Gang activity in San Bernardino, California: A needs assessment for Operation Phoenix

This research study examined an innovative gang approach in the city of San Bernardino called Operation Phoenix. The purpose of this study was to conduct a needs assessment for Operation Phoenix. This qualitative and quantitative study examined how effective Operation Phoenix was in the prevention, intervention, and suppression of gang activity in the city of San Bernardino. In addition it assessed the unique needs of this comprehensive gang program

Inflation Targeting in the Context of IMF-Supported Adjustment Programs

This paper analyzes how an inflation targeting regimes relate with the conditioning established in the IMF assistance programs, and, in particular, with its inclusion within the performance criteria associated with that conditioning. The paper analyzes the Brazil's case, the first country in an IMF program to adopt an inflation target, and the lessons that can be derived from this experience. In its last section, we evaluate the idea of using Taylor rules to assess the inflationary performance. Simulations generated by the rule produces are not very similar to the effective policy rates, although differences diminish when expected inflation replaces current inflation within the rule.

Inflation Targeting in the Context of IMF-Supported Adjustment Programs

This paper argues that the IMF's traditional monetary conditionality--a ceiling on net domestic assets of the central bank and a floor on its net international reserves--should be adapted in IMF-supported adjustment programs with countries that have a framework of explicit inflation targets for the implementation of monetary policy. This adaptation should aim at enhancing correspondence and consistency between the monetary objectives of the central bank and the targets established under the IMF-supported adjustment program, as well as between the different instruments used to achieve the policy objectives and targets. The paper reviews various general options in this regard, and, using the case of Brazil as an example, demonstrates how these options may be implemented in practice. . Copyright 2002, International Monetary Fund

Disjunctive ASP with Functions: Decidable Queries and Effective Computation

Querying over disjunctive ASP with functions is a highly undecidable task in general. In this paper we focus on disjunctive logic programs with stratified negation and functions under the stable model semantics (ASP^{fs}). We show that query answering in this setting is decidable, if the query is finitely recursive (ASP^{fs}_{fr}). Our proof yields also an effective method for query evaluation. It is done by extending the magic set technique to ASP^{fs}_{fr}. We show that the magic-set rewritten program is query equivalent to the original one (under both brave and cautious reasoning). Moreover, we prove that the rewritten program is also finitely ground, implying that it is decidable. Importantly, finitely ground programs are evaluable using existing ASP solvers, making the class of ASP^{fs}_{fr} queries usable in practice.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Laboratory diagnosis and monitoring of desmopressin treatment of von Willebrand's disease by flow cytometry.

Background and Objectives von Willebrand's disease (VWD) is a heterogeneous bleeding disorder caused by quantitative or qualitative defects in von Willebrand factor (VWF). The diagnosis of VWD requires several laboratory tests. The aim of our study was to validate a flow cytometric test for the diagnosis of VWD and for monitoring the effects of desmopressin therapy.Design and Methods Flow cytometric analysis of ristocetin-induced VWF binding to platelets was performed in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) samples from patients with VWD and from control subjects and in samples of formalin-fixed platelets in the presence of plasma from patients or controls. In 12 VWD patients the test was conducted before and 1 hour after desmopressin infusion. Results were compared with VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, VWF:CB, RIPA, PFA-100® and the skin bleeding time.Results Ristocetin-induced VWF binding to platelets, evaluated by both flow cytometry-based assays, was significantly reduced in patients with type1, 2A and 2M VWD as compared with that in healthy subjects. Patients with type 2B VWD showed reduced binding of VWF to formalin-fixed platelets, but increased binding to autologous platelets in PRP, similar to RIPA. VWF binding to platelets assessed by both flow cytometric assays correlated significantly with VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, VWF:CB, RIPA, PFA100® and bleeding time. VWF binding to platelets increased after desmopressin infusion.Interpretation and Conclusions The measurement of ristocetin-induced binding of VWF to platelets by flow cytometry is a sensitive, simple and rapid test for the diagnosis of VWD and for the monitoring of the effects of desmopressin therapy. The flow cytometric assay performed with autologous platelets is useful in the identification of type 2B VWD patients

