cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fire, A Test Bed for ARIES-RS/AT Advanced Physics and Plasma Technology

The overall vision for FIRE is to develop and test the fusion plasma physics and plasma technologies needed to realize capabilities of the ARIES-RS/AT power plant designs. The mission of FIRE is to attain, explore, understand and optimize a fusion dominated plasma which would be satisfied by producing DT fusion plasmas with nominal fusion gains {approx}10, self-driven currents of {approx}80%, fusion power {approx} 150 - 300 MW and pulse lengths up to 40 s. Achieving these goals will require the deployment of several key fusion technologies under conditions approaching those of ARIES-RS/AT. The FIRE plasma configuration with strong plasma shaping, a double null pumped divertor and all metal plasma facing components is a 40% scale model of the ARIES-RS/AT plasma configuration. 'Steady-state' advanced tokamak modes in FIRE with high {beta}, high bootstrap fraction and 100% non-inductive current drive are suitable for testing the physics of the ARIES-RS/AT operating modes. The development of techniques to handle power plant relevant exhaust power while maintaining low tritium inventory is a major objective for a burning plasma experiment. The FIRE H-modes and AT-modes result in fusion power densities from 3 - 10 MWm{sup -3} and neutron wall loading from 2 - 4 MW m{supmore » -2} which are at the levels expected from the ARIES-RS/AT design studies.« less
Diffusion approximations to the chemical master equation only have a consistent stochastic thermodynamics at chemical equilibrium

The stochastic thermodynamics of a dilute, well-stirred mixture of chemically reacting species is built on the stochastic trajectories of reaction events obtained from the chemical master equation. However, when the molecular populations are large, the discrete chemical master equation can be approximated with a continuous diffusion process, like the chemical Langevin equation or low noise approximation. In this paper, we investigate to what extent these diffusion approximations inherit the stochastic thermodynamics of the chemical master equation. We find that a stochastic-thermodynamic description is only valid at a detailed-balanced, equilibrium steady state. Away from equilibrium, where there is no consistent stochastic thermodynamics, we show that one can still use the diffusive solutions to approximate the underlying thermodynamics of the chemical master equation.
Making sense of loss: Situating the Mumbai attacks of 26/11 in the context of altruistic suicide homicide

A peculiar irony characterizes the perception of global terrorism—in the strong penchant to flavor it with ethno or religious centric biases or in the disavowal of any auxiliary circumstance leading up to the sporadic incidence of violence. This paper analyzes the Mumbai attacks of November 26 th , 2009 from the context of altruistic suicide/homicide. The waging of war against anonymous targets in Mumbai was by all means impersonal. It could be connected to an aftermath of several factors: Kashmir, homegrown terrorism, backlash of sectarian groups or yet another manifestation of already hostile Indo-Pak relationships. The spectacle of terror that was life telecast by national and global media led to a sequel of reactions including a follow-up of Indo-Pak mutual accusations, evoking of national sentiments and analytical ruptures in south Asian intelligentsia in making sense of the loss. This paper situates the Mumbai attacks of 26/11 in the theoretical discourse on sociology of terrorism by (i) providing a scholastic definition of terrorism and its corresponding attributes that distinguishes terrorism from other sporadic acts of violence, (ii) reflects on the context of terrorism with reference to altruism as in the classical Durkhiemian tradition and (iii) analytically moves beyond the classical paradigm to redefine the terror trails of 26/11 within the emerging definitions of altruistic-suicide-homicide.
When locally repairable codes meet regenerating codes — What if some helpers are unavailable

Locally rapairable codes (LRCs) are ingeniously designed distributed storage codes with a (usually small) bounded number of helper nodes participating in repair. Since most existing LRCs assume exact repair and allow full exchange of the stored data (β = α), they can be viewed as a generalization of the traditional erasure codes (ECs) with a much desired feature of local repair. However, it also means that they lack the features of functional repair and partial information-exchange (β < α) in the original regenerating codes (RCs). Motivated by the significant bandwidth (BW) reduction of RCs over ECs, existing works by Ahmad et al and by Hollmann studied “locally repairable regenerating codes (LRRCs)” that simultaneously admit all three features: local repair, partial information-exchange, and functional repair. Significant BW reduction was observed. One important issue for any local repair schemes (including both LRCs and LRRCs) is that sometimes designated helper nodes may be temporarily unavailable, the result of multiple failures, degraded reads, or other network dynamics. Under the setting of LRRCs with temporary node unavailability, this work studies the impact of different helper selection methods. It proves, for the first time in the literature, that with node unavailability, all existing methods of helper selection, including those used in RCs and LRCs, are strictly repair-BW suboptimal. For some scenarios, it is necessary to combine LRRCs with a new helper selection method, termed dynamic helper selection, to achieve optimal BW. This work also compares the performance of different helper selection methods and answers the following fundamental question: whether one method of helper selection is intrinsically better than the other? for various different scenarios.
The Railroad Crossing Problem: An Experiment with Instantaneous Actions and Immediate Reactions

