On tail decay and moment estimates of a condition number for random linear conic systems

In this paper we study the distribution tails and the moments of a condition number which arises in the study of homogeneous systems of linear inequalities. We consider the case where this system is defined by a Gaussian random matrix and characterise the exact decay rates of the distribution tails, improve the existing moment estimates, and prove various limit theorems for large scale systems. Our results are of complexity theoretic interest, because interior-point methods and relaxation methods for the solution of systems of linear inequalities have running times that are bounded in terms of the logarithm and the square of the condition number respectively.\ud \ud Felipe Cucker has been substantially funded by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (project number CityU 1085/02P). Raphael Hauser has been supported by Felipe Cucker's grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (project number CityU 1085/02P) and through a grant of the Nuffield Foundation under the "Newly Appointed Lecturers" grant scheme, (project number NAL/00720/G)

Effects of Anomalous Couplings of Quarks on Prompt Photon Production

Prompt photon production is sensitive to the anomalous couplings of gluons to quarks, because it is mainly produced by quark-gluon scattering. We will examine the effects of the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic dipole moment couplings of quarks on prompt photon production. Using the data collected by CDF and D0 at the Fermilab Tevatron we put a bound on these anomalous couplings. We also estimate the sensitivity of various future high energy collider experiments to these anomalous couplings.Comment: 11 pages in LaTex2e and 3 figures embedded using package{graphicx

Trauma exposure characteristics, past traumatic life events, coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychiatric comorbidity among people with anaphylactic shock experience

Objectives: This study investigated the interrelationship between trauma exposure characteristics, past traumatic life events, coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and psychiatric comorbidity among people after anaphylactic shock experience. Method: The design was cross-sectional in that 94 people with anaphylactic shock experience responded to a postal survey. They completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the General Health Questionnaire 28, and the COPE Scale. They also answered questions on trauma exposure characteristics. The control group comprised 83 people without anaphylaxis. Results: Twelve percent of people with anaphylactic shock experience fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for full PTSD. As a group, people with anaphylaxis reported significantly more past traumatic life events and psychiatric comorbidity than did the control. Partial least squares analysis showed that trauma exposure characteristics influenced postanaphylactic shock PTSD symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity, which, in turn, influenced coping strategies. Conclusions: People could develop PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity symptoms after their experience of anaphylactic shock. The way they coped with anaphylactic shock was affected by the severity of these symptoms. Past traumatic life events had a limited role to play in influencing outcomes. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Corporate Social Responsibility For Improving Human Settlements Through Voluntary And Private Sector Partnerships In Selected Southeast Asian Developing Countries

Kebanyakan negara di Asia Tenggara adalah negara sedang membangun yang mengalami masalah petempatan. Walaupun kerajaan negara tersebut telah berusaha untuk menyelesaikan masalah petempatan, namun masalah perumahan, perkhidmatan bandar dan infrastruktur masih menjadi masalah besar dan memerlukan tindakan dan penyelesaian yang baik. Pendekatan pembangunan baru menggunakan kerjasama daripada pelbagai pihak ke arah mencapai petempatan mapan, yang melibatkan baik pulih fizikal dan pembangunan kapasiti komuniti. Dalam usaha ini, pendekatan sektor swasta menggunakan saluran tanggungjawab korporat sosial (CSR) melalui kerjasama dengan sektor kesukarelawan sebagai kaedah untuk menyampai, mempermudah dan menambah baik pembangunan petempatan. Pendekatan ini memberi ruang kepada penggunaan sumber yang pelbagai dan saling menyokong dalam pembangunan petempatan. Kerjasama melalui CSR boleh memberi manfaat kepada pelbagai pihak, termasuk masyarakat tempatan, syarikat dan organisasi kesukarelawan. Walaupun kerjasama antara sektor swasta dan kesukarelawan adalah penting, namun data sekunder menunjukkan bahawa kerjasama ini masih tidak popular di wilayah Asia Tenggara dan kajian lepas tentang topik ini juga kurang. The Southeast Asian region, which mainly consists of developing countries, is one of the world’s regions suffering from poor human settlements. Despite the efforts by the public sector to solve these problems, they persist which require more actions and better solutions. New development approaches drawing more actors’ efforts through partnership are sought to promote sustainable human settlements, which include physical upgrading and community capacity building. Private sector involvement through corporate social responsibility (CSR), and the use of voluntary and private sector partnership as a tool to deliver, facilitate and improve the CSR are believed to be the new development approach. These enable diverse, complementary and more resources to be drawn together to give supports to human settlement development. The adoption of the CSR through partnership can bring benefits to all parties, including the served communities and the involved corporations and voluntary organizations (VOs). Although the development of the partnership is important and provides potential benefits, reviews based on secondary data show that it is still not popular in most Southeast Asian countries. Previous research on this topic is also scarce