Algorithms for the workflow satisfiability problem engineered for counting constraints

The workflow satisfiability problem (WSP) asks whether there exists an assignment of authorized users to the steps in a workflow specification that satisfies the constraints in the specification. The problem is NP-hard in general, but several subclasses of the problem are known to be fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) when parameterized by the number of steps in the specification. In this paper, we consider the WSP with user-independent counting constraints, a large class of constraints for which the WSP is known to be FPT. We describe an efficient implementation of an FPT algorithm for solving this subclass of the WSP and an experimental evaluation of this algorithm. The algorithm iteratively generates all equivalence classes of possible partial solutions until, whenever possible, it finds a complete solution to the problem. We also provide a reduction from a WSP instance to a pseudo-Boolean SAT instance. We apply this reduction to the instances used in our experiments and solve the resulting PB SAT problems using SAT4J, a PB SAT solver. We compare the performance of our algorithm with that of SAT4J and discuss which of the two approaches would be more effective in practice

Pattern backtracking algorithm for the workflow satisfiability problem with user-independent constraints

The workflow satisfiability problem (WSP) asks whether there exists an assignment of authorised users to the steps in a workflow specification, subject to certain constraints on the assignment. (Such an assignment is called valid.) The problem is NP-hard even when restricted to the large class of user-independent constraints. Since the number of steps k is relatively small in practice, it is natural to consider a parametrisation of the WSP by k. We propose a new fixed-parameter algorithm to solve the WSP with user-independent constraints. The assignments in our method are partitioned into equivalence classes such that the number of classes is exponential in k only. We show that one can decide, in polynomial time, whether there is a valid assignment in an equivalence class. By exploiting this property, our algorithm reduces the search space to the space of equivalence classes, which it browses within a backtracking framework, hence emerging as an efficient yet relatively simple-to-implement or generalise solution method. We empirically evaluate our algorithm against the state-of-the-art methods and show that it clearly wins the competition on the whole range of our test problems and significantly extends the domain of practically solvable instances of the WSP

The use of nanocluster polyoxometalates in the bioactive substance delivery systems

Nanoscale systems occupy the most important place among the vehicles intended for targeted drug delivery. Such vehicles are considered in this review. Attention is paid to the nanocluster polyoxometalate-based systems which are promising for transdermal iontophoretic transport. In this relation, and due to the characteristics of the skin as a transport medium, the problems of the transfer processes modeling are considered. © 2019, ITMO University. All rights reserved.Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: 4.6653.2017/8.9, AAAA-A18-118020590107-0; Ural Federal University, UrFUThe paper was prepared in the framework of implementation of the state assignment from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Projects Nos. 4.6653.2017/8.9 and AAAA-A18-118020590107-0), and of the Program for Increasing Competitiveness of UrFU (Agreement No. 02.A03.21.0006)

Enhanced electrical properties of ferroelectric thin films by ultraviolet radiation

Published versio

Эффективная диэлектрическая проницаемость сегнетоэлектрической пленки в составе плоскопараллельных и планарных конденсаторов

The characteristics of parallel-plate and planar ferroelectric capacitors are investigated experi-mentally and theoretically. The size effect in Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 included into parallel-plate and planar capacitors is studied.Экспериментально и теоретически исследованы характеристики плоскопараллельных и планарных сегнетоэлектрических конденсаторов. Исследован размерный эффект в тонкой пленке сегнетоэлектрика Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 в составе плоскопараллельных и планарных конденсаторов

Physicochemical and biochemical properties of the Keplerate-type nanocluster polyoxomolybdates as promising components for biomedical use

The paper discusses the results of a research on physicochemical and biochemical properties of the Keplerate-type molybdenum-based nanocluster polyoxometalates (POMs), which show promise in the field of biomedicine as a means of targeted drug delivery, including the transport to immune privileged organs. POMs can be considered as components of releasing systems, including the long-acting ones with feedback (for controlling the drug active component release rate). POMs are promising drugs for the treatment of anemia. Also, the paper deals with the results of studies of POM effect on living systems at the molecular and cellular levels, at that of individual organs, and on the organism as a whole. The mechanism and kinetics of POM destruction and possibilities of stabilization, the oscillatory phenomena manifestation, the formation of POM conjugates with bioactive substances which can be released during the destruction of POM, with polymer components, and with indicator fluorescent dyes, as well as forecasts for further research, are considered. © 2021, ITMO University. All rights reserved.The paper was prepared in the framework of implementation of the State Assignment from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Projects Nos. AAAA-A20-120061990010-7 (FEUZ-2020-0052) and AAAA-A18-118020590107-0), as well as of the Program for Increasing Competitiveness of UrFU (financially supported according to the Decree No. 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, Contract No. 02.A03.21.0006). The research aimed at creating the long-time drug release systems with feedback was carried out within the framework of the project of the Russian Science Foundation No. 19-73-00177

End of organised atheism. The genealogy of the law on freedom of conscience and its conceptual effects in Russia

In the current climate of the perceived alliance between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state, atheist activists in Moscow share a sense of juridical marginality that they seek to mitigate through claims to equal rights between believers and atheists under the Russian law on freedom of conscience. In their demands for their constitutional rights, including the right to political critique, atheist activists come across as figures of dissent at risk of the state's persecution. Their experiences constitute a remarkable (and unexamined in anthropology) reversal of political and ideological primacy of state-sponsored atheism during the Soviet days. To illuminate the legal context of the atheists’ current predicament, the article traces an alternative genealogy of the Russian law on freedom of conscience from the inception of the Soviet state through the law's post-Soviet reforms. The article shows that the legal reforms have paved the way for practical changes to the privileged legal status of organized atheism and brought about implicit conceptual effects that sideline the Soviet meaning of freedom of conscience as freedom from religion and obscure historical references to conscience as an atheist tenet of Soviet ethics

Влияние давления рабочего газа на компонентный состав и свойства тонких пленок титаната бария-стронция

Influence of deposition pressure on the properties of ferroelectric barium strontium titanate thin films obtained by RF magnetron sputtering has been investigated. It has been shown that the deposition pressure affects the component composition of the films as the spatial zone of atomic particle thermalization changes significantly. Influence of deposition pressure on growth rate and, hence, on film thickness has been studied.Исследовано влияние давления рабочего газа и тока разряда в процессе ионно-плазменного распыления на параметры осаждаемых сегнетоэлектрических покрытий титаната бария-стронция. Поскольку давление рабочего газа влияет на длину термализации распыленных атомов, его изменение в процессе осаждения позволяет менять компонентный состав осаждаемой пленки. Изменение тока разряда приводит к изменению скорости роста пленки