We give an evolving algebra solution for the well-known railroad crossing problem and use the occasion to experiment with agents that perform instantaneous actions in continuous time and in particular with agents that fire at the moment they are enabled.
Quantized vortex filaments in incompressible fluids

Among the solutions A/sub t/(x) to the Euler equations for a classical incompressible fluid are those describing vortex filaments. Here we discuss quantum analogues of such solutions in 2 and 3 dimensions.
Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management: Support of the space exploration initiative

The principal challenges in providing effective deep space navigation, telecommunications, and information management architectures and designs for Mars exploration support are presented. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with the means to monitor and control mission elements, obtain science, navigation, and engineering data, compute state vectors and navigate, and to move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision making. New requirements are summarized, and related issues and challenges including the robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, are identified. Enabling strategies are discussed, and candidate architectures and driving technologies are described.
High-temperature Superconductivity—Magnetic Mechanisms

A brief history is offered concerning the relation of magnetism to superconductivity, and the possibility that magnetic correlations are responsible for certain types of superconductors. A central focus is on high temperature cuprate superconductivity and the important question of whether its d-wave pairing is caused by antiferromagnetic or singlet correlations. Connected with this question is the much debated relation of the pseudogap phase to the superconducting phase, and whether lattice degrees of freedom are relevant or not.
Supercuspidal representations: An exhaustion theorem

Let be a reductive -adic group. We prove that all supercuspidal representations of arise through Yu's construction subject to certain hypotheses on (depending on ). As a corollary, under the same hypotheses, we see that any supercuspidal representation is compactly induced from a representation of an open subgroup which is compact modulo the center
Topological Organization of (Low-Dimensional) Chaos

Recent progress toward classifying low-dimensional chaos measured from time series data is described. This classification theory assigns a template to the time series once the time series is embedded in three dimensions. The template describes the primary folding and stretching mechanisms of phase space responsible for the chaotic motion. Topological invariants of the unstable periodic orbits in the closure of the strange set are calculated from the (reconstructed) template. These topological invariants must be consistent with any model put forth to describe the time series data, and are useful in invalidating (or gaining confidence in) any model intended to describe the dynamical system generating the time series.
A formal framework for speedup learning from problems and solutions

Speedup learning seeks to improve the computational efficiency of problem solving with experience. In this paper, we develop a formal framework for learning efficient problem solving from random problems and their solutions. We apply this framework to two different representations of learned knowledge, namely control rules and macro-operators, and prove theorems that identify sufficient conditions for learning in each representation. Our proofs are constructive in that they are accompanied with learning algorithms. Our framework captures both empirical and explanation-based speedup learning in a unified fashion. We illustrate our framework with implementations in two domains: symbolic integration and Eight Puzzle. This work integrates many strands of experimental and theoretical work in machine learning, including empirical learning of control rules, macro-operator learning, Explanation-Based Learning (EBL), and Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) Learning.
Don’t like the picture? Change the frame: the impact of cognitive ability and framing on risky choice

This article identifies the effect a perceived upfront cost (UFC) has on the subsequent risky choice of older Americans with varying levels of cognitive ability. When respondents are faced with outcome alternatives framed with and without a UFC, we observe variation in respondents’ required outcomes based on the order in which the two frames are presented. We provide evidence that among respondents with lower cognitive ability, losses need not be realized to affect subsequent risky choice, and that a UFC lowers the willingness to take risk in a future period.
Selective sampling of training data for speech recognition

Speech recognition systems are expensive to train, mostly due to the high cost of annotating training data. We previously proposed an iterative training selection algorithm [1], which sought to improve speech recognition by automatically selecting a subset of the available humanly transcribed training data, thereby improving error rates without incurring additional transcription cost. We suggest one improvement to that "selective sampling" algorithm and show that we are able to reduce the error rate on a particular alphadigit recognition problem from 10.3% to 9.5%. We then extend the iterative training selection algorithm to work with untranscribed speech, guiding selection of speech that is then transcribed. We show, on a particular alphadigit recognition problem, that it is possible to match the baseline error rate while only incurring 25% of the transcription cost.
The sharp Hausdorff measure condition for length of projections

