Checking for optimal solutions in some NPNP-complete problems

For some weighted $NP$-complete problems, checking whether a proposed solution is optimal is a non-trivial task. Such is the case for the celebrated traveling salesman problem, or the spin-glass problem in 3 dimensions. In this letter, we consider the weighted tripartite matching problem, a well known $NP$-complete problem. We write mean-field finite temperature equations for this model, and show that they become exact at zero temperature. As a consequence, given a possible solution, we propose an algorithm which allows to check in a polynomial time if the solution is indeed optimal. This algorithm is generalized to a class of variants of the multiple traveling salesmen problem

Applying Trajectory approach with static priority queuing for improving the use of available AFDX resources

International audienceAFDX (Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet) standardized as ARINC 664 is a major upgrade for avionics systems. The mandatory certification implies a worst-case delay analysis of all the flows transmitted on the AFDX network. Up to now, this analysis is done thanks to a tool based on a Network Calculus approach. The more recent Trajectory approach has been proposed for the computation of worst-case response time in distributed systems. This paper shows how the worst-case delay analysis of an AFDX network can be improved using an optimized Trajectory approach. This approach, which implements static priority QoS policies, provides bound needed for deterministic avionics flows (high priority) and allows addition of (lower priority) non avionics flows

Analyse pire cas de flux hétérogènes dans un réseau embarqué avion

La certification des réseaux avioniques requiert une maîtrise des délais de transmission des données. Cepednant, le multiplexage et le partage des ressource de communications dans des réseaux tels que l'AFDX (Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet) rendent difficile le calcul d'un délai de bout en bout pire cas pour chaque flux. Des outils comme le calcul réseau fournissent une borne supérieure (pessimiste) de ce délai pire cas. Les besoins de communication des avions civils modernes ne cessent d'augmenter et un nombre croissant de flux aux contraintes et aux caractéristiques différentes doivent partager les ressources existantes. Le réseau AFDX actuel ne permet pas de différentier plusieurs classes de trafic : les messages sont traités dans les files des commutateurs selon leur ordre d'arrivée (politique de service FIFO). L'objet de cette thèse est de montrer qu'il est possible de calculer des bornes pire cas des délais de bout en bout avec des politiques de service plus évoluées, à base de priorités statiques (Priority Queueing) ou à répartition équitable de service (Fair Queueing). Nous montrons comment l'approche par trajectoires, issue de la théorie de l'ordonnancement dans des systèmes asynchrones distribués peut s'appliquer au domaine de l'AFDX actuel et futur (intégration de politiques de service plus évoluées permettant la différentiation de flux). Nous comparons les performances de cette approche avec les outils de référence lorsque cela est possible et étudions le pessimisme des bornes ainsi obtenues. ABSTRACT : The certification process for avionics network requires guaranties on data transmission delays. However, calculating the worst case delay can be complex in the case of industrial AFDX (Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet) networks. Tools such as Network Calculus provide a pessimistic upper bound of this worst case delay. Communication needs of modern commercial aircraft are expanding and a growing number of flows with various constraints and characteristics must share already existing resources. Currently deployed AFDX networks do not differentiate multiple classes of traffic: messages are processed in their arrival order in the output ports of the switches (FIFO servicing policy). The purpose of this thesis is to show that it is possible to provide upper bounds of end to end transmission delays in networks that implement more advanced servicing policies, based on static priorities (Priority Queuing) or on fairness (Fair Queuing). We show how the trajectory approach, based on scheduling theory in asynchronous distributed systems can be applied to current and future AFDX networks (supporting advanced servicing policies with flow differentiation capabilities). We compare the performance of this approach with the reference tools whenever it is possible and we study the pessimism of the computed upper bounds

EpCAM immunotherapy versus specific targeted delivery of drugs

The epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), or CD326, was one of the first cancer associated biomarkers to be discovered. In the last forty years, this biomarker has been investigated for use in personalized cancer therapy, with the first monoclonal antibody, edrecolomab, being trialled in humans more than thirty years ago. Since then, several other monoclonal antibodies have been raised to EpCAM and tested in clinical trials. However, while monoclonal antibody therapy has been investigated against EpCAM for almost 40 years as primary or adjuvant therapy, it has not shown as much promise as initially heralded. In this review, we look at the reasons why and consider alternative targeting options, such as aptamers, to turn this almost ubiquitously expressed epithelial cancer biomarker into a viable target for future personalized therapy

