27,629 research outputs found
Memetic Multilevel Hypergraph Partitioning
Hypergraph partitioning has a wide range of important applications such as
VLSI design or scientific computing. With focus on solution quality, we develop
the first multilevel memetic algorithm to tackle the problem. Key components of
our contribution are new effective multilevel recombination and mutation
operations that provide a large amount of diversity. We perform a wide range of
experiments on a benchmark set containing instances from application areas such
VLSI, SAT solving, social networks, and scientific computing. Compared to the
state-of-the-art hypergraph partitioning tools hMetis, PaToH, and KaHyPar, our
new algorithm computes the best result on almost all instances
Updated global fit to three neutrino mixing: status of the hints of theta13 > 0
We present an up-to-date global analysis of solar, atmospheric, reactor and
accelerator neutrino data in the framework of three-neutrino oscillations. We
discuss in detail the statistical significance of the observed "hint" of
non-zero theta13 in the solar sector at the light of the latest experimental
advances, such as the Borexino spectral data, the lower value of Gallium rate
recently measured in SAGE, and the low energy threshold analysis of the
combined SNO phase I and phase II. We also study the robustness of the results
under changes of the inputs such as the choice of solar model fluxes and a
possible modification of the Gallium capture cross-section as proposed by SAGE.
In the atmospheric sector we focus on the latest results for nu_e appearance
from MINOS and on the recent Super-Kamiokande results from the combined phases
I, II and III, and we discuss their impact on the determination of theta13.
Finally, we combine all the data into a global analysis and determine the
presently allowed ranges of masses and mixing.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures. Acknowledgments correcte
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Social Determinants of Health: Underreported Heterogeneity in Systematic Reviews of Caregiver Interventions.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Although most people have some experience as caregivers, the nature and context of care are highly variable. Caregiving, socioeconomic factors, and health are all interrelated. For these reasons, caregiver interventions must consider these factors. This review examines the degree to which caregiver intervention research has reported and considered social determinants of health. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:We examined published systematic reviews and meta-analyses of interventions for older adults with age-related chronic conditions using the PRISMA and AMSTAR 2 checklists. From 2,707 papers meeting search criteria, we identified 197 potentially relevant systematic reviews, and selected 33 for the final analysis. RESULTS:We found scant information on the inclusion of social determinants; the papers lacked specificity regarding race/ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. The majority of studies focused on dementia, with other conditions common in later life vastly underrepresented. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS:Significant gaps in evidence persist, particularly for interventions targeting diverse conditions and populations. To advance health equity and improve the effectiveness of interventions, research should address caregiver heterogeneity and improve assessment, support, and instruction for diverse populations. Research must identify aspects of heterogeneity that matter in intervention design, while recognizing opportunities for common elements and strategies
Random Chance or Loaded Dice: The Politics of Judicial Designation
[Excerpt] âIn the 1950s and 1960s, the southern states struggled to respond to the civil rights decisions being issued by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as the new civil rights laws being passed by Congress. The judicial battleground for this perfect storm of evasion and massive resistance was found in the âoldâ Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompassed the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. In the âoldâ Fifth Circuit, a minority of liberal appeals court judgesâsympathetic to the civil rights movementâused all legal and administrative power at their disposal to make sure that the federal district and appeals courts were complying with the U.S. Supreme Courtâs mandate in Brown v. Board of Education. In their ground-breaking book A Court Divided: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Politics of Judicial Reform, political scientists Deborah J. Barrow and Thomas G. Walker carefully examined the political behavior of these aforementioned liberal appeals court judges and found evidence that Elbert Parr Tuttle, the Fifth Circuitâs chief judge from 1960 to 1967, was manipulating, or âgerrymandering,â the assignment of appeals court judges to both three-judge district court panels, and three-judge appellate court panels to guarantee that the panels had at least two liberal judges who would enforce the Supreme Courtâs desegregation rulings.