In a recent paper, Pertti Mattila asked which gauge functions ' have the property that for any Borel set AR 2 with Hausdorff measure H ' (A) > 0, the projection of A to almost every line has positive length. We show that finiteness of R 1 0 '(r) r2 dr, which is known to be sufficient for this property, is also necessary for regularly varying '. Our proof is based on a random construction adapted to the gauge function.
Video over Software-Defined Networking (VSDN)

Supporting end-to-end quality of service (QoS) for real-time interactive video applications, such as video conferencing and distance learning, requires the network to select an optimum path from among multiple paths. Multiple network paths may be available between the source and the destination, but finding an alternative path is difficult because of the high coupling and complex design of the network. Network architectures such as Integrated Services (IntServ) install the path selected by the routing protocol, which may not deliver best-case performance. Furthermore, it is an arduous task for the video application developer to request service from IntServ.We provide three contributions to the literature on providing end-to-end QoS for real-time interactive video applications. First, we present Video over Software-Defined Networking (VSDN), a network architecture that selects the optimum path using a network-wide view. Second, we describe the VSDN protocol that is used by the developer to request QoS from the network. Finally, we present the results of implementing a VSDN prototype and evaluate the behavior of VSDN using message complexity, network throughput, network delay, and network jitter. The message complexity of VSDN is linear.
Probability and asset updating using Bayesian networks for combinatorial prediction markets

A market-maker-based prediction market lets forecasters aggregate information by editing a consensus probability distribution either directly or by trading securities that pay off contingent on an event of interest. Combinatorial prediction markets allow trading on any event that can be specified as a combination of a base set of events. However, explicitly representing the full joint distribution is infeasible for markets with more than a few base events. A factored representation such as a Bayesian network (BN) can achieve tractable computation for problems with many related variables. Standard BN inference algorithms, such as the junction tree algorithm, can be used to update a representation of the entire joint distribution given a change to any local conditional probability. However, in order to let traders reuse assets from prior trades while never allowing assets to become negative, a BN based prediction market also needs to update a representation of each user's assets and find the conditional state in which a user has minimum assets. Users also find it useful to see their expected assets given an edit outcome. We show how to generalize the junction tree algorithm to perform all these computations.
Does uncertainty matter ? A stochastic dynamic analysis of bankable emission permit trading for global climate change policy

Emission permit trading is a centerpiece of the Kyoto Protocol which allows participating nations to trade and bank greenhouse gas permits under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. When market conditions evolve stochastically, emission trading produces a dynamic problem, in which anticipation about the future economic environment affects current banking decisions. In this paper, the author explores the effect of increased uncertainty over future output prices and input costs on the temporal distribution of emissions. In a dynamic programming setting, a permit price is a convex function of stochastic prices of electricity and fuel. Increased uncertainty about future market conditions increases the expected permit price and causes a risk-neutral firm to reduce ex ante emissions so as to smooth out marginal abatement costs over time. The convexity results from the asymmetric impact of changes in counterfactual emissions on the change of marginal abatement costs. Empirical analysis corroborates the theoretical prediction. The author finds that a 1 percent increase in electricity price volatility measured by the annualized standard deviation of percentage price change is associated with an average decrease in the annual emission rate by 0.88 percent. Numerical simulation suggests that high uncertainty could induce substantially early abatements, as well as large compliance costs, therefore imposing a tradeoff between environmental benefits and economic efficiency. The author discusses policy implications for designing an effective and efficient global carbon market.
The impact of economic shocks on global undernourishment

This paper estimates the impact of the 2008 food price spike and the 2009 contraction in global growth on undernourishment rates. The analysis is based on a methodology that uses a calorie-income relationship and income distribution data. The authors find that the 2008 global food price spike may have increased global undernourishment by about 6.8 percent, or 63 million people. Moreover, they show that the sharp slowdown in global growth in 2009 could have contributed to 41 million more undernourished people compared with what would have happened if the economic crisis had not occurred.
Topics in Cosmology and Particle Physics

In these three lectures, I will review some of the major topics which concern both particle physics and cosmology. In the first lecture, I will give a general overview of the standard cosmological Big Bang model and briefly go over Big Bang nucleosynthesis as well as Big Bang baryosynthesis. In the second lecture, I will review the inflationary model with particular emphasis on supersymmetry. In the final lecture I will discuss the dark matter problems which confront cosmology today and their demands on elementary particle physics.
THE FETAL AND NEONATAL DEVELOPMENT OF TWINS.

