Multi-task optimization (MTO) is a novel emerging evolutionary computation paradigm. It focuses on solving multiple tasks concurrently while improving performance by utilizing similarities among and historical knowledge. To ensure its high performance, it important to choose proper individuals for each task. Most MTO algorithms limit individual one task, which weakens the effects of information...

The selective hydrogenation of chalcone to dihydrochalcone under atmospheric hydrogen pressure is investigated using a thermoregulated phase-transfer ruthenium nanocatalyst, representing the first nanocatalyst used for this reaction. Under optimal conditions, conversion into and selectivity are 98% >99%, respectively. catalyst can be easily separated from product recycled three times without...

During the past 20 years, social scientists using observational studies have generated a large and inconclusive literature on neighborhood effects. Recent workers have argued that estimates of neighborhood effects based on randomized studies of housing mobility, such as the “Moving to Opportunity” (MTO) demonstration, are more credible. These estimates are based on the implicit assumption of no...

African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is systematic, rooted in history, and important as an identity marker and expressive resource for its speakers. In these respects, it resembles other vernacular or nonstandard varieties, like Cockney or Appalachian English. But like them, AAVE can trigger discrimination in the workplace, housing market, and schools. Understanding what shapes the relati...

Palladium nanoparticles have been electrochemically supported on zirconium oxide nanostructured powders and all the nanomaterials have been characterized by several analytical techniques. The Pd/ZrO(2) nanocatalyst is demonstrated to be a very efficient catalyst in Heck, Ullmann, and Suzuki reactions of aryl halides in water. The catalyst efficiency is attributed to the stabilization of Pd nano...

The syntheses of quinoxalines derived from 1,2-diamine and 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds under mild reaction conditions was carried out using a nanoparticle-supported cobalt catalyst. The supported nanocatalyst exhibited excellent activity and stability and it could be reused for at least ten times without any loss of activity. No cobalt contamination could be detected in the products by AAS measure...

Recent progress reveals that, in the methanol-to-olefin (MTO) process on acidic zeolites, the conversion of an equilibrium mixture of methanol and DME is dominated by a "hydrocarbon pool" mechanism. However, the initial C-C bond formation, that is, the chemistry during the kinetic "induction period" leading to the reactive hydrocarbon pool, still remains unclear. With the application of a stopp...

BACKGROUND Access to tertiary care is a problem common to many small states, especially island ones. Although medical treatment overseas (MTO) may result in cost savings to high income countries, it can be a relatively high cost for low and middle income source countries. The purpose of this study was to estimate the costs of overseas medical treatment incurred by the households of medical trav...