Group size effect on cooperation in one-shot social dilemmas II. Curvilinear effect
In a world in which many pressing global issues require large scale
cooperation, understanding the group size effect on cooperative behavior is a
topic of central importance. Yet, the nature of this effect remains largely
unknown, with lab experiments insisting that it is either positive or negative
or null, and field experiments suggesting that it is instead curvilinear. Here
we shed light on this apparent contradiction by considering a novel class of
public goods games inspired to the realistic scenario in which the natural
output limits of the public good imply that the benefit of cooperation
increases fast for early contributions and then decelerates. We report on a
large lab experiment providing evidence that, in this case, group size has a
curvilinear effect on cooperation, according to which intermediate-size groups
cooperate more than smaller groups and more than larger groups. In doing so,
our findings help fill the gap between lab experiments and field experiments
and suggest concrete ways to promote large scale cooperation among people.Comment: Forthcoming in PLoS ON
Habit Formation, Dynastic Altruism, and Population Dynamics
We study the general equilibrium properties of two growth models with overlapping generations, habit formation and endogenous fertility. In the neoclassical model, habits modify the economy's growth rate and generate transitional dynamics in fertility; station- ary income per capita is associated with either increasing or decreasing population and output, depending on the strength of habits. In the AK specification, growing population and increasing consumption per capita require that the habit coefficient lie within definite boundaries; outside the critical interval, positive growth is associated with either declining consumption due to overcrowding, or extinction paths with declining population. In both frameworks, habits reduce fertility: the trade-off between second-period consumption and spending for bequests prompts agents to decrease fertility in order to make parental altru- ism less costly. This mechanism suggests that status-dependent preferences may explain part of the decline in fertility rates observed in most developed economies.Economic Growth, Endogenous Fertility, Habit Formation, Intergenerational Altruism, Overlapping Generations.
The contribution of Alu exons to the human proteome.
BackgroundAlu elements are major contributors to lineage-specific new exons in primate and human genomes. Recent studies indicate that some Alu exons have high transcript inclusion levels or tissue-specific splicing profiles, and may play important regulatory roles in modulating mRNA degradation or translational efficiency. However, the contribution of Alu exons to the human proteome remains unclear and controversial. The prevailing view is that exons derived from young repetitive elements, such as Alu elements, are restricted to regulatory functions and have not had adequate evolutionary time to be incorporated into stable, functional proteins.ResultsWe adopt a proteotranscriptomics approach to systematically assess the contribution of Alu exons to the human proteome. Using RNA sequencing, ribosome profiling, and proteomics data from human tissues and cell lines, we provide evidence for the translational activities of Alu exons and the presence of Alu exon derived peptides in human proteins. These Alu exon peptides represent species-specific protein differences between primates and other mammals, and in certain instances between humans and closely related primates. In the case of the RNA editing enzyme ADARB1, which contains an Alu exon peptide in its catalytic domain, RNA sequencing analyses of A-to-I editing demonstrate that both the Alu exon skipping and inclusion isoforms encode active enzymes. The Alu exon derived peptide may fine tune the overall editing activity and, in limited cases, the site selectivity of ADARB1 protein products.ConclusionsOur data indicate that Alu elements have contributed to the acquisition of novel protein sequences during primate and human evolution
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Implementation issues in product line scoping
Often product line engineering is treated similar to the waterfall model in traditional software engineering, i.e., the different phases (scoping, analysis, architecting, implementation) are treated as if they could be clearly separated and would follow each other in an ordered fashion. However, in practice strong interactions between the individual phases become apparent. In particular, how implementation is done has a strong impact on economic aspects of the project and thus how to adequately plan it. Hence, assessing these relationships adequately in the beginning has a strong impact on performing a product line project right. In this paper we present a framework that helps in exactly this task. It captures on an abstract level the relationships between scoping information and implementation aspects and thus allows to provide rough guidance on implementation aspects of the project. We will also discuss the application of our framework to a specific industrial project
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