cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Seeking Empirical Regularity and Theoretical Structure

AbstractIn the early 1990s the attention of economists was captured by empirical evidence suggesting that rising income levels in developing countries could be good rather than bad for the environm...
Cloud remote sensing from space in the era of the A-Train

The notion of the A-Train constellation of satellites is described. This constellation includes five satellites with EOS Aqua and EOS Aura at each end of the constellation and another small satellite, PARASOL, carrying the POLDER polarimeter inserted in the formation between the larger EOS spacecraft. This constellation also includes the CloudSat and CALIPSO spacecraft that were inserted into the Aqua orbit on April 28th, 2006. This newly formed constellation, together with the earlier NASA TRMM mission, represent a new age of remote sensing of clouds and precipitation in that we are now able to combine the observations of active radar and laser systems with passive radiometric observations. This paper reviews a few selected but commonly used remote sensing approaches for observing clouds and precipitation and highlights the potential of the new observing capabilities of the A-Train. It is also highlighted how this new era provides us with the opportunity to move away from present artificial practices of 'observing' and analyzing clouds and precipitation as separate entities toward a more unified approach to observe clouds and precipitation properties jointly.
Migration in the Asia-Pacific Region: Trends, factors, impacts

This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of international migration in the Asia-Pacific region and reviews internal migration in China. After putting Asia-Pacific migration in a global context, it reviews trends in migration and the impacts of migrants in the major migrantreceiving countries, patterns of migration and their development impacts in migrant-sending countries, the human development impacts of migration, and three policy issues, viz, new seasonal worker programs for Pacific Islanders in New Zealand and Australia, required local sponsorship of foreigners in the Gulf countries, and the economic effects of migrants in the US and Thailand. Recent trends in internal migration in China, which shares attributes of international migration because of the hukou (household registration) system, are also assessed.
The optimal disclosure policy when firms offer implicit contracts

The observability of history is crucial for the sustenance of implicit (or relational) contracts. When a firm hires a sequence of short-lived workers, turnover adversely affects the observability of history—the old worker may leave the firm before communicating the history to the young. However,turnovercanalsoenhanceprofitsifmatchinggainscanbeextractedupfront.Disclosure of the workers’ productivity information affects turnover by mitigating adverse selection. Thus, the optimal disclosure policy trades off matching efficiency with the sustainability of implicit contracts. I show that (i) opaqueness can be optimal only for firms with moderate reputation concerns, and (ii) an opaque firm’s profit may decrease with its reputation concern.
The Lincoln tied-mixture HMM continuous speech recognizer

The Lincoln robust HMM (hidden Markov model) recognizer has been converted from a single Gaussian or Gaussian mixture PDF per state to tied mixtures in which a single set of Gaussians is shared between all states. There were initial difficulties caused by the use of mixture pruning but these were cured by using observation pruning. Fixed weight smoothing of the mixture weights allowed the use of word-boundary-context-dependent triphone models for both speaker-dependent (SD) and speaker-independent (SI) recognition. A second-differential observation stream further improved SI performance but not SD performance. A novel form of phonetic context model, the semiphone, is also introduced. This model significantly reduces the number of states required to model a vocabulary and unifies triphone and diphone modeling. >
Wage stagnation, rising inequality and the financial crisis of 2008.

The most widely embraced explanations of the financial crisis of 2008 have centered upon inadequate regulation stemming from laissez-faire ideology, combined with low interest rates. Although these widely-acknowledged causal factors are true, beneath them lie deeper determining forces that have received less notice: wage stagnation and a dramatic increase in inequality in the U.S. over the preceding 35 years. Wage stagnation and heightened inequality generated three dynamics that made the economy vulnerable to systemic dysfunction. The first is that they constrained consumption, reducing profitable investment potential in the real economy, and thereby encouraging an every wealthier elite to flood financial markets with credit, helping keep interest rates low, encouraging the creation of new credit instruments and greater indebtedness, and fueling speculation. The second dynamic is that consumption externalities were generated, forcing individuals to struggle harder to find ways to maintain the welfare of their families and maintain their relative social status. The consequence was that over the preceding three decades household saving rates plummeted, households took on ever- greater debt, and worked longer hours. The third dynamic is that, as the rich took larger shares of income and wealth, they gained more command over ideology and hence politics. Reducing the size of government, cutting taxes on the rich and reducing welfare for the poor, deregulating the economy, and failing to regulate newly evolving credit instruments flowed out of this ideology.
UNIFORMLY MOST POWERFUL BAYESIAN TESTS

