Evolution is Viral: The Theory of Collective Discontinuous Evolution

Herein will be discussed the problems associated with the origin of species according to Darwinist processes of individual mutations. We will argue that individual mutations cannot be the driving force of species origination. A far more probable explanation is a process of collective mutation that affects numerous individuals near simultaneously akin to an infectious disease. These types of mutations might be precipitated by viruses which would create a discontinuous leap into another species. Such a mechanism also sheds light on the increased rate of evolution observed currently

Shared-object System Equilibria: Delay and Throughput Analysis

We consider shared-object systems that require their threads to fulfill the system jobs by first acquiring sequentially the objects needed for the jobs and then holding on to them until the job completion. Such systems are in the core of a variety of shared-resource allocation and synchronization systems. This work opens a new perspective to study the expected job delay and throughput analytically, given the possible set of jobs that may join the system dynamically. We identify the system dependencies that cause contention among the threads as they try to acquire the job objects. We use these observations to define the shared-object system equilibria. We note that the system is in equilibrium whenever the rate in which jobs arrive at the system matches the job completion rate. These equilibria consider not only the job delay but also the job throughput, as well as the time in which each thread blocks other threads in order to complete its job. We then further study in detail the thread work cycles and, by using a graph representation of the problem, we are able to propose procedures for finding and estimating equilibria, i.e., discovering the job delay and throughput, as well as the blocking time. To the best of our knowledge, this is a new perspective, that can provide better analytical tools for the problem, in order to estimate performance measures similar to ones that can be acquired through experimentation on working systems and simulations, e.g., as job delay and throughput in (distributed) shared-object systems

Propagators for p-forms in AdS_{2p+1} and correlation functions in the AdS_7/(2,0) CFT correspondence

In AdS_{2p+1} we construct propagators for p-forms whose lagrangians contain terms of the form A / d A. In particular we explore the case of forms satisfying ``self duality in odd dimensions'', and the case of forms with a topological mass term. We point out that the ``complete'' set of maximally symmetric bitensors previously used in all the other propagator papers is incomplete - there exists another bitensor which can and does appear in the formulas for the propagators in this particular case. Nevertheless, its presence does not affect the other propagators computed so far. On the AdS side of the correspondence we compute the 2 and 3 point functions involving the self-dual tensor of the maximal 7d gauged supergravity (sugra), S_{\mu\nu\rho}. Since the 7 dimensional antisymmetric self-dual tensor obeys first order field equations (S + * d S=0), to get a nonvanishing 2 point function we add a certain boundary term (to satisfy the variational principle on a manifold with boundary) to the 7d action. The 3 point functions we compute are of the type SSB and SBB, describing vertex interactions with the gauge fields B_{\mu}.Comment: 21 pages, Latex file, one reference adde

Decision Procedure for Entailment of Symbolic Heaps with Arrays

This paper gives a decision procedure for the validity of en- tailment of symbolic heaps in separation logic with Presburger arithmetic and arrays. The correctness of the decision procedure is proved under the condition that sizes of arrays in the succedent are not existentially bound. This condition is independent of the condition proposed by the CADE-2017 paper by Brotherston et al, namely, one of them does not imply the other. For improving efficiency of the decision procedure, some techniques are also presented. The main idea of the decision procedure is a novel translation of an entailment of symbolic heaps into a formula in Presburger arithmetic, and to combine it with an external SMT solver. This paper also gives experimental results by an implementation, which shows that the decision procedure works efficiently enough to use

A Brief History of Web Crawlers

Web crawlers visit internet applications, collect data, and learn about new web pages from visited pages. Web crawlers have a long and interesting history. Early web crawlers collected statistics about the web. In addition to collecting statistics about the web and indexing the applications for search engines, modern crawlers can be used to perform accessibility and vulnerability checks on the application. Quick expansion of the web, and the complexity added to web applications have made the process of crawling a very challenging one. Throughout the history of web crawling many researchers and industrial groups addressed different issues and challenges that web crawlers face. Different solutions have been proposed to reduce the time and cost of crawling. Performing an exhaustive crawl is a challenging question. Additionally capturing the model of a modern web application and extracting data from it automatically is another open question. What follows is a brief history of different technique and algorithms used from the early days of crawling up to the recent days. We introduce criteria to evaluate the relative performance of web crawlers. Based on these criteria we plot the evolution of web crawlers and compare their performanc

Maternal antibodies from mothers of children with autism alter brain growth and social behavior development in the rhesus monkey.

