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Becoming a fighter pilot: Make them tell you no!
by SOFREP Jul 29, 2020
"Well, you have astigmatism in both eyes," the optometrist told me. "The good news is that we can get you a pair of glasses to help."
I was 16 years old at the time and working toward an appointment to the Air Force Academy. I had the grades, the test scores, and had been in touch with a Louisiana U.S. Senator who was prepared to help me with the appointment.
"But what about flying?" I asked the optometrist, sitting in the exam room as my mind raced through the options. "I want to be a fighter pilot."
She frowned. "Honey, you'll be lucky to fly at all, much less professionally. And you'll definitely never be a fighter pilot,
she said flatly.
You'll never be a fighter pilot…
I was crushed. It seemed to confirm everything I had always heard: You have to be perfect in every way to be a fighter pilot. Only perfect grades, perfect vision, perfect everything would cut it. As much as I wanted it, it just wasn't in the cards. I was anything but perfect. My dad called the senator's office and respectfully declined the help. If I couldn't be a pilot, I didn't want to be in the Air Force. I would just go do something else.
I gave up on the dream and I started school at LSU-Eunice, a local two-year college. I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Pre-Med looked appealing, but so did business. I flipped back and forth between majors several times. Then, late one night, I was out driving in my sports car across some backroads. I was upset about a girl and — like a dumb teenager — felt the need for speed as I tried to clear my head. I pushed too hard, going to fast into a sharp corner and, well… ended up in a ditch.
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I was embarrassed and felt foolish. I was working part-time at a hospital and decided to take flying lessons. I needed to do something to better myself and I finally had the funds and ability to take a stab at doing more than just flying Microsoft Flight Simulator.
My first lesson was on February 2nd, 2002. I soloed on February 15th and from that point on, I was hooked. I didn't care what the optometrist said. I wanted to be a fighter pilot.
Screenshot courtesy of simmerhead.wordpress.com.
As my dad always told me, "You don't know unless you try."
I would make them tell me no.
My dad served 24 years in the Army National Guard, so he naturally suggested the Air National Guard. I did a ton of research online and found you didn't have to go to the Academy to become a fighter pilot: there were many other avenues to try, including ROTC and the Guard/Reserve.
After two years at LSU-Eunice, I transferred to Tulane on a scholarship. I visited the Air Force and Navy ROTC. The AFROTC commander liked me and invited me to join the Civil Air Patrol, but he was honest: my odds of getting a pilot slot were low as a transfer student. It would be an uphill battle, and they didn't get many slots. If I wanted a sure thing, the only way to get it was through the Air Guard or Reserve.
I cold-called both units. The squadron commander of the F-15 Guard unit invited me out. He sat me down and laid out my path: If I wanted to be a pilot in the unit, I'd have to be a crew chief first, because, at the time, they only hired from within. I thanked him for his time but decided it wasn't for me. I had a full ride to Tulane and didn't think I would have time to enlist.
The Wing jet from the 159th FW, Louisiana Air National Guard.
I found the number of the Director of Operations (DO) for the local A-10 Air Force Reserve Command squadron online. I called him one weekday that summer as I was settling into my new apartment in New Orleans.
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"Hello, sir, I am calling because I want to be a fighter pilot in your unit one day," I said, my enthusiasm as a dumb 20-year-old getting the better of me.
The man on the other end laughed. "You do? Well, who are you?"
"I'm going to be a junior at Tulane, sir. I've read about joining reserve units and would love to apply, sir," I said, trying to throw in as many "sirs" as I could because that's what the military did. When in Rome.
"Well it's a little early, but I'll tell you what, give me a call next month and you can come out and visit," he said.
"Thank you, sir!" I replied.
I called weekly after that, not knowing that the DO had gone TDY. I never left a message because I was too scared. I took the Air Force Officer Qualification Test (AFOQT) through the ROTC anyway. My scores were abysmal, barely average. My hopes were slowly withering away, but I figured I could keep asking anyway. I met a lawyer in Houma who had an L-39 and flew with him to an airshow in Midland, TX one weekend. With every demo, I was more convinced that I wanted to be a military pilot, regardless of aircraft. I just wanted to get my foot in the door and go from there.
I talked to the pilots who had a C-5 static display. The Chief Pilot gave me his card and told me to send in my application. A few weeks after emailing, I got the reply. "Sorry, but your scores just aren't high enough to be competitive. It's not likely that you'll do well in pilot training. Recommend you retake the test and reapply next year."
I was working in the university gym one evening when the Air Force Captain, who helped run the ROTC, stopped by my attendant desk.
"Hey, do you know the DO of the 706th Fighter Squadron?" he asked.
"The A-10 squadron? Yes, sir," I replied.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
"Well, he wants you to call him."
"Really?" My heart was racing. Could this be my break?
"Yeah, he wants to offer you a job," he replied.
"Huh?" I was dumbfounded. Everything I had read online said that units like that had hiring boards and required scores much higher than mine. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, we were over there doing a simulator tour and he asked about you by name. Told me to ask you to call him. It's some kind of civilian job, I think," he said.
I called the DO the next day.
"Hey, you never called me back," he said as he recognized me.
"Sorry sir, your voicemail said you were out of town," I replied.
After explaining that he had been TDY, he made good on his commitment and invited me over to the unit. I interviewed in his office and one of the other pilots took me to the A-10 sim, where I promptly crashed after trying to do a barrel roll after takeoff, just like in Top Gun.
"Here's the deal," he said as I returned, "I can offer you a GS-3 student-hire position. It's temporary, so if you don't do well, we can fire you. If we like you, we'll send you to pilot training. If not, you just have civil service time under your belt. The pay is $10/hr. Do you accept?"
"Hell yes!" I said.
A-10C Thunderbolt II simulator. (U.S. Air Force photo)
So I worked two jobs in college while taking 20 credit hours per semester. Working in a fighter squadron as a college kid was the best job I ever had. My official job title was "stock clerk," but I did so much more, from helping to create briefing software to running the simulator. I was incredibly lucky.
They held a board for me shortly before I graduated from college. I was the only applicant. The Base Realignment And Closure Commission results had come out, and the squadron was scheduled to close in 2009. They liked me and decided to hire me. I could get A-10 time and would be able to transfer to another unit when the BRAC would finally happen.
They started the paperwork to get me hired. I went to MEPS in New Orleans for my entrance physical. I failed. I couldn't get through the depth perception — although I had never actually worn the glasses that my optometrist had given me years earlier, so the vision problem was rearing its ugly head again.
One of the pilots helped me get through it. The depth perception circles just sucked. He took me to base medical and a tech let me try again. I passed this time and was cleared to go to Brooks for my Flying Class I medical.
I got through the first day thinking I was good to go. I passed the vision tests with flying colors, I even got a 20/12 in one eye. At the beginning of day two, however, they needed to speak to me.
"The retinal topography came back," the doctor said. "You have excessive astigmatism well outside normal limits in both eyes. You'll need a waiver."
"But what are my chances?" I asked, once again seeing my hopes vanish before me.
"Not good," he replied. "The unit will need to request the waiver. If you were active duty, there'd be no way."
Photo courtesy of the author's collection.
I went home dejected and scared. I had given up Pre-Med and gone into Business Management just to get the quickest degree so I could become a fighter pilot. I really had no plan beyond flying.
Eight agonizing weeks and a few phone calls from the unit later and my waiver came back approved. I had dodged a bullet and I was cleared to start my journey to Undergraduate Pilot Training, or UPT.
Two weeks later, however, Hurricane Katrina rolled through. The BRAC that was supposed to happen in 2009 was accelerated to 2005. The Wing Commander stated plainly that he had no intention of ever bringing A-10s back to New Orleans. He would push to have the jets moved early. I was qualified but jobless. I went to Officer Training School sponsored by a unit that had no jets. When I returned to my squadron with butter bars on my collar, the finance people told me point blank that if I didn't find a squadron to sponsor me, my pilot training slot and orders would be canceled.
I made phonecall after phonecall until finally the F-16 unit in Homestead invited me out to interview. They hired me. I had dodged yet another bullet. I went to pilot training with a fighter slot in hand. I helped my buddies and practiced the "cooperate to graduate" routine. Despite what the C-5 unit predicted, I graduated #1 in both T-6s and T-38s. It was proof that test scores don't trump a good attitude and willingness to learn and listen.
Once in the Viper, I logged 1,000 hours and had a deployment to Iraq. During the B-Course, my vision waiver became permanent. I thought that my medical issues were behind me, so it was going to be nothing but blue skies and tailwinds from then on, fulfilling my childhood dream of being a fighter pilot. In 2012, I transferred to the Navy Reserve and qualified in the F/A-18 Hornet. I had been fortunate enough to move closer to home while staying in fighters.
And then seven months ago, I ran into another obstacle.
I was flying a BFM sortie late in the afternoon. After landing, I noticed that my upper back was hurting a little near my kidneys. I chalked it up to the long day and ignored it.
But that weekend as the pain progressed, I knew something was wrong. Perhaps kidney stones? I went to the base clinic. Nope. "Bloodwork is good. Kidney function is normal."
The pain grew worse. The docs thought it was muscular. They prescribed muscle relaxers and sent me home, but scheduled a CT scan just to rule out anything major. The next Tuesday, on my way to work and to tell the flight surgeon that I felt fine and could go back to flying, I received a phonecall from him.
"You need to come straight to the clinic," he said ominously.
I went into his office and could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong.
"Ok, we found something that may be significant," he said as he handed me the CT results. "You have 21 cysts in your left kidney, 18 in your right, and 12 in your liver."
"Cysts?" I asked. "Cancer?"
"No," he replied. "But they're fluid-filled cysts that could indicate Cystic Kidney and Liver disease — especially at your age."
