Ethnic Preferences and Residential Segregation: Theoretical Explorations Beyond Detroit

We are strongly supportive of Fossett's theoretical approach and modeling methodology, which uses computational methods to perform thought experiments that generate compelling insights into the enigma of persistent residential segregation in the U.S. We also agree with his theoretical results, which challenge the prevailing view among demographers that institutional discrimination is the essential cause. However, we think he did not go far enough. Fossett limited his analysis to a narrow region of the parameter space that corresponded to conditions observed in one city at one time. This precludes generalization to other times and places and exploration of theoretically motivated “what if” scenarios that trespass beyond the Detroit city limits. When we extended the parameter space, we noticed two interesting results. First, Fossett's “paradox of weak minority preferences” requires qualification. Disproportionate in-group preferences among minorities are indeed segregation-promoting, not integration-promoting, but they generally have less impact on segregation than the in-group preferences of the majority. Second, not only are exclusionary practices and institutional discrimination not necessary for segregation (as Fossett demonstrates), we show that in certain regions of the parameter space they are not even sufficient.     

Central Units,Class Sums and Characters of the Symmetric Group

In the search for central units of a group algebra, we look at the class sums of the group algebra of the symmetric group S _n in characteristic zero, and we show that they are units in very special instances.     

Conjugacy Classes,Class Sums and Character Tables for Hopf Algebras

We extend the notion of conjugacy classes and class sums from finite groups to semisimple Hopf algebras and show that the conjugacy classes are obtained from the factorization of H as irreducible left D(H)-modules. For quasitriangular semisimple Hopf algebras H, we prove that the product of two class sums is an integral combination of the class sums up to d ^?2 where d = dim H. We show also that in this case the character table is obtained from the S-matrix associated to D(H). Finally, we calculate explicitly the generalized character table of D(kS ₃), which is not a character table for any group. It moreover provides an example of a product of two class sums which is not an integral combination of class sums.     

寡头垄断市场三度价格歧视动态博弈分析

对两寡头厂商2元市场用完全信息动态博弈的方法分析了实施三度价格歧视情形和统一定价情形的均衡产量,均衡价格和均衡总收益,并研究了这两种情形三个指标之间的关系.结果显示,在两个子市场的需求函数为线性需求的条件下,统一定价的市场均衡产量等于歧视定价的市场均衡产量;统一定价的均衡价格是歧视定价时两个子市场均衡价格的加权平均;统一定价的市场均衡总收益小于歧视定价的市场均衡总收益.     

Self-organized criticality and color vision: A guide to water–protein landscape evolution

We focus here on the scaling properties of small interspecies differences between red cone opsin transmembrane proteins, using a hydropathic elastic roughening tool previously applied to the rhodopsin rod transmembrane proteins. This tool is based on a non-Euclidean hydropathic metric realistically rooted in the atomic coordinates of 5526 protein segments, which thereby encapsulates universal non-Euclidean long-range differential geometrical features of water films enveloping globular proteins in the Protein Data Bank. Whereas the rhodopsin blue rod water films are smoothest in humans, the red cone opsins’ water films are optimized for smoothness in cats and elephants, consistent with protein species landscapes that evolve differently in different contexts. We also analyze red cone opsins in the chromatophore-containing family of chameleons, snakes, zebrafish and goldfish, where short- and long-range (BLAST and hydropathic) amino acid (aa) correlations are found with values as large as 97%–99%. We use hydropathic aa optimization to estimate the maximum number _Nmax$N_{max}$ of color shades that the human eye can discriminate, and obtain 10⁶<_Nmax<10⁷${10}^6<N_{max}<{10}^7$, in good agreement with experiment.     

Bundling decisions in supply chains

Firms often sell products in bundles to extract consumer surplus. While most bundling decisions studied in the literature are geared to integrated firms, we examine a decentralized supply chain where the suppliers retain decision rights. Using a generic distribution of customers’ reservation price we establish equilibrium solutions for three different bundling scenarios in a supply chain, and generate interesting insights for distributions with specific forms. We find that (i) in supply chain bundling the retailer’s margin equals the margin of each independent supplier, and it equals the combined margin when the suppliers are in a coalition, (ii) when the suppliers form a coalition to bundle their products the bundling gain in the supply chain is higher and retail price is lower than when the retailer bundles the products, (iii) the supply chain has more to gain from bundling relative to an integrated firm, (iv) the first-best supply chain bundling remains viable over a larger set of parameter values than those in the case of the integrated firm, (v) supplier led bundling is preferable to separate sales over a wider range of parameter values than if the retailer led the bundling, and (vi) if the reservation prices are uniformly distributed bundling can be profitable when the variable costs are low and valuations of the products are not significantly different from one another. For normally distributed reservation prices, we show that the bundling set is larger and the bundling gain is higher than that for a uniform distribution.     

Estimation of Genus for Certain Arithmetic Groups

Abstract

We find the genera of arithmetic groups ?Γ₁(N), Φ? for N ≥ 1 and Φ the Fricke involution, from which we derive that the genus g(?Γ₁(N), Φ?) is zero if and only if 1 ≤ N ≤ 12 and N = 14, 15.     

组合式Si-PIN 14 MeV中子探测器

提出了一种在多片Si-PIN探测器中间用2mm厚的聚乙烯作为灵敏度增强介质,采用加法电路模式进行信号输出的组合式新型DT聚变中子(14MeV)探测技术原理. 这种组合的主要特点有： 1)大幅度提高了Si-PIN探测器的中子灵敏度和测量统计性; 2)提高了探测器的n/γ分辨本领; 3)在实现多个探测器信号相加的同时,组合探测器相对于单片探测器时间响应没有明显改变. 从实验及理论上对组合探测器的14MeV中子及1.25MeV γ灵敏度、n/γ分辨,时间特性和测量统计性进行了研究. 关键词： Si-PIN半导体探测器 灵敏度 n/γ分辨 时间响应     

NMR-based differentiation of conventionally from organically produced chicken eggs in Germany

Both the German and European organic food markets are growing fast, and there is also a rising demand for organic chicken eggs. Consumers are willing to pay higher prices for organic eggs produced in an animal-appropriate environment considering animal welfare. Strict labelling requirements do not prevent chicken eggs from being a subject of food fraud. Conventionally produced (barn/free-range) eggs can easily be mislabeled as organic eggs. Especially because the demand for organically produced chicken eggs is likely to exceed supply in the future, mislabeling appears to be a realistic scenario. Therefore, there is a need for analytical methods that are suitable to classify eggs as being either conventionally or organically produced. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analysis is a suitable tool to screen eggs according to the different systems of husbandry. Sample preparation is based on a fat extraction method, which was optimised for application to freeze-dried egg yolk. Samples were analysed using typical q-NMR parameters. A nontargeted approach was used for the analysis of the ¹H NMR data. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied followed by a linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) and Monte Carlo cross-validation. In total, 344 chicken eggs (214 barn/free-range eggs and 130 eggs from organic farms), most of them originating from Germany, were used to build and validate the prediction model. The results showed that the prediction model allowed for the correct classification of about 93% of the organic eggs.