Antibodies directed against fetal brain proteins of 37 and 73 kDa molecular weight are found in approximately 12% of mothers who have children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but not in mothers of typically developing children. This finding has raised the possibility that these immunoglobulin G (IgG) class antibodies cross the placenta during pregnancy and impact brain development, leading to one form of ASD. We evaluated the pathogenic potential of these antibodies by using a nonhuman primate model. IgG was isolated from mothers of children with ASD (IgG-ASD) and of typically developing children (IgG-CON). The purified IgG was administered to two groups of female rhesus monkeys (IgG-ASD; n=8 and IgG-CON; n=8) during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. Another control group of pregnant monkeys (n=8) was untreated. Brain and behavioral development of the offspring were assessed for 2 years. Behavioral differences were first detected when the macaque mothers responded to their IgG-ASD offspring with heightened protectiveness during early development. As they matured, IgG-ASD offspring consistently deviated from species-typical social norms by more frequently approaching familiar peers. The increased approach was not reciprocated and did not lead to sustained social interactions. Even more striking, IgG-ASD offspring displayed inappropriate approach behavior to unfamiliar peers, clearly deviating from normal macaque social behavior. Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging analyses revealed that male IgG-ASD offspring had enlarged brain volume compared with controls. White matter volume increases appeared to be driving the brain differences in the IgG-ASD offspring and these differences were most pronounced in the frontal lobes

Clinically Significant Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Varied Intellectual Functioning.

Objective: To evaluate how distinct presentations of anxiety symptoms and intellectual impairment influence the measurement and estimated rate of clinically significant anxiety in autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Method: The sample included 75 children (ages 9-13 years) with ASD and varied IQ and 52 typically developing (TD) controls and parents. Parents completed anxiety symptom scales and a diagnostic interview, designed to (1) differentiate anxiety and ASD and (2) examine DSM-specified and unspecified ("distinct") anxiety presentations in each child, including fears of change, special interests, idiosyncratic stimuli and social confusion rather than evaluation. Children completed standard intellectual and ASD diagnostic assessments.Results: 69% of those with ASD had clinically-significant anxiety, including 21% DSM-specified anxiety disorders, 17% distinct anxiety, and 31% both. Only 8% of TD children had clinically-significant anxiety, all DSM-specified. DSM-specified anxiety disorders in children with ASD and intellectual impairment (IQ<70) were predominantly specific phobias. DSM-specified anxiety other than specific phobia was significantly less common in children with, versus without, intellectual impairment; this was not the case for distinct anxiety. The sensitivities of anxiety scales were moderate to poor, particularly in cases with intellectual impairment.Conclusions: ASD is associated with more frequent and varied presentations of clinical anxiety, which may align with and differ from the specified anxiety disorders of the DSM. Standard parent report anxiety scales have reduced sensitivity to detect clinical anxiety in ASD, particularly in children with intellectual impairment

The Valuable Bases of Business Ethics in Multicultural Environment

A causa de la creciente importancia de las normas éticas en la comunicación y las actividades el presente estudio identifica la base de valores subyacentes a la conducta empresarial en el entorno de la comunicación de negocios y sus estructuras globales. El estudio pretendió obtener datos empíricos acerca de los valores que condicionan el comportamiento de los empresarios de los países Alemania, Francia, EEUU, España, Rusia, etc. cuya interacción determina la situación en el mercado europeo y mundial. Se comprobó la hipótesis de que, junto al reducido número de valores culturales comunes, las bases de valores éticos de negocios difieren impidiendo la comunicación y la actividad empresarial multicultural efectiva y ponen en duda la transición masiva del Occidente al postmaterialismo, al menos para el importante grupo social, como lo es el empresario.Because of the increasing importance of ethical standards in business communication and activities the present research approach differs from methods traditionally applied in other studies in the same area, as it addresses profound ethical values underlying business conduct within the global interaction of business structures. The main study objective was gathering information on the true values which determine the entrepreneur’s behavior of the countries (Germany, France, USA, Spain, Russia, etc.) whose activities influence the general situation on the European and world market. The following hypothesis was to prove: European culture countries undoubtedly share a certain common values, but their market players show very different business ethics grounds, that is a serious obstacle for effective intercultural communication and makes doubtful the general Western shift to the postmaterialism at least regarding the business community

Splitting hairs of the three charge black hole

We construct the large radius limit of the metric of three charge supertubes and three charge BPS black rings by using the fact that supertubes preserve the same supersymmetries as their component branes. Our solutions reproduce a few of the properties of three charge supertubes found recently using the Born Infeld description. Moreover, we find that these solutions pass a number of rather nontrivial tests which they should pass if they are to describe some of the hair of three charge black holes and three charge black rings.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, v2 minor correction