Types of Linkage of Quadratic Pfister Forms

Given a field $F$ of positive characteristic $p$, $\theta \in H_p^{n-1}(F)$ and $\beta,\gamma \in F^\times$, we prove that if the symbols $\theta \wedge \frac{d \beta}{\beta}$ and $\theta \wedge \frac{d \gamma}{\gamma}$ in $H_p^n(F)$ share the same factors in $H_p^1(F)$ then the symbol $\theta \wedge \frac{d \beta}{\beta} \wedge \frac{d \gamma}{\gamma}$ in $H_p^{n+1}(F)$ is trivial. We conclude that when $p=2$, every two totally separably $(n-1)$-linked $n$-fold quadratic Pfister forms are inseparably $(n-1)$-linked. We also describe how to construct non-isomorphic $n$-fold Pfister forms which are totally separably (or inseparably) $(n-1)$-linked, i.e. share all common $(n-1)$-fold quadratic (or bilinear) Pfister factors

Standard test evaluation of graphite fiber/resin matrix composite materials for improved toughness

Programs sponsored by NASA with the commercial transport manufacturers to develop a technology data base are required to design and build composite wing and fuselage structures. To realize the full potential of composite structures in these strength critical designs, material systems having improved ductility and interlaminar toughness are being sought. To promote systematic evaluation of new materials, NASA and the commercial transport manufacturers have selected and standardized a set of five common tests. These tests evaluate open hole tension and compression performance, compression performance after impact at an energy level of 20 ft-lb, and resistance to delamination. Ten toughened resin matrix/graphite fiber composites were evaluated using this series of tests, and their performance is compared with a widely used composite system

Do Very High Tax Rates Induce Bunching? Implications for the Design of Income-Contingent Loan Schemes

We test whether very high marginal tax rates affect taxpayer behaviour, using a unique policy. Under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme – an income-related university loans scheme in Australia – former students with a debt face a sharp discontinuity. At the first repayment threshold they are required to repay a percentage of their entire income, resulting in an effective marginal tax rate that could be regarded as being as high as 76,000 percent. We formally model the taxpayer decision, and then use a sample of taxpayer returns provided to us by the tax office to investigate whether taxpayers bunch below the repayment threshold. We find a statistically significant degree of bunching below the threshold, but the effect is economically small. On net, we estimate that both the deadweight cost and the budgetary loss are less than A$1 million per year, a small fraction of the amount annually repaid through the Higher Education Contribution Scheme. The result has an important implication for the design of income contingent loans for higher education, such as those being introduced in the UK for tuition in September 2006. This is that it is possible to design arrangements in which the first income threshold of repayment is apparently high, but which are still able to deliver relatively high revenue streams in the early stages of income contingent policy reform without important tax payment avoidance consequences. Our findings also reinforce earlier research suggesting only minimal bunching around kink points in taxation schedules.bunching, marginal tax rates, responses to taxation, income-related loans

Total linkage of quaternion algebras and Pfister forms in characteristic two

We study the subfields of quaternion algebras that are quadratic extensions of their center in characteristic 2. We provide examples of the following: two non-isomorphic quaternion algebras that share all their quadratic subfields, two quaternion algebras that share all their inseparable but not all their separable quadratic subfields and two algebras that share all their separable but not all their inseparable quadratic subfields. We also discuss quaternion algebras over global fields and fields of Laurent series over a perfect field of characteristic 2 and show that the quaternion algebras over these fields are determined by their separable quadratic subfields. Throughout, these linkage questions are treated in the more general setting by considering the linkage of Pfister forms.Comment: 16 page

Queuetopia: Second-World Modernity and the Soviet Culture of Allocation

The social structure of the queue, from its most basic forms as a spontaneous group of people on the street, to the ordered lists of status-based priorities within society, leads to rich discussions on consumption, the behavior of crowds, and everyday life within Soviet society. By viewing how practices such as queuing were encoded in Soviet culture, the dissertation theorizes how everyday life was based on discourses of scarcity and abundance. I contend in my second chapter that second-world modernity was not predicated on the speed and calculation usually associated with modern life. Instead, it stressed a precise social ordering of allocation and a progress defined by the materiality of Soviet life. This notion of modernity operates irrespective of the temporal concerns usually associated with the first-world. In Chapter Three, I discuss how cities themselves served as the ultimate Soviet commodity, allocated to citizens who supported the Soviet project. Central to my analysis is a conceptualization of Soviet subjectivity through the prism of the queue, in which I explore how voices of individual priority operated simultaneously amongst discourses of collectivity. Chapter Four looks at this notion, called ocherednost' (queue priority), which traces how authors expressed their concerns within the very same collective and allocative discourses of queuing. The dissertation also looks at Soviet material culture and what goods meant in a culture of shortage in Chapter Five, titled “Trofeinost' (trophying) and the Phantasmagoria of Everyday Consumption.” It details the fantastic, absurd, and imaginative ways in which Soviet consumer culture was depicted in fiction. Commodities themselves become objects of attention and structural devices in narrative. Finally, the concluding chapter looks at the post-Soviet period and the proclamations of the capitalist world’s so-called “culture of abundance.” Vestiges of queuing in the post-Soviet period continued to exist, even after the connection between consumers and a state-ordered system of allocation collapsed. The legacy of second-world modernity continues to permeate the current landscape; habitual practices become transformed into cultural events and performances, such as queuing flash mobs and board games

Evaluation of a pharmacist-led medication assessment used to identify prevalence of and associations with polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication use among ambulatory senior adults with cancer.

PURPOSE: The use of multiple and/or inappropriate medications in seniors is a significant public health problem, and cancer treatment escalates its prevalence and complexity. Existing studies are limited by patient self-report and medical record extraction compared with a pharmacist-led comprehensive medication assessment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively examined medication use in ambulatory senior adults with cancer to determine the prevalence of polypharmacy (PP) and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use and associated factors. PP was defined as concurrent use of five or more and less than 10 medications, and excessive polypharmacy (EPP) was defined as 10 or more medications. PIMs were categorized by 2012 Beers Criteria, Screening Tool of Older Person\u27s Prescriptions (STOPP), and the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). RESULTS: A total of 248 patients received a geriatric oncology assessment between January 2011 and June 2013 (mean age was 79.9 years, 64% were women, 74% were white, and 87% had solid tumors). Only 234 patients (evaluated by pharmacists) were included in the final analysis. Mean number of medications used was 9.23. The prevalence of PP, EPP, and PIM use was 41% (n = 96), 43% (n = 101), and 51% (n = 119), respectively. 2012 Beers, STOPP, and HEDIS criteria classified 173 occurrences of PIMs, which were present in 40%, 38%, and 21% of patients, respectively. Associations with PIM use were PP (P \u3c .001) and increased comorbidities (P = .005). CONCLUSION: A pharmacist-led comprehensive medication assessment demonstrated a high prevalence of PP, EPP, and PIM use. Medication assessments that integrate both 2012 Beers and STOPP criteria and consider cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and cancer-related therapy are needed to optimize medication use in this population

Differential forms, linked fields, and the u-invariant

We associate an Albert form to any pair of cyclic algebras of prime degree p over a field F with char(F) = p which coincides with the classical Albert form when p = 2. We prove that if every Albert form is isotropic, then H-4(F) = 0. As a result, we obtain that if F is a linked field with char(F) = 2, then its u-invariant is either 0, 2, 4, or 8