Suburban Noir

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StateSim: Lessons Learned from 20 Years of A Country Modeling and Simulation Toolset

A holy grail for military, diplomatic, and intelligence analysis is a valid set of software agent models that act as the desired ethno-political factions so that one can test the effects of alternative courses of action in different countries. This article explains StateSim, a country modeling approach that synthesizes best-of-breed theories from across the social sciences and that has helped numerous organizations over 20 years to study insurgents, gray zone actors, and other societal instabilities. The country modeling literature is summarized (Sect 1.1) and synthetic inquiry is contrasted with scientific inquiry (Sect. 1.2 and 2). Section 2 also explains many fielded StateSim applications and 100s of past acceptability tests and validity assessments. Section 3 then describes how users now construct and run ‘first pass’ country models within hours due to the StateSim Generator, while Section 4 offers two country analyses that illustrate this approach. The conclusions explain lessons learned

Application of a stochastic name-­passing calculus to representation and simulation of molecular processes

We describe a novel application of a stochastic name passing calculus for the study of biomolecular systems. We specify the structure and dynamics of biochemical networks in a variant of the stochastic P-­calculus, yielding a model which is mathematically well­defined and biologically faithful. We adapt the operational semantics of the calculus to account for both the time and probability of biochemical reactions, and present a computer implementation of the calculus for biochemical simulations

Book Review: AMERICAN CIVIL PROCEDURE / MILITARY LAW UNDER THE UNIFORM CODE or MILITARY JUSTICE / CASFS AND MATERALS ON THE LAW OF CORPORATIONS

AMERICAN CIVIL PROCEDURE. By William Wirt Blume. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1955. Pp. 432. $6.50Review by JOSEPH H. KOTTLER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF LAW, NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL MILITARY LAW UNDER THE UNIFORM CODE or MILITARY JUSTICE. By William B. Aycock and Seymour W. Wurfel. Chapel Hill: 1956. University of North Carolina Press. Pp. 430.$750.Review by William M. Kunstler, ASSISTANT PROFFSOR OF LAW, New York Law School CASFS AND MATERALS ON THE LAW OF CORPORATIONS. Second Edition. By Robert S. Stevens and Arthur Larson. St. Paul: West Publishing Co. 1955. Pp. 741. $12.00.Review by MILTON A. SILVERMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF LAW, NEW YORK LAW SCHOO

The trauma memory quality questionnaire:Preliminary development and validation of a measure of trauma memory characteristics for children and adolescents

It has been suggested that post-traumatic stress is related to the nature of an individual's trauma memories. While this hypothesis has received support in adults, few studies have examined this in children and adolescents. This article describes the development and validation of a measure of the nature of children's trauma memories, the Trauma Memory Quality Questionnaire (TMQQ), that might test this hypothesis and be of clinical use. The measure was standardised in two samples, a cross-sectional sample of non-clinic referred secondary school pupils (n=254), and a sample participating in a prospective study of children and adolescents who had attended a hospital Accident and Emergency department following an assault or a road traffic accident (n=106). The TMQQ was found to possess good internal consistency, criterion validity, and construct validity, but test-retest reliability has yet to be established

Classification of Singular Fibres on Rational Elliptic Surfaces in Characteristic Three

We determine and list all possible configurations of singular fibres on rational elliptic surfaces in characteristic three. In total, we find that 267 distinct configurations exist. This result complements Miranda and Persson's classification in characteristic zero, and Lang's classification in characteristic two.Comment: 40 Pages. Minor typos correcte

BioAmbients: an abstraction for biological compartments

AbstractBiomolecular systems, composed of networks of proteins, underlie the major functions of living cells. Compartments are key to the organization of such systems. We have previously developed an abstraction for biomolecular systems using the π-calculus process algebra, which successfully handled their molecular and biochemical aspects, but provided only a limited solution for representing compartments. In this work, we extend this abstraction to handle compartments. We are motivated by the ambient calculus, a process algebra for the specification of process location and movement through computational domains. We present the BioAmbients calculus, which is suitable for representing various aspects of molecular localization and compartmentalization, including the movement of molecules between compartments, the dynamic rearrangement of cellular compartments, and the interaction between molecules in a compartmentalized setting. Guided by the calculus, we adapt the BioSpi simulation system, to provide an extended modular framework for molecular and cellular compartmentalization, and we use it to model and study a complex multi-cellular system