Evolution of Conversations in the Age of Email Overload

Email is a ubiquitous communications tool in the workplace and plays an important role in social interactions. Previous studies of email were largely based on surveys and limited to relatively small populations of email users within organizations. In this paper, we report results of a large-scale study of more than 2 million users exchanging 16 billion emails over several months. We quantitatively characterize the replying behavior in conversations within pairs of users. In particular, we study the time it takes the user to reply to a received message and the length of the reply sent. We consider a variety of factors that affect the reply time and length, such as the stage of the conversation, user demographics, and use of portable devices. In addition, we study how increasing load affects emailing behavior. We find that as users receive more email messages in a day, they reply to a smaller fraction of them, using shorter replies. However, their responsiveness remains intact, and they may even reply to emails faster. Finally, we predict the time to reply, length of reply, and whether the reply ends a conversation. We demonstrate considerable improvement over the baseline in all three prediction tasks, showing the significant role that the factors that we uncover play, in determining replying behavior. We rank these factors based on their predictive power. Our findings have important implications for understanding human behavior and designing better email management applications for tasks like ranking unread emails.Comment: 11 page, 24th International World Wide Web Conferenc

Spin content of constituent quarks and one-spin asymmetries in inclusive processes

We consider mechanism for one-spin asymmetries observed in inclusive hadron production. The main role belongs to the orbital angular momentum of the quark-antiquark cloud in the internal structure of constituent quarks. We argue that the origin of the asymmetries in pion production is a result of retaining of this internal angular orbital momentum by the perturbative phase of QCD under transition from the non-perturbative phase. The non-perturbative hadron structure is based on the results of chiral quark models. PACS number(s): 11.30.Qc, 12.40.Pp, 13.75.Ni, 13.88.+eComment: 21 pages LaTeX + 8 figures (not included

Quark Droplets in the NJL Mean Field

We study the conditions for the existence of stable quark matter in the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio mean field at zero temperature and discuss its interpretation.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps-figures included, to appear in the Proc. of the workshop 'QCD at Finite Baryon Density', Bielefeld, April 27-30, 199

Automated Classification of Bioprocess Based on Optimum Compromise Whitening and Clustering

The proposed methodology of technological state classification is based on data smoothing, dimensionality reduction, compromise whitening, and optimum clustering. The novelty of our approach is in the stabile state hypothesis which improves initialization of c-mean algorithm and enables interleaved cross-validation strategy. We also employ the Akaike information criterion to obtain the optimum number of technological states that minimize it, but using as many as possible clusters and components. The general approach is applied to state classification of Pseudomonas putida fed-batch cultivation on octanoic acid

Creative Approaches to Building Community Research Partnerships: Resources and Collaborations

Moderator: Robin A. Robinson, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Session Description The purpose of this interdisciplinary breakout session is to present several different approaches to the perception, creation, and implementation of community engaged research partnerships, and the range of funding sources that support them. Panelists will present brief descriptions of their projects and funding, followed by the UMass Dartmouth Research Development Manager’s insights and suggestions concerning the funding of successful matches of academic researchers and community research partners. Session Presenters, Titles and Descriptions Caitlin M. Stover, PhD, RN, PHCNS-BC, CNE, College of Nursing, Department of Community Nursing Community Based Participatory Research with Community Health Workers of the Southcoast Region My community partner and I had several ideas and projects that we wanted to work on together. To help organize our thoughts and deliverables, we applied for a spot in the first cohort of the Community Based Participatory Research Academy, a grant funded week-long course presented by the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health and the Detroit Urban Research Center. Spending a week with community engaged researchers and community leaders focused the academic-community partnership of UMass Dartmouth College of Nursing Assistant Professor Caitlin Stover and Community Leader Kathleen Murphy to promote the health of Southcoast region by mobilizing and building the capacity of Community Health Workers in the region. Monthly guided video conferences/workshops/virtual communications conducted by our assigned mentors (one community based mentor and one academic mentor) and the core of community engaged researchers assisted us in receiving a non-competitive Community Partnership Building Grant, creating and accomplishing short and long term goals, all while providing expert mentorship in applying the CBPR tenets to our work. Andrea Klimt, PhD, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology & Anthropology Pride of Place: The Potential of Collaborative Photography The Fall River Portraits project brought together university sociology and anthropology students, local high school students, and senior citizens to photographically document the complex social realities of a small economically-struggling Massachusetts city. Project photographers documented the impact of decades of economic decline on the social fabric and built environment of this urban space as well as evidence of cultural vibrancy and resilience in the city’s various neighborhoods. The resulting visual narratives fostered a pride of place and hopeful sense of self-recognition amongst local residents and encouraged the thoughtful engagement with local realities of participating college students. This project was funded by the UMass President\u27s Office, Creative Economy Award. Christina Cipriano, PhD, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology Class Interrupted: Improving Under-studied Classroom Environments Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation and recently, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the RELATE Project has been conducting systematic investigations of self-contained classrooms over the past four years across the Northeast. Towards the end of improving outcomes for students and educators in self-contained special education classrooms, we are advancing the science of classroom observation and improving the quality of educational experiences, one classroom at a time. To date, our work has resulted in a new psychometrically validated tool for evaluating effective interactions in these classrooms and an ecologically valid team-based professional development approach for teacher-paraeducator teams. Robin A. Robinson, PhD, PsyD, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology & Anthropology Psychological Foundations of Power and Relational Abuse Amongst Rural and Small-Town Teens Initially funded by a pilot grant from the UMass Medical School CTSA-CER Pilot Program, and in community partnership with the Cape Cod Justice for Youth Collaborative and other member agencies of the Barnstable County Council for Children, Youth, and Families, this multi-stage project addressed the question: What are the conscious and unconscious psychological processes and power dynamics that explain behaviors associated with “teen dating violence”? The strong collaborative, and integrated, relationship that already existed between the PI and community partners contributed to the success of this pilot study, and facilitated new alliances amongst ancillary agencies. Collaborations has included regional organization of focus groups across Barnstable County (Cape Cod) to produce a data pool of first-person perspectives of teen relationships and violence in contexts of community challenges and supports. The work has considered diverse social and economic contexts as variable forces that affect psychological processes, to explore the psychology of teen relational abuse. Mary Hensel, Research Development Manager, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Research Development Strategies for Community Engaged Research Partnership