"What does that mean?" I asked. "I feel fine now, can I go back to flying?"
The doc shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You're going to need a waiver. You'll need to see a nephrologist to confirm."
"What are my odds of a waiver?" I asked frantically.
"I've never seen this before, so I don't know," the doc replied. "Not great."
I went to the nephrologist. As she was confirming the diagnosis I was seeing my career's lamp dimming before my eyes. I had always been on borrowed time, and now it had come time to collect. The nephrologist wasn't thrilled about me flying fighters, and the fact that my mom had died of an aneurysm made her even more nervous. She ordered a magnetic resonance angiogram of my brain to look for possible aneurysms.
The next few weeks were agonizing. If the MRA came back positive, I would never fly at all — period. No fighter, no airline, no Cessna. In fact, I would probably need surgery and could be facing a fate much worse than just being grounded from flying.
Fortunately, the exam came back negative. No signs of aneurysm. I had passed the first hurdle. The nephrologist cleared me and we submitted the waiver paperwork.
Shortly before Christmas, it was denied. The Naval Aviation Medicine folks wanted the Navy Reserve to determine if I could even stay in the Navy first before they'd rule. So I had to submit paperwork to the big Navy.
At this point, the outlook was bleak. Several doctors — in message boards and in-person — told me that the odds were against me. I would probably never fly again. My flying career is over, I thought.
It took six months for the Medical Retention Review paperwork to come back approved. I was surprised but grateful. We resubmitted my paperwork. I hoped to fly fighters again, but I knew there was a chance they could say "no fighters, but you can fly heavies" or still "no flying at all." I was prepared to drive to Pensacola to plead my case in the event that they denied the waiver. I felt fine. I was asymptomatic. I could still be useful in the cockpit.
Two weeks ago, I got a phone call from my flight surgeon. "Waiver approved. No restrictions." The biggest weight was lifted off my chest. It didn't feel real.
And then on Friday, March 18th, nearly seven months since my last flight, I strapped into a Hornet again. It was almost surreal. As the Fallon controller cleared me for takeoff, I could do nothing but smile. The afterburner kicked me back in the seat and seconds later I was airborne.
Seven long months of agony and worry were finally over. I was a fighter pilot again.
And from that point on, I know that every flight is on borrowed time. I proved that the myth of the perfect fighter pilot is just that — a myth. That added perspective and clarity: Never take anything for granted, because you never know when you'll strap into the cockpit for the last time. Nothing is ever guaranteed. One day you can be on top of the world, complaining about the most ridiculous things, and the next you can be fighting for your career.
I was inspired to tell this story after seeing a few "Ask a fighter pilot" questions about how to become a pilot. People are constantly telling me, "I wanted to be a fighter pilot, but…."
I'm not special. I'm not an exceptional pilot destined to be the next Chuck Yeager. I'm just a normal guy who didn't quit. That's really all it takes. Don't disqualify yourself before you even start. Be persistent and let the people in charge make the ultimate decision. You'll be surprised at the results.
As my dad always said, "You don't know until you try."
Make them tell you no.
C.W. Lemoine — back in the saddle again! (Photo courtesy of the author)
Editor's note: This article was written by C.W. Lemoine, a former F-16 & F/A-18 pilot. It was originally published in 2017.
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Limit Sets of Generalized, Multi-Threshold Networks
Journal of Cellular Automata 10(3):161-193
Chris j Kuhlman
Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Henning S. Mortveit
Standard two-state (Boolean) threshold networks have been used to model a broad range of social and biological systems. In this paper, we generalize this class of systems to arbitrary finite sets with nonsymmetric thresholds. For this new class of systems, we derive sufficient conditions on the threshold parameters to ensure that the limit sets are fixed points. In contrast to the standard Boolean threshold networks, this broader class can have long periodic orbits and here we identify bifurcation points of these systems. Our focus is mainly on asynchronous systems, but we also discuss synchronous systems. The extension we introduce is directly motivated by applications in the social sciences. However, we also expect that our results will be useful for modeling biological phenomena where a finer level of expression than 0/1 or on/off is needed.
... The GDSC application can be used for both research and education. As evidence for the former point, we note that three works [8][9][10] used GDSC to identify experimentally dynamical system behaviors that were then rigorously proved as general characterizations of GDSs. Thus, GDSC is a useful tool for experimental mathematics and computational mathematics, where computational studies are used to guide formulation of theorems and provide insights for their proofs. ...
... The first three illustrate our use of GDSC to compute dynamics, which we then used to prove more general results. These theoretical results have been published [8][9][10]. The fourth study demonstrates the wider applicability of GDSC by illustrating how dynamical systems used by other researchers (e.g., [5]) can also be modeled in this framework. ...
... Often, the problem facing the actor is not whether to contribute, but how much to contribute." In [10], we study GDSs where there can be any finite number r of states, that is, K = {0, 1, 2, . . ., r − 1}. ...
GDSCalc: A Web-Based Application for Evaluating Discrete Graph Dynamical Systems
Sherif Abdelhamid
Madhav Marathe
S. S. Ravi
Discrete dynamical systems are used to model various realistic systems in network science, from social unrest in human populations to regulation in biological networks. A common approach is to model the agents of a system as vertices of a graph, and the pairwise interactions between agents as edges. Agents are in one of a finite set of states at each discrete time step and are assigned functions that describe how their states change based on neighborhood relations. Full characterization of state transitions of one system can give insights into fundamental behaviors of other dynamical systems. In this paper, we describe a discrete graph dynamical systems (GDSs) application called GDSCalc for computing and characterizing system dynamics. It is an open access system that is used through a web interface. We provide an overview of GDS theory. This theory is the basis of the web application; i.e., an understanding of GDS provides an understanding of the software features, while abstracting away implementation details. We present a set of illustrative examples to demonstrate its use in education and research. Finally, we compare GDSCalc with other discrete dynamical system software tools. Our perspective is that no single software tool will perform all computations that may be required by all users; tools typically have particular features that are more suitable for some tasks. We situate GDSCalc within this space of software tools.
... Traditional binary-state threshold models have been extensively studied, and recently multistate threshold models been proposed. Melnik et al. [51] introduced a``progressive"" three-state model, where agents have two thresholds, while Kuhlman and Mortviet [41] extended this formalism, allowing an arbitrary number of states and transitions from each state to every other state. A similar nonlinear model is the multistate majority rule model [13], where every node has a multitude of opinions and nodes change their opinion depending on the majority opinion of groups to which they belong. ...
... Our observations here have important implications for the study of models with kinetic constraints. Threshold models are widely employed models of complex contagion in the social sciences [30,10,52,36], and the AME framework that we have introduced here lends itself to the analysis of the traditional binary-state threshold models [71] as well as more complex multistate threshold models that are the focus of much current attention [51,41]. ...
Multistate Dynamical Processes on Networks: Analysis through Degree-Based Approximation Frameworks
Peter G. Fennell
James P. Gleeson
Multistate dynamical processes on networks, where nodes can occupy one of a multitude of discrete states, are gaining widespread use because of their ability to recreate realistic, complex behaviour that cannot be adequately captured by simpler binary-state models. In epidemiology, multistate models are employed to predict the evolution of real epidemics, while multistate models are used in the social sciences to study diverse opinions and complex phenomena such as segregation. In this paper, we introduce generalized approximation frameworks for the study and analysis of multistate dynamical processes on networks. These frameworks are degree-based, allowing for the analysis of the effect of network connectivity structures on dynamical processes. We illustrate the utility of our approach with the analysis of two specific dynamical processes from the epidemiological and physical sciences. The approximation frameworks that we develop, along with open-source numerical solvers, provide a unifying framework and a valuable suite of tools for the interdisciplinary study of multistate dynamical processes on networks.
... An example of a system characterization is the following: progressive Boolean threshold systems, heavily used in the social sciences 48,71,119 and that are similar to models popularized in 78 , are shown to generate only fixed points as limit cycles 85 . Works with other characterizations include 2,69,83,84,105,121,127 . These types of results, along with those from analysis When two people are co-located, they form a person-person edge in a social network such as that in Fig. 3. Since these interactions give rise to the same person-person edges as in Fig. 3, and the same SIR model vertex functions are used, this network produces the same forward trajectory as that in in Fig. 3. ...
Agent-Based Computational Epidemiological Modeling
Keith R. Bissett
Jose Cadena
Maleq Khan
The study of epidemics is useful for not only understanding outbreaks and trying to limit their adverse effects, but also because epidemics are related to social phenomena such as government instability, crime, poverty, and inequality. One approach for studying epidemics is to simulate their spread through populations. In this work, we describe an integrated multi-dimensional approach to epidemic simulation, which encompasses: (1) a theoretical framework for simulation and analysis; (2) synthetic population (digital twin) generation; (3) (social contact) network construction methods from synthetic populations, (4) stylized network construction methods; and (5) simulation of the evolution of a virus or disease through a social network. We describe these aspects and end with a short discussion on simulation results that inform public policy.