Uniformly most powerful tests are statistical hypothesis tests that provide the greatest power against a fixed null hypothesis among all tests of a given size. In this article, the notion of uniformly most powerful tests is extended to the Bayesian setting by defining uniformly most powerful Bayesian tests to be tests that maximize the probability that the Bayes factor, in favor of the alternative hypothesis, exceeds a specified threshold. Like their classical counterpart, uniformly most powerful Bayesian tests are most easily defined in one-parameter exponential family models, although extensions outside of this class are possible. The connection between uniformly most powerful tests and uniformly most powerful Bayesian tests can be used to provide an approximate calibration between p-values and Bayes factors. Finally, issues regarding the strong dependence of resulting Bayes factors and p-values on sample size are discussed.
On matching conditions for adaptive state tracking control of systems with actuator failures

In this paper, new necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for actuator failure compensation for linear time-invariant systems with actuator failures characterized by unknown input signals at some unknown fixed values and time instants, for state tracking with state feedback. It is shown that the number of fully functional actuators is crucial in determining the actuation range, which specifies the compensation design conditions in terms of system actuation structure. Such conditions are required for both a nominal design using system knowledge and an adaptive design without system knowledge. An adaptive actuator failure compensation control scheme based on relaxed system actuation conditions is developed for systems with unknown dynamic parameters and actuator failure parameters including failure values, times, and patterns. Simulation results are presented to verify the desired system performance with failure compensation.
Structural inference of hierarchies in networks

One property of networks that has received comparatively little attention is hierarchy, i.e., the property of having vertices that cluster together in groups, which then join to form groups of groups, and so forth, up through all levels of organization in the network. Here, we give a precise definition of hierarchical structure, give a generic model for generating arbitrary hierarchical structure in a random graph, and describe a statistically principled way to learn the set of hierarchical features that most plausibly explain a particular real-world network. By applying this approach to two example networks, we demonstrate its advantages for the interpretation of network data, the annotation of graphs with edge, vertex and community properties, and the generation of generic null models for further hypothesis testing.
Labor market institutions : a review of the literature

This paper reviews the findings of more than 150 studies on the impacts of four types of labor market institutions: minimum wages, employment protection regulation, unions and collective bargaining, and mandated benefits. The review places particular emphasis on results from developing countries. Impacts studied are on living standards (employment and earnings effects), productivity, and social cohesion, to the extent that this has been analyzed. Strong and opposing views are held on the costs and benefits of labor market institutions. On balance, the results of this review suggest that, in most cases, the impacts of these institutions are smaller than the heat of the debates would suggest. Efficiency effects of labor market regulations and collective bargaining are sometimes found but not always, and the effects can be in either direction and are usually modest. Distributional impacts are clearer, with two effects predominating: an equalizing effect among covered workers but groups such as youth, women, and the less skilled disproportionately outside the coverage and its benefits. While the overall conclusion is one of modest effects in most cases, this does not mean that impacts cannot be more dramatic where regulations are set or institutions operate in ways that exacerbate the labor market imperfections that they were designed to address.
Cappell-Shaneson's 4-dimensional s-cobordism

In 1987 S Cappell and J Shaneson constructed an s{cobordism H from the quaternionic 3{manifold Q to itself, and asked whether H or any of its covers are trivial product cobordism? In this paper we study H , and in particular show that its 8{fold cover is the product cobordism from S 3 to itself. We reduce the triviality of H to a question about the 3{twist spun trefoil knot in S 4 , and also relate this to a question about a Fintushel{Stern knot surgery.
Transition path theory.

An overview of the theory for analyzing the statistical properties of the reactive trajectories by which transitions occur between a set of initial and final states in a Markov model, and thereby obtain e.g. the highest flux pathways between these states.
Molecular modeling of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid for solvation theory

Abstract Reported here are theoretical calculations on the trifluoromethanesulfonic (triflic) acid with and without an additional water molecule, establishing molecular scale information necessary to molecular modeling of the structure, thermodynamics, and ionic transport of Nafion® membranes. The optimized geometry determined for the isolated triflic acid molecule, obtained from ab initio molecular orbital calculations, agrees with previous studies. In order to characterize side chain flexibility and accessibility of the acid proton, potential energy and free energy surfaces for rotation about both carbon–sulfur and sulfur–oxygen(hydroxyl) bonds are presented. A continuum dielectric solvation model is used to obtain free energies of electrostatic interaction with the solvent. Electrostatic solvation is predicted to reduce the free energy barrier to rotation about the F3C–SO3 bond from 3.5 kcal/mol to about 2.7 kcal/mol. This electrostatic effect is associated with slight additional polarization of the CF bond in the eclipsed conformation. The energetic barrier to rotation of the acid hydroxyl group away from the sulfonic acid oxygen plane, out into the solvent is substantially flattened by electrostatic solvation effects. The maximum free energy for those solvent accessible proton conformations is about 1.0 kcal/mol. We carried out additional ab initio electronic structure calculations with a probe water molecule interacting with the triflic acid. The minimum energy structures found here for the triflic acid molecule with the probe water revise results reported previously. To investigate the reaction path for abstraction of a proton from triflic acid, we found minimum energy structures and energies for isolated molecular fragments, and solvation free energies for: (a) a docked configuration of triflate anion and hydronium cation and (b) a transition state for proton interchange between triflic acid and a water molecule. Those configurations are structurally similar but energetically substantially different. The activation free energy for that proton interchange is predicted to be 4.7 kcal/mol above the reaction end-points.
How Has Human-Induced Climate Change Affected California Drought Risk?

