ties in light of these liquidity costs.
DO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS LEAD TO BIGGER OR SMALLER GOVERNMENTS? – THEORY AND EVIDENCE IN U.S. STATE GOVERNMENTS

Government growth has been a long-standing research issue among public economists as well as an important concern of the general public. We investigate the impact of government IT investments on government growth. Drawing on the literature on public economics, political sciences, and IT value, we offer theoretical discussions and four mechanisms as to the relationship between IT investments and government expenditures, leading to propose the two competing hypotheses that IT investments either expand or shrink the amount of government expenditures. We test which prediction prevails in the context of U.S. state government with data on IT investments, state government finances, demography, and other institutional and socio-economical factors. The empirical investigations support the hypothesis that greater IT investments are associated with smaller state government size as a ratio to state gross domestic product.
Quasi 1 and 2d Dilute Bose Gas in Magnetic Traps: Existence of Off-Diagonal Order and Anomalous Quantum Fluctuations

Current magnetic traps can be made so anisotropic that dilute Bose gases confined in these traps will occupy the lowest quantum state in the tightly confining direction, while still in the Thomas-Fermi limit in the loosely confining direction. As a result, the trapped Bose gas behaves like a quasi one or two dimensional systems. Unlike the homogeneous case, quantum phase fluctuations do not destroy macroscopic off-diagonal order of trapped Bose gases in d≤2 because they are suppressed by the the trapping potential. In the dilute limit, quantum fluctuations increase, remain constant, and decrease with size for 3, 2, 1 d respectively. These behaviors are due to the combination of a finite gap and the universal spectrum of the collective mode.
Foreign Investment, Corporate Ownership, and Development: Are Firms in Emerging Markets Catching Up to the World Standard?

Abstract Economic development implies that the efficiency of firms in developing countries starts approaching that of firms from advanced economies. Various development policies have been pursued to achieve this convergence. We test for this convergence in two economies that represent alternative models of implementing market-oriented development policies: the Czech Republic and Russia. Using 1992–2000 panel data on virtually all medium and large industrial firms in each country and accounting for endogeneity of ownership, we find that foreign ownership markedly improved the efficiency of firms, whereas domestic private ownership did not; domestic firms are not catching up to the (world) efficiency standard given by foreign-owned firms. This is due in part to a slower growth of efficiency in domestic firms over time. However, foreigners' acquisitions of more efficient domestic firms are also contributing to the gap. Domestic firms closer to the frontier are not more likely to catch up than firms farther f...
Hop Optimization and Relay Node Selection in Multi-hop Wireless Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper we propose an efficient approach to determine the optimal hops for multi-hop ad hoc wireless networks. Based on the assumption that nodes use successive interference cancellation (SIC) and maximal ratio combining (MRC) to deal with mutual interference and to utilize all the received signal energy, we show that the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a node is determined only by the nodes before it, not the nodes after it, along a packet forwarding path. Based on this observation, we propose an iterative procedure to select the relay nodes and to calculate the path SINR as well as capacity of an arbitrary multi-hop packet forwarding path. The complexity of the algorithm is extremely low, and scaling well with network size. The algorithm is applicable in arbitrarily large networks. Its performance is demonstrated as desirable by simulations. The algorithm can be helpful in analyzing the performance of multi-hop wireless networks.
Modeling transmission line constraints in two-stage robust unit commitment problem

Integration of renewable energy sources and demand response poses new challenges to system operators as they increase the uncertainty of the power supply and demand. Recently, robust optimization techniques are applied to the unit commitment problem with uncertainty as an alternative to the stochastic programming approaches. However, it remains challenging to solve the robust unit commitment model with full transmission line constraints. In this paper, we propose novel acceleration techniques for solving two-stage robust unit commitment problem with consideration of full transmission line constraints. We use 1) the cutting-plane algorithm for the master problem, which dynamically includes critical transmission line constraints, and 2) column-generation methods, including the branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm and heuristic approaches, for the subproblems, which add only necessary transmission line dual variables on the fly. Computational results for the modified IEEE 118-bus system show that the combination of the cutting-plane algorithm and the heuristic column-generation approach greatly reduces the total solution time of the two-stage robust unit commitment problem.
Many-objective groundwater monitoring network design using bias-aware ensemble Kalman filtering, evolutionary optimization, and visual analytics