... Later, in [40], the authors analyzed how the shape of the dependency graph influences the limit cycle structure of such block-sequential systems, deriving sufficient conditions on this shape which provides only fixed points as limit cycles. Finally, the limit cycle structure for systems whose evolution operator is composed by bi-threshold and multi-threshold functions were considered in [41,42] respectively. ...
Coexistence of Periods in Parallel and Sequential Boolean Graph Dynamical Systems over Directed Graphs
Juan A. Aledo
Luis G. Diaz
Jose C. Valverde
In this work, we solve the problem of the coexistence of periodic orbits in homogeneous Boolean graph dynamical systems that are induced by a maxterm or a minterm (Boolean) function, with a direct underlying dependency graph. Specifically, we show that periodic orbits of any period can coexist in both kinds of update schedules, parallel and sequential. This result contrasts with the properties of their counterparts over undirected graphs with the same evolution operators, where fixed points cannot coexist with periodic orbits of other different periods. These results complete the study of the periodic structure of homogeneous Boolean graph dynamical systems on maxterm and minterm functions.
Effect of Graph Structure on the Limit Sets of Threshold Dynamical Systems
Abhijin Adiga
Sichao Wu
We study the attractor structure of standard block-sequential threshold dynamical systems. In a block-sequential update, the vertex set of the graph is partitioned into blocks, and the blocks are updated sequentially while the vertices within each block are updated in parallel. There are several notable previous results concerning the two extreme cases of block-sequential update: (i) sequential and (ii) parallel. While parallel threshold systems can have limit cycles of length at most two, sequential systems can have only fixed points. However, Goles and Montealegre [5] showed the existence of block-sequential threshold systems that have arbitrarily long limit cycles. Motivated by this result, we study how the underlying graph structure influences the limit cycle structure of block-sequential systems. We derive a sufficient condition on the graph structure so that the system has only fixed points as limit cycles. We also identify several well-known graph families that satisfy this condition.
Global Dynamics in Binary Choice Models with Social Influence
J MATH SOCIOL
Gian-Italo Bischi
Ugo Merlone
A discrete-time dynamical system is proposed to model a class of binary choice games with externalities as those described by Schelling (197320. Schelling , T. C. ( 1973 ). Hockey helmets, concealed weapons, and daylight saving . Journal of Conflict Resolution , 17 ( 3 ), 381 – 428 . [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®]View all references, 197821. Schelling , T. C. ( 1978 ). Micromotives and Macrobehavior . New York : W. W. Norton . View all references). In order to analyze some oscillatory time patterns and problems of equilibrium selection that were not considered in the qualitative analysis given by Schelling, we introduce an explicit adjustment mechanism. We perform a global dynamic analysis that allows us to explain the transition toward nonconnected basins of attraction when several coexisting attractors are present. This gives a formal explanation of some overshooting effects in social systems and of the consequent cyclic behaviors qualitatively described in Schelling (197821. Schelling , T. C. ( 1978 ). Micromotives and Macrobehavior . New York : W. W. Norton . View all references). Moreover, we show how the occurrence of a global bifurcation may lead to the explanation of situations of path dependence and the creation of thresholds observed in real life situations of collective choices, leading to extreme forms of irreversible departure from an equilibrium and uncertainty about the long run evolution of the some social systems.
Negative Affect and Social Judgment: The Differential Impact of Anger and Sadness
EUR J SOC PSYCHOL
Galen V Bodenhausen
Lori A. Sheppard
Geoffrey P. Kramer
The overwhelming majority of research on affect and social information processing has focused on the judgments and memories of people in good or bad moods rather than examining more specific kinds of emotional experience within the broad categories of positive and negative affect. Are all varieties of negative affect alike in their impact on social perception? Three experiments were conducted to examine the possibility that different kinds of negative affect (in this case, anger and sadness) can have very different kinds of effects on social information processing. Experiment I showed that angry subjects rendered more stereotypic judgments in a social perception task than did sad subjects, who did not differ from neutral mood subjects. Experiments 2 and 3 similarly revealed a greater reliance upon heuristic cues in a persuasion situation among angry subjects. Specifically, their level of agreement with unpopular positions was guided more by the credibility of the person advocating the position. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact of emotional experience on social information-processing strategies.
Can a few fanatics influence the opinion of a large segment of a society?
Dietrich Stauffer
Muhammad Sahimi
Models that provide insight into how extreme positions regarding any social phenomenon may spread in a society or at the global scale are of great current interest. A realistic model must account for the fact that globalization, internet, and other means of mass communications have given rise to scale-free networks of interactions between people. We propose a novel model which takes into account the nature of the interactions network, and provides some key insights into this phenomenon. These include, (1) the existence of a fundamental difference between a hierarchical network whereby people are influenced by those that are higher in the hierarchy but not by those below them, and a symmetrical network where person-on-person influence works mutually, and (2) that a few "fanatics" can influence a large fraction of the population either temporarily (in the hierarchical networks) or permanently (in symmetrical networks). Even if the "fanatics" disappear, the population may still remain susceptible to the positions originally advocated by them. The model is, however, general and applicable to any phenomenon for which there is a degree of enthusiasm or susceptibility to in the population.
An Agent-Based Model for the Interplay of Information and Emotion in Social Diffusion
Jan Treur
Natalie van der Wal
Arlette van Wissen
The spread of information and emotion within groups is studied in models of social diffusion. Evidence has been found that the emotional states of humans affect their information processing abilities, and hence, may affect the spread of information as well. This paper introduces an agent-based model that simulates the spread of information and emotion among a group of agents. The model takes both the influence of emotions upon the spread of information and the influence of information on emotions into account. The approach is exemplified by means of a case study in the domain of emergency evacuation.
Structural diversity in social contagion
P NATL ACAD SCI USA
Johan Ugander
Lars Backstrom
Cameron Marlow
Jon Kleinberg
The concept of contagion has steadily expanded from its original grounding in epidemic disease to describe a vast array of processes that spread across networks, notably social phenomena such as fads, political opinions, the adoption of new technologies, and financial decisions. Traditional models of social contagion have been based on physical analogies with biological contagion, in which the probability that an individual is affected by the contagion grows monotonically with the size of his or her "contact neighborhood"--the number of affected individuals with whom he or she is in contact. Whereas this contact neighborhood hypothesis has formed the underpinning of essentially all current models, it has been challenging to evaluate it due to the difficulty in obtaining detailed data on individual network neighborhoods during the course of a large-scale contagion process. Here we study this question by analyzing the growth of Facebook, a rare example of a social process with genuinely global adoption. We find that the probability of contagion is tightly controlled by the number of connected components in an individual's contact neighborhood, rather than by the actual size of the neighborhood. Surprisingly, once this "structural diversity" is controlled for, the size of the contact neighborhood is in fact generally a negative predictor of contagion. More broadly, our analysis shows how data at the size and resolution of the Facebook network make possible the identification of subtle structural signals that go undetected at smaller scales yet hold pivotal predictive roles for the outcomes of social processes.
The Dynamics of Protest Recruitment Through an Online Network
Sandra González-Bailón
Javier Borge-Holthoefer
Alejandro Rivero
Yamir Moreno
The recent wave of mobilizations in the Arab world and across Western countries has generated much discussion on how digital media is connected to the diffusion of protests. We examine that connection using data from the surge of mobilizations that took place in Spain in May 2011. We study recruitment patterns in the Twitter network and find evidence of social influence and complex contagion. We identify the network position of early participants (i.e. the leaders of the recruitment process) and of the users who acted as seeds of message cascades (i.e. the spreaders of information). We find that early participants cannot be characterized by a typical topological position but spreaders tend to be more central in the network. These findings shed light on the connection between online networks, social contagion, and collective dynamics, and offer an empirical test to the recruitment mechanisms theorized in formal models of collective action.
A Social Network Approach to Demonstrate the Diffusion and Change Process of Intervention From Peer Health Advocates to the Drug Using Community
SUBST USE MISUSE
Jianghong Li
Margaret R Weeks
Stephen P Borgatti
Julia Dickson-Gomez
Project RAP (Risk Avoidance Partnership) trained 112 active drug users to become peer health advocates (PHAs). Six months after baseline survey (N(bl) = 522), 91.6% of PHAs and 56.6% of community drug users adopted the RAP innovation of giving peer intervention, and 59.5% of all participants (N(6m) = 367) were exposed to RAP innovation. Sociometric network analysis shows that adoption of and exposure to RAP innovation was associated with proximity to a PHA or a highly active interventionist (HAI), being directly linked to multiple PHAs/HAIs, and being located in a network sector where multiple PHAs/HAIs were clustered. RAP innovation has diffused into the Hartford drug-using community.
Reinforcement-Driven Spread of Innovations and Fads
J STAT MECH-THEORY E
Pavel L. Krapivsky
Sidney Redner
Dmitry Volovik
We propose kinetic models for the spread of permanent innovations and transient fads by the mechanism of social reinforcement. Each individual can be in one of M+1 states of awareness 0,1,2,...,M, with state M corresponding to adopting an innovation. An individual with awareness k<M increases to k+1 by interacting with an adopter. Starting with a single adopter, the time for an initially unaware population of size N to adopt a permanent innovation grows as ln(N) for M=1, and as N^{1-1/M} for M>1. The fraction of the population that remains clueless about a transient fad after it has come and gone changes discontinuously as a function of the fad abandonment rate lambda for M>1. The fad dies out completely in a time that varies non-monotonically with lambda.
