We calculate the branching ratio for B → J/ψ + anything , within the colorsinglet approximation for J/ψ production, but including perturbative QCD corrections beyond the leading logarithm approximation. Such higher order corrections are necessary, in order to obtain a result that is not strongly dependent on the renormalization scale. As in the earlier work of Bergström and Ernström, we use a d...

The idea of phenotypic novelty appears throughout the evolutionary literature. Novelties have been defined so broadly as to make the term meaningless and so narrowly as to apply only to a limited number of spectacular structures. Here I examine some of the available definitions of phenotypic novelty and argue that the modern synthesis is ill equipped at explaining novelties. I then discuss thre...

Fifty years ago T. M. Rybczynski [3] published a frequently referenced note in which he inaugurated a systematic investigation of the comparative statics associated with a change in the endowment of a factor. The questions that he posed are broad and fundamental: How do the prices and consumptions of final goods depend on factor endowments? How do factor prices and consumer wealth vary with cha...

Software development is quickly becoming more of a process of acquiring software components and composing them than building systems from scratch. From a time-to-market perspective, this is ideal, but from a quality perspective, this is worrisome. This paper addresses steps that component integrators should follow before relying on someone else’s software libraries and components.

We find that traditional password advice given to users is somewhat dated. Strong passwords do nothing to protect online users from password stealing attacks such as phishing and keylogging, and yet they place considerable burden on users. Passwords that are too weak of course invite brute-force attacks. However, we find that relatively weak passwords, about 20 bits or so, are sufficient to mak...

The recent literature on economic models has rejected the traditional requirement that their epistemic value necessary depended them offering actual explanations of phenomena. Contributors to have argued many do not aim at providing how-actually explanations, but instead how-possibly explanations. However, how assess HPEs remains an open question. We present a programmatic approach answering it...

High uric acid (UA) levels can cause gout, urolithiasis and acute and chronic nephropathy, all of which are due to the deposit of urate crystals. There is also increasing evidence of relationships of hyperuricemia with other important disorders, including hypertension, chronic renal disease, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, as well as an increased mortality, although a causal rela...