AbstractThe current California drought has cast a heavy burden on statewide agriculture and water resources, further exacerbated by concurrent extreme high temperatures. Furthermore, industrial-era global radiative forcing brings into question the role of long-term climate change with regard to California drought. How has human-induced climate change affected California drought risk? Here, observations and model experimentation are applied to characterize this drought employing metrics that synthesize drought duration, cumulative precipitation deficit, and soil moisture depletion. The model simulations show that increases in radiative forcing since the late nineteenth century induce both increased annual precipitation and increased surface temperature over California, consistent with prior model studies and with observed long-term change. As a result, there is no material difference in the frequency of droughts defined using bivariate indicators of precipitation and near-surface (10 cm) soil moisture, bec...
Food insecurity and insufficiency at low levels of food expenditures

In this study we investigate the external validity of the food insecurity and insufficiency measures—specifically, how these measures correlate with food expenditures—using the December 2003 Food Security Supplement of the Current Population Survey. We focus on a special segment of the population—households with low incomes and low food expenditures. If reports of food problems are based on a lack of food, reports should be nearly ubiquitous at the bottom of the expenditure distribution. We find, however, that this is not the case. We define and scale food expenditures several different ways and find that the reported incidence of food insecurity never rises above one-half anywhere along the corresponding expenditure distributions, leading to concerns about the external validity of the measure.
Optimal data-based kernel estimation of evolutionary spectra

Complex demodulation of evolutionary spectra is formulated as a two-dimensional kernel smoother in the time-frequency domain. First, a tapered Fourier transform, y/sub v/(f, t), is calculated. Then the log-spectral estimate, is smoothed. As the characteristic widths of the kernel smoother increase, the bias from the temporal and frequency averaging increases while the variance decreases. The demodulation parameters, such as the order, length, and bandwidth of spectral taper and the kernel smoother, are determined by minimizing the expected error. For well-resolved evolutionary, spectra, the optimal taper length is a small fraction of the optimal kernel halfwidth. The optimal frequency bandwidth, w, for the spectral window scales as w/sup 2/ approximately lambda / tau , where tau is the characteristic time and lambda /sub F/ is the characteristic frequency scalelength. In contrast, the optimal halfwidths for the second stage kernel smoother scales as h approximately 1/( tau lambda /sub F/)/sup 1/(p+2)/ where p is the order of the kernel smoother. The ratio of the optimal-frequency halfwidth to the optimal-time halfwidth is determined. >
Does Hepatitis B infection or son preference explain the bulk of gender imbalance in China ? : a review of the evidence

China has a large deficit of females, and public policies have sought to reduce the son preference that is widely believed to cause this. Recently a study has suggested that up to 75 percent of this deficit is attributable to hepatitis B infection, indicating that immunization programs should form the first plank of policy interventions. However, a large medical dataset from Taiwan (China) shows that hepatitis B infection raises women's probability of having a son by only 0.25 percent. And demographic data from China show that the only group of women who have elevated probabilities of bearing a son are those who have already borne daughters. This pattern makes it difficult to see how any biological factor can explain a large part of the imbalance in China's sex ratios at birth - unless it can be shown that it somehow selectively affects those who have borne girls, or causes them to first bear girls and then boys. The Taiwanese data suggest that this is not the case with hepatitis B, since its impact is unaffected by the sex composition of previous births. The data support the cultural, rather than the biological, explanation for the missing women.
Steady-State Subcooled Nucleate Boiling on a Downward-Facing Hemispherical Surface

Steady-state nucleate boiling heat transfer experiments in saturated and subcooled water were conducted. The heating surface was a 0.305 m hemispherical aluminum vessel heated from the inside with water boiling on the outside. It was found that subcooling had very little effect on the nucleate boiling curve in the high heat flux regime where latent heat transport dominated. On the other hand, a relatively large effect of subcooling was observed in the low-heat-flux regime where sensible heat transport was important. Photographic records of the boiling phenomenon and the bubble dynamics indicated that in the high-heat-flux regime, boiling in the bottom center region of the vessel was cyclic in nature with a liquid heating phase, a bubble nucleation and growth phase, a bubble coalescence phase, and a large vapor mass ejection phase. At the same heat flux level, the size of the vapor masses was found to decrease from the bottom center toward the upper edge of the vessel, which was consistent with the increase observed in the critical heat flux in the flow direction along the curved heating surface.
A BRIDGE BETWEEN TRAVEL DEMAND MODELING AND ACTIVITY-BASED TRAVEL ANALYSIS

The focus of this paper is on the demonstration that some rather well-known network-based formulations in operations research, that have heretofore largely gone unnoticed in activity-based travel research, offer a potentially powerful technique for advancing the general development of the activity-based modeling approach. These formulations can provide an analytical framework that unifies the complex interactions among the resource allocation decisions made by households in conducting their daily affairs outside the home, while preserving the utility-maximizing principles presumed to guide such decisions. A mathematical programming formulation is developed and used to identify the similarities and differences between traditional trip-based modeling methodologies and those pertaining to an activity-based approach. It is demonstrated that the two approaches are directly related.
Heavy Meson Radiative Decays and Light Vector Meson Dominance

Electromagnetic interactions are introduced in the effective chiral Lagrangian for heavy mesons which includes light vector particles. A suitable notion of vector meson dominance is formulated. The constraints on the heavy meson -light vector and heavy meson-light pseudoscalar coupling constants are obtained using experimental D ∗ → D branching ratios. These constraints are compared with values estimated from semi-leptonic transition amplitudes as well as from extension of the light meson coupling pattern. Application to the heavy baryon spectrum in the “bound state ” model is made.
A chain rule for Goodwillie derivatives of functors from spectra to spectra

We prove a chain rule for the Goodwillie calculus of functors from spectra to spectra. We show that the (higher) derivatives of a composite functor F G at a base object X are given by taking the composition product (in the sense of symmetric sequences) of the derivatives of F at G(X) with the derivatives of G at X. We also consider the question of finding Pn(F G), and give an explicit formula for this when F is homogeneous.
Superpartners at LHC and future colliders: predictions from constrained compactified M-theory

We study a realistic top-down M-theory compactification with low-scale effective Supersymmetry, consistent with phenomenological constraints. A combination of top-down and generic phenomenological constraints fix the spectrum. Three and only three superpartner channels, $$ \tilde{g}\tilde{g} $$ , χ 2 0 χ 1 ± and χ 1 + χ 1 − (where χ 2 0 , χ 1 ± are Wino-like), are expected to be observable at LHC-14. We also investigate the prospects of finding heavy squarks and Higgsinos at future colliders. Gluino-stop-top, gluino-sbottom-bottom associated production and first generation squark associated production should be observable at a 100 TeV collider, along with direct production of heavy Higgsinos. Within this framework the discovery of a single sparticle is sufficient to determine uniquely the SUSY spectrum, yielding a number of concrete testable predictions for LHC-14 and future colliders, and determination of M3/2 and thereby other fundamental quantities.
Resistance to X-irradiation by embryonic cells of the limb-buds of tadpoles.

Both total-body irradiation and shielding of the trunk were used to study the effects of x irradiation from 1000 to 30000 r upon the limb-buds of Bufo boreas and Hyla regilla tadpoles. The object was to test the view that the younger the cells the more sensitive they are to irradiation. The answer is negative. If there is any special susceptibility of these undifferentiated cells it should appear at levels far below the 30000 r maximum employed. A sharp distinction is made between the very susceptible mitotic cells and the resistant non-dividing embryonic cells that have been accumulated in such numbers that they may rapidly differentiate into the characteristic limb tissues under the stimulus of the thyroid hormone. Many irradiated ectoderm cells were changed to form bizarre excrescences but were not destroyed. Unicellular cuthneous gland cells continued to arise even after the heaviest irradiation. Irradiated tadpoles with hind limb-buds from 0.6 mm down to 0.2 mm length were unable to develop normal limbs. This capacity was propontional to the number of non-dividing embryonic cells stored at the time of irradiation. Irradiation of 5000, equal degree but the rapidity was greatest in the cases of higher dosage. Not only did thesemore » levels of irradiation fail to destroy the non-dividing embryonic cells but they did not effect their pre-deterrmined specificity nor modify their capacity for subsequent differentiation and growth. Exposure to a thyroxin solution caused the hind limb-buds without visible differentiation of cells to grow from a length of 0.8 or 0.9 mm or 1.0 mm at the time of irradiation to a length of as much as 5.0 mm in the course of 7 days. Development of thigh, shank, ankle, and toes was complete. Microscopic studies showed characteristic tissues such as cartilage, connective tissue, and muscle, developed to a comparable degree in control and irradiated specimens. (auth)« less
G Ring Particle Sizes Derived from Ring Plane Crossing Observations

