Single Parameter Combinatorial Auctions with Partially Public Valuations

We consider the problem of designing truthful auctions, when the bidders' valuations have a public and a private component. In particular, we consider combinatorial auctions where the valuation of an agent $i$ for a set $S$ of items can be expressed as $v_if(S)$, where $v_i$ is a private single parameter of the agent, and the function $f$ is publicly known. Our motivation behind studying this problem is two-fold: (a) Such valuation functions arise naturally in the case of ad-slots in broadcast media such as Television and Radio. For an ad shown in a set $S$ of ad-slots, $f(S)$ is, say, the number of {\em unique} viewers reached by the ad, and $v_i$ is the valuation per-unique-viewer. (b) From a theoretical point of view, this factorization of the valuation function simplifies the bidding language, and renders the combinatorial auction more amenable to better approximation factors. We present a general technique, based on maximal-in-range mechanisms, that converts any $\alpha$-approximation non-truthful algorithm ($\alpha \leq 1$) for this problem into $\Omega(\frac{\alpha}{\log{n}})$ and $\Omega(\alpha)$-approximate truthful mechanisms which run in polynomial time and quasi-polynomial time, respectively

Art, Race, Space

poster abstractArt, Race, Space is a collaborative research project that takes as its starting point E Pluribus Unum, a public art installation proposed for the Indianapolis Culture Trail by renowned artist Fred Wilson that was cancelled in 2011 due to controversy surrounding Wilson’s appropriation of a freed slave figure from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Art, Race, Space” goes beyond examining the visual legacies of racial bondage to explore how the public responses to sculptures, memorials, and archaeology reveal our society’s faultlines of race and inequality. Building on the ideas about race, class, visual culture, and democratic debate that emerge from the Indianapolis project, the faculty have designed a multifaceted program to advance scholarship and promote civic dialogue about these significant issues. The faculty members organized an interdisciplinary symposium in January, 2013. Supported by an IAHI grant, the symposium explored the complicated relationships between art, race, and civic space with presentations by Wilson, community representatives who supported and opposed the sculpture, and scholars from a variety of disciplines who examined historical and cultural contexts of the controversy that had revealed Indianapolis’ longstanding racial and class tensions. The dialogue was expanded with the presentation of historical and contemporary examples from other parts of the United States. In order to encourage public dialogue, the symposium provided opportunities for audience members and presenters to engage in conversations, and it deployed social media (Twitter and Facebook) to encourage broader participation. The project's goal is to further scholarship and encourage public conversation on race and materiality. To this end the faculty have created a website, a Facebook page, Twitter account, and are working on an open-access curriculum to support dialogue in schools and informal learning settings about the complex issues of art, race, and representation. The faculty are also collaborating on academic publications, including selected proceedings and an article on the symposium's "hybrid discourse" that combined university and community resources, expertise, and communication practices and brought together diverse voices in constructive conversation about the challenging issues surrounding E Pluribus Unum

'Joker' fans flocking to a Bronx stairway highlights tension of media tourism

Like the ‘Rocky Steps,’ the ‘Joker Stairs’ have become a mecca for moviegoers. But not all film-related tourism is the same

Re: Moderately elevated blood pressure during pregnancy and odds of hypertension later in life: The POUCHmoms longitudinal study Potential mechanism for pregnant and nonpregnant hypertension

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141906/1/bjo14921.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141906/2/bjo14921_am.pd

Re: Moderately elevated blood pressure during pregnancy and odds of hypertension later in life: The POUCHmoms longitudinal study Potential mechanism for pregnant and nonpregnant hypertension

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141906/1/bjo14921.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141906/2/bjo14921_am.pd

Art, Ethics, and Access to Medicine: Creativity vs. COVID, coming to a gallery near you.

This post begins a series of guest posts from IAHI Summer Academy Fellows in which they describe their current research projects. Today, Professor Laura Holzman (Herron School of Art and Design and School of Liberal Arts) and Professor Steve Lambert (School of Film and Media Studies at SUNY Purchase and Director of the Center for Artistic Activism) share their work on an exhibition that educates visitors on open science, vaccines, and COVID-19

CMS Software Distribution on the LCG and OSG Grids

The efficient exploitation of worldwide distributed storage and computing resources available in the grids require a robust, transparent and fast deployment of experiment specific software. The approach followed by the CMS experiment at CERN in order to enable Monte-Carlo simulations, data analysis and software development in an international collaboration is presented. The current status and future improvement plans are described.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, latex with hyperref