Following are some bare-bones course notes for Math 20630 at Notre Dame. These are not intended to replace a textbook as they include little informal discussion, few examples, and no exercises. Rather, they are intended to bridge the gap between a textbook and my lectures. Despite the skeletal nature of the work, I’d like to see it improved and would welcome any comments and suggestions to that...

This article presents an informal discussion of the issue of asymptotic optimality of heuristics from the viewpoint of the operations research practitioner. It is suggested that certain heuristics belonging to the above class are likely to perform questionably in practice, with regard both t o relative error and t o computational tractability. Possible explanations of this phenomenon are offere...

We present a system of cueing informal interactions using the combination of Bluetooth hardware addresses to identify people and a database of user profiles. We outline the synergies between the mobile and social software infrastructures, and present a novel architecture for instigating face-to-face interaction designed to meet varying levels of privacy requirements. Finally we present a discus...

It has been argued that complex subjective sense of self is linked to the brain default-mode network (DMN). Recent discovery of heterogeneity between distinct subnets (or operational modules - OMs) of the DMN leads to a reconceptualization of its role for the experiential sense of self. Considering the recent proposition that the frontal DMN OM is responsible for the first-person perspective an...

A discussion was chronicled in previous issues of C++ Report comparing three [candidate] patterns: OBSERVER, MULTICAST, and TYPED MESSAGE. The comparison took a number of pages to be conveyed, mostly using informal means or concrete instances. We use a formal pattern specification language LePUS to define each design pattern and to illuminate the difference between the three. We translate each ...

Non-trivial calculi of inductive inference are incomplete. This result is demonstrated formally elsewhere (Norton, manuscript). Here the significance and background to the result is described. This note explains what is meant by incompleteness, why it is desirable, if only it could be secured, and it gives some indication of the arguments needed to establish its failure. The discussion will be ...

Naive set theory is the typical background or foundation for constructing more complicated structures, in a century-old tradition. The modifier naive denotes an informal and non-axiomatic treatment, in contrast to versions of set theory specifically aimed at preventing paradoxes by limiting constructions. Part of the set theory tradition demands that any mathematical discussion be compatible wi...

BACKGROUND Spousal bereavement is documented as a highly stressful event. This article presents findings from research that explored bereavement survivors' perspectives on what support factors were most helpful to them. METHODS A qualitative telephone survey was conducted with caregiver spouses of Cittamani Hospice Service clients who died during 2005 and 2006. RESULTS Partner loss results ...

Software design is a knowledge-intensive activity. Knowledge is both generated and used when making crucial design decisions, and it is important to capture and share the knowledge in order to take advantage of the valuable insights gained. A particularly challenging setting for knowledge reuse is during informal software design sessions when developers are gathered at the whiteboard working to...