Abstract The Saturn ring plane crossings in 1995–1996 allowed observers using the Hubble Space Telescope and the W. M. Keck telescope to image the planet's diffuse rings from 0.3 to 2.2 μm at a scattering angle θ ∼ 175°. We calculate the G ring reflectance for size distributions of dust to kilometer-sized bodies derived from a physical, evolutionary model. The model tracks the evolution of the G ring from its initial formation following the disruption of a progenitor satellite (R. M. Canup and L. W. Esposito, 1997,Icarus126,28–41) until a steady state distribution is reached. We calculate the total particle scattering from contributions due to Mie scattering, isotropic scattering, and Lambert scattering and compare the spectra, phase curves, and RMS particle mass from our physical model to that observed by HST, Keck, and Voyager. A range of particle size distributions from the models are consistent with the observations. These distributions have a dust component that can be described by the differential power law exponentqdust, in the range 1.5–3.5. A quasi-Gaussian size distribution centered at 15 μm also matches the observations, although is not predicted by the evolutionary model. Distributions withqdust≳ 4, such as that proposed by M. R. Showalter and J. N. Cuzzi (1993),Icarus103,124–143) based on Voyager G ring photometry, are too blue to match the spectrum. In order to fit the visible optical depth, many of the models require longer particle lifetimes against plasma drag than Voyager plasma measurements imply. This may suggest that plasma densities are overestimated, that the ring has unaccounted-for dust sources, or that the ring is not in steady-state and we are seeing it at a particularly bright moment.
Advanced multi-beam spectrometer for the Green Bank Telescope

A new spectrometer for the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is being built jointly by the NRAO and the CASPER, University of California, Berkeley. The spectrometer uses 8 bit ADCs and will be capable of processing up to 1.25 GHz bandwidth from 8 dual polarized beams. This mode will be used to process data from focal plane arrays. The spectrometer supports observing mode with 8 tunable digital sub-bands within the 1.25 GHz bandwidth. The spectrometer can also be configured to process a bandwidth of up to 10 GHz with 64 tunable sub-bands from a dual polarized beam. The vastly enhanced backend capabilities will support several new science projects with the GBT.
Me3(OMe)tBuXPhos: A Surrogate Ligand for Me4tBuXPhos in Palladium-Catalyzed C–N and C–O Bond-Forming Reactions

A new biaryl phosphine ligand, Me3(OMe)tBuXPhos (L3), was designed as a surrogate for Me4tBuXPhos (L1). The Me3(OMe)tBuXPhos could be prepared in a chromatography-free manner from inexpensive and readily available 2,3,6-trimethylphenol. Comparative studies demonstrated that a catalyst based on Me3(OMe)tBuXPhos displayed the same reactivity as a catalyst based on Me4tBuXPhos for Pd-catalyzed C–N and C–O bond-forming processes.
Prevalence of Uncorrected Binocular Distance Visual Acuity in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Adults: Results from the HHANES and the NHANES I

Abstract Objective This study aimed to provide a comparative analysis of American population-based prevalence of uncorrected binocular distance visual acuity in Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Design The study design was a population-based survey. Participants Data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1982 and 1984 and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I from 1974 through 1975 were analyzed to investigate the epidemiology of uncorrected binocular distance visual acuity in adults 25 to 74 years of age in Cuban Americans (N = 391), Mexican Americans (N = 1350), Puerto Ricans (N = 504), African Americans (N = 245), and nonHispanic white Americans (N = 2571). Main outcome measure Uncorrected binocular distance visual acuity in both eyes was assessed using Sloan letters or Landolt rings. Results Prevalence rates of 20/50 or worse uncorrected binocular distance visual acuity were 22%, 24%, 19%, 18%, and 32% for African Americans, Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and non-Hispanic whites, respectively. After adjustment for gender and age, the rates were significantly higher ( P Conclusion The prevalence of impaired uncorrected binocular distance visual acuity generally is lower in Hispanics than in non-Hispanic whites.
Efficiency Wages in Weitzman's Share Economy

Weitzman proposes widespread profit or revenue sharing as a way of guaranteeing both very low levels of equilibrium unemployment and increased stability in the face of aggregate shocks. The benefits of a share economy come from the subsidy that current workers pay to marginal workers. In an efficiency-wage model, the wage subsidy paid by current workers costs the firm as much in lower productivity as it gains from lower labor costs. There is, therefore, neither a reduction of the equilibrium unemployment rate nor a necessary increase in macroeconomic stability when the share economy is introduced.
The Role of Research in Producer Risk Management