The current study presents prenatal data on body, organ and placental development of monovular and diovulvar twins. Most twin measurements match mean values for single gestations through the 24th gestational week. Subsequently, growth of body and organs is not as rapid in twins as in single-born infants. Most measurements for dizygotic twins are greater than measurements for monozygotic twins at equivalent stages of gestation. Finally, a marked intrapair discordance in many body and organ measurements was found in a group of monochorionic twins with a maternal history of hydramnios. This discordance was related to the cross placental transfusion syndrome. The growth retardation evident in a group of 26 twins at birth largely disappeared by the end of the first postnatal year.
CATA meets IMPOV: a unified approach to measuring financial protection in health

Up to now catastrophic and impoverishing payments have been seen as two alternative approaches to measuring financial protection in health. Building on the previous literature, the authors propose a unified methodology in which impoverishing and catastrophic payments are mutually exclusive outcomes. They achieve this by expressing out-of-pocket payments as a ratio of 'discretionary' consumption, defined as the amount by which total consumption (gross of out-of-pocket payments) exceeds the poverty line. This allows the authors to identify both households who are impoverished by out-of-pocket payments (their ratio exceeds one) and households who are pushed even further into poverty by out-of-pocket payments (their ratio is negative); the authors call such payments 'immiserizing'. Households experiencing 'catastrophic' payments are a subset of those who incur out-of-pocket payments but who are neither impoverished nor immiserized by them. Two alternative definitions of catastrophic payments are offered: those that absorb more than a pre-specified fraction of discretionary consumption; and those that leave a household's nonmedical consumption (total consumption net of out-of-pocket spending) below a pre-specified multiple of the poverty line. The authors also offer a simple financial protection index that reflects the percentages of households incurring immiserizing, impoverishing, catastrophic, non-catastrophic, and zero out-of-pocket payments. They illustrate their unified approach with data from the World Health Survey, using international poverty lines and a catastrophic payment threshold of 40 percent.
Nonlocal elliptic equations in bounded domains: a survey

In this paper we survey some results on the Dirichlet problem ( Lu = f in u = g in R n n for nonlocal operators of the form Lu(x) = PV Z Rn u(x) u(x + y) K(y)dy: We start from the very basics, proving existence of solutions, maximum principles, and constructing some useful barriers. Then, we focus on the regularity properties of solutions, both in the interior and on the boundary of the domain. In order to include some natural operators L in the regularity theory, we do not assume any regularity on the kernels. This leads to some interesting features that are purely nonlocal, in the sense that they have no analogue for local equations. We hope that this survey will be useful for both novel and more experienced researchers in the eld. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classication: 47G20, 60G52, 35B65.
Applications of quotient posets

In this paper we consider the characteristic polynomials of not necessarily ranked posets. We do so by allowing the rank to be an arbitrary function from the poset to the nonnegative integers. We will prove two results showing that the characteristic polynomial of a poset has nonnegative integral roots. Our factorization theorems will then be used to show that any interval of a crosscut-simplicial lattice has a characteristic polynomial which factors in this way. Blass and Sagan's result about LL lattices will also be shown to be a consequence of our factorization theorems.
Convolution Structures and Arithmetic Cohomology

Convolution structures are group-like objects that were extensively studied by harmonic analysts. We use them to define H0 and H1 for Arakelov divisors over number fields. We prove the analogs of the Riemann–Roch and Serre duality theorems. This brings more structure to the works of Tate and van der Geer and Schoof. The H1 is defined by a procedure very similar to the usual Ĉech cohomology. Serre′s duality becomes Pontryagin duality of convolution structures. The whole theory is parallel to the geometric case.
Electromechanical actuation for thrust vector control applications

The advanced launch system (ALS), is a launch vehicle that is designed to be cost-effective, highly reliable, and operationally efficient with a goal of reducing the cost per pound to orbit. An electromechanical actuation (EMA) system is being developed as an attractive alternative to the hydraulic systems. The controller will integrate 20 kHz resonant link power management and distribution (PMAD) technology and pulse population modulation (PPM) techniques to implement field-oriented vector control (FOVC) of a new advanced induction motor. The driver and the FOVC will be microprocessor controlled. For increased system reliability a built-in test (BITE) capability will be included. This involves introducing testability into the design of a system such that testing is calibrated and exercised during the design, manufacturing, maintenance, and prelaunch activities. An actuator will be integrated with the motor controller for performance testing of the EMA thrust vector control (TVC) system. The EMA system and work proposed for the future are discussed. >
Federal Politics and Budget Deficits: Evidence from the States of India

