The paper provides some theoretical results on the analysis of the expected time needed by a class of Ant Colony Optimization algorithms to solve combinatorial optimization problems. A part of the study refers to some general results on the expected runtime of the considered class of algorithms. These results are then specialized to the case of pseudo-Boolean functions. In particular, three wel...

OBJECTIVE To describe laparoscopic ovariectomy and salpingectomy in the African lioness (Panthera leo). STUDY DESIGN Descriptive clinical study. ANIMALS Female lions (n = 16). METHODS Lionesses were randomly divided into 2 groups: O = ovariectomy (n = 8) and S = salpingectomy (n = 8) for laparoscopic surgery. Two Veress needle placement techniques were used. RESULTS Laparoscopic ovariec...

BACKGROUND The optimal course of clinical follow-up after a diagnosis of breast papillary lesion on a core needle biopsy (CNB) remains elusive. In particular, no reports in literature have addressed this question in African-American population. We describe our experience with breast papillary lesions in a primarily African-American population. METHODS A search of our database for breast papil...

The evolution of mating systems in eusocial Hymenoptera is constrained because females mate only during a brief period early in life, whereas inseminated queens and their stored sperm may live for decades. Considerable research effort during recent years has firmly established that obligate multiple mating has evolved only a few times: in Apis honeybees, Vespula wasps, Pogonomyrmex harvester an...

Ant-nest beetles (Paussus) are the quintessential Trojan horses of the insect world. They hack the complex communication system of ants, allowing them to blend into the ant society and be treated as royalty, all the while preying upon the ants and the ants' brood and duping the ants into rearing their young. Here we present results of the first molecular-based phylogeny of ant-nest beetles, whi...