Dynamics of Confident Voting
We introduce the confident voter model, in which each voter can be in one of two opinions and can additionally have two levels of commitment to an opinion --- confident and unsure. Upon interacting with an agent of a different opinion, a confident voter becomes less committed, or unsure, but does not change opinion. However, an unsure agent changes opinion by interacting with an agent of a different opinion. In the mean-field limit, a population of size N is quickly driven to a mixed state and remains close to this state before consensus is eventually achieved in a time of the order of ln N. In two dimensions, the distribution of consensus times is characterized by two distinct times --- one that scales linearly with N and another that appears to scale as N^{3/2}. The longer time arises from configurations that fall into long-lived states that consist of two (or more) single-opinion stripes before consensus is reached. These stripe states arise from an effective surface tension between domains of different opinions.
Peer Influences on Adolescent Cigarette Smoking: A Theoretical Review of the Literature
Beth R Hoffman
Steve Sussman
Jennifer B Unger
Thomas Valente
This article reviews several classes of theories to elucidate the relationship between adolescent cigarette smoking and friends' cigarette smoking. Perceived influence theories hinge upon an adolescent's perception of friends' smoking behavior. External influence theories are those in which friends' smoking behavior overtly influences adolescent smoking. Group level theories examine how differences at the level of subculture, gender, and race/ethnicity influence the relationship under study. Network theories are also discussed. A model integrating relevant theories into a longitudinal model representing friend influences on adolescent smoking is presented, along with implications of the results presented for adolescent tobacco prevention programs.
Inhibiting diffusion of complex contagions in social networks: theoretical and experimental results
Sritesh Kumar
Daniel J. Rosenkrantz
We consider the problem of inhibiting undesirable contagions (e.g. rumors, spread of mob behavior) in social networks. Much of the work in this context has been carried out under the 1-threshold model, where diffusion occurs when a node has just one neighbor with the contagion. We study the problem of inhibiting more complex contagions in social networks where nodes may have thresholds larger than 1. The goal is to minimize the propagation of the contagion by removing a small number of nodes (called critical nodes) from the network. We study several versions of this problem and prove that, in general, they cannot even be efficiently approximated to within any factor \(\rho \ge 1\) , unless P = NP. We develop efficient and practical heuristics for these problems and carry out an experimental study of their performance on three well known social networks, namely epinions, wikipedia and slashdot. Our results show that these heuristics perform significantly better than five other known methods. We also establish an efficiently computable upper bound on the number of nodes to which a contagion can spread and evaluate this bound on many real and synthetic networks.
Complex Contagions and the Weakness of Long Ties
Damon Centola
Michael Macy
The strength of weak ties is that they tend to be long - they connect socially distant locations, allowing information to diffuse rapidly. The authors test whether this "strength of weak ties" generalizes from simple to complex contagions. Complex contagions require social affirmation from multiple sources. Examples include the spread of high-risk social movements, avant garde fashions, and unproven technologies. Results show that as adoption thresholds increase, long ties can impede diffusion. Complex contagions depend primarily on the width of the bridges across a network, not just their length. Wide bridges are a characteristic feature of many spatial networks, which may account in part for the widely observed tendency for social movements to diffuse spatially.
Anger, Fear, Uncertainty, and Attitudes: A Test of the Cognitive-Functional Model
Robin L. Nabi
The cognitive-functional model of discrete negative emotions and attitude change (CFM; Nabi, 1999) attempts to bridge the theoretical gap between "emotional" and "rational" approaches to persuasion by focusing on how emotions motivate attention to and processing of persuasive messages. As a first test of the CFM, this study explored the effects of 2 emotions, anger and fear, and 2 levels of expectation of message reassurance, certainty and uncertainty, on attitudes toward domestic terrorism legislation. Results supported a main effect for emotion type, suggesting that anger promotes deeper information processing than fear, and a main effect for reassurance certainty level, with uncertainty promoting deeper information processing. The expected interaction between emotion type and reassurance expectation level was not found. Implications of these findings for the model and persuasion research generally are discussed.
Periodic behaviour of generalized threshold functions
Eric Goles
It is shown that, for a function Δ from {0, 1}n to {0, 1}n whose components from a symmetric set of threshold functions the repeated application of Δ, leads either to a fixed point or to a cycle of length two.
Networks, Diffusion, and Cycles of Collective Action
Pamela E. Oliver
Daniel J. Myers
This paper shows how different "network" arguments about how protest spreads imply quite different underlying mechanisms that in turn produce different diffusion processes. There is considerable ambiguity about the relationships among networks, diffusion, and action cycles and the way these can be identified in empirical data. We thus both seek to unpack the "network" concept into different kinds of processes, and then show how these different network processes affect the diffusion processes we are studying. We sketch out some formal models to capture some of these distinctions. This paper extends recent work (Oliver and Myers forthcoming) that develops diffusion models of protest cycles, and focuses on discussing link between network concepts and diffusion concepts in understanding protest cycles. We conceive of social movements as diffuse action fields in which actions affect other actions and the action repertoires of the different actors co- evolve through time and through interaction with each other. Movement activists and regimes engage in strategic interactions, each responding to the actions of the other. Different organizations within a movement respond to the actions of others, as successful tactical innovations and movement frames diffuse to new organizations. News media cover or fail to cover particular protests, and thus encourage or discourage future protests. Each of these processes effects the others, in a complex, multi-faceted set of interactions. Over time, the action set of each actor evolves in response to the actions of the others and, thus, the whole field is one large co-evolving environment in which the characteristics and actions of any actor is constrained and influenced by the characteristics and actions of all other actors in the environment. One central concern about understanding diffusion and networks in protest waves is that
Tactical Innovation and the Pace of Insurgency
AM SOCIOL REV
Douglas Mcadam
The pace of black insurgency between 1955 and 1970 is analyzed as a function of an ongoing process of tactical interaction between movement forces and southern segregationists. Given a political system vulnerable to challenge and strong internal organization the main challenge confronting insurgents is a preeminently tactical one. Lacking institutionalized power, challengers must devise protest techniques that offset their powerlessness. This is referred to as a process of tactical innovation. Such innovations, however, only temporarily afford challengers increased bargaining leverage. In chess-like fashion, movement opponents can be expected, through effective tactical adaptation, to neutralize the new tactic, thereby reinstituting the power disparity between themselves and the challenger. This perspective is applied to the development of the black movement over the period, 1955-1970. Evidence derived from content-coding all relevant story synopses contained in The New York Times Index for these years is presented showing a strong correspondence between the introduction of new protest techniques and peaks in movement activity. Conversely, lulls in black insurgency reflect the successful efforts of movement opponents to devise effective tactical counters to these innovations.
Weight Cycling
Richard L Atkinson
William H Dietz
John P Foreyt
Susan Z Yanovski
Objective. —To address concerns about the effects of weight cycling and to provide guidance on the risk-to-benefit ratio of attempts at weight loss, given current scientific knowledge.Data Sources. —Original reports obtained through MEDLINE and psychological abstracts searches for 1966 through 1994 on weight cycling, "yo-yo dieting," and weight fluctuation, supplemented by a manual search of bibliographies.Study Selection. —English-language articles that evaluated the effects of weight change or weight cycling on humans or animals.Data Extraction. —Studies were reviewed by experts in the fields of nutrition, obesity, and epidemiology to evaluate study design and the validity of the authors' conclusions based on published data.Data Synthesis. —The majority of studies do not support an adverse effect of weight cycling on metabolism. Many observational studies have shown an association between variation in body weight and increased morbidity and mortality. However, most of these studies did not examine intentional vs unintentional weight loss, nor were they designed to determine the effects of weight cycling in obese, as opposed to normal-weight, individuals.Conclusions. —The currently available evidence is not sufficiently compelling to override the potential benefits of moderate weight loss in significantly obese patients. Therefore, obese individuals should not allow concerns about hazards of weight cycling to deter them from efforts to control their body weight. Although conclusive data regarding long-term health effects of weight cycling are lacking, non-obese individuals should attempt to maintain a stable weight. Obese individuals who undertake weight loss efforts should be ready to commit to lifelong changes in their behavioral patterns, diet, and physical activity.(JAMA. 1994;272:1196-1202)
Threshold Models of Collective Behavior
Mark S. Granovetter
Decreasing energy functions as a tool studying threshold networks
DISCRETE APPL MATH
Francoise Soulie Fogelman
Didier Pellegrin
Block sequential iterations of threshold networks are studied through the use of a monotonic operator, analogous to the spin glass energy. This allows to characterize the dynamics: transient and fixed points. We then extend this method to networks of generalized majority functions and spin glasses.
Cascading Behavior in Networks: Algorithmic and Economic Issues
The flow of information or influence through a large social network can be thought of as unfolding with the dynamics of an epidemic: as individuals become aware of new ideas, tech-nologies, fads, rumors, or gossip, they have the potential to pass them on to their friends and colleagues, causing the resulting behavior to cascade through the network. We consider a collection of probabilistic and game-theoretic models for such phenomena proposed in the mathematical social sciences, as well as recent algorithmic work on the problem by computer scientists. Building on this, we discuss the implications of cascading behavior in a number of on-line settings, including word-of-mouth effects (also known as "viral marketing") in the success of new products, and the influence of social networks in the growth of on-line communities.
The Emotional Contagion Scale: A Measure of Individual Differences
R. William. Doherty
Three studies (N = 1988) describe the development and validation of the Emotional Contagion (EC) Scale, a 15-item unidimensional measure of susceptibility to others'' emotions resulting from afferent feedback generated by mimicry. Study 1 assesses the EC Scale''s reliability (Cronbach''s = .90). Study 2 finds susceptibility (a) positively related to reactivity, emotionality, sensitivity to others, social functioning, self-esteem, and more associated with emotional than cognitive modes of empathy, (b) negatively related to alienation, self-assertiveness, and emotional stability and, (c) unrelated to masculinity and approval motivation. Study 3, an experiment, finds that EC Scale scores reliably predict biases in participants'' evaluations and are correlated with a measure of responsiveness to afferent feedback and self-reports of emotional experience following exposure to emotional expressions.
Discrete simulation of the dynamics of spread of extreme opinions in a society
PHYSICA A
We propose a discrete model for how opinions about a given "extreme" subject, about which various groups of a population have different degrees of enthusiasm for or susceptibility to, such as fanaticism, extreme social and political positions, and terrorism, may spread. The model, in a certain limit, is the discrete analogue of a deterministic continuum model suggested by others. We carry out extensive computer simulation of the model by utilizing it on lattices with infinite- or short-range interactions, and on symmetric and hierarchical (or directed) Barabási–Albert scale-free networks. Several interesting features of the model are demonstrated, and comparison is made with the deterministic continuum model.
Complexity of reachability problems for finite discrete dynamical systems
Chris Barrett
Harry B. Hunt
Richard Edwin Stearns
Sequential Dynamical Systems (SDSs) are a special type of finite discrete dynamical systems that can be used to model simulation systems. We focus on the computational complexity of testing several phase space properties of SDSs. Our main result is a sharp delineation between classes of SDSs whose behavior is easy to predict and those whose behavior is hard to predict. Specifically, we show the following.1.Several state reachability problems for SDSs are PSPACE-complete, even when restricted to SDSs whose underlying graphs are of bounded bandwidth (and hence of bounded pathwidth and treewidth), and the function associated with each node is symmetric. Moreover, this result holds even when the underlying graph is d-regular for some constant d and all the nodes compute the same symmetric Boolean function. An immediate corollary of this result is a PSPACE-hard lower bound on the complexity of reachability problems for regular generalized 1D-Cellular Automata and undirected systolic networks with Boolean totalistic local transition functions.2.In contrast, the above reachability problems are solvable in polynomial time for SDSs when the Boolean function associated with each node is symmetric and monotone. The PSPACE-completeness results follow as corollaries of simulation results which show for several classes of SDSs, how one class of SDSs can be efficiently simulated by another (more restricted) class of SDSs. We also prove several structural properties concerning the phase space of an SDS. SDSs are closely related to Cellular Automata (CA), concurrent transition systems, discrete Hopfield networks and systolic networks. This observation in conjunction with our lower bounds for SDSs, yields new PSPACE-hard lower bounds on the complexity of state reachability problems for these models, extending some of the earlier results in [K. Culik II, J. Karhumäki, On totalistic systolic networks, Inform. Process. Lett. 26 (5) (1988) 231–236; P. Floréen, E. Goles, G. Weisbuch, Transient length in sequential iterations of threshold functions, Discrete Appl. Math. 6 (1983) 95–98; P. Floréen, P. Orponen, Complexity issues in discrete Hopfield networks, Research Report No. A-1994-4, Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, 1994. Also appears in: I. Parberry (Ed.), Comp. and Learning Complexity of Neural Networks: Advanced Topics, 1999; D. Harel, O. Kupferman, M.Y. Vardi, On the complexity of verifying concurrent transition systems, Inform. and Comput. 173 (2002) 143–161; S.K. Shukla, H.B. Hunt III, D.J. Rosenkrantz, R.E. Stearns, On the complexity of relational problems for finite state processes, in: International Colloquium on Automata Programming and Languages, ICALP, 1996, pp. 466–477; A. Rabinovich, Complexity of equivalence problems for concurrent systems of finite agents, Inform. and Comput. 127 (2) (1997) 164–185].
Chains of Cooperation: Threshold Effects in Collective Action." American Sociological Review 56, 730-747
Michael W. Macy
Granovetter's threshold model of collective action shows how each new participant triggers others until the chain reaction reaches a gap in the distribution of thresholds. Hence outcomes depend on the network of social ties that channel the chain reactions. However, structural analysis is encumbered by the assumption that thresholds derive from changing marginal returns on investments in public goods. A learning-theoretic specification imposes less stringent assumptions about the rationality of the actors and is much better suited to a structural analysis. Computer simulations suggest that threshold effects may be the key to solving the coordination problem: When individual choices are contingent on participation by others, this interdependence facilitates the coordination of contributions needed to shift the bistable system from a noncooperative equilibrium to a cooperative one. Further simulations with low-density networks show that these chain reactions require bridges that link socially distant actors, supporting Granovetter's case for the strength of weak ties.
A Theory of the Critical Mass. I. Interdependence, Group Heterogeneity, and the Production Of Collective Action
Gerald Marwell
Ruy Teixeira
Metabolic Stability and Epigenisis in Randomly Connected Genetic Nets
Stuart A. Kauffman
Proto-organisms probably were randomly aggregated nets of chemical reactions. The hypothesis that contemporary organisms are also randomly constructed molecular automata is examined by modeling the gene as a binary (on-off) device and studying the behavior of large, randomly constructed nets of these binary "genes". The results suggest that, if each "gene" is directly affected by two or three other "genes", then such random nets: behave with great order and stability; undergo behavior cycles whose length predicts cell replication time as a function of the number of genes per cell; possess different modes of behavior whose number per net predicts roughly the number of cell types in an organism as a function of its number of genes; and under the stimulus of noise are capable of differentiating directly from any mode of behavior to at most a few other modes of behavior. Cellular differentation is modeled as a Markov chain among the modes of behavior of a genetic net. The possibility of a general theory of metabolic behavior is suggested.
A Simple Model of Global Cascades on Random Networks
Duncan J. Watts
The origin of large but rare cascades that are triggered by small initial shocks is a phenomenon that manifests itself as diversely as cultural fads, collective action, the diffusion of norms and innovations, and cascading failures in infrastructure and organizational networks. This paper presents a possible explanation of this phenomenon in terms of a sparse, random network of interacting agents whose decisions are determined by the actions of their neighbors according to a simple threshold rule. Two regimes are identified in which the network is susceptible to very large cascades-herein called global cascades-that occur very rarely. When cascade propagation is limited by the connectivity of the network, a power law distribution of cascade sizes is observed, analogous to the cluster size distribution in standard percolation theory and avalanches in self-organized criticality. But when the network is highly connected, cascade propagation is limited instead by the local stability of the nodes themselves, and the size distribution of cascades is bimodal, implying a more extreme kind of instability that is correspondingly harder to anticipate. In the first regime, where the distribution of network neighbors is highly skewed, it is found that the most connected nodes are far more likely than average nodes to trigger cascades, but not in the second regime. Finally, it is shown that heterogeneity plays an ambiguous role in determining a system's stability: increasingly heterogeneous thresholds make the system more vulnerable to global cascades; but an increasingly heterogeneous degree distribution makes it less vulnerable.
A rumor transmission model with various contact interactions
J THEOR BIOL
Kazuki Kawachi
Motohide Seki
Hiraku Yoshida
Hiroshi Ueda
We consider a rumor transmission model with various contact interactions and explore what effect such interactions have on the spread of a rumor, in particular whether they can explain the rumor recursion. Through mathematical analysis and computer simulations, we conjecture that rumor recursion remains a major challenge to mathematical models of rumors beyond our model proposed here.
Survey Evidence on Diffusion of Interest and Information Among Investors
J ECON BEHAV ORGAN
Robert J. Shiller
John Pound
L'int�r�t de l'approche par les jeux globaux ("global games'') est pr�cis�ment d'ancrer les anticipations sur des variables exog�nes r�elles. On peut ainsi garder l'aspect auto-r�alisateur des anticipations mais en restaurant l'unicit� de l'�quilibre et donc un meilleur pouvoir pr�dictif du mod�le. Nous illustrons ces m�canismes sur deux exemples. Le premier a trait au choix r�sidentiel d'agents qui ont une pr�f�rence "identitaire''. Le second a trait � la contagion de paniques bancaires d'un pays � un autre. De mani�re plus g�n�rale, tous les jeux qui pr�sentent des compl�mentarit�s strat�giques sont susceptibles d'�tre analys�s au moyen des techniques des "global games''. Il convient toutefois de rappeler que les techniques utilis�es demeurent assez sp�cifiques: l'incertitude strat�gique porte essentiellement sur les croyances de premier degr� des autres acteurs. Or, si de mani�re plus g�n�rale on suppose que cette incertitude peut porter sur des ordres plus �lev�s, les conclusions des mod�les peuvent changer. Ainsi, Weinstein et Yildiz (2004) montrent que dans un oligopole de Cournot, il y a une tr�s grande multiplicit� d'�quilibres si on suppose que l'incertitude porte sur les croyances de niveaux suffisamment �lev�s.
Cycle Equivalence of Graph Dynamical Systems
Matthew Macauley