This paper tests two predictions implied by models of the common-pool game in federations where subnational governments are more likely to have higher deficits because they do not internalize the macroeconomic effects of fiscal profligacy. The first is that subnational governments that belong to the same political party as the central government have lower spending and deficits because they are more likely to be influenced to internalize the macroeconomic effects of additional local spending; and the second is that subnational governments that are more dependent on intergovernmental transfers have higher spending and deficits. We find that in 15 major states of India over the period 1972-1995, states in fact have substantially higher spending and deficits (higher by about 10 percent of the sample average) when their government belongs to the same party as that governing at the center; and that intergovernmental grants tend to have a counter-intuitive negative effect on spending and deficits. The additional deficit of affiliated states is financed almost entirely by additional loans from the central government (as opposed to the market) leading to our interpretation that similar political considerations influence the distribution of deficits across states as they do other intergovernmental grants. We argue that the evidence from India, contrasted with broader international evidence, indicates that the effect of fiscal institutions in a federation is sensitive to underlying political incentives. This underscores the overall importance of political institutions in determining the consolidated government deficit, relative to specific rules of intergovernmental transfers.
Government Spending Multipliers in Good Times and in Bad: Evidence from U.S. Historical Data

This paper investigates whether U.S. government spending multipliers differ according to two potentially important features of the economy: (1) the amount of slack and (2) whether interest rates are near the zero lower bound. We shed light on these questions by analyzing new quarterly historical U.S. data covering multiple large wars and deep recessions. We estimate a state-dependent model in which impulse responses and multipliers depend on the average dynamics of the economy in each state. We find no evidence that multipliers differ by the amount of slack in the economy. These results are robust to many alternative specifications. The results are less clear for the zero lower bound. For the entire sample, there is no evidence of elevated multipliers near the zero lower bound. When World War II is excluded, some point estimates suggest higher multipliers during the zero lower bound state, but they are not statistically different from the normal state. Our results imply that, contrary to recent conjecture, government spending multipliers were not necessarily higher than average during the Great Recession.
Geometry of graph varieties

First published in Transactions of the American Mathematical Society in volume 355 (2003), 4151--4169, published by the American Mathematical Society.
The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida

Book Review: The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida, Walter E. Meshaka, Jr., Brian P. Butterfield, J. Brian Hauge. Krieger Publishing, Co., Malabar, FL (2004).
Green Growth : an exploratory review

The concept of "Green Growth" is a focus of much interest and considerable debate among decision makers concerned with enhancing both nearer-term economic progress and longer-term environmental sustainability. Proponents of Green Growth emphasize not only the need to protect various forms of natural capital to sustain improvements in material living standards and poverty reduction, but also the potential for strategically crafted environmental policies to achieve sustainability at low cost, perhaps even to help stimulate growth. However, there has been so far relatively little exploration of the analytical underpinnings of Green Growth, or its ambiguities. An exploratory investigation of the goals and underlying assumptions embedded in various conceptions of Green Growth facilitates consideration of how they might be interpreted vis-?-vis standard principles of intertemporal economic efficiency, including the value of the environment. Several plausible potential channels are identified for how synergy between economic growth and environmental sustainability might be more extensive than implied by standard economic theory. However, it is not possible to address their practical significance without more empirical research than is currently available. Consequently, some claims of substantial win-win opportunities between growth and the environment may be premature.
Converses for distributed estimation via strong data processing inequalities

We consider the problem of distributed estimation, where local processors observe independent samples conditioned on a common random parameter of interest, map the observations to a finite number of bits, and send these bits to a remote estimator over independent noisy channels. We derive converse results for this problem, such as lower bounds on Bayes risk. The main technical tools include a lower bound on the Bayes risk via mutual information and small ball probability, as well as strong data processing inequalities for the relative entropy. Our results can recover and improve some existing results on distributed estimation with noiseless channels, and also capture the effect of noisy channels on the estimation performance.
Underlying Dimensions of Knowledge Assessment : Factor Analysis of the Knowledge Assessment Methodology Data

The Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) database measures variables that may be used to assess the readiness of countries for the knowledge economy and has many policy uses. Formal analysis using KAM data is faced with the problem of which variables to choose and why. Rather than make these decisions in an ad hoc manner, the authors recommend factor-analytic methods to distill the information contained in the many KAM variables into a smaller set offactors.Their main objective is to quantify the factors for each country, and to do so in a way that allows comparisons of the factor scores over time. The authors investigate both principal components as well as true factor analytic methods, and emphasize simple structures that help provide a clear political-economic meaning of the factors, but also allow comparisons over time.
Addressing Perceptions of Procedural Unfairness in Compulsory Unitization by Appointing Neutral Experts

Introduction 1802 I. Development of Compulsory Unitization 1806 A. The Geology of Oil and the Rule of Capture 1806 B. Regulatory Response: Conservation and Protection of Correlative Rights 1808 C. Unitization: “The Ultimate Conservation Tool” 1809 1. The importance of enhanced recovery and reliance on unitization 1810 2. Development of compulsory unitization and compulsory unitization proceedings 1811 II. Objections to Unitization and the Perception of Unfairness ..1814 A. Theoretical and Individualized Objections to Unitization 1814 B. Specific Objections to the Allocation Formula 1816 C. The Unitization Procedure: Inherent Disadvantages, Conflicting Experts, and Preeminence of Conservation Result in the Perception of Unfairness 1819
Sealed-off operation of stable CO lasers

