Evolutionary optimization of service times in interactive voice response systems

A call center is a system used by companies to provide a number of services to customers, which may vary from providing simple information to gathering and dealing with complaints or more complex transactions. The design of this kind of system is an important task, since the trend is that companies and institutions choose call centers as the primary option for customer relationship management. This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm based on Dandelion encoding to obtain near-optimal service trees which represent the structure of the desired call center. We introduce several modifications to the original Dandelion encoding in order to adapt it to the specific problem of service tree design. Two search space size reduction procedures improve the performance of the algorithm. Systematic experiments have been tackled in order to show the performance of our approach: first, we tackle different synthetic instances, where we discuss and analyze several aspects of the proposed evolutionary algorithm, and second, we tackle a real application, the design of the call center of an Italian telecommunications company. In all the experiments carried out we compare our approach with a lower bound for the problem based on information theory, and also with the results of a Huffman algorithm we have used for reference

A dandelion-encoded evolutionary algorithm for the delay-constrained capacitated minimum spanning tree problem

This paper proposes an evolutionary algorithm with Dandelion-encoding to tackle the Delay-Constrained Capacitated Minimum Spanning Tree (DC-CMST) problem. This problem has been recently proposed, and consists of finding several broadcast trees from a source node, jointly considering traffic and delay constraints in trees. A version of the problem in which the source node is also included in the optimization process is considered as well in the paper. The Dandelion code used in the proposed evolutionary algorithm has been recently proposed as an effective way of encoding trees in evolutionary algorithms. Good properties of locality has been reported on this encoding, which makes it very effective to solve problems in which the solutions can be expressed in form of trees. In the paper we describe the main characteristics of the algorithm, the implementation of the Dandelion-encoding to tackled the DC-CMST problem and a modification needed to include the source node in the optimization. In the experimental section of this article we compare the results obtained by our evolutionary with that of a recently proposed heuristic for the DC-CMST. the Least Cost (LC) algorithm. We show that our Dandelion-encoded evolutionary algorithm is able to obtain better results that the LC in all the instances tackled. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Patent Human Infections with the Whipworm, Trichuris trichiura, Are Not Associated with Alterations in the Faecal Microbiota

Background: The soil-transmitted helminth (STH), Trichuris trichiura colonises the human large intestine where it may modify inflammatory responses, an effect possibly mediated through alterations in the intestinal microbiota. We hypothesised that patent T. trichiura infections would be associated with altered faecal microbiota and that anthelmintic treatment would induce a microbiota resembling more closely that observed in uninfected individuals. Materials and Methods: School children in Ecuador were screened for STH infections and allocated to 3 groups: uninfected, T. trichiura only, and mixed infections with T. trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides. A sample of uninfected children and those with T. trichiura infections only were given anthelmintic treatment. Bacterial community profiles in faecal samples were studied by 454 pyrosequencing of 16 S rRNA genes. Results: Microbiota analyses of faeces were done for 97 children: 30 were uninfected, 17 were infected with T. trichiura, and 50 with T. trichiura and A. lumbricoides. Post-treatment samples were analyzed for 14 children initially infected with T. trichiura alone and for 21 uninfected children. Treatment resulted in 100% cure of STH infections. Comparisons of the microbiota at different taxonomic levels showed no statistically significant differences in composition between uninfected children and those with T. trichiura infections. We observed a decreased proportional abundance of a few bacterial genera from the Clostridia class of Firmicutes and a reduced bacterial diversity among children with mixed infections compared to the other two groups, indicating a possible specific effect of A. lumbricoides infection. Anthelmintic treatment of children with T. trichiura did not alter faecal microbiota composition. Discussion: Our data indicate that patent human infections with T. trichiura may have no effect on faecal microbiota but that A. lumbricoides colonisation might be associated with a disturbed microbiota. Our results also catalogue the microbiota of rural Ecuadorians and indicate differences with individuals from more urban industrialised societies

The Role of Spirituality Healing with Perceptions of the Medical Encounter among Latinos

