Implementation of novel methods of global and nonsmooth optimization : GANSO programming library

We discuss the implementation of a number of modern methods of global and nonsmooth continuous optimization, based on the ideas of Rubinov, in a programming library GANSO. GANSO implements the derivative-free bundle method, the extended cutting angle method, dynamical system-based optimization and their various combinations and heuristics. We outline the main ideas behind each method, and report on the interfacing with Matlab and Maple packages. <br /

Gambling Treatment Diversion Court: First in Nevada

The first Gambling Treatment Diversion Court was established in Las Vegas, Nevada in fall of 2018 following more than 25 years of effort by passionately concerned non-profit Executives, therapists, lawyers and judges. This panel represents one leader from each of those areas, including Judge Cheryl Moss, the first judge to open the Gambling Treatment Diversion Court (GTDC), Dayvid Figler, the first attorney to successfully represent a gambling client and refer her to the GTDC, Carol O\u27Hare, Executive Director of the non-profit Nevada Council on Problem Gambler with 25+ years leadership and advocacy for problem gamblers, Sydney Smith, M.A., Clinical Director of RISE treatment center in Las Vegas and nationally- and state-certified gambling counselor, and Denise F. Quirk, M.A., Clinical Director of the Reno Problem Gambling Center and nationally- and Nevada-certified problem gambling counselor and instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno. The panel will share the development of gambling diversion treatment, legal challenges and victories, the process of the GTDC, case studies of individuals with Gambling Disorder who have endured and succeeded in the legal process, and discussion relevant to the impact of the gambling diversion process at all levels of evaluation, advocacy, treatment and support for gamblers and communities

A Computational Method for the Rate Estimation of Evolutionary Transpositions

Genome rearrangements are evolutionary events that shuffle genomic architectures. Most frequent genome rearrangements are reversals, translocations, fusions, and fissions. While there are some more complex genome rearrangements such as transpositions, they are rarely observed and believed to constitute only a small fraction of genome rearrangements happening in the course of evolution. The analysis of transpositions is further obfuscated by intractability of the underlying computational problems. We propose a computational method for estimating the rate of transpositions in evolutionary scenarios between genomes. We applied our method to a set of mammalian genomes and estimated the transpositions rate in mammalian evolution to be around 0.26.Comment: Proceedings of the 3rd International Work-Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering (IWBBIO), 2015. (to appear

Variations in water use by a mature mangrove of Avicennia germinans, French Guiana

In the tropical intertidal zones, little is known on water uptake by mangroves. Transpiration rates are generally measured at leaf level, but few studies exist on water use at tree or stand levels. The objective of this study was to measure sap flow in trees of different sizes to appreciate the range of variation in water use that may exist in a site dominated by 80% mature Avicennia germinans. The results showed that from the dry to the wet season the mean water use increased from 3.2 to 5.3 dm3 d−1 in small trees (DBH ∼ 13 cm), from 11.5 to 30.8 dm3 d−1 in medium trees (∼24 cm) and from 40.8 to 64.1 dm3 d−1 in large ones (∼45 cm). Sapwood remained active up to a depth of 8 cm with radial variations within the stem. Weak correlations were obtained with VPD and net radiation. This study confirmed that transpiration was larger under low levels of salinity. Water use at stand level (∼1900 living stems ha−1) was estimated to be in the range of 5.8 to 11.8 m3 ha−1 d−1 according to the season

Limited Lifespan of Fragile Regions in Mammalian Evolution

An important question in genome evolution is whether there exist fragile regions (rearrangement hotspots) where chromosomal rearrangements are happening over and over again. Although nearly all recent studies supported the existence of fragile regions in mammalian genomes, the most comprehensive phylogenomic study of mammals (Ma et al. (2006) Genome Research 16, 1557-1565) raised some doubts about their existence. We demonstrate that fragile regions are subject to a "birth and death" process, implying that fragility has limited evolutionary lifespan. This finding implies that fragile regions migrate to different locations in different mammals, explaining why there exist only a few chromosomal breakpoints shared between different lineages. The birth and death of fragile regions phenomenon reinforces the hypothesis that rearrangements are promoted by matching segmental duplications and suggests putative locations of the currently active fragile regions in the human genome

Technology-infused science education curriculum for parents to teach kindergarten children

As technology advances and becomes an integral part of our life, concerns arise because of the inequity technology has unintendedly created especially reflected in the form of usage gap between different groups of learners and families. Parents who have young children and less knowledge of digital literacy and skills are suffering more from anxieties about children’s screen time and technology use at home. In terms of content area learning, there is a severe lack of quality science education resources for young children and that hinders children’s early exposure to science literacy. In this report, I reviewed research-based evidence for the need to develop technology-infused science education resources for parents of young children and then created a series of 10 lesson plans to help parents gain insights about technology integration for science learning at home for young kids and increase their confidence about the value of technology when used in content-rich waysCurriculum and Instructio

Political Communication Strategy Of PDI Perjuangan (Descriptive Qualitative Study The Bapilu In Winning The Vote In 2014 Legislative Elections In Pasar Kliwon Sub-District Of Surakarta City)

PDI Perjuangan is one of the major politics parties in Indonesia. In facing the 2014 legislative election, it should prepare a good political communication strategy to achieve the vote’s acquisition, including in Surakarta city. Pasar Kliwon is an area which is famous as the majority ethnic Arab Muslims in Surakarta. In that district which is part of the electoral district 5, the party that is not adhered to the principles of Islam gets increased votes in 2014 legislative election compared with 2009 legislative election. The purpose of the study is to know the political communication strategies used by the PDI Perjuangan, in the winning vote of this region. The research subject is the cadre of PDI Perjuangan, which consists of the Chairman of Bapilu also two elected legislators in the sub-district of Pasar Kliwon and the data collection method is used interviews and documentation. The analysis technique used is descriptive qualitative analysis. The results obtained indicate that there are several of political communication strategies used, such as: a dialogic campaign, opinion leaders, delivering rumored program, reminding the success of the program, and building image

Searching for BcB_c mesons in the ATLAS experiment at LHC

We discuss the feasibility of the observation of the signal from $B_c$ mesons in the ATLAS experiment of the LHC collider at a luminosity of ${\approx}\ 10^{33}$cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. In particular we address the decay mode$B_c{\rightarrow}J/\psi \pi$followed by the leptonic decay$J/\psi{\rightarrow}\mu^+\mu^-$, which should permit an accurate measurement of the$B_c$mass. We performed a Monte Carlo study of the signal and background concluding that a precision of$40$MeV for the$B_c$ mass could be achieved after one year of running.Comment: Latex,7 pages including 3 uuencoded Postscript figures appended at the end of the latex fil