Agricultural economists have for many decades concerned ourselves with gaining an understanding of individual behavior when confronted with risk, and developing tools to address decision-making under risk. This area of research has recently gained renewed attention for a variety of reasons. This paper attempts to provide a review of the current status of risk related research, to assess areas where we have made significant progress, and also areas where expected benefits of future work are greatest. Theoretical advancements have contributed to our understanding of portfolio trade-offs, optimal input and output decisions, and the use of instruments such as futures and insurance. Advances in the ability to quantify risk with more robust methodologies also contribute to the information available for producers. Research has also contributed to the development of new instruments and provided evaluation of alternatives which confront producers. There are, however, areas in need of further research. We identify five general areas which we believe merit further attention. Progress in these areas should contribute significantly to our understanding of risk management and the information that agricultural economics may provide to producers.
Rethinking Survivor Benefits

This paper provides a framework for analyzing the efficiency and equity of survivor benefit programs. These programs were originally designed to support families when the main wage-earner died, in an era where women rarely worked, fertility rates were high, and widows were unable to support themselves and their children. Yet, voluntary saving and insurance were often insufficient due to myopia. Mandatory survivor benefits helped to achieve lifetime consumption smoothing for the family and to prevent poverty among elderly widows the group where old age poverty is concentrated. The question is these programs still needed in an era when most women work and fertility rates have fallen and, if so, how should they be designed? The author argues that, even in a world of perfect gender equality, mandatory family co-insurance may still be justified because couples are unlikely to plan adequately for household economies of scale. This leads the cost of living of a widow(er) to be much more than half that of a couple. In addition, some disparity in work and wage patterns of men and women remains in every country. While such programs may benefit both spouses, women are the greatest recipients because they outlive their husbands. However, as currently designed, many survivor benefit programs entail work disincentives and perverse redistributions from women who work in the market to those who do not, from singles and dual career couples to single-earner couples and sometimes from low- to high-earning families. These cross-subsidies penalize women who work in the market and therefore may discourage such work, decrease their income and increase their old-age poverty rates. The insurance goal can be achieved without these negative incentives and redistributions by internalizing the cost within the family rather than passing it on to the common pool and by allowing widow(ers) to keep their own pensions in addition to the survivor benefits.
Does the WTO Need a Permanent Body of Panelists

There is a longstanding debate over the need for a permanent body of panelists at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Put most starkly by the European Communities (EC), the argument is that only full-time jurists would have the experience needed to render ‘better and more consistent rulings’ that could stand up under appellate review. India and the African Group, among others, challenge the logic of Europe’s proposal and its empirical underpinnings. Our article weighs in on this debate, offering the first statistical test of the EC’s hypothesis, that conditional on being appealed, rulings handed down by less-experienced panelists are more likely to be reversed. We find that experience matters, but only with regards to the panel’s chair. Indeed, on appeal, panels led by experienced chairs are far less likely to have their rulings reversed by the Appellate Body; the experience of the other panelists, by comparison, is inconsequential. The implication is that rather than constituting a permanent body of panelists, the WTO would be better served by establishing a pool of permanent chairs. As for the timeliness of panel reports, which is Europe’s— and the literature’s—other outcome of interest, we find no evidence that judicial experience matters in the least.
The Relative Income and Relative Deprivation Hypotheses : A Review of the Empirical Literature

The paper provides a review of the empirical literature in economics that has attempted to test the relative income hypothesis as put forward by Duesemberry (1949) and the relative deprivation hypothesis as formalized by Runciman (1966). It is argued that these two hypotheses and the empirical models used to test them are essentially similar and make use of the same relative income concept. The review covers the main intellectual contributions that led to the formulation and tests of these hypotheses, the main formulations of the utility and econometric equations used in empirical studies, the main econometric issues that complicate tests of the hypotheses, and the empirical results found in the literature. The majority of studies uses absolute and relative income together as explanatory factors in utility models and finds absolute income to have a positive and significant effect on utility (happiness). The majority of studies also finds relative income to be a significant factor in explaining utility but the sign of this relation varies across studies. The source of this variation is complex to detect given that few results are directly comparable across studies because of differences in model specifications.
Thermochemistry of Glasses in the Y2O3‐Al2O3‐SiO2 System

Enthalpies of drop solution in molten 2PbO-B2O3 at 1078 K were measured for glasses along the 2YAlO3-3SiO2 and return ½Y3Al5O12-3SiO2 joins. The onset glass transition temperature increases slightly with increasing silica content and Y/Al. Enthalpies of mixing were calculated on the basis of amorphous end members. Strongly negative heats of mixing support the absence of miscibility gaps except possibly for very high silica content, consistent with experimental phase analyses, which indicate much narrower miscibility gaps compared with the phase diagrams calculated on the basis of previous data and the CALPHAD formalism.
A Prym Construction for the Cohomology of a Cubic Hypersurface