Mixed phases of color superconducting quark matter

We examine electrically and color neutral quark matter in beta-equilibrium focusing on the possibility of mixed phases between different color superconducting phases. To that end we apply the Gibbs criterion to ensure phase equilibrium and discuss the external conditions under which these mixed phases can occur. Neglecting surface and Coulomb effects we find a rich structure of different mixed phases with up to four components, including 2SC and CFL matter as well as more ``exotic'' components, like a phase with us- and ds-pairing but without ud-pairing. Preliminary estimates indicate, however, that the mixed phases become unstable if surface and Coulomb effects are included.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, v2: minor changes in the text, version to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Unusual bound states of quark matter within the NJL model

Properties of dense quark matter in and out of chemical equilibrium are studied within the SU(3) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. In addition to the 4-fermion scalar and vector terms the model includes also the 6-fermion flavour mixing interaction. First we study a novel form of deconfined matter, meso-matter, which is composed of equal number of quarks and antiquarks. It can be thought of as a strongly compressed meson gas where mesons are melted into their elementary constituents, quarks and antiquarks. Strongly bound states in this quark-antiquark matter are predicted for all flavour combinations of quark-antiquark pairs. The maximum binding energy reaches up to 180 MeV per pair for mixtures with about 70% of strange quark-antiquark pairs. Equilibrated baryon-rich quark matter with various flavour compositions is also studied. In this case only shallow bound states appear in systems with a significant admixture (about 40%) of strange quarks (strangelets). Their binding energies are quite sensitive to the relative strengths of scalar and vector interactions. The common property of all these bound states is that they appear at high particle densities when the chiral symmetry is nearly restored. Thermal properties of meso-matter as well as chemically equilibrated strange quark matter are also investigated. Possible decay modes of these bound states are discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 16 PostScript figures, RevTe

Spatial and Temporal Hadron Correlators below and above the Chiral Phase Transition

Hadronic correlation functions at finite temperature in QCD, with four flavours of dynamical quarks, have been analyzed both above and below the chiral symmetry restoration temperature. We have used both point and extended sources for spatial as well as temporal correlators. The effect of periodic temporal boundary conditions for the valence quarks on the spatial meson correlators has also been investigated. All our results are consistent with the existence of individual quarks at high temperatures. A measurement of the residual interaction between the quarks is presented.Comment: 19 pages HLRZ 54/93, BI-TP 93/76, TIFR/TH/94-1

Meson loop effects in the NJL model at zero and non-zero temperature

We compare two different possibilities to include meson-loop corrections in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model: a strict 1/N_c-expansion in next-to-leading order and a non-perturbative scheme corresponding to a one-meson-loop approximation to the effective action. Both schemes are consistent with chiral symmetry, in particular with the Goldstone theorem and the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation. The numerical part at zero temperature focuses on the pion and the rho-meson sector. For the latter the meson-loop-corrections are crucial in order to include the dominant rho -> pipi-decay channel, while the standard Hartree + RPA approximation only contains unphysical qqbar-decay channels. We find that m_\pi, f_\pi, and quantities related to the rho-meson self-energy can be described reasonably with one parameter set in the 1/N_c-expansion scheme, whereas we did not succeed to obtain such a fit in the non-perturbative scheme. We also investigate the temperature dependence of the quark condensate. Here we find consistency with chiral perturbation theory to lowest order. Similarities and differences of both schemes are discussed.Comment: 51 pages, 18 figures, to be published in Physics of Atomic Nuclei, the volume dedicated to the 90th birthday of A.B. Migdal, error in Eq. 4.22 correcte

Meson Properties in the 1/N_c-corrected NJL model

Properties of mesons are investigated within the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. We include meson-loop corrections, which are generated via a systematic 1/N_c-expansion in next-to-leading order. We show that our scheme is consistent with chiral symmetry, in particular with the Goldstone theorem and the Gell-Mann Oakes Renner relation. The numerical part focuses on the pion and the rho-meson sector. For the latter the 1/N_c-corrections are crucial in order to include the dominant rho -> pi pi-decay channel, while the leading-order approximation only contains unphysical q\bar q-decay channels. We show that a satisfactory description of the pion electromagnetic form factor can be obtained. Similarities and differences to hadronic models are discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures include