Hierarchy Theorems for Property Testing

Referring to the query complexity of property testing, we prove the existence of a rich hierarchy of corresponding complexity classes. That is, for any relevant function q, we prove the existence of properties that have testing complexity Θ(q). Such results are proven in three standard domains often considered in property testing: generic functions, adjacency predicates describing (dense) graphs, and incidence functions describing bounded-degree graphs. While in two cases, the proofs are quite straightforward, and the techniques employed in the case of the dense graph model seem significantly more involved. Specifically, problems that arise and are treated in the latter case include (1) the preservation of distances between graph under a blow-up operation and (2) the construction of monotone graph properties that have local structure.     

Floods should not mean disasters

More than £1 billion of public funding has been spent by the Arts Council of England (ACE) Lottery Fund on capital projects for the Arts. Many of these projects were completed late and over budget. Results from the incremental cross-case analysis of five contemporary Capital Arts projects are discussed to explore the potential for a more reliable delivery of Arts clients' ‘visions’. The findings revealed continuous conflict arising out of the application of strictly linear project management, reinforced by the sequencing of funders' awards to match the industry's custom and practice work stages. Contemporary ‘re-engineered construction’ presents value engineering as an important tool for managing financial out-turn. The impact of ‘traditional’ value engineering on the design and delivery of the case study ‘visions’ is investigated. Stakeholders' behaviours in managing value are compared with the industry's idealized models of cost control and client behaviour. The conclusions drawn indicate the necessity for dynamic management, enabling more creative iteration later in the process to balance the various stakeholders' visions, budget and time requirements. It is suggested that much more guidance is required for clients negotiating the post-feasibility stages of their capital projects to achieve this balance, and that this could take the form of a common evidence base of revelatory case studies to which this paper might contribute.

Le Fonds de la loterie du Conseil des arts d'Angleterre (ACE) a financé à hauteur de plus d'un milliard de livres sterling des projets d'investissement en faveur des arts. Bon nombre de ces projets ont été achevés avec des retards et des dépassements budgétaires. Cet article est consacré à l'examen des résultats de l'analyse croisée progressive de cinq projets d'investissement en faveur de l'art contemporain; l'objectif est d'explorer les possibilités d'une concrétisation plus viable des visions artistiques des clients. Les résultats ont fait apparaître un conflit permanent né de l'application de la gestion de projets strictement linéaire, renforcée par la séquence d'attribution des bailleurs de fonds désireux de s'adapter aux habitudes et pratiques de l'industrie. La « construction réaménagée » contemporaine présente une ingénierie de la valeur comme un outil important de gestion des résultats financiers. Les incidences de l'ingénierie de la valeur traditionnelle sur le concept et la concrétisation des visions issues d'études de cas sont analysées. Les comportements des intervenants dans la gestion de la valeur sont comparés aux modèles théoriques de l'industrie en matière de contrôle des coûts et de comportement de la clientèle. Les conclusions qui en sont tirées font ressortir la nécessité d'une gestion dynamique, permettant de procéder ultérieurement dans le processus à des itérations créatives afin d'équilibrer les visions des différents intervenants ainsi que leurs exigences en matière de budget et de calendrier. L'auteur recommande de mieux guider les clients dans leurs négociations des étapes de post-faisabilité de leurs projets d'investissement pour parvenir à cet équilibre. Cela pourrait prendre la forme d'une base de commune de preuves de cas d'étude révélateurs à laquelle cette communication pourrait contribuer.

Mots clés: Projets d'investissement, orientation des clients, conception, arts du spectacle, bâtiments, politiques d'approvisionnement, gestion de projets, théâtre, ingénierie de la valeur, gestion de la valeur     

Some thoughts on essence placeholders, interactionism, and heritability: Reply to Haslam (2011) and Turkheimer (2011).

In the target article (Dar-Nimrod & Heine, 2011), we provided a social–cognitive framework which identified genetic essentialist biases and their implications. In their commentaries, Haslam (2011) and Turkheimer (2011) indicated their general agreement with this framework but highlighted some important points for consideration. Haslam suggested that neuroessentialism is a comparable kind of essentialist bias and identified similarities with the genetic essentialism framework. In response, we acknowledge similarities but also identify qualitative and quantitative differences between genetic essentialism and other kinds of essentialist biases. Turkheimer challenged us to extend our discussion to address the question of how should people respond to genetic etiological information, critiqued the use of heritability coefficients, and identified a new construct (1 ? rMZ), which may be termed a free-will coefficient. In response, we emphasize the need to transform interactionist explanations from being empty platitudes to becoming the default conceptual framework; we wholeheartedly accept his critical view of heritability coefficient estimates (but acknowledge a more limited utility for them); and we are intrigued by his conceptual interest in identifying free-will coefficients yet warn against falling into pitfalls similar to those that were stumbled into in the past. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approximately classic judgement aggregation

This paper analyzes judgement aggregation problems in which a group of agents independently votes on a set of complex propositions subject to an interdependency constraint. It considers the issue of judgement aggregation from the perspective of approximation; that is, it generalizes the classic framework of judgement aggregation by relaxing the two main constraints assumed in the literature, Consistency and Independence. In doing so, it also considers mechanisms that only approximately satisfy these constraints, that is, satisfy them up to a small fraction of the inputs. The main question raised is whether the relaxation of these constraints significantly alters the class of aggregation mechanisms that meet the two (relaxed) constraints. The main result of this paper is that in the case of a subclass of a natural class of aggregation problems termed “truth-functional agendas,” the set of aggregation mechanisms that meet the constraints does not extend nontrivially when the constraints are relaxed. This paper also shows connections between this new general framework and the works on approximation of preference aggregation as well as the field of Property Testing and particularly linear testing of Boolean functions.     

Involvement of the ACE2/Ang-(1–7)/MasR Axis in Pulmonary Fibrosis: Implications for COVID-19

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic, fibrotic lung disease affecting 3 million people worldwide. The ACE2/Ang-(1–7)/MasR axis is of interest in pulmonary fibrosis due to evidence of its anti-fibrotic action. Current scientific evidence supports that inhibition of ACE2 causes enhanced fibrosis. ACE2 is also the primary receptor that facilitates the entry of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is associated with a myriad of symptoms ranging from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) leading to respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation, and often death. One of the potential complications in people who recover from COVID-19 is pulmonary fibrosis. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for fibrotic lung diseases, including the idiopathic form of this disease (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis), which has a prevalence of 41% to 83%. Cigarette smoke increases the expression of pulmonary ACE2 and is thought to alter susceptibility to COVID-19. Cannabis is another popular combustible product that shares some similarities with cigarette smoke, however, cannabis contains cannabinoids that may reduce inflammation and/or ACE2 levels. The role of cannabis smoke in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis remains unknown. This review aimed to characterize the ACE2-Ang-(1–7)-MasR Axis in the context of pulmonary fibrosis with an emphasis on risk factors, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus and exposure to environmental toxicants. In the context of the pandemic, there is a dire need for an understanding of pulmonary fibrotic events. More research is needed to understand the interplay between ACE2, pulmonary fibrosis, and susceptibility to coronavirus infection.     

Fuel Regression Mechanism in a Solid Fuel Ramjet

A model relating the combustion characteristics, particularly the regression rate, to the fuel properties in a solid fuel ramjet (SFRJ), is presented. The analysis is based on inspecting the different phenomena (e.g., chemical kinetics and heat transfer) involved in the fuel decomposition process in order to determine the rate controlling steps, and modeling the important mechanisms. Model predictions were compared to experimental findings for four polymeric fuels, showing excellent qualitative agreement in classifying different fuels, as well as good quantitative predictions of the fuel regression rates. The model can serve as a useful tool for the selection of appropriate fuels, as well as for preliminary design of the engine and mission profile prior to static firings of the final SFRJ prototype.     

Quaternary ammonium elastomeric ionomers by melt-state conversion

Quaternizations of benzyl bromide units in brominated poly(isobutylene-co-p-methylstyrene), or BIMS, elastomers with tertiary amines can be readily accomplished either by solution techniques or by melt reactive mixing. At temperatures of 130 °C and above, the nucleophilic substitution of benzyl bromide with ammonium bromide occurs instantaneously in an internal mixer. The conversion is around 95% for both dimethyl alkyl and dialkyl methyl amines. Suppressions in loss tangent measured in dimethyl alkyl amine melt quaternized BIMS indicate that molecular weight amplifications as a result of ionic association in these ionomers are in line with that obtained from solution quaternized BIMS. These melt quaternized BIMS ionomers become gels when their molecular weight amplification factors are greater than 1.5. Viscosity of BIMS can be raised significantly through quaternization to facilitate its mixing with thermoplastics. BIMS ionomers can also be added into bromobutyl innerliner compounds to enhance their green strengths. The efficiency in promoting ionic associations during melt mixing of BIMS with only 0.1 mol equiv. of dimethyl alkyl amines allows residual benzyl bromide units for subsequent curing.     

Requirement for homologous rabbit reticulocyte initiation factor 3 for initiation of alpha- and beta-globin mRNA translation in a crude protozoal cell-free system

Experimental evidence showing specificity of rabbit reticulocyte initiation factor 3 (EIF-3) for selective initiation of mRNA translation is presented. A new cell-free system was developed from Crithidia fasciculata. The crude postmitochondrial supernatant fluid was treated with puromycin and 0.5 M KCl to dissociate mRNA from polysomes and ribosomes into subunits. The drug and salt were removed by gel filtration on Sephadex G-25. Additions of amino acids and energy source initiate protein synthesis. All synthesis starts at the initiation site. This treatment brought about a shift in MgCl2 optimum from 6 to 3 mM. Exogenously supplied rabbit reticulocyte globin mRNA is faithfully translated in this system. However, crithidial EIF-3 has a low affinity for globin mRNA as evidenced by a 6-fold increase in the rate of globin synthesis after the addition of rabbit reticulocyte EIF-3 in the range at which globin synthesis is linear to the amount of globin mRNA added to the system. It is also shown that in a reconstituted system in which ribosomal subunits are depleted from initiation factors, EIF-3 from rabbit reticulocytes has a higher affinity for globin mRNA, as measured by the formation of polysomes during the linear time of amino acid incorporation. These results are taken to indicate that initiation factor EIF-3 action should be considered as an enzyme catalyzed reaction for which various mRNAs serve as different substrate analogs. Therefore, specificity is most likely to be expressed as an affinity of enzyme to substrate and would show as rate difference rather than an all-or-none phenomenon.     

Immunotherapy of tumors expressing IGF-I

Male and female rats were divided into two groups: stress (20 min of immobilization) and no stress. All animals were then given either one or three palatable foods for a 2 h test session. Each rat received both the single (one food) and variety (three foods) conditions twice, in a balanced order, in an ABAB experimental design. Stressed animals ate less than nonstressed animals. Animals ate more in the variety condition than in single condition during the first set of test sessions only. The stimulating effect of variety on food intake was not evident during the replication of conditions. All animals ate more of the palatable test foods than chow in a comparable time period. Rats ate more with each successive test session (regardless of food variety condition), showing a relative stabilization of food intake from the third to the fourth test sessions. However, there was a significant interaction of stress condition, sex, and test session. Stressed females continued to increase their food intake from the third to the fourth test session such that there was no longer any difference between the stressed and nonstressed females during the last test session. These results suggest that the effect of variety on food intake habituates when the same test foods are used repeatedly, and that there is no difference between males and females in the response to variety. Furthermore, while stress reduces the intake of palatable foods in all animals, females may show an habituation to this effect.