An Explanation Oriented Dialogue Approach and Its Application to Wicked Planning Problems

In this paper we consider an interactive and explanation based dialogue approach to complex and `wicked' planning problems. Wicked problems are essentially imprecisely formulated problems having no clearly defined goals and constraints. The dialogue approach is aimed at reducing the problem complexity during interaction with the human expert. The involved software agents are mostly optimization procedures. The approach contains the following steps: (1) Selection of a specific concern in a proposed solution; (2) Calculation of a stakeholder defined ideal plan; and (3) Comparing the actually generated plan and the prototype based on a similarity measure. The comparison of the actual and the ideal plan looks at aspects of interest for the stakeholder such as resource consumptions or structural properties of the plan. The proposed approach is generic and was applied and customized to three classes of wicked problems: release planning, investment planning, and urban planning. All three applications are described and illustrated in the paper

Obligate Biotroph Pathogens of the Genus Albugo Are Better Adapted to Active Host Defense Compared to Niche Competitors

Recent research suggested that plants behave differently under combined versus single abiotic and biotic stress conditions in controlled environments. While this work has provided a glimpse into how plants might behave under complex natural conditions, it also highlights the need for field experiments using established model systems. In nature, diverse microbes colonize the phyllosphere of Arabidopsis thaliana, including the obligate biotroph oomycete genus Albugo, causal agent of the common disease white rust. Biotrophic, as well as hemibiotrophic plant pathogens are characterized by efficient suppression of host defense responses. Lab experiments have even shown that Albugo sp. can suppress non-host resistance, thereby enabling otherwise avirulent pathogen growth. We asked how a pathogen that is vitally dependent on a living host can compete in nature for limited niche space while paradoxically enabling colonization of its host plant for competitors? To address this question, we used a proteomics approach to identify differences and similarities between lab and field samples of Albugo sp.-infected and -uninfected A. thaliana plants. We could identify highly similar apoplastic proteomic profiles in both infected and uninfected plants. In wild plants, however, a broad range of defense-related proteins were detected in the apoplast regardless of infection status, while no or low levels of defense-related proteins were detected in lab samples. These results indicate that Albugo sp. do not strongly affect immune responses and leave distinct branches of the immune signaling network intact. To validate our findings and to get mechanistic insights, we tested a panel of A. thaliana mutant plants with induced or compromised immunity for susceptibility to different biotrophic pathogens. Our findings suggest that the biotroph pathogen Albugo selectively interferes with host defense under different environmental and competitive pressures to maintain its ecological niche dominance. Adaptation to host immune responses while maintaining a partially active host immunity seems advantageous against competitors. We suggest a model for future research that considers not only host–microbe but in addition microbe–microbe and microbe–host environment factors

The Tabby cat locus maps to feline chromosome B1.

The Tabby markings of the domestic cat are unique coat patterns for which no causative candidate gene has been inferred from other mammals. In this study, a genome scan was performed on a large pedigree of cats that segregated for Tabby coat markings, specifically for the Abyssinian (Ta-) and blotched (tbtb) phenotypes. There was linkage between the Tabby locus and eight markers on cat chromosome B1. The most significant linkage was between marker FCA700 and Tabby (Z = 7.56, theta = 0.03). Two additional markers in the region supported linkage, although not with significant LOD scores. Pairwise analysis of the markers supported the published genetic map of the cat, although additional meioses are required to refine the region. The linked markers cover a 17-cM region and flank an evolutionary breakpoint, suggesting that the Tabby gene has a homologue on either human chromosome 4 or 8. Alternatively, Tabby could be a unique locus in cats

Adaptive rational interpolation: Arnoldi and Lanczos-like equations

Accepted versio

Hyperuniversality of Fully Anisotropic Three-Dimensional Ising Model

For the fully anisotropic simple-cubic Ising lattice, the critical finite-size scaling amplitudes of both the spin-spin and energy-energy inverse correlation lengths and the singular part of the reduced free-energy density are calculated by the transfer-matrix method and a finite-size scaling for cyclic L x L x oo clusters with L=3 and 4. Analysis of the data obtained shows that the ratios and the directional geometric means of above amplitudes are universal.Comment: RevTeX 3.0, 24 pages, 2 figures upon request, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Pain relief is associated with decreasing postural sway in patients with non-specific low back pain

Background Increased postural sway is well documented in patients suffering from non-specific low back pain, whereby a linear relationship between higher pain intensities and increasing postural sway has been described. No investigation has been conducted to evaluate whether this relationship is maintained if pain levels change in adults with non-specific low back pain. Methods Thirty-eight patients with non-specific low back pain and a matching number of healthy controls were enrolled. Postural sway was measured by three identical static bipedal standing tasks of 90 sec duration with eyes closed in narrow stance on a firm surface. The perceived pain intensity was assessed by a numeric rating scale (NRS-11). The patients received three manual interventions (e.g. manipulation, mobilization or soft tissue techniques) at 3-4 day intervals, postural sway measures were obtained at each occasion. Results A clinically relevant decrease of four NRS scores in associated with manual interventions correlated with a significant decrease in postural sway. In contrast, if no clinically relevant change in intensity occurred ([less than or equal to]1 level), postural sway remained similar compared to baseline. The postural sway measures obtained at follow-up sessions 2 and 3 associated with specific NRS level showed no significant differences compared to reference values for the same pain score. Conclusions Alterations in self-reported pain intensities are closely related to changes in postural sway. The previously reported linear relationship between the two variables is maintained as pain levels change. Pain interference appears responsible for the altered sway in pain sufferers. This underlines the clinical use of sway measures as an objective monitoring tool during treatment or rehabilitation

An algorithm to obtain global solutions of the double confluent Heun equation

A procedure is proposed to construct solutions of the double confluent Heun equation with a determinate behaviour at the singular points. The connection factors are expressed as quotients of Wronskians of the involved solutions. Asymptotic expansions are used in the computation of those Wronskians. The feasibility of the method is shown in an example, namely, the Schroedinger equation with a quasi-exactly-solvable potential