776 research outputs found
Classical and quantum algorithms for scaling problems
This thesis is concerned with scaling problems, which have a plethora of connections to different areas of mathematics, physics and computer science. Although many structural aspects of these problems are understood by now, we only know how to solve them efficiently in special cases.We give new algorithms for non-commutative scaling problems with complexity guarantees that match the prior state of the art. To this end, we extend the well-known (self-concordance based) interior-point method (IPM) framework to Riemannian manifolds, motivated by its success in the commutative setting. Moreover, the IPM framework does not obviously suffer from the same obstructions to efficiency as previous methods. It also yields the first high-precision algorithms for other natural geometric problems in non-positive curvature.For the (commutative) problems of matrix scaling and balancing, we show that quantum algorithms can outperform the (already very efficient) state-of-the-art classical algorithms. Their time complexity can be sublinear in the input size; in certain parameter regimes they are also optimal, whereas in others we show no quantum speedup over the classical methods is possible. Along the way, we provide improvements over the long-standing state of the art for searching for all marked elements in a list, and computing the sum of a list of numbers.We identify a new application in the context of tensor networks for quantum many-body physics. We define a computable canonical form for uniform projected entangled pair states (as the solution to a scaling problem), circumventing previously known undecidability results. We also show, by characterizing the invariant polynomials, that the canonical form is determined by evaluating the tensor network contractions on networks of bounded size
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum
Designs of Blackness
Across more than two centuries Afro-America has created a huge and dazzling variety of literary self-expression. Designs of Blackness provides less a narrative literary history than, precisely, a series of mappings—each literary-critical and comparative while at the same time offering cultural and historical context. This carefully re-edited version of the 1998 publication opens with an estimation of earliest African American voice in the names of Phillis Wheatley and her contemporaries. It then takes up the huge span of autobiography from Frederick Douglass through to Maya Angelou. "Harlem on My Mind," which follows, sets out the literary contours of America’s premier black city. Womanism, Alice Walker’s presiding term, is given full due in an analysis of fiction from Harriet E. Wilson to Toni Morrison. Richard Wright is approached not as some regulation "realist" but as a more inward, at times near-surreal, author. Decadology has its risks but the 1940s has rarely been approached as a unique era of war and peace and especially in African American texts. Beat Generation work usually adheres to Ginsberg and Kerouac, but black Beat writing invites its own chapter in the names of Amiri Baraka, Ted Joans and Bob Kaufman. The 1960s has long become a mythic change-decade, and in few greater respects than as a black theatre both of the stage and politics. In Leon Forrest African America had a figure of the postmodern turn: his work is explored in its own right and for how it takes its place in the context of other reflexive black fiction. "African American Fictions of Passing" unpacks the whole deceptive trope of "race" in writing from Williams Wells Brown through to Charles Johnson. The two newly added chapters pursue African American literary achievement into the Obama-Trump century, fiction from Octavia Butler to Darryl Pinkney, poetry from Rita Dove to Kevin Young
(b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!)
(b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!
Speed limits and locality in many-body quantum dynamics
We review the mathematical speed limits on quantum information processing in
many-body systems. After the proof of the Lieb-Robinson Theorem in 1972, the
past two decades have seen substantial developments in its application to other
questions, such as the simulatability of quantum systems on classical or
quantum computers, the generation of entanglement, and even the properties of
ground states of gapped systems. Moreover, Lieb-Robinson bounds have been
extended in non-trivial ways, to demonstrate speed limits in systems with
power-law interactions or interacting bosons, and even to prove notions of
locality that arise in cartoon models for quantum gravity with all-to-all
interactions. We overview the progress which has occurred, highlight the most
promising results and techniques, and discuss some central outstanding
questions which remain open. To help bring newcomers to the field up to speed,
we provide self-contained proofs of the field's most essential results.Comment: review article. 93 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. v2: minor change
Application of knowledge management principles to support maintenance strategies in healthcare organisations
Healthcare is a vital service that touches people's lives on a daily basis by providing treatment and
resolving patients' health problems through the staff. Human lives are ultimately dependent on the skilled
hands of the staff and those who manage the infrastructure that supports the daily operations of the
service, making it a compelling reason for a dedicated research study. However, the UK healthcare sector
is undergoing rapid changes, driven by rising costs, technological advancements, changing patient
expectations, and increasing pressure to deliver sustainable healthcare. With the global rise in healthcare
challenges, the need for sustainable healthcare delivery has become imperative. Sustainable healthcare
delivery requires the integration of various practices that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of
healthcare infrastructural assets. One critical area that requires attention is the management of
healthcare facilities.
Healthcare facilitiesis considered one of the core elements in the delivery of effective healthcare services,
as shortcomings in the provision of facilities management (FM) services in hospitals may have much more
drastic negative effects than in any other general forms of buildings. An essential element in healthcare
FM is linked to the relationship between action and knowledge. With a full sense of understanding of
infrastructural assets, it is possible to improve, manage and make buildings suitable to the needs of users
and to ensure the functionality of the structure and processes.
The premise of FM is that an organisation's effectiveness and efficiency are linked to the physical
environment in which it operates and that improving the environment can result in direct benefits in
operational performance. The goal of healthcare FM is to support the achievement of organisational
mission and goals by designing and managing space and infrastructural assets in the best combination of
suitability, efficiency, and cost. In operational terms, performance refers to how well a building
contributes to fulfilling its intended functions.
Therefore, comprehensive deployment of efficient FM approaches is essential for ensuring quality
healthcare provision while positively impacting overall patient experiences. In this regard, incorporating
knowledge management (KM) principles into hospitals' FM processes contributes significantly to ensuring
sustainable healthcare provision and enhancement of patient experiences. Organisations implementing
KM principles are better positioned to navigate the constantly evolving business ecosystem easily.
