Algebraic Methods in Computational Complexity

From 11.10. to 16.10.2009, the Dagstuhl Seminar 09421 “Algebraic Methods in Computational Complexity “ was held in Schloss Dagstuhl-Leibniz Center for Informatics. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

09421 Abstracts Collection -- Algebraic Methods in Computational Complexity

From 11.10. to 16.10.2009, the Dagstuhl Seminar 09421 ``Algebraic Methods in Computational Complexity \u27\u27 was held in Schloss Dagstuhl~--~Leibniz Center for Informatics. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

Artificial Collective Intelligence Engineering: a Survey of Concepts and Perspectives

Collectiveness is an important property of many systems--both natural and artificial. By exploiting a large number of individuals, it is often possible to produce effects that go far beyond the capabilities of the smartest individuals, or even to produce intelligent collective behaviour out of not-so-intelligent individuals. Indeed, collective intelligence, namely the capability of a group to act collectively in a seemingly intelligent way, is increasingly often a design goal of engineered computational systems--motivated by recent techno-scientific trends like the Internet of Things, swarm robotics, and crowd computing, just to name a few. For several years, the collective intelligence observed in natural and artificial systems has served as a source of inspiration for engineering ideas, models, and mechanisms. Today, artificial and computational collective intelligence are recognised research topics, spanning various techniques, kinds of target systems, and application domains. However, there is still a lot of fragmentation in the research panorama of the topic within computer science, and the verticality of most communities and contributions makes it difficult to extract the core underlying ideas and frames of reference. The challenge is to identify, place in a common structure, and ultimately connect the different areas and methods addressing intelligent collectives. To address this gap, this paper considers a set of broad scoping questions providing a map of collective intelligence research, mostly by the point of view of computer scientists and engineers. Accordingly, it covers preliminary notions, fundamental concepts, and the main research perspectives, identifying opportunities and challenges for researchers on artificial and computational collective intelligence engineering.Comment: This is the author's final version of the article, accepted for publication in the Artificial Life journal. Data: 34 pages, 2 figure

Childless African American women over 50 in the USA: a qualitative descriptive study

In modern society, some African American women are choosing a career before accepting the traditional role of birthing a child or children at an early age and marriage is not always part of the equation. Women’s freedoms (i.e., equality, personal choice, sexuality) have increased since their early struggles for their rights as citizens and as women. Some are viewed as agents against the norm by some conservative-minded people by not having a child or children well into their adulthood, especially if they are over the age of 50. Research suggests that women without children are perceived negatively by others and experience adverse and challenging outcomes in society (Crandall & Eshleman, 2003). Childlessness can be an emotional hurdle for some African American women to easily overcome after establishing their career and going past the fecund period define as; (the age where women are still able to bare children with low health risks), of their life without procreating, often prompting them to adopt a child or children. For other childless African American women, but want a child or children, infertility has cursed them from motherhood, and this is a scar that tugs at their heart. Also, physical trauma or illness contribute to this fact, preventing conception. Before these women surpass their fertile stage and are childless, they must develop healthy management schemes to avoid unnecessary stresses of daily life from society, marriage, and personal living to enter their twilight years without regrets of childlessness, if possible

Determinants of the Components of a State\u27s Tourist Image and Their Marketing Implications

A state\u27s image as perceived by its actual and potential tourists plays a significant role in determining its competitiveness as a tourist destination. A state\u27s image influences a tourist\u27s vacation destination decisions. A tourist\u27s image of a given state is influenced by numerous factors including his amount of touring experience within that state, geographical affiliation, demographic profile, vacation characteristics, and the amount and source of tourist information used. Utah was used as a case study to test the viability of the proposed research model. A mail questionnaire requested information concerning 1) attributes of Utah\u27s tourist image considered when choosing a vacation destination, 2) amount of Utah touring experience in Utah, 3) geographical affiliation, 4) demographic profile, 5) characteristics of the vacation and 6) amounts/sources of tourist information used. A sample of 6,000 people was contacted in six geographical regions across the country. A total of 1917 (32%) useable surveys were returned. This research study to identified the components of Utah\u27s tourist image. The study concluded that touring experience in Utah affects their perceptions of Utah\u27s tourist image. Additionally, the study determined that geographical affiliation does influence perceptions of Utah. Finally, it found that age differences and modes of transportation influence perceptions of Utah

Seismic attribute analyses and attenuation applications for detecting gas hydrate presence

Although regions of continental margins that consist of subduction zones are not currently prospects for the exploration of oil and gas; they do host a large proportion of the global accumulation of methane hydrates. The last several decades have witnessed an accelerated interest in gas hydrates for multiple reasons. Before our concerns about globing warning, hydrates were thought to be an untapped hydrocarbon resource. Some scientist fear that ocean warming could release methane in these hydrates into the atmosphere, further contributing to climate change. Whether we wish to place offshore oil production platforms, CO2 sequestration wells, or offshore windmills, gas hydrates and their associated free gas can pose geohazard risks that need to be understood and minimized. Many of these studies have used both well and seismic data among other data types to infer gas hydrates in the subsurface of continental deep-water environments for potential energy exploration. One of the most common ways to detect gas hydrates using seismic data, is via a bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) which indicates the transition of seismic waves from gas hydrate-bearing sediments of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) to free gas or water filled sediments below due to an attenuation response. Unfortunately, the presence of a BSR does not always indicate the presence of hydrates, nor does the lack of a BSR indicate the absence of hydrates. Because several of these studies that use seismic reflection data do not use a direct measurement for attenuation, the main motivation of this research is to apply a recently developed method that directly measures the seismic attenuation response to help delineate gas hydrates such settings. Utilizing 2D seismic reflection data acquired in the Pegasus Basin, east of central New-Zealand, I apply attribute analyses using frequency attributes that are traditionally known to image BSRs and indirectly infer attenuation. The attribute analysis was followed by a spectral decomposition method (continuous wavelet transform) that is expected to perform a better job. Finally, I use a Sparse-Spike Decomposition (SSD) to quantitatively estimate seismic attenuation. I show that while SSD does not directly indicate gas hydrate presence, the attenuation response associated with free gas beneath the GHSZ indicates an overlying gas hydrate or other type of seal

Quality Control and Quality Assurances in the Human Services Field: Operationalizing a Management Model

The present study investigated constructs associated with the concept of quality of life in human service organizations serving persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Four constructs (psychological well-being, physical well-being, social/emotional well-being, and personal well-being) were identified as a result of separate procedures involving cluster analysis and factor analysis. Quality of life assessments were completed on 70 clients (43 males and 27 females) ranging in functional level from profound to mildly retarded. A principle components analysis of this data yielded a four factor solution with eigenvalues greater than one that accounted for 79.5% of the variance. Psychological well-being (factor one) accounted for 46.6% of the variance. Physical Well-being (factor two) accounted for 29.0% of the variance. Social/Emotional well-being (factor three) accounted for 13.1% of the variance. Personal Well-being (factor four) accounted for 11.3% of the variance. Internal consistency was examined by using coefficient alpha. The subscale reliabilities were.9367 for factor one,.8259 for factor two,.8039 for factor three, and.6641 for factor four. Personal well-being would require an additional seven items to reach the desired level of internal consistency. The investigator also found from the importance study there is some similarity between the rankings of clients, parents, and staff as to the importance placed on items to be used in quality of life ratings. The significance of the Coefficient of Concordance (W =.5836) was assessed using a Chi-Square test. The Null Hypothesis of no agreement across the rankings was rejected at the.001 level. Input from clients, parents, and staff members was used to modify items to address Leismer\u27s concern that quality of life measures be consistent with the views of consumers