Mumford defined a natural isomorphism between the intermediate jacobian of a conic-bundle over $P^2$ and the Prym variety of a naturally defined \'etale double cover of the discrminant curve of the conic-bundle. Clemens and Griffiths used this isomorphism to give a proof of the irrationality of a smooth cubic threefold and Beauville later generalized the isomorphism to intermediate jacobians of odd-dimensional quadric-bundles over $P^2$. We further generalize the isomorphism to the primitive cohomology of a smooth cubic hypersurface in $P^n$.
Required Relationship Between Objective Function and Pareto Frontier Orders: Practical Implications

It is well known that the weighted sum aggregate objective function fails to capture Pareto points that are located on a concave region of the Pareto frontier. Conditions are established for a general aggregate objective function to capture points on a concave Pareto frontier region. Specifically, these conditions are developed in terms of the relative orders of the Pareto frontier and aggregate objective function. These critical conditions can be used in practice to allow an aggregate objective function to capture any potentially desirable Pareto point. Conversely, failure to satisfy these critical conditions can represent a pivotal failure point of the general application of design optimization because we may fail to obtain the design we seek.
Jury Systems Around the World

Lay citizens participate as decision makers in the legal systems of many countries. This review describes the different approaches that countries employ to integrate lay decision makers, contrasting in particular the use of juries composed of all citizens with mixed decision-making bodies of lay and law-trained judges. The review discusses research on the benefits and drawbacks of lay legal decision making as well as international support for the use of ordinary citizens as legal decision makers, with an eye to explaining a recent increase in new jury systems around the world. The review calls for more comparative work on diverse approaches to lay participation, examining how different methods of including lay participation promote or detract from fact finding, legal consciousness, civic engagement, and citizen power.
Mean field method applied to the new world sheet field theory: string formation

The present article is based on a previous one, where a second quantized field theory on the world sheet for summing the planar graphs of 3 theory was developed. In this earlier work, the ground state of the model was determined using a variational approximation. Here, starting with the same world sheet field theory, we instead use the mean field method to compute the ground state, and find results that are in agreement with the variational calculation. Apart from serving as a check on the variational calculation, the mean field method enables us to go beyond the ground state to compute the excited states of the model. The spectrum of these states is that of a string with linear trajectories, plus a continuum that starts at higher energy. We show that, by appropriately tuning the parameters of the model, the string spectrum can be cleanly seperated from the continuum.
Synthesis of nucleoside sulfonates and sulfones

Abstract Sulfonate analogues of adenine, cytidine and guanine monophosphates have been synthesized for the first time. The synthesis of ribose 3-sulfonate, a synthesis of sulfonyl disaccharides and dinucleotides and an improved synthesis of a ribose 3-sulfone is also reported.
An assessment of the lifetime of Faraday shield elements

The interaction of plasma with RF fields from an ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) antenna has been studied to estimate the amount of Faraday shield erosion expected in normal ICRF heating (ICRH) operation. Plasma parameters and ion energies have been measured in the near field of an antenna and used in a model to estimate the erosion rate of the Faraday shield surface. Experiments were conducted on the RF Test Facility (RFTF), a magnetic mirror device at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), using a single-strap resonant loop antenna with a two-tier Faraday shield. Plasma parameters and ion energies have been correlated with the antenna current and used in a computational model of the plasma sheath to predict the amount of erosion expected from the Faraday shield elements exposed to plasma. Predictions of light-ion sputtering of candidate Faraday shield materials are presented. >
Target parameter estimation in the near field with two sensors

A performance-prediction procedure is presented for the evaluation of a passive-tracking technique for the localization of targets in the near field of two sensors. Parameter identifiability is established with the aid of the Fisher information matrix, which is evaluated for various combinations of measurements. This is used to determine bounds on localization performance. The corresponding uncertainty ellipses associated with the target position are evaluated for various tracking scenarios. >
The Algebra of Grand Unified Theories

The Standard Model is the best tested and most widely accepted theory of elementary particles we have today. It may seem complicated and arbitrary, but it has hidden patterns that are revealed by the relationship between three ‘grand unied theories’: theories that unify forces and particles by extending the Standard Model symmetry group U(1) SU(2) SU(3) to a larger group. These three are Georgi and Glashow’s SU(5) theory, Georgi’s theory based on the group Spin(10), and the Pati{Salam model based on the group SU(2) SU(2) SU(4). In this expository account for mathematicians, we explain only the portion of these theories that involves nite-dimensional group representations. This allows us to reduce the prerequisites to a bare minimum while still giving a taste of the profound puzzles that physicists are struggling to solve.
Maximum causal entropy correlated equilibria for Markov games