Graph dynamical systems (GDSs) can be used to describe a wide range of distributed, nonlinear phenomena. In this paper we characterize cycle equivalence of a class of finite GDSs called sequential dynamical systems SDSs. In general, two finite GDSs are cycle equivalent if their periodic orbits are isomorphic as directed graphs. Sequential dynamical systems may be thought of as generalized cellular automata, and use an update order to construct the dynamical system map. The main result of this paper is a characterization of cycle equivalence in terms of shifts and reflections of the SDS update order. We construct two graphs C(Y) and D(Y) whose components describe update orders that give rise to cycle equivalent SDSs. The number of components in C(Y) and D(Y) is an upper bound for the number of cycle equivalence classes one can obtain, and we enumerate these quantities through a recursion relation for several graph classes. The components of these graphs encode dynamical neutrality, the component sizes represent periodic orbit structural stability, and the number of components can be viewed as a system complexity measure.
A unified approach to fixed points of contractive maps
January 1980 · Journal of the Korean Mathematical Society
Sehie Park
Recently, Pal and Maiti [19] established fixed, point theorems for maps which are contractive over two consecutive elements of an orbit. However, we show that their results follow essentially· from a theorem of Edelstein [6] and the Banach contraction principle. Motivated by this fact, we show that most of contractive conditions imply either. the orbit is asymptotically regular or the limiting ... [Show full abstract] orbital diameter is zero, in which cases we have simple fixed point theorems containing many known results.
Recovery of Transaction Processing by Group Log and Snapshot.
Koji Yamada
Tetsuya Egawa
Yuhsuke Tsujiguchi
Motoyasu Nagata
The recovery of the transaction processing is time consuming due to operation for respective dirty log. To overcome this problem for restart of the recovery, we will present recovery of the transaction processing, motivated by development of the network storage. We will propose two restart protocols, the first one utilizes group log that is collection of dirty logs during fixed time interval and ... [Show full abstract] the second one utilizes snapshot that is a copy of database at some instance. We will evaluate performance of our proposed protocols to compare with the traditional restart protocol.
Delay-Induced Multistability in a Generic Model for Excitable Dynamics
Johanne Hizanidis
Roland Aust
Eckehard Sch
Motivated by real-world excitable systems such as neuron models and lasers, we consider a paradigmatic model for ex- citability with a global bifurcation, namely a saddle-node bifur- cation on a limit cycle. We study the effect of a time-delayed feedback force in the form of the difference between a system variable at a certain time and at a delayed time. In the absence of delay the only ... [Show full abstract] attractor in the system in the excitability re gime, below the global bifurcation, is a stable node. Delay renders the phase space infinite-dimensional and creates multistab ility of periodic orbits and the fixed point. Homoclinic bifurcati ons, period-doubling as well as saddle-node bifurcations of limit cy- cles are found in accordance with Shilnikov's theorems.
Globally attracting synchrony in a network of oscillators with all-to-all inhibitory pulse coupling
March 2017 · PHYSICAL REVIEW E
Carmen C Canavier
Ruben Tikidji-Hamburyan
The synchronization tendencies of networks of oscillators have been studied intensely. We assume a network of all-to-all pulse-coupled oscillators in which the effect of a pulse is independent of the number of oscillators that simultaneously emit a pulse and the normalized delay (the phase resetting) is a monotonically increasing function of oscillator phase with the slope everywhere less than 1 ... [Show full abstract] and a value greater than 2φ−1, where φ is the normalized phase. Order switching cannot occur; the only possible solutions are globally attracting synchrony and cluster solutions with a fixed firing order. For small conduction delays, we prove the former stable and all other possible attractors nonexistent due to the destabilizing discontinuity of the phase resetting at a phase of 0.
Rapid Almost-Complete Broadcasting in Faulty Networks
Rastislav Královič
Richard Královič
This paper studies the problem of broadcasting in synchronous point-to-point networks, where one initiator owns a piece of information that has to be transmitted to all other vertices as fast as possible. The model of fractional dynamic faults with threshold is considered: in every step either a fixed number $T$, or a fraction $\alpha$, of sent messages can be lost depending on which quantity is ... [Show full abstract] larger. As the main result we show that in complete graphs and hypercubes it is possible to inform all but a constant number of vertices, exhibiting only a logarithmic slowdown, i.e. in time $O(D\log n)$ where $D$ is the diameter of the network and $n$ is the number of vertices. Moreover, for complete graphs under some additional conditions (sense of direction, or $\alpha<0.55$) the remaining constant number of vertices can be informed in the same time, i.e. $O(\log n)$.
Local variational study of 2d lattice energies and application to Lennard–Jones type interactions
September 2018 · Nonlinearity
Laurent Bétermin
In this paper, we focus on finite Bravais lattice energies per point in two dimensions. We compute the first and second derivatives of these energies. We prove that the Hessian at the square and the triangular lattice are diagonal and we give simple sufficient conditions for the local minimality of these lattices. Furthermore, we apply our result to Lennard–Jones type interacting potentials that ... [Show full abstract] appear to be accurate in many physical and biological models. The goal of this investigation is to understand how the minimum of the Lennard–Jones lattice energy varies with respect to the density of the points. Considering the lattices of fixed area A, we find the maximal open set to which A must belong so that the triangular lattice is a minimizer (resp. a maximizer) among lattices of area A. Similarly, we find the maximal open set to which A must belong so that the square lattice is a minimizer (resp. a saddle point). Finally, we present a complete conjecture, based on numerical investigations and rigorous results among rhombic and rectangular lattices, for the minimality of the classical Lennard–Jones energy per point with respect to its area. In particular, we prove that the minimizer is a rectangular lattice if the area is sufficiently large.
Optimal Wavelength-Routed Multicasting
May 1998 · Discrete Applied Mathematics
Bruno Beauquier
Pavol Hell
Stéphane Pérennes
Motivated by wavelength division multiplexing in all-optical networks, we consider the problem of finding a set of paths from a fixed source to a multiset of destinations, which can be coloured by the fewest number of colours so that paths of the same colour do not share an arc. We prove that this minimum number of colours (wavelengths) is equal to the maximum number of paths that share one arc ... [Show full abstract] (the load), minimized over all sets of paths from the source to the destinations. We do this by modeling the problems as network flows in two different networks and relating the structure of their minimum cuts. The problem can be efficiently solved (paths found and coloured) using network flow techniques.
Stabilizing coupled map lattice systems with adaptive adjustment
September 2002 · Physical Review E
Weihong Huang
The adaptive adjustment mechanism is applied to stabilization of a general coupled-map lattice system defined by x(i,t+1)=f(x(i,t))+C(i)(x(i,t),x(i-1,t))+D(x(i,t),x(i-1,t)), where f: R-->R is a nonlinear map, and C(i),D(i): R2-->R are coupling functions that satisfy C(i)(x,x)=0 and D(i)(x,x)=0, for all x in R, i=1,2, em leader,n. Sufficient conditions and ranges of adjustment parameters that ... [Show full abstract] guarantee the local stability of a synchronized fixed point are provided. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency for this mechanism to stabilize the system to an originally unstable synchronized fixed point or a periodic orbit.
A Flow Algorithm for Network Synchronization
August 1996 · Operations Research
Refael Hassin
The problem we treat is defined on a graph where each node is associated with a variable and there are loss functions defined on the arcs, depending on the difference between the corresponding node variables. The objective is to compute values for the node variables so as to minimize the sum of losses. We exploit the relation between this problem and network flows optimization and use it in ... [Show full abstract] developing an approximation algorithm for the problem. A main application of the problem is the synchronization of fixed cycle traffic signals.
Lexeme Recycled. How Categories Emerge From Interaction1
Jan Anward
A method of turn construction used in ordinary conversation, recycling with différance, is described. By this method, new turns are modelled on old turns in socially and thematically motivated ways. As a consequence, experienced turns get organized into networks of differences, which allow language, including syntactic and lexical categories, to continuously emerge as a feature of social ... [Show full abstract] interaction.
Diverse self-sustained oscillatory patterns and their mechanisms in excitable small-world networks
August 2010 · Physical Review E
Yu Qian
Xuhong Liao
Xiaodong Huang
Hu Gang
Diverse self-sustained oscillatory patterns and their mechanisms in small-world networks (SWNs) of excitable nodes are studied. Spatiotemporal patterns of SWNs are sensitive to long-range connection probability P and coupling intensity D . By varying P in wide range with fixed D , we observe totally six types of asymptotic states: pure spiral waves, pure self-sustained target waves, patterns of ... [Show full abstract] mixtured spirals and target waves, pseudospiral turbulence, synchronizing oscillations, and rest state. The parameter conditions for all these states are specified, and the mechanisms of these states are heuristically explained. In particular, the mechanism of emergence and annihilation of synchronizing oscillations is explained by using the shortest path length analysis.
Subharmonic branching at a reversible 1:1 resonance
November 2005 · Journal of Difference Equations and Applications
Maria-Cristina Ciocci
We investigate the bifurcation of q-periodic points from a fixed point of a 2-parameter family of n-dimensional reversible diffeomorphisms (n ≥ 4). The focus is on the codimension 2 non-semisimple 1:1 resonance case, that is, when the linearization at the fixed point has a pair of double eigenvalues on the unit circle, exp ( ± 2iπp/q) (with gcd(p, q) = 1), with geometric multiplicity 1. Through a ... [Show full abstract] modified version of Lyapunov Schmidt reduction, the reduced bifurcation equations are obtained. These are then analysed using reversible normal form theory and (reversible) singularity theory. We obtain the existence of two branches of symmetric q-periodic orbits bifurcating from the fixed point. We also describe the corresponding bifurcation scenario for a family of reversible systems in the case of a two-fold resonance, cfr. [1212. Knobloch, J. and Vanderbauwhede, A., Hopf bifurcation at k-fold resonances in reversible systems, Preprint Technische Universiteit at Ilmenau, No. M 16/95. View all references 55. Buzzi, C.A. and Lamb, J.S.W., Reversible equivariant Hopf bifurcation. Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis. In press. View all references].