Furthermore, KM is vital in processes and service improvement, strategic decision-making, and
organisational adaptation and renewal.
In this regard, KM principles can be applied to improve hospital FM, thereby ensuring sustainable
healthcare delivery. Knowledge management assumes that organisations that manage their
organisational and individual knowledge more effectively will be able to cope more successfully with the challenges of the new business ecosystem. There is also the argument that KM plays a crucial role in
improving processes and services, strategic decision-making, and adapting and renewing an organisation.
The goal of KM is to aid action – providing "a knowledge pull" rather than the information overload most
people experience in healthcare FM. Other motivations for seeking better KM in healthcare FM include
patient safety, evidence-based care, and cost efficiency as the dominant drivers. The most evidence exists
for the success of such approaches at knowledge bottlenecks, such as infection prevention and control,
working safely, compliances, automated systems and reminders, and recall based on best practices. The
ability to cultivate, nurture and maximise knowledge at multiple levels and in multiple contexts is one of
the most significant challenges for those responsible for KM. However, despite the potential benefits,
applying KM principles in hospital facilities is still limited. There is a lack of understanding of how KM can
be effectively applied in this context, and few studies have explored the potential challenges and
opportunities associated with implementing KM principles in hospitals facilities for sustainable healthcare
delivery.
This study explores applying KM principles to support maintenance strategies in healthcare organisations.
The study also explores the challenges and opportunities, for healthcare organisations and FM
practitioners, in operationalising a framework which draws the interconnectedness between healthcare.
The study begins by defining healthcare FM and its importance in the healthcare industry. It then discusses
the concept of KM and the different types of knowledge that are relevant in the healthcare FM sector.
The study also examines the challenges that healthcare FM face in managing knowledge and how the
application of KM principles can help to overcome these challenges. The study then explores the different
KM strategies that can be applied in healthcare FM. The KM benefits include improved patient outcomes,
reduced costs, increased efficiency, and enhanced collaboration among healthcare professionals.
Additionally, issues like creating a culture of innovation, technology, and benchmarking are considered.
In addition, a framework that integrates the essential concepts of KM in healthcare FM will be presented
and discussed.
The field of KM is introduced as a complex adaptive system with numerous possibilities and challenges.
In this context, and in consideration of healthcare FM, five objectives have been formulated to achieve
the research aim. As part of the research, a number of objectives will be evaluated, including appraising
the concept of KM and how knowledge is created, stored, transferred, and utilised in healthcare FM,
evaluating the impact of organisational structure on job satisfaction as well as exploring how cultural
differences impact knowledge sharing and performance in healthcare FM organisations.
This study uses a combination of qualitative methods, such as meetings, observations, document analysis
(internal and external), and semi-structured interviews, to discover the subjective experiences of
healthcare FM employees and to understand the phenomenon within a real-world context and attitudes of healthcare FM as the data collection method, using open questions to allow probing where appropriate
and facilitating KM development in the delivery and practice of healthcare FM.
The study describes the research methodology using the theoretical concept of the "research onion". The
qualitative research was conducted in the NHS acute and non-acute hospitals in Northwest England.
Findings from the research study revealed that while the concept of KM has grown significantly in recent
years, KM in healthcare FM has received little or no attention. The target population was fifty (five FM
directors, five academics, five industry experts, ten managers, ten supervisors, five team leaders and ten
operatives). These seven groups were purposively selected as the target population because they play a
crucial role in KM enhancement in healthcare FM. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with all
participants based on their pre-determined availability. Out of the 50-target population, only 25 were
successfully interviewed to the point of saturation. Data collected from the interview were coded and
analysed using NVivo to identify themes and patterns related to KM in healthcare FM.
The study is divided into eight major sections. First, it discusses literature findings regarding healthcare
FM and KM, including underlying trends in FM, KM in general, and KM in healthcare FM. Second, the
research establishes the study's methodology, introducing the five research objectives, questions and
hypothesis. The chapter introduces the literature on methodology elements, including philosophical views
and inquiry strategies. The interview and data analysis look at the feedback from the interviews. Lastly, a
conclusion and recommendation summarise the research objectives and suggest further research.
Overall, this study highlights the importance of KM in healthcare FM and provides insights for healthcare
FM directors, managers, supervisors, academia, researchers and operatives on effectively leveraging
knowledge to improve patient care and organisational effectiveness
LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volume
LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volum
Gabriel Vacariu (c2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy
Unbelievable similar ideas to my ideas published long before..
Gurus and Media: Sound, image, machine, text and the digital
Gurus and Media is the first book dedicated to media and mediation in domains of public guruship and devotion. Illuminating the mediatisation of guruship and the guru-isation of media, it bridges the gap between scholarship on gurus and the disciplines of media and visual culture studies. It investigates guru iconographies in and across various time periods and also the distinctive ways in which diverse gurus engage with and inhabit different forms of media: statuary, games, print publications, photographs, portraiture, films, machines, social media, bodies, words, graffiti, dolls, sound, verse, tombs and more.
The book’s interdisciplinary chapters advance, both conceptually and ethnographically, our understanding of the function of media in the dramatic production of guruship, and reflect on the corporate branding of gurus and on mediated guruship as a series of aesthetic traps for the captivation of devotees and others. They show how different media can further enliven the complex plurality of guruship, for instance in instantiating notions of ‘absent-present’ guruship and demonstrating the mutual mediation of gurus, caste and Hindutva.
Throughout, the book foregrounds contested visions of the guru in the development of devotional publics and pluriform guruship across time and space. Thinking through the guru’s many media entanglements in a single place, the book contributes new insights to the study of South Asian religions and to the study of mediation more broadly
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