Yield and leakage currents of large area lattice matched InP/InGaAs heterostructures

Demonstrating and harnessing electroluminescent cooling at technologically viable cooling powers requires the ability to routinely fabricate large area high quality light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Detailed information on the performance and yield of relevant large area devices is not available, however. Here, we report extensive information on the yield and related large area scaling of InP/InGaAs LEDs and discuss the origin of the failure mechanisms based on lock-in thermographic imaging. The studied LEDs were fabricated as mesa structures of various sizes on epistructures grown at five different facilities specialized in the growth of III-V compound semiconductors. While the smaller mesas generally showed relatively good electrical characteristics and low leakage current densities, some of them also exhibited unusually large leakage current densities. The provided information is critical for the development and design of the optical cooling technologies relying on large area devices.Peer reviewe

Spin accumulation with spin-orbit interaction

Spin accumulation is a crucial but imprecise concept in spintronics. In metal-based spintronics it is characterized in terms of semiclassical distribution functions. In semiconductors with a strong spin-orbit coupling the spin accumulation is interpreted as a superposition of coherent eigenstates. Both views can be reconciled by taking into account the electron-electron interaction: a sufficiently strong self-consistent exchange field reduces a spin accumulation to a chemical potential difference between the two spin bands even in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. We demonstrate the idea on a clean two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) by showing how the exchange field protects a spin accumulation from dephasing and introduces an easy-plane anisotropy.Comment: 3 figure

EpCAM immunotherapy versus specific targeted delivery of drugs

The epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), or CD326, was one of the first cancer associated biomarkers to be discovered. In the last forty years, this biomarker has been investigated for use in personalized cancer therapy, with the first monoclonal antibody, edrecolomab, being trialled in humans more than thirty years ago. Since then, several other monoclonal antibodies have been raised to EpCAM and tested in clinical trials. However, while monoclonal antibody therapy has been investigated against EpCAM for almost 40 years as primary or adjuvant therapy, it has not shown as much promise as initially heralded. In this review, we look at the reasons why and consider alternative targeting options, such as aptamers, to turn this almost ubiquitously expressed epithelial cancer biomarker into a viable target for future personalized therapy

Who and what really counts? Stakeholder prioritization and accounting for social value.

Research in stakeholder management has theorized extensively the prioritization of stakeholders as a key dynamic of firms’ value creation, but has paid less attention to the organizational practices involved in the process of deciding ‘who and what really counts.’ We examine changes underpinning managers’ prioritization of stakeholders and focus on how managers’ attention to salient stakeholders is represented and communicated in a firm’s accounting and reporting system. We study the emergence and development of Social Return on Investment (SROI): an accounting methodology intended to permit managers both to incorporate stakeholders’ voices and to communicate the social value created by the firm for those stakeholders. We find that the ability of SROI to account for specific stakeholders, thus categorizing them as salient for the firm, is shaped by managers’ epistemic beliefs and by the organization’s material conditions. Our findings contribute to stakeholder theory by showing that the prioritization of stakeholders is not solely a managerial decision, but instead is dependent on the construction of an appropriate accounting and reporting system, as shaped by managers’ epistemic beliefs and by the organization’s material conditions

Books in Arabic Script

The chapter approaches the book in Arabic script as the indispensable means for the transmission of knowledge across Eurasia and Africa, within cultures and across cultural boundaries, since the seventh century ad. The state of research can be divided into manuscript and print studies, but there is not yet a history of the book in Arabic script that captures its plurilinear development for over fourteen hundred years. The chapter explores the conceptual and practical challenges that impede the integration of the book in Arabic script into book history at large and includes an extensive reference list that reflects its diversity. The final published version was slightly updated, and includes seven illustrations of six Qurans from the holdings of Columbia University Libraries, four manuscripts and two printed versions. Moreover, the illustrations are images of historical artifacts which are in