Little is known about the relationship between spirituality healing and perceptions about the medical encounter among Latinos. To examine the association between spirituality healing and attitudes of self-reported perceptions about the medical encounter. A cross-sectional telephone survey. 3,728 Latinos aged ≥18 years residing in the United States from Wave 1 of the Pew Hispanic Center/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Latino Health Survey. Dependent variables were ever prayed for healing (yes/no), ever asked others to pray for healing (yes/no), considered important spiritual healing (very vs. somewhat or not important), and ever consulted a ‘curandero’ (folk healer in Latin America) (yes/no). The primary independent variables were feelings about the last time seeing a Doctor (confused by information given, or frustrated by lack of information) and perception of quality of medical care (excellent, good, fair or poor) within the past 12 months. Six percent of individuals reported that they had ever consulted a curandero, 60% prayed for healing, 49% asked others to pray for healing, and 69% considered spiritual healing as very important. In multivariable analyses, feeling confused was associated with increased odds of consulting a curandero (OR = 1.58; 95% CI, 1.02–2.45), praying for healing (OR = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.03–1.64), asking others to pray for healing (OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.03–1.62), and considering spiritual healing as very important (OR = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.01–1.66). Feeling frustrated by a lack of information was associated with asking others to pray for healing (OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.04–1.60). A better perception of quality of medical care was associated with lower odds of consulting a curandero (OR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.70–0.98). Feelings about the medical encounter were associated with spirituality healing, praying for healing, and asking others to pray for healing. Feeling confused and perception of poor quality of medical care were associated with consulting a curandero

The effect of pond dyes on oviposition and survival in wild UK Culex mosquitoes

British Culex pipiens complex [Culex pipiens sensu lato) mosquito distribution, abundance, and potential for disease transmission are intimately linked to their environment. Pond and lake dyes that block light to restrict algal photosynthesis are a relatively new product assumed to be an environmentally friendly since they are based on food dyes. Their use in urban garden ponds raises questions linked to mosquito oviposition, since coloured water can be an attractant. Culex (mostly pipiens) is commonly found in UK gardens and is a potential vector of viruses including the West Nile Virus (WNV). Any factors that significantly change the distribution and population of Cx pipiens could impact future risks of disease transmission. A gravid trap was used to catch female Cx pipiens mosquitoes for use in oviposition choice tests in laboratory and semi-field conditions. Two types of pond dye, blue and shadow (which looks slightly red), were tested for their impact on oviposition and survival of wild caught Cx pipiens. There were no significant differences in the number of egg batches laid when gravid mosquitoes were given a choice between either blue dye and clear water or shadow dye and clear water indicating that these dyes are not attractants. Larvae hatched from egg batches laid by wild-caught gravid females were used to measure survival to adulthood with or without dye, , in a habitat controlled to prevent further colonisation. The experiment was run twice, once in the summer and again in the autumn, whereas the dyes had no impact on emergence in the summer, there were highly significant reductions in emergence of adults in both dye treated habitats in the autumn. Containers with or without shadow dye were placed outside to colonise naturally and were sampled weekly for larvae and pupae over a 6 month period through summer and autumn. There was a significant negative effect of shadow dye on pupal abundance in a three week period over the summer, but otherwise there was no effect. It is likely that population abundance and food was a more powerful factor for mosquito survival than the dye

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Interleukin-10 polymorphisms in Spanish IgA deficiency patients: a case-control and family study

BACKGROUND: IgA deficiency (IgAD) is the most common primary immunodeficiency in Caucasians. Genetic and environmental factors are suspected to be involved in the development of the disease. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a cytokine with stimulatory activity on immunoglobulin production and it may be an important regulator in IgAD pathogenesis. The IL-10 gene contains several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two polymorphic microsatellites located in the 5'-flanking region. Our aim was to ascertain if any of these polymorphic markers are associated or linked to IgAD in Spanish patients. METHODS: We genotyped 278 patients with IgAD and 573 ethnically matched controls for the microsatellites IL-10R and IL-10G and for three single nucleotide polymorphisms at positions -1082, -819 and -592 in the proximal promoter of the gene. We also included in this study the parents of 194 patients in order to study the IL-10 haplotypes transmitted and not transmitted to the affected offspring. RESULTS: The only allele where a significant difference was observed in the comparison between IgA deficiency patients and controls was the IL-10G12 allele (OR = 1.58 and p = 0.021). However, this p value could not withstand a Bonferroni correction. None of the IL-10R or promoter SNP alleles was found at a different frequency when patients were compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Our data do not show any significant difference in IL-10 polymorphism frequencies between control and IgAD patient samples. Their haplotype distribution among patients and controls was also equivalent and therefore these microsatellites and SNPs do not seem to influence IgAD susceptibility

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV