Branching Fractions for D0 -> K+K- and D0 -> pi+pi-, and a Search for CP Violation in D0 Decays

Using the large hadroproduced charm sample collected in experiment E791 at Fermilab, we have measured ratios of branching fractions for the two-body singly-Cabibbo-suppressed charged decays of the D0: (D0 -> KK)/(D0 -> Kpi) = 0.109 +- 0.003 +- 0.003, (D0 -> pipi)/(D0 -> Kpi) = 0.040 +- 0.002 +- 0.003, and (D0 -> KK)/(D0 -> pipi) = 2.75 +- 0.15 +- 0.16. We have looked for differences in the decay rates of D0 and D0bar to the CP eigenstates K+K- and pi+pi-, and have measured the CP asymmetry parameters A_CP(K+K-) = -0.010 +- 0.049 +- 0.012 and A_CP(pi+pi-) = -0.049 +- 0.078 +- 0.030, both consistent with zero.Comment: 10 Postscript pages, including 2 figures. Submitted to Phys. Lett.

Decentralized Algorithm for Randomized Task Allocation in Fog Computing Systems

Fog computing is identified as a key enablerfor using various emerging applications by battery poweredand computationally constrained devices. In this paper, weconsider devices that aim at improving their performanceby choosing to offload their computational tasks to nearbydevices or to a cloud server. We develop a game theoreticalmodel of the problem, and we use variational inequalitytheory to compute an equilibrium task allocation in staticmixed strategies. Based on the computed equilibrium strategy,we develop a decentralized algorithm for allocating thecomputational tasks among nearby devices and the cloudserver. We use extensive simulations to provide insight intothe performance of the proposed algorithm, and we compareits performance with the performance of a myopic bestresponse algorithm that requires global knowledge of thesystem state. Despite the fact that the proposed algorithmrelies on average system parameters only, our results showthat it provides good system performance close to that of themyopic best response algorithm.QC 20180518</p

An economic exclusion/male peer support model looks at 'wedfare' and woman abuse

In recent years ‘‘welfare reform’’ has become a vehicle for many neo-conservative social commentators to invoke marriage vows as a cure for poverty and the abuse of poor women. Their basic claim is that cohabiting relationships are not only more violent than marriages, but that married couples are happier, healthier, and wealthier than cohabiting ones. A policy then of encouraging cohabitants to marry, they claim, would lead to increased family wealth and decreased family violence. We examine these claims in this article, along with the alternative argument that marriage per se is not a solution to these problems. Alternatively we propose an economic exclusion/male peer support model that explains why many cohabiting men abuse women in intimate relationships. If forcing these couples to marry is not a solution, then structural solutions are necessary, along with progressive policy suggestions that address the antecedents of poverty and abuse