Several watts of stable (Δf/f≤3×10−10) pure TEM00q‐mode output power was obtained from completely sealed‐off CO lasers at operating temperatures between +35 and −90°C. No deterioration of output powers has been seen after hundreds of hours of sealed‐off operation.
Carbon Ignition in Type Ia Supernovae: An Analytic Model

The observable properties of a Type Ia supernova are sensitive to how the nuclear runaway ignites in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf: at a single point at its center, off-center, or at multiple points and times. We present a simple analytic model for the runaway guided by a combination of stellar mixing-length theory and analogy to Rayleigh-Benard convection. The convective flow just prior to runaway is likely to have a strong dipolar component, although this dipole may be unstable at the very high Rayleigh number (1025) appropriate to the white dwarf core. A likely outcome is multipoint ignition with an exponentially increasing number of ignition points during the few tenths of a second that it takes the runaway to develop. The first sparks ignite approximately 150-200 km off-center, followed by ignition at smaller radii. Rotation may be important to break the dipole asymmetry of the ignition and give a healthy explosion.
Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?

Summary Empirical evidence of tangible impacts of social accountability initiatives is mixed. This meta-analysis reinterprets evaluations through a new lens: the distinction between tactical and strategic approaches to the promotion of citizen voice to contribute to improved public sector performance. Field experiments study bounded, tactical interventions based on optimistic assumptions about the power of information alone, both to motivate collective action and to influence the state. Enabling environments for collective action combined with bolstered state capacity to respond to citizen voice are more promising. Sandwich strategies can help ‘voice’ and ‘teeth’ to become mutually empowering, through state–society synergy.
Thiol Ester−Boronic Acid Cross-Coupling. Catalysis Using Alkylative Activation of the Palladium Thiolate Intermediate

Thiol esters and boronic acids do not participate in cross-coupling in the presence of palladium catalysts. However, efficient palladium-catalyzed thiol ester−boronic acid cross-coupling is observed when simple alkylating agents are present. Alkylative conversion of the very stable palladium−thiolate bond to a labile palladium−thioether bond is presumed to be crucial to the catalysis. Of the systems studied, 4-halo-n-butyl thiol esters were most effective in this cross-coupling.
A perturbation bound for definite pencils

Abstract We attempt to generalize a well-known result on spectral variations of a Hermitian matrix due to Mirsky to the definite generalized eigenvalue problem. We also point out that some results on perturbations of definite pencils due to Stewart can be slightly improved.
Nanostructured cobalt and manganese oxide clusters as efficient water oxidation catalysts

Recent development of new methods of preparing cobalt oxide and manganese oxide clusters has led to oxygen evolving catalysts that operate under mild conditions and modest overpotentials at rates approaching practical utility. Synthesis of nanostructured Co3O4 and Mn oxide clusters in mesoporous silica scaffolds affords catalysts with very high densities of surface metal sites per projected area, with the silica environment providing stability in terms of dispersion of the clusters and prevention of restructuring of catalytic surface sites. Stacking of the nanoclusters of these earth abundant, durable oxide catalysts in the scaffold results in turnover frequencies per projected area that are sufficient for keeping up with the photon flux at high solar intensity. Opportunities for expanding the metal oxide/silica interface approach to heterogeneous water oxidation catalysis to a more general approach for multi-electron catalyst designs based on core/shell constructs are discussed. The results are reviewed in the context of all-inorganic materials for catalytic water oxidation reported recently from other laboratories, in particular electrodeposits generated from Co phosphate solutions, a molecular water oxidation catalyst based on a polyoxotungstate featuring a Co oxide core, and Mn oxide materials with incorporated Ca ions.
Computer Analysis Of Holographic Interferograms For Nondestructive Testing

We have developed an automated technique for interferogram interpretation using a PDP-12 minicomputer, Cohu television camera and Hughes scan converter. A digitized image of the interferogram is stored on disc, and a small area is read into central memory. The fringe density in that region is estimated based on the number of peaks found in several line scans across the area under study. This calculation is repeated for successive small areas until a map of fringe density covering the entire part is compiled. If the fringe density map falls within an acceptance profile, the part is accepted. Experimental results demonstrate that this technique works well on interferograms having substantial variations in intensity and fringe contrast.
The system Na2O-CaO-SiO2-H2O