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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FDA Gives Full Approval for Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
This makes it the second fully approved vaccine in individuals age 18 and older.
By Don Rauf
The Moderna vaccine has previously been available under emergency use authorization (EUA).Jenny Kane/AP Photo
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted full approval for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine (sold under the brand name Spikevax), making it the second fully approved vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals age 18 and older.
The FDA has previously approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (now marketed as Comirnaty) in August of last year for those ages 16 and up.
The Moderna vaccine has been available under emergency use authorization (EUA) for individuals 18 or older since December 18, 2020. Latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that more than 74.5 million American have already received two doses of the Moderna inoculation. (More than 120 million have received the full regimen of the Pfizer vaccine, which uses similar mRNA technology as Moderna.)
RELATED: Get Up-to-Date COVID-19 News in the Daily Coronavirus Alert
The FDA moved ahead with approval after assuring that the Moderna shot met the agency's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality required for approval.
"The public can be assured that Spikevax meets the FDA's high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality required of any vaccine approved for use in the United States," said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, in a statement. "While hundreds of millions of doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to individuals under emergency use authorization, we understand that for some individuals, FDA approval of this vaccine may instill additional confidence in making the decision to get vaccinated."
Recent analysis to determine the effectiveness of Spikevax involved 14,287 vaccine recipients and 14,164 placebo recipients 18 years of age and older who did not have evidence of infection prior to receiving the first dose. Although data was collected before the omicron variant emerged, the outcomes showed that Spikevax was 93 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, with just 55 cases of COVID-19 occurring in the vaccine group and 744 COVID-19 cases in the placebo group.
Perhaps, most importantly, the investigation found the Moderna vaccine to be 98 percent effective in preventing severe disease.
One of the concerns surrounding the Moderna vaccine that may have delayed approval have been reports suggesting the vaccine might cause heart problems in some adolescents — and the FDA is still assessing study related to this issue in those under age 18.
In granting this approval, the agency recognized that there was increased risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of tissue surrounding the heart) following vaccination, particularly within seven days following the second Moderna dose. The highest risk was observed in males 18 through 24 years old, and some individuals required intensive care support.
After completing a comprehensive review of the data, federal scientists determined that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of these heart problems in individuals 18 years of age and older.
"Our COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to hundreds of millions of people around the world, protecting people from COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death. The totality of real-world data and the full BLA [biologics license application] for Spikevax in the United States reaffirms the importance of vaccination against this virus. This is a momentous milestone in Moderna's history as it is our first product to achieve licensure in the U.S.," said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna in a statement. "The full licensure of Spikevax in the U.S. now joins that in Canada, Japan, the European Union, the U.K., Israel, and other countries where the adolescent indication is also approved. We are grateful to the U.S. FDA for their thorough review of our application. We are humbled by the role that Spikevax is playing to help end this pandemic."
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text:
Q: How do I import a mySQL file to my Android program? I have an app which creates and updates it's own MySQL database. I now want to allow the user to export a copy of the database (for backup purposes) and then at a later date import the file again. I have no need to change the format of the database during this process.
I'm not sure about the best/simplest way to do this. I have been able to get my app to export the databases to the SD card using the code below, but the question is - how can I get my app to import this file again?
    try {
        File sd = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();
        File data = Environment.getDataDirectory();

        Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), sd.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), data.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

        if (sd.canWrite()) {
            String currentDBPath = "//data//"+ packageName +"//databases//"+ class_dbname; //dbList[0];
            String backupDBPath = "//data//"+ class_dbname; //dbList[0];
            File currentDB = new File(data, currentDBPath);
            File backupDB = new File(sd, backupDBPath);

            FileChannel src = new FileInputStream(currentDB).getChannel();
            FileChannel dst = new FileOutputStream(backupDB).getChannel();
            dst.transferFrom(src, 0, src.size());
            src.close();
            dst.close();
            Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), backupDB.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

        }
    } catch (Exception e) {

        Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), e.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

    }

A: I'm doing it on this way:
     public boolean importDatabase(String dbPath) throws IOException {
    // Close the SQLiteOpenHelper so it will commit the created empty
    // database to internal storage.
    close();
    File newDb = new File(dbPath);
    File oldDb = new File(DB_FILEPATH);
    if (newDb.exists()) {
        FileUtils.copyFile(new FileInputStream(newDb), new FileOutputStream(oldDb));
        // Access the copied database so SQLiteHelper will cache it and mark
        // it as created.
        DBHelper.getWritableDatabase().close();
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

And "copyFile()" method is:
public static void copyFile(FileInputStream fromFile, FileOutputStream toFile) throws IOException {
    FileChannel fromChannel = null;
    FileChannel toChannel = null;
    try {
        fromChannel = fromFile.getChannel();
        toChannel = toFile.getChannel();
        fromChannel.transferTo(0, fromChannel.size(), toChannel);
    } finally {
        try {
            if (fromChannel != null) {
                fromChannel.close();
            }
        } finally {
            if (toChannel != null) {
                toChannel.close();
            }
        }
    }
}

Regards

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
May 5, 2020 August 7, 2020 / The Village
Self portrait of Naomie Sunner in her newly planted garden.
Have you ever walked past a rundown park or an abandoned stretch of creek and thought 'Someone should do something about that,' and then brushed the thought aside and kept walking? Luckily not everyone avoids acting on such thoughts.
Writing a story about Westgate Park recently, I met Naomie Sunner and learnt how she inspired the transformation of a neglected wasteland into a thriving inner-city park.
I grew up in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne in Blackburn North. My mum and dad were both librarians, so we had lots of books. Mum's parents are Hungarian and my grandparents on the other side were Irish Catholic and Scottish Protestant. All of my grandparents were gardeners. They talked about back home which wasn't a country I had ever visited. We were here now and what was that? I felt confused and wondered, 'What is our identity in Australia?'
When I was 21, I needed a life changing experience, so I walked for seven days from the mouth of the Yarra to just past Warrandyte. We all need a time to consolidate and review who we are. I was doing my third year of photography at the Victorian College of the Arts and had to do a project. I'd just read Robyn Davidson's book Tracks and was very inspired by that. It was a very intense experience; I realised the only thing I was scared of on the walk is people.
I wanted to start at the mouth of the Yarra, so I got a taxi at 5am to Westgate Park. I was under the Westgate Bridge and thought, 'What is this place?' There was very little vegetation, just weird hills and a big expanse amongst an industrial landscape. It was really interesting to me that this is a big touchstone in history but it's a neglected wasteland.
I kept going back to the park and wanted to do something. I helped Friends Groups and volunteered with the St Kilda Indigenous Nursery because I knew nothing about local plants. After organising some plantings with Parks Victoria, I started a Friends Group because I thought you can't just plant a little bit and walk off, this park is massive.
All I had was sheer determination. I was really naïve. There were occasional successes, but it would always pitter out. I was unemployed and got put on the Work for the Dole program. The supervisor didn't rock up for three hours and then I didn't get asked to do anything. I thought, 'I could run a better program, I've got something to do that's real work people can feel proud of.' So, at 22, I started supervising a Work for the Dole program at Westgate park. I met some really incredible people through that and developed a lot of skills.
Growing the Friends Group was slow. I did wonder a number of times if I could keep going. It took me two years to really have the start of a proper group and it only gathered momentum when other people got involved. I think what's really important is how many people have had something to do with that park and put their energy, passion and thoughtfulness into it. That is a really important and precious thing.
When I left the Friends Group eight years ago after 13 years, the park looked very different. There were a lot of birds, diverse vegetation, insects, fungi and a lot more people enjoying it. Today it's very different still because those older plantings are still growing and there are lots and lots of water birds in the southern wetland which is lovely.
This is the land that I live in and I want to feel part of it. Being the granddaughter of migrants, indigenous plants are really important to me. I feel there's a lot in Australia that gets dismissed by my grandparents and many other people, the ecologies and the people, as being lesser than the things from the countries we came from. I now work as a Propagation and Volunteer Co-Ordinator at the Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-op.
There's something magic in sowing a seed and watching it germinate. All the fascinating textures and colors and parts they play in the ecosystem. If you ever get a hand lenses and look at plants closely, they are just gorgeous. They are the basis for all life. Without plants, none of us would be alive.
People ask me why I'm a good gardener and I say because two out of every three plants I plant die. Not everything is going to work, it's a learning process. Just take baby steps, do what you can and what you feel comfortable with, and don't be disheartened by anything that's failed because it's an opportunity to learn and try again.
There are so many things you just learn as you live. I think I learnt in a non-traditional way. That's why I'm at Melbourne Uni now doing a Masters of Environment to fill in the gaps. I'm ready for another challenge in a year or two. I don't know what the future holds, but I think that challenge and I are going to seek each other out and meet halfway.
Visit Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare and Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-op to learn more.
Community, Sustainability, Uncategorized
#greenspaces, #melbourne, #urbangreen, #urbannature
← The Riverkeeper
4 thoughts on "The Propagator"
richendarudman
Thank you, Matilda. It was a good read! I do love hearing people's stories and you wrote this one so well.
Hope you are all going okay in these different times. We are fine – it's lovely to have both boys back home, but I have to say, a lot of food is being eaten!
Richenda >
Thank you. Lovely to hear from you. We are fine too and yes I too am amazed at the amount of food production happening at our house!
Fabulous article, thanks Mat xx
Thanks Jo, glad you like it. x


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text:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

<title>CompletionCode (MDW 6 API JavaDocs)</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../../../stylesheet.css" title="Style">

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com.centurylink.mdw.services.process

Class CompletionCode

java.lang.Object

com.centurylink.mdw.services.process.CompletionCode

public class CompletionCode
extends java.lang.Object

Constructor Summary

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Constructor and Description

CompletionCode()

Method Summary

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Modifier and Type
Method and Description

java.lang.Integer
getActivityInstanceStatus()

java.lang.String
getCompletionCode()

java.lang.Integer
getEventType()

java.lang.String
getEventTypeName()

com.centurylink.mdw.bpm.EventTypeDocument.EventType.Enum
getXmlEventType()

void
parse(java.lang.String compCode)

void
setCompletionCode(java.lang.String code)

java.lang.String
toString()

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

CompletionCode

public CompletionCode()

Method Detail

parse

public void parse(java.lang.String compCode)

getCompletionCode

public java.lang.String getCompletionCode()

setCompletionCode

public void setCompletionCode(java.lang.String code)

getActivityInstanceStatus

public java.lang.Integer getActivityInstanceStatus()

getXmlEventType

public com.centurylink.mdw.bpm.EventTypeDocument.EventType.Enum getXmlEventType()

getEventType

public java.lang.Integer getEventType()

getEventTypeName

public java.lang.String getEventTypeName()

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

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toString in class java.lang.Object

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text:
Dietmar Klinger (born 8 January 1958) is a retired German football player.

Honours
 DFB-Pokal winner: 1984–85

References

External links

1958 births
Living people
German footballers
Schwarz-Weiß Essen players
Rot-Weiss Essen players
KFC Uerdingen 05 players
Wuppertaler SV players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Association football midfielders
Footballers from Essen
20th-century German people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
5-year-old daughter of Detroit first responders dies of coronavirus
Posted: Apr 20, 2020 / 02:40 PM PDT / Updated: Apr 20, 2020 / 02:40 PM PDT
DETROIT (WXIN) — A 5-year-old girl in Detroit died from the coronavirus on Sunday after developing a rare form of meningitis and brain swelling, Detroit News reports.
Skylar Herbert was first diagnosed with the coronavirus last month. Her parents initially took her to the pediatrician, and she was diagnosed with strep throat and sent home with medications. But Skylar had a terrible headache that wouldn't go away, so her family took her to the emergency room. That's when she tested positive for the coronavirus.
She was released from the hospital, but her family returned a short time later after Skylar's dad began showing symptoms of the coronavirus. Both of her parents are first responders—her dad is a firefighter, and her mom is a police officer.
While Skylar was waiting with her mom in the car, she had a seizure.
According to Detroit News, she developed meningoencephalitis, which is a rare complication of the coronavirus. It caused her brain tissue to swell and a lesion developed on her frontal lobe, her parents said.
After spending the past few weeks at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, she died Sunday.
Beaumont Hospital released the following statement to Detroit news: "We are heartbroken that COVID-19 has taken the life of a child. We extend our deepest sympathy to Skylar's family and all others who have lost a loved one to this virus."
Fight against COVID-19: What Biden will change
Keystone XL pipeline halted as Biden decides to cancel permit
TORONTO (AP) — Construction on the long disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline halted Wednesday as incoming U.S. President Joe Biden revoked its permit on his first day in office.
The 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Biden puts U.S. back into fight to slow global warming
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden returned the United States to the worldwide fight to slow global warming in one of his first official acts Wednesday and immediately launched a series of climate-friendly efforts that would transform how Americans drive and get their power.
"A cry for survival comes from the planet itself," Biden said in his inaugural address. "A cry that can't be any more desperate or any more clear now."
VP Harris not moving into Naval Observatory right away
Sutter Health now offering COVID-19 vaccine appointments for 75+ patients
Bay Area / 28 mins ago
National / 1 hour ago


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