137,363 research outputs found
Manual measurement of retinal bifurcation features
This paper introduces a new computerized tool for
accurate manual measurement of features of retinal bifurcation
geometry, designed for use in investigating correlations between measurement features and clinical conditions. The tool uses user-placed rectangles to measure the vessel width, and lines placed along vessel center lines to measure the angles. An
analysis is presented of measurements taken from 435 bifurcations.
These are compared with theoretical predictions based on
optimality principles presented in the literature. The new tool shows better agreement with the theoretical predictions than a simpler manual method published in the literature, but there remains a significant discrepancy between current theory and measured geometry
Clustering of solutions in hard satisfiability problems
We study the structure of the solution space and behavior of local search
methods on random 3-SAT problems close to the SAT/UNSAT transition. Using the
overlap measure of similarity between different solutions found on the same
problem instance we show that the solution space is shrinking as a function of
alpha. We consider chains of satisfiability problems, where clauses are added
sequentially. In each such chain, the overlap distribution is first smooth, and
then develops a tiered structure, indicating that the solutions are found in
well separated clusters. On chains of not too large instances, all solutions
are eventually observed to be in only one small cluster before vanishing. This
condensation transition point is estimated to be alpha_c = 4.26. The transition
approximately obeys finite-size scaling with an apparent critical exponent of
about 1.7. We compare the solutions found by a local heuristic, ASAT, and the
Survey Propagation algorithm up to alpha_c.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
The role of stoichiometric vacancy periodicity in pressure-induced amorphization of the Ga2SeTe2 semiconductor alloy
We observe that pressure-induced amorphization of Ga2SeTe2 (a III-VI
semiconductor) is directly influenced by the periodicity of its intrinsic
defect structures. Specimens with periodic and semi-periodic two-dimensional
vacancy structures become amorphous around 10-11 GPa in contrast to those with
aperiodic structures, which amorphize around 7-8 GPa. The result is a notable
instance of altering material phase-change properties via rearrangement of
stoichiometric vacancies as opposed to adjusting their concentrations. Based on
our experimental findings, we posit that periodic two-dimensional vacancy
structures in Ga2SeTe2 provide an energetically preferred crystal lattice that
is less prone to collapse under applied pressure. This is corroborated through
first-principles electronic structure calculations, which demonstrate that the
energy stability of III-VI structures under hydrostatic pressure is highly
dependent on the configuration of intrinsic vacancies
Practice-informed research: An alternative paradigm for scholastic enquiry in the built environment
This paper introduces the concept of practice-informed research. It offers this as an alternative approach to scholarship that has the potential to increase the relevance of research within universities, and to generate an increased level of dialogue between academics and practitioners. The article demonstrates the long academic pedigree of the proposed approach through an examination of established theoretical perspectives. It seeks to encourage debate about the legitimacy of academic research in a vocational subject area, and to encourage the adoption of a greater breadth of research approaches within the built environment subject area
Behavior of heuristics and state space structure near SAT/UNSAT transition
We study the behavior of ASAT, a heuristic for solving satisfiability
problems by stochastic local search near the SAT/UNSAT transition. The
heuristic is focused, i.e. only variables in unsatisfied clauses are updated in
each step, and is significantly simpler, while similar to, walksat or Focused
Metropolis Search. We show that ASAT solves instances as large as one million
variables in linear time, on average, up to 4.21 clauses per variable for
random 3SAT. For K higher than 3, ASAT appears to solve instances at the ``FRSB
threshold'' in linear time, up to K=7.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, longer version available as MSc thesis of first
author at http://biophys.physics.kth.se/docs/ardelius_thesis.pd
Partial-indistinguishability obfuscation using braids
An obfuscator is an algorithm that translates circuits into
functionally-equivalent similarly-sized circuits that are hard to understand.
Efficient obfuscators would have many applications in cryptography. Until
recently, theoretical progress has mainly been limited to no-go results. Recent
works have proposed the first efficient obfuscation algorithms for classical
logic circuits, based on a notion of indistinguishability against
polynomial-time adversaries. In this work, we propose a new notion of
obfuscation, which we call partial-indistinguishability. This notion is based
on computationally universal groups with efficiently computable normal forms,
and appears to be incomparable with existing definitions. We describe universal
gate sets for both classical and quantum computation, in which our definition
of obfuscation can be met by polynomial-time algorithms. We also discuss some
potential applications to testing quantum computers. We stress that the
cryptographic security of these obfuscators, especially when composed with
translation from other gate sets, remains an open question.Comment: 21 pages,Proceedings of TQC 201
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