A portion of the quaternary phase diagram for Na2O-CaO-SiO2-H2O has been constructed. Plotting concentrations as their 10th roots allows compounds having solubilities which differ by several orders of magnitude to be represented on a single diagram. The compositional relationships among sodium-substituted calcium silicate hydrate, calcium-substituted sodium silicate hydrate, calcium bydroxide, a quaternary compound of approximate composition 0.25Na2O · CaO · SiO2· 3H2O, sodium hydroxide monohydrate, and miscellaneous sodium silicate hydrates are presented. The quaternary diagram constructed shows the quaternary compound to exist in equilibrium with sodium-substituted calcium silicate hydrate and calcium hydroxide. Conditions in concrete pore solutions which favor the formation of this quaternary compound may also favor the occurrence of the alkali-silica reaction.
Market efficiency and learning in an endogenously unstable environment

Abstract An informationally inefficiency market is produced without an exogenous source of noise in the price. Fundamental traders acquire private information directly through research. Regression traders employ a learning process to extract the private fundamental information from the public price. The relative popularity between these two strategies evolves based on performance. The model converges towards adoption of regression analysis to the point of creating instability, endogenously producing a noisy price. The lack of a revealing price in the coupled learning and population processes reflects the Grossman and Stiglitz (Amer. Econ. Rev. 70(3)(1980)393) impossibility of informationally efficient markets.
Robust Adaptive Control In Hilbert Space

Abstract Though great advances have been reported in the field of adaptive control in the past decade, some precise a priori structural information of the plant (at least the order) remains essential for most of the methods proposed. This is unsatisfactory in some applications because of the unmodeled dynamics, uncertain plant structure, and the noisy operating environment. In fact, for many high-performance control system designs, for example, control of large space structural systems, the distributed nature of the plant must be taken into account. These distributed parameter systems are frequently modelled by partial differential equations. Therefore, they must be analyzed in the appropriate infinite-dimensional state space. A particular approach, model reference adaptive control with command generator tracker concepts, adopts a set of assumptions that are not system dimension dependent. The method has been applied successfully to some finite-dimensional systems and shows promise for the infinite-dimensional state space generalization. This paper elevates the theory from the finite dimensions to the finite-dimensional Hilbert Space. The key obstacles for such a transition are noted. This then necessitates a modification of the adaptive control law. Under the modified scheme, the error signal is shown driven to a residue set asymptotically, the size of which depends on how close the nominal closed-loop plant is to positive realness. An added bonus is the robustness with respect to bounded state and output disturbances as well as model perturbation. All these properties are not true in general for the finite-dimensional control law. The example of damped beam equation is included to illustrate the techniques.
Holographic surface setting of the Sub-millimeter Array antennas

The holography program to measure and set the surfaces of the antennas of the Submillmeter Array (SMA) has been very successful, with the best antenna meeting the stringent 12 μm rms specification. The surfaces of the 6-meter diameter antennas of the 8 element array have been set to accuracies of 12-25 μm, and are under constant improvement. This allows efficient operation in the 660 GHz band, currently the highest frequency band of observations. The system used to make routine near-field holographic measurements at 232.4 GHz -- the primary method of obtaining surface error maps -- is now fully integrated into the SMA. The measurements are carried out remotely from Cambridge. A sequence of upto 4 rounds of measurements and adjustments is needed to achieve the design specification of 12 μm rms starting typically from 65 μm rms. The last sets of adjustments incorporate corrections for panel flexures, allowed by the 4 points of adjustment for most of the panels, and the high spatial resolution (~ 8 cm) of the surface error maps. Repeat measurements indicate a surface stability time scale of ~ 1 year including antenna transport between stations. Celestial holography to characterize gravitational deformations and careful efficiency measurements to validate the holographic measurements are in progress.
Making the Dividend Discount Model Relevant for Financial Analysts

The traditional dividend discount model (DDM) depends on dividend forecasts that are highly uncertain. The DDM can be restated in terms of projected abnormal earnings, however, which provide a much sounder basis for pricing equities. The author shows how the restated DDM can be programmed into a spreadsheet and used as a practical pricing tool by financial analysts. He uses the spreadsheet to demonstrate the behavior of a firm’s theoretical price-to-book ratio and P/E under various scenarios and illustrates the advantages of external equity financing when a firm has abnormally profitable business opportunities.
Dual Marching Cubes: Primal Contouring of Dual Grids

We present a method for contouring an implicit function using a grid topologically dual to structured grids such as octrees. By aligning the vertices of the dual grid with the features of the implicit function, we are able to reproduce thin features of the extracted surface without excessive subdivision required by methods such as Marching Cubes or Dual Contouring. Dual Marching Cubes produces a crack-free, adaptive polygonalization of the surface that reproduces sharp features. Our approach maintains the advantage of using structured grids for operations such as CSG while being able to conform to the relevant features of the implicit function yielding much sparser polygonalizations than has been possible using structured grids.
Astronomical Image Subtraction by Cross-Convolution

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of wide-field sky surveys to search for a variety of transient objects. Using relatively short focal lengths, the optics of these systems produce undersampled stellar images often marred by a variety of aberrations. As participants in such activities, we have developed a new algorithm for image subtraction that no longer requires high-quality reference images for comparison. The computational efficiency is comparable with similar procedures currently in use. The general technique is cross-convolution: two convolution kernels are generated to make a test image and a reference image separately transform to match as closely as possible. In analogy to the optimization technique for generating smoothing splines, the inclusion of an rms width penalty term constrains the diffusion of stellar images. In addition, by evaluating the convolution kernels on uniformly spaced subimages across the total area, these routines can accommodate point-spread functions that vary considerably across the focal plane.
3-Bromo-3-deazaneplanocin and 3-bromo-3-deazaaristeromycin: synthesis and antiviral activity.

Abstract As an outgrowth of our program to explore 3-deazaadenine carbocyclic nucleosides, 3-bromo-3-deazaneplanocin (5) and 3-bromo-3-deazaaristeromycin (6) have been synthesized from a readily available cyclopentenol and cyclopentanone and either 4-amino- or 4-chloro-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine (6-amino- or 6-chloro-3-deazaadenine) in 5 steps and 7 steps, respectively. Antiviral analysis found 5 to display significant activity towards a number of (−)-ssRNA and a few dsDNA viruses. Compound 6 was less active than 5 against selected examples of those viruses affected by 5.
Human Capital, Technical Change, and the Welfare State

I study the interactions between the distribution of human capital, technological choice, and redistributive institutions. I first ask what makes alternative social contracts such as a European-style “welfare state” and U.S.-style “laissez-faire” sustainable, and in particular how each is affected by skill-biased technical change. I then endogenize technological or organizational choice, and show that firms respond to greater human capital heterogeneity with more flexible technologies that further exacerbate wage equality. I then analyze the simultaneous determination of technology, income distribution, and redistributive institutions, and as well as spillovers between the social contracts of different countries. (JEL: D31, O33, J3, H10)
Compensation for effects of ambient temperature on rare-earth doped fiber optic thermometer

Variations in ambient temperature have a negative effect on the performance of any fiber optic sensing system. A change in ambient temperature may alter the design parameters of fiber optic cables, connectors, sources, detectors, and other fiber optic components and eventually the performance of the entire system. The thermal stability of components is especially important in a system which employs intensity modulated sensors. Several referencing schemes have been developed to account for the variable losses that occur within the system. However, none of these conventional compensating techniques can be used to stabilize the thermal drift of the light source in a system based on the spectral properties of the sensor material. The compensation for changes in ambient temperature becomes especially important in fiber optic thermometers doped with rare earths. Different approaches to solving this problem are searched and analyzed.
Applied Mathematics as Social Contract

The author takes the position that mathemat ical educat ion must red efine its goa ls so as to create a citi zen ry with suf fi ci ent knowled ge to prov ide soc ial ba ckpressure on Cuture mathematizations. This can be accomplished by increasing the part of mathemat ical education that is devote d to the descript ion and interpretation of the processes of mathematization and by all owing the technicalities of the Cormal operations within mathemat ics it self to be deemphas ized or automated out by computer. This Mathematized World As compared to the medieval world or the world of antiquity. today 's world is characterized as being scientific, technological, rational and mathem at ized. By -rationalI mean that by an application of reason or of the formalized ve raicns of reason found in ma thematics. one attempts to underst and the wor ld and control the world. By "mathema tized", ( sha ll mean the employment of mathematical ideas or constructs, either in their theoretical for m humans who. consciously or unconsciou sly. arc putting the mlthematizations int o place and who are affected by them. It is of vital import ance to give some or in computer manifestations, to organize. to describe, to regulate and to foster • • By adding the surrix -ized-. I want to emph:1Size that i t is ou r human act ivities. a ccount of mAthemAtics lIS II human in sti tutio n, to e r r iv e lit lin understandin a o f -2this basis to make recommendations for future mathematical education.
Cooperative light scattering from theta-pinch plasmas

Abstract The scattering of ruby-laser light at 6.25° by a 150-kJ θ-pinch plasma has been measured with a two-etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer. The spectrum shows an intense, narrow central peak, with broad wings whose width and magnitude correspond to the theoretically expected thermal ion feature.