Magic Sets for Disjunctive Datalog Programs

In this paper, a new technique for the optimization of (partially) bound queries over disjunctive Datalog programs with stratified negation is presented. The technique exploits the propagation of query bindings and extends the Magic Set (MS) optimization technique. An important feature of disjunctive Datalog is nonmonotonicity, which calls for nondeterministic implementations, such as backtracking search. A distinguishing characteristic of the new method is that the optimization can be exploited also during the nondeterministic phase. In particular, after some assumptions have been made during the computation, parts of the program may become irrelevant to a query under these assumptions. This allows for dynamic pruning of the search space. In contrast, the effect of the previously defined MS methods for disjunctive Datalog is limited to the deterministic portion of the process. In this way, the potential performance gain by using the proposed method can be exponential, as could be observed empirically. The correctness of MS is established thanks to a strong relationship between MS and unfounded sets that has not been studied in the literature before. This knowledge allows for extending the method also to programs with stratified negation in a natural way. The proposed method has been implemented in DLV and various experiments have been conducted. Experimental results on synthetic data confirm the utility of MS for disjunctive Datalog, and they highlight the computational gain that may be obtained by the new method w.r.t. the previously proposed MS methods for disjunctive Datalog programs. Further experiments on real-world data show the benefits of MS within an application scenario that has received considerable attention in recent years, the problem of answering user queries over possibly inconsistent databases originating from integration of autonomous sources of information.Comment: 67 pages, 19 figures, preprint submitted to Artificial Intelligenc

Contrast Training Generates Post-Activation Potentiation and Improves Repeated Sprint Ability in Elite Ice Hockey Players

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(6): 183-196, 2020. The purpose of this study was to measure the generating effects of Contrast Training (CT) on 6-hour post-activation potentiation (PAP) and its influence on jumping and on on-ice repeated sprint performance in ice hockey players. Forty-one participants were divided in two groups: experimental (EG) and control group (CG). The EG followed the CT PAP protocol which consisted of 5 sets of 5 half inertia back squat superset with 6 squat jumps. The effects of PAP were measured with the vertical countermovement jump (CMJ), stationary broad jump (BJ) and 9 repeated on ice 40-meter maximal sprints with hockey equipment. Results showed that the PAP generated by the CT protocol had no significant impact (p≥ 0.05) on CMJ, BJ, blood lactate concentration, heart rate peak and rated perceived exertion as EG and CG group presented no significant differences in improvement. However, results show that there was a significant improvement (p\u3c 0.05) for the EG in the total sprint time (-5.5 ± 2.6%; 56.2 ± 4.7 to 53.1 ± 3.9sec) mean sprint speed (+5.9 ± 3.0%; 6.4 ± 0.5 to 6.8 ± 0.5m/s) and in 1stsprint speed (+7.4% ± 5.9; 7.3 ± 0.7 to 7.8 ± 0.6m/s), but not for the CG (-1.4 ± 5.1%; 58.0 ± 5.4 to 57.2 ± 6.4sec), (+1.7 ± 5.1 %; 6.3 ± 0.6 to 6.4 ± 0.6m/s) and (+1.9 ± 7.7%; 6.9 ± 0.7 to 7.0 ± 0.7m/s) respectively. Thus, results show that the CT protocol utilized in this study generated PAP which had an acute effect on the on-ice hockey repeated sprint test performance. Therefore, CT could be utilized punctually to improve repeated sprint performance of elite hockey players as it could potentially help create odd man rushes during games

Zeitbereichs-Nahfeld-Immunitätsprüfung auf PCB-Ebene

Das Nahfeld-Immunitätstestverfahren ist ein zusätzliches diagnostisches Werkzeug, um sensitive Bereiche und Koppelpfade auf Leiterplattenebene zu lokalisieren und zu bewerten. Dabei ist es möglich, mit der entsprechenden Feldsonde die Empfindlichkeit gegenüber elektrischen und magnetischen Feldern separat zu testen. Eine Kalibriermethode wurde entwickelt, um Tests mit definierter Feldstärkeamplitude am Prüfling durchführen zu können. Dies ermöglicht eine reproduzierbare Bewertung des Störvermögens unterschiedlicher Impulsformen. Die Kalibriermethode wurde anhand exakter numerischer Feldsimulationen der Einkopplung in eine Leitung validiert. Die Anwendungsbeispiele veranschaulichen den Zusammenhang zwischen Störwirkung und Störfeldstärke, Repetitionsrate, Sondenposition und Signal-Datenrate anhand des Bitfehlerverhältnisses