Favoritism: Ethical Dilemmas Viewed Through Multiple Paradigms

Favoritism is a controversial issue in many cultural settings. Related terms include nepotism and cronyism; all three are identified with misconduct in the merit-based business world. The flip side is ethics — the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group (Merriam-Webster, 2012). According to John Dewey (1902), “Ethics is the science that deals with conduct insofar as this is considered to be right or wrong, good or bad.” Since favoritism is perceived as being linked to workplace misconduct, it is necessary to use ethics in examining this issue. The current study applied four lenses of ethics identified by Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011) to help people deal with ethical challenges: justice, critique, care, and the profession. Findings have implications for criteria used to handle ethical challenges in the workplace

Comparison of mixed quantum states

In this article, we study the problem of comparing mixed quantum states: given $n$ unknown mixed quantum states, can one determine whether they are identical or not with an unambiguous quantum measurement? We first study universal comparison of mixed quantum states, and prove that this task is generally impossible to accomplish. Then, we focus on unambiguous comparison of $n$ mixed quantum states arbitrarily chosen from a set of $k$ mixed quantum states. The condition for the existence of an unambiguous measurement operator which can produce a conclusive result when the unknown states are actually the same and the condition for the existence of an unambiguous measurement operator when the unknown states are actually different are studied independently. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the first measurement operator, and a necessary condition and two sufficient conditions for the second. Furthermore, we find that the sufficiency of the necessary condition for the second measurement operator has simple and interesting dependence on $n$ and $k$. At the end, a unified condition is obtained for the simultaneous existence of these two unambiguous measurement operators.Comment: 9 page

A Hybrid Quantum Encoding Algorithm of Vector Quantization for Image Compression

Many classical encoding algorithms of Vector Quantization (VQ) of image compression that can obtain global optimal solution have computational complexity O(N). A pure quantum VQ encoding algorithm with probability of success near 100% has been proposed, that performs operations 45sqrt(N) times approximately. In this paper, a hybrid quantum VQ encoding algorithm between classical method and quantum algorithm is presented. The number of its operations is less than sqrt(N) for most images, and it is more efficient than the pure quantum algorithm. Key Words: Vector Quantization, Grover's Algorithm, Image Compression, Quantum AlgorithmComment: Modify on June 21. 10pages, 3 figure

A novel microarray gene selection method based on consistency

Consistency modeling for gene selection is a new topic emerging from recent cancer bioinformatics research. The result of classification or clustering on a training set was often found very different from the same operations on a testing set. Here, we address this issue as a consistency problem. We propose a new concept of performance-based consistency and a new novel gene selection method, Genetic Algorithm Gene Selection method in terms of consistency (GAGSc). The proposed consistency concept and GAGSc method were investigated on eight benchmark microarray and proteomic datasets. The experimental results show that the different microarray datasets have different consistency characteristics, and that better consistency can lead to an unbiased and reproducible outcome with good disease prediction accuracy. More importantly, GAGSc has demonstrated that gene selection, with the proposed consistency measurement, is able to enhance the reproducibility in microarray diagnosis experiments

Comparação de características demográficas e clínicas entre crianças e adolescentes com transtorno depressivo maior

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical characteristics of major depressive disorder symptoms between children and adolescents. METHOD: The subjects were 58 patients of a Child and Adolescent Affective Disorder Clinic consecutively admitted during a six-month period. Children aged 5-9 years old and adolescents from 10-17 years old currently meeting DSM-IV criteria diagnosis of major depressive disorder were chosen. Current MDD diagnosis and depressive psychopathology were assessed by a clinical interview and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-DSM-IV version. The Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised Version and the Children Global Assessment Scale rated the severity and global functioning of major depressive disorder. RESULTS: The most common depressive symptoms were: anhedonia (72.4%), depressed mood (72.4%), decreased concentration (62.1%), and irritability (58.6%). The intensity of depressive episodes of this sample ranged from mild to moderate. Fifty percent reported thoughts of death, and 29.3% presented a variety of psychotic symptoms. When compared with children, adolescents reported a significantly more depressed mood (p = 0.043), lower self-esteem (p = 0.002), and had more difficulty concentrating (p = 0.020). Female adolescents had lower self-esteem (p = 0.003), and male adolescents showed more decreased concentration (p = 0.016). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that age and gender differences might influence the clinical presentation of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents. Further studies with larger samples are needed.OBJETIVO: Comparar as características clínicas de transtorno depressivo maior entre crianças e adolescentes. MÉTODO: Amostra constituída de 58 sujeitos admitidos consecutivamente em um serviço especializado em transtornos do humor na infância e adolescência durante um período de 6 meses. Foram considerados crianças sujeitos com idade entre 5 e 9 anos, e adolescentes aqueles com idade entre 10 e 17 anos. Todos os participantes preenchiam diagnóstico de transtorno depressivo maior seguindo os critérios de DSM-IV. O diagnóstico de transtorno depressivo maior e avaliação de aspectos psicopatológicos foram realizados por entrevista clínica direta e aplicação de entrevista de apoio ao diagnóstico. O funcionamento global e a gravidade dos sintomas depressivos foram mensurados através de versões adaptadas de Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised Version e Children Global Assessment Scale. RESULTADOS: Os sintomas depressivos mais freqüentes foram: anedonia (72,4%), humor depressivo (72,4%), diminuição de concentração (62,1%) e irritabilidade (58,6%). A intensidade do episódio depressivo dessa amostra variou de leve a moderada. Cinqüenta por cento relataram pensamentos mórbidos e 29,3% apresentaram sintomas psicóticos variados. Quando comparados com crianças, adolescentes apresentaram significativamente mais humor depressivo (p = 0,043), baixa auto-estima (p = 0,002) e mais dificuldade de concentração (p = 0,020). As adolescentes femininas tinham mais baixa auto-estima (p = 0,003) e os masculinos mostraram mais diminuição de concentração (p = 0,016). CONCLUSÃO: Esse estudo sugere que idade e gênero poderiam influenciar na apresentação clínica de transtorno depressivo maior em crianças e adolescentes. Estudos com amostra mais representativa serão necessários

Nonlinear modes and symmetry breaking in rotating double-well potentials

We study modes trapped in a rotating ring carrying the self-focusing (SF) or defocusing (SDF) cubic nonlinearity and double-well potential $\cos^{2}\theta$, where $\theta$ is the angular coordinate. The model, based on the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (NLS) equation in the rotating reference frame, describes the light propagation in a twisted pipe waveguide, as well as in other optical settings, and also a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)trapped in a torus and dragged by the rotating potential. In the SF and SDF regimes, five and four trapped modes of different symmetries are found, respectively. The shapes and stability of the modes, and transitions between them are studied in the first rotational Brillouin zone. In the SF regime, two symmetry-breaking transitions are found, of subcritical and supercritical types. In the SDF regime, an antisymmetry-breaking transition occurs. Ground-states are identified in both the SF and SDF systems.Comment: Physical Review A, in pres

Critical Nature of Non-Fermi Liquid in Spin 3/2 Multipolar Kondo Model

A multipolar Kondo model of an impurity spin S_I=3/2 interacting with conduction electrons with spin s_c=3/2 is investigated using boundary conformal field theory. A two-channel Kondo (2CK) -like non-Fermi liquid (NFL) under the particle-hole symmetry is derived explicitly using a ``superspin absorption'' in the sector of a hidden symmetry, SO(5). We discuss the difference between the usual spin-1/2 2CK NFL fixed point and the present one. In particular, we find that, unlike the usual 2CK model, the low temperature impurity specific heat is proportional to temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure