Seeding with Costly Network Information

We study the task of selecting $k$ nodes in a social network of size $n$, to seed a diffusion with maximum expected spread size, under the independent cascade model with cascade probability $p$. Most of the previous work on this problem (known as influence maximization) focuses on efficient algorithms to approximate the optimal seed set with provable guarantees, given the knowledge of the entire network. However, in practice, obtaining full knowledge of the network is very costly. To address this gap, we first study the achievable guarantees using $o(n)$ influence samples. We provide an approximation algorithm with a tight (1-1/e){\mbox{OPT}}-\epsilon n guarantee, using $O_{\epsilon}(k^2\log n)$ influence samples and show that this dependence on $k$ is asymptotically optimal. We then propose a probing algorithm that queries ${O}_{\epsilon}(p n^2\log^4 n + \sqrt{k p} n^{1.5}\log^{5.5} n + k n\log^{3.5}{n})$ edges from the graph and use them to find a seed set with the same almost tight approximation guarantee. We also provide a matching (up to logarithmic factors) lower-bound on the required number of edges. To address the dependence of our probing algorithm on the independent cascade probability $p$, we show that it is impossible to maintain the same approximation guarantees by controlling the discrepancy between the probing and seeding cascade probabilities. Instead, we propose to down-sample the probed edges to match the seeding cascade probability, provided that it does not exceed that of probing. Finally, we test our algorithms on real world data to quantify the trade-off between the cost of obtaining more refined network information and the benefit of the added information for guiding improved seeding strategies

Privatization of Water Resource Management in the Discourse of Local Government Autonomy

Water is an inseparable element of human life. Data from National Geographic shows that Indonesia holds 6% of the world’s water supply or about 21% of Asia Pacific water supply. Indonesia’s potential water resource reserves are around 3,900 billion cubic meters per year. That potential lies in 5,886 streams and 521 lakes. The amount of potential water can be utilized around 690 billion liters per year. As much as 82 percent of surface water nationally is in Kalimantan, Papua, and Sumatra. Unfortunately, the potential of water is prone to run out because it is not managed responsibly. Regional autonomy that becomes the basis of independence of natural resource management in each region, is often misinterpreted. As a result, many areas experience drought in the dry season and floods in the rainy season. Through normative legal research methods, this study tries to find the root cause of water privatization in the regional autonomy regime. The problematic was then analyzed using prescriptive methods to find new concepts related to legal protection efforts against the symptoms of privatization of water management in the region. The results of this study show that: 1) Symptoms of privatization of water management are almost all over Indonesia; and 2) Legal protection efforts that can be done is to amend the Law on Water Resources and issue Local Regulations relating to the conservation and protection of water resources in the region. The recommendations given through this research are in the form of efforts to provide proper education on the management of water resources in the region

First Report of Taenia taeniaeformis in Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Iran

Taenia taeniaeformis is synonym of Taenia infantis, Hydatigera taeniaeformis and Multiceps longihamatus. It has worldwide distribution. The leopard, a young female 2-3 years and body weight of 35 Kg, was shot unwillingly in a frighteningly close encounter with villagers in Ahovan County, Damghan city, Iran. One cestode obtained was identified as Taenia taeniaeformis. The worm was white, thick bodied and about 15 cm in length. The rostellum was short and armed with a double row of 28 hooks of two sizes

Organizational Pathology in Staff Department of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences based on Three-branch Model

Introduction: Pathology of organizations is one of the most key actions that make the university officials aware of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of an organization and allows these officials to take the right actions accordingly. Therefore, this study examined the pathology of human resources in staff departments of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Two hundred employees participated in this study. Random sampling was used and the data were collected by an organizational pathology questionnaire based on the three branch model. Data analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The results showed that behavioral factors (mean = 2.73) and contextual factors (mean= 3.34) had the highest and the lowest impacts on human resources malfunction in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Among subsets of structural factors, the payment system (average rank of 2.5, mean=2.21±0.72 and p-value ≤0.001), behavioral factors, and job security (mean rank = 2.03, mean=2.28±0.93 and p-value ≤0.001) and among subsets of contextual factors, customer-orientation (mean rank= 1.31, mean=3.07±0.70 and p-value 0.19) had the most impact on organizational pathology in this university. Conclusion: Considering that the behavioral factors had the greatest impact to the damages, it seems that the university has to adopt programs and policies in terms of creating appropriate organizational culture, increasing motivation and job satisfaction, adopting effective leadership, providing opportunities for training and development of employees and improving job security for the staff. Indeed, it is worth mentioning that solving some of these issues is beyond the powers of the executive organs, so solving these types of problems at macro-organizational level in the country is of vital importance

Profiles of Cortisol, Triiodothyronine, Thyroxine and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio as Stress Indicators in Swamp Buffaloes 15 Days Post-Transportation

Transportation may cause stress that affects livestock\u27s health. This research was conducted to observe the effect of transportation on the profiles of blood cortisol, triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio as stress indicators during 15 days post-transportation. Four females swamp buffaloes, 2-yr-old were used in this research. The animals were transported using an open truck, along 15 kilometers distance for 2 h. During acclimatization, the animals were fed grass twice a day and access to water ad libitum. Blood was collected at the time of arrival and everyday for 15 d post-transportation. Cortisol, T3 and T4were analyzed using Radioimmunoassay (RIA) method. Blood smears were also prepared and stained with Giemsa for leukocyte differential counts. Results showed a significant relation (P<0.05) between transport and an increase in cortisol and T4 level on day-1 post-transportation compared to the normal levels. The level of T3 was also increased on day-3 post-transportation. Total leukocyte counts were 8.91-18.83×10³/μL. Neutrophil, eosinophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte counts were 4.87-10.41×10³/μL, 0.66-1.75×10³/μL, 0.11-0.58×10³/μL, and 2.98-6.21×10³/μL, respectively. N/L ratio was 1.23-3.49 with >1.5 in average throughout the period of the research. It is concluded that transportation causes stress and therefore changes metabolic process

Ultrastructure of cytoplasmic fragments in human cleavage stage embryos

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the ultrastructure of cytoplasmic fragments along with the effect of cytoplasmic fragment and perivitelline space coarse granulation removal (cosmetic microsurgery) from embryos before embryo transfer on ART outcomes. Methods: One hundred and fifty intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles with male factor infertility were included in this prospective study. Patients were divided into three groups of case (n = 50), sham (n = 50), and control (n = 50). Embryos with 10–50 % fragmentation were included in this study. Cosmetic microsurgery and zona assisted hatching were only performed in case and sham groups respectively. Extracted fragments were evaluated ultrastructurally by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Rates of clinical pregnancy, live birth, miscarriage, multiple pregnancies, and congenital anomaly in the three groups were also compared. Results: Micrographs from TEM showed that mitochondria were the most abundant structures found in the fragments along with mitochondria-vesicle complexes, Golgi apparatus, primary lysosomes, and vacuoles. There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics, laboratory and clinical data, or embryo morphological features between the groups. The rate of clinical pregnancy in control, sham, and case groups had no significant differences (24, 18, and 18 %, respectively). The rates of live birth, miscarriage, multiple pregnancy, and congenital anomaly were also similar between the different groups. Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that cosmetic microsurgery on preimplantation embryos had no beneficial effect on ART outcomes in unselected groups of patients. As mitochondria are the most abundant organelles found in cytoplasmic fragments, fragment removal should be performed with more caution in embryos with moderate fragmentation

Chi8: a GPU program for detecting significant interacting SNPs with the Chi-square 8-df test

BACKGROUND: Determining interacting SNPs in genome-wide association studies is computationally expensive yet of considerable interest in genomics. FINDINGS: We present a program Chi8 that calculates the Chi-square 8 degree of freedom test between all pairs of SNPs in a brute force manner on a Graphics Processing Unit. We analyze each of the seven WTCCC genome-wide association studies that have about 5000 total case and controls and 400,000 SNPs in an average of 9.6 h on a single GPU. We also study the power, false positives, and area under curve of our program on simulated data and provide a comparison to the GBOOST program. Our program source code is freely available from http://www.cs.njit.edu/usman/Chi8

A new species of the genus Paracoccus (Hem.: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) from Iran

The new mealybug species, Paracoccus ficus Moghaddam sp. n., collected on Ficus carica (Moraceae) in Iran, is described and illustrated based on the adult female. An identification key is presented to distinguish this new species from other mealybug species, reported on Ficus spp., in Iran