[1] This study contributes the Adaptive Strategies for Sampling in Space and Time (ASSIST) framework for improving long-term groundwater monitoring decisions across space and time while accounting for the influences of systematic model errors (or predictive bias). The new framework combines contaminant flow-and-transport modeling, bias-aware ensemble Kalman filtering (EnKF), many-objective evolutionary optimization, and visual analytics-based decision support. The ASSIST framework allows decision makers to forecast the value of investments in new observations for many objectives simultaneously. Information tradeoffs are evaluated using an EnKF to forecast plume transport in space and time in the presence of uncertain and biased model predictions that are conditioned on uncertain measurement data. This study demonstrates the ASSIST framework using a laboratory-based physical aquifer tracer experiment. In this initial demonstration, the position and frequency of tracer sampling was optimized to (1) minimize monitoring costs, (2) maximize the information provided to the EnKF, (3) minimize failures to detect the tracer, (4) maximize the detection of tracer fluxes, (5) minimize error in quantifying tracer mass, and (6) minimize error in quantifying the centroid of the tracer plume. Our results demonstrate that the forecasting, search, and visualization components of the ASSIST framework represent a significant advance for observation network design that has a strong potential to innovate our characterization, prediction, and management of groundwater systems.
An overview of real-time database systems

Traditionally, real-time systems manage their data (e.g. chamber temperature, aircraft locations) in application dependent structures. As real-time systems evolve, their applications become more complex and require access to more data. It thus becomes necessary to manage the data in a systematic and organized fashion. Database management systems provide tools for such organization, so in recent years there has been interest in “merging” database and real-time technology. The resulting integrated system, which provides database operations with real-time constraints is generally called a real-time database system (RTDBS) [1].
The effects of financial liberalization and new bank entry on market structure and competition in Turkey

Until 1980 Turkey's financial system was shaped to support state-oriented development. After the 1960s the financial system, dominated by commercial banks, became an instrument of planned industrialization. Turkey had an uncompetitive financial market and an inefficient banking system. Controlled interest rates, directed credit, high reserve requirements and other restrictions on financial intermediation, and restricted entry of new banks -plus the exit of many banks between 1960 and 1980- created a concentrated market dominated by banks owned by industrial groups with oversized branch networks and high overhead costs. Turkey since 1980 has seen a trend toward liberalization of its financial market. Reforms eliminated interest rate controls, eased the entry of new financial institutions, and allowed new types of instruments. Regulatory barriers were relaxed, attracting many banks (both Turkish and foreign) into the system, and Turkey's banking system became integrated with world markets. The author examines how reform has changed the system, focusing on Turkey's commercial retail banking market. He finds that: (1) Although reform reduced concentration in the industry, leading banks are still able to coordinate their pricing decisions overtly. High profitability appears to have resulted from the banks uncompetitive pricing rather their efficiency. Deregulation and liberalization should be continued and strengthened. (2) The entry of small-scale firms alone is not enough to increase competition, so new banks should probably not be expected to alter the market structure. (3) To promote competition will require addressing barriers to both entry and mobility. The main barrier to mobility seems to be the size of the large banks, which exerts a significant negative effect on competition. (4) Interbank rivalry among the leading banks cannot be facilitated without creating new banks of a certain size with a reasonable number of branches. Breaking up public banks (which hold 30 percent of sectional assets, excluding the Agricultural Bank and three development banks) could help create 15 to 20 new banks with 40 to 50 branches. This would reduce concentration and improve mobility in retail banking. (5) Breaking up public banks before privatization would probably also improve their governance structures and efficiency. (6) Promoting the entry of nonbanks and local banks would also increase the number of institutions competing for deposits. Turkey lacks a healthy variety of credit institutions and should consider developing a mortgage market and creating institutions for housing finance.
Acceleration of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays: Cosmic Zevatrons?

In this lecture I outline some of the underlying physics issues associated with accelerators plausibly capable of explaining the UHECRs up to ZeV energies. I concentrate on the mechanisms and their constraints, but provide a brief background on observations and the constraints they supply, as well.
Adaptive Finite Element Methods with Inexact Solvers for the Nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann Equation

In this article we study adaptive finite element methods (AFEM) with inexact solvers for a class of semilinear elliptic interface problems.We are particularly interested in nonlinear problems with discontinuous diffusion coefficients, such as the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation and its regularizations. The algorithm we study consists of the standard SOLVE-ESTIMATE-MARK-REFINE procedure common to many adaptive finite element algorithms, but where the SOLVE step involves only a full solve on the coarsest level, and the remaining levels involve only single Newton updates to the previous approximate solution.
Upcoming numerical linear algebra issues in systems and control theory

We discuss a number of novel issues in the interdisciplinary area of numerical linear algebra and systems and control theory. Although we do not claim to be exhaustive we give a number of “upcoming issues” which we believe will play an important role in the near future. These are: sparse matrices, structured matrices, novel matrix decompositions and numerical shortcuts. Each of those is presented in relation to a particular (class of) control problems. These are respectively: large scale control systems, polynomial system models, control of periodic systems, and normalized coprime factorizations in robust control.
Spectroscopy Results from BABAR

This paper intends to briefly summarize the recent results in Spectroscopy, published by the BABAR Collaboration. The BABAR experiment was a B-factory, at SLAC, where asymmetric energy beams of electron-positron were accelerated and collided at the energy in the center of mass of Υ(4S). In 9 years of data taking BABAR collected 433 fb−1 equivalent luminosity on-peak-data at the Υ(4S) energy, 30 fb−1 data at the Υ(3S) energy, 15 fb−1 data at the Υ(2S) energy, and a scan about Υ(4S) was done, collecting 25 pb−1 every 5 MeV. Thanks to the high luminosity achieved, it is possible to perform high precision measurements, and spectroscopy studies. An update on the measurement of the X(3872) using the entire available dataset will be given, and the new results on the decay X(3872) → J/ψω are shown. A short overview of the results on X, Y particle studies from B decays at BABAR is given. Recent preliminary results on the D states are summarized: precise measurements of mass and width are provided in this case. As conclusion, new analysis on bottomonium decays are presented.
EU Enlargement and the New Goods Margin in Austrian Trade

Using the methodology developed in Kehoe and Ruhl (2013), I measure the change in the extensive, or new goods, margin of trade between Austria and the ten new entrants to the European Union in 2004. On average, the new goods account for 42% of the bilateral trade flow after enlargement. A time series measure shows growth in the new goods margin coincides with the 2004 enlargement, which provides evidence on the importance of the role played by the new goods margin in the growth in trade following a trade liberalization.
How Do Two Observers Pool Their Knowledge About a Quantum System

In the theory of classical statistical inference one can derive a simple rule by which two or more observers may combine independently obtained states of knowledge together to form a new state of knowledge, which is the state which would be possessed by someone having the combined information of both observers. Moreover, this combined state of knowledge can be found without reference to the manner in which the respective observers obtained their information. However, we show that in general this is not possible for quantum states of knowledge; in order to combine two quantum states of knowledge to obtain the state resulting from the combined information of both observers, these observers must also possess information about how their respective states of knowledge were obtained. Nevertheless, we emphasize this does not preclude the possibility that a unique, well motivated rule for combining quantum states of knowledge without reference to a measurement history could be found. We examine both the direct quantum analog of the classical problem, and that of quantum state-estimation, which corresponds to a variant in which the observers share a specific kind of prior information. PACS: 03.67.-a, 02.50.-r, 03.65.Bz
The Short-Term Impact of Higher Food Prices on Poverty in Uganda

World prices for staple foods increased between 2006 and 2008, and accelerated sharply in 2008. Initial analysis indicated that the adverse effects of higher food prices in Uganda were likely to be small because of the diversity of its staple foods, high level of food self-sufficiency, and weak links with world markets. This paper extends the previous analyses, disaggregating by regions and individual food items, using more recent price data, and estimating the impact on consumption poverty. The analysis finds that poor households in Uganda tend to be net buyers of food staples, and therefore suffer welfare losses when food prices increase. This is most pronounced in urban areas, but holds true for most rural households as well. The diversity of staple foods has not been an effective buffer because of price increases across a range of staple foods. The paper estimates that both the incidence and depth of poverty have increased -- at least in the short run -- as a result of higher food prices in 2008, increasing by 2.6 and 2.2 percentage points, respectively. The increase in poverty is highest in the Northern region, which is already the poorest in Uganda. The need for mitigating social protection measures appears to be greater than previously recognized. Not only are the negative impacts larger, but they are also much more widespread geographically. This suggests the need for continued close monitoring of the situation, including monitoring the adequacy of existing safety nets and feeding programs.
A note on the random greedy independent set algorithm

Let r be a fixed constant and let H be an r-uniform, D-regular hypergraph on N vertices. Assume further that D>Nϵ for some ϵ>0. Consider the random greedy algorithm for forming an independent set in H. An independent set is chosen at random by iteratively choosing vertices at random to be in the independent set. At each step we chose a vertex uniformly at random from the collection of vertices that could be added to the independent set (i.e. the collection of vertices v with the property that v is not in the current independent set I and I∪{v} contains no edge in H). Note that this process terminates at a maximal subset of vertices with the property that this set contains no edge of H; that is, the process terminates at a maximal independent set. We prove that if H satisfies certain degree and codegree conditions then there are Ω(N·((logN)/D)1r−1) vertices in the independent set produced by the random greedy algorithm with high probability. This result generalizes a lower bound on the number of steps in the H-free process due to Bohman and Keevash and produces objects of interest in additive combinatorics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 49, 479–502, 2016
Nickel-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reductive Cross-Coupling between Heteroaryl Iodides and α-Chloronitriles

A Ni-catalyzed asymmetric reductive cross-coupling of heteroaryl iodides and α-chloronitriles has been developed. This method furnishes enantioenriched α,α-disubstituted nitriles from simple organohalide building blocks. The reaction tolerates a variety of heterocyclic coupling partners, including pyridines, pyrimidines, quinolines, thiophenes, and piperidines. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions at room temperature and precludes the need to pregenerate organometallic nucleophiles.
MiBoard: A digital game from a physical world

Increasing user engagement is constant challenge for Intelligent Tutoring Systems researchers. A current trend in the ITS field is to increase engagement of proven learning systems by integrating them within games, or adding in game like components. Incorporating proven learning methods within a game based environment is expected to add to the overall experience without detracting from the original goals, however, the current study demonstrates two important issues with regard to ITS design. First, effective designs from the physical world do not always translate into the digital world. Second, games do not necessarily improve engagement, and in some cases, they may have the opposite effect. The current study discusses the development and a brief assessment of MiBoard a multiplayer collaborative online board game designed to closely emulate a previously developed physical board game, iSTART: The Board Game.
Iterative relational classification through three–state epidemic dynamics

Relational classification in networked data plays an important role in many problems such as text categorization, classification of web pages, group finding in peer networks, etc. We have previously demonstrated that for a class of label propagating algorithms the underlying dynamics can be modeled as a two-state epidemic process on heterogeneous networks, where infected nodes correspond to classified data instances. We have also suggested a binary classification algorithm that utilizes non–trivial characteristics of epidemic dynamics. In this paper we extend our previous work by considering a three–state epidemic model for label propagation. Specifically, we introduce a new, intermediate state that corresponds to “susceptible” data instances. The utility of the added state is that it allows to control the rates of epidemic spreading, hence making the algorithm more flexible. We show empirically that this extension improves significantly the performance of the algorithm. In particular, we demonstrate that the new algorithm achieves good classification accuracy even for relatively large overlap across the classes.
Irreducible canonical representations in positive characteristic

For X a curve over a field of positive characteristic, we investigate when the canonical representation of Aut(X) on H 0 (X,Ω X) is irreducible. Any curve with an irreducible canonical representation must either be superspecial or ordinary. Having a small automorphism group is an obstruction to having irreducible canonical representation; with this motivation, the bulk of the paper is spent bounding the size of automorphism groups of superspecial and ordinary curves. After proving that all automorphisms of an F q 2 ‐maximal curve are defined over F q 2 , we find all superspecial curves with g>8 2 having an irreducible representation. In the ordinary case, we provide a bound on the size of the automorphism group of an ordinary curve that improves on a result of Nakajima.
American Depositary Receipts (ADR) holdings of U.S. based emerging market funds

The benefits of cross-listing for a foreign issuer are extensively documented in the literature, however it is not clear what motivates investors to hold American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) rather than the underlying stock of these issuers. We analyze the investment allocation decision of mutual fund managers to invest in emerging market firms that are listed in their domestic markets and have also issued ADRs in the U.S. Although legal provisions are typically assumed to affect ADRs and their underlying domestic shares equally, investors holding ADRs may have a higher level of legal protection as these securities are issued and traded in the U.S. We find that ADRs are the preferred mode of holdings if the local market of the issuer has weak investor protection, low liquidity and high transaction costs, and if the firm is small and has limited analyst following. We also find that not all ADR listings are associated with low liquidity in the underlying security. In fact, firms with strong liquidity for their underlying security are likely to be held via their underlying security rather than the ADRs. This suggests that ADR listings of local firms might not negatively impact local markets if the investment climate is good.
Introduction to String Theories

The basic ideas involved in the construction of string theories are discussed, with emphasis on their geometrical and topological properties. Both the supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric theories are considered. String theories are similar to general relativity in many respects, and these connections are discussed.
Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light Influences Criminal Activity

Abstract We exploit daylight saving time (DST) as an exogenous shock to daylight, using both the discontinuous nature of the policy and the 2007 extension of DST, to consider the impact of light on criminal activity. Regression discontinuity estimates show a 7% decrease in robberies following the shift to DST. As expected, effects are largest during the hours directly affected by the shift in daylight. We discuss our findings within the context of criminal decision making and labor supply, and estimate that the 2007 DST extension resulted in $59 million in annual social cost savings from avoided robberies.
Volumes of hyperbolic manifolds and mixed Tate motives

Two different constructions of an invariant of an odd dimensional hyperbolic manifold in the K-group $K_{2n-1}(\bar \Bbb Q)\otimes \Bbb Q$ are given. The volume of the manifold is equal to the value of the Borel regulator on that element. The scissor congruence groups in non euclidian geometries are studied and their relationship with algebraic K-theory of the field of complex numbers is discussed.