Motivated by a machine learning perspective---that game-theoretic equilibria constraints should serve as guidelines for predicting agents' strategies, we introduce maximum causal entropy correlated equilibria (MCECE), a novel solution concept for general-sum Markov games. In line with this perspective, a MCECE strategy profile is a uniquely-defined joint probability distribution over actions for each game state that minimizes the worst-case prediction of agents' actions under log-loss. Equivalently, it maximizes the worst-case growth rate for gambling on the sequences of agents' joint actions under uniform odds. We present a convex optimization technique for obtaining MCECE strategy profiles that resembles value iteration in finite-horizon games. We assess the predictive benefits of our approach by predicting the strategies generated by previously proposed correlated equilibria solution concepts, and compare against those previous approaches on that same prediction task.
Interannual-to-Decadal Variability in the Bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current off the Philippines

Abstract Satellite altimeter sea surface height (SSH) data from the past 17 yr are used to investigate the interannual-to-decadal changes in the bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current (NEC) along the Philippine coast. The NEC bifurcation latitude migrated quasi decadally between 10° and 15°N with northerly bifurcations observed in late 1992, 1997–98, and 2003–04 and southerly bifurcations in 1999–2000 and 2008–09. The observed NEC bifurcation latitude can be approximated well by the SSH anomalies in the 12°–14°N and 127°–130°E box east of the mean NEC bifurcation point. Using a 1 ½-layer reduced-gravity model forced by the ECMWF reanalysis wind stress data, the authors find that the SSH anomalies in this box can be simulated favorably to serve as a proxy for the observed NEC bifurcation. With the availability of the long-term reanalysis wind stress data, this helps to lengthen the NEC bifurcation time series back to 1962. Although quasi-decadal variability was prominent in the last two decades, the N...
Joint multiple target tracking and classification in collaborative sensor networks

We address the problem of jointly tracking and classifying several targets within a sensor network where false detections are present. In order to meet the requirements inherent to sensor networks such as distributed processing and low-power consumption, a collaborative signal processing algorithm is presented. At any time, for a given tracked target, only one sensor is active. This leader node is focused on a single target but takes into account the possible existence of other targets. It is assumed that the motion model of a given target belongs to one of several classes. This class-target dynamic association is the basis of our classification criterion. We propose an algorithm based on the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) filtering of jump Markov systems to track the dynamic of the system and make the corresponding estimates. A novel class-based resampling scheme is developed in order to get a robust classification of the targets. Furthermore, an optimal sensor selection scheme based on the maximization of the expected mutual information is integrated naturally within the SMC target tracking framework. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the excellent performance of the proposed multitarget tracking and classification scheme in a collaborative sensor network.
Cyclic alkenenitriles: synthesis, conjugate addition, and stereoselective annulation.

O-Alkylation of unsaturated silyl cyanohydrins with DMSO−Ac2O triggers a rearrangement to methylthiomethyl-protected hydroxyalkenenitriles that are easily hydrolyzed for subsequent annulations with ω-chloroalkyl Grignard reagents. Deprotonating the γ-hydroxyalkenenitriles with t-BuMgCl followed by addition of ω-chloroalkyl Grignard reagents triggers a conjugate addition−alkylation sequence leading exclusively to cis-octalins, hydrindanes, and decalins. Stereoelectronic control favors an axial conjugate addition leading to a particularly reactive conformer that rapidly cyclizes to cis-fused bicyclic nitriles, whereas generating the ring-flipped conformer, through a stepwise sequence, allows access to the diastereomeric trans-decalin. Collectively, the rearrangement−annulation sequence represents the first general annulation of alkenenitriles to assemble diverse bicyclic nitriles with complete control over the two newly installed stereocenters.
The use of microwaves to characterize optically stimulated semiconductors

The author discusses a theoretical model describing the microwave transmission and reflection properties of semiconductor wafers after they have been illuminated by a short pulse of light from a laser. The model has three fundamental parts. The first part describes the absorption mechanism of the incident light pulse throughout the semiconductor, given the electron-hole-pair concentration as a function of position. In the second part the electron-hole-pair concentration during the decay process is described. Part three describes the microwave properties of the semiconductor as the electron-hole pairs return to their equilibrium state. >
Origin of tektites

— The origin of tektites has been obscure because of the following dilemma. The application of physical principles to the data available on tektites points strongly to origin from one or more lunar volcanoes; but few glasses of tektite composition have hitherto been reported from the lunar samples. Instead, the lunar silicic glasses consist chiefly of a material very rich in K2O and poor in MgO. The ratio of K2O/MgO is higher in these glasses than in any tektites reported. The solution of the dilemma seems to come from the study of some recently discovered terrestrial deposits of tektite glass with high values of K2O/MgO at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. These glasses are found to be very vulnerable to crystallization into sandine or to alteration to smectite. These end products are known and are more abundant than any terrestrial deposits of tektite glass. It seems possible that, in fact, the moon produces tektite glass, mostly of the high K2O-low MgO type; but on Earth these deposits are destroyed. The much less abundant deposits with lower K and higher Mg are observed because they survive. Other objections to the lunar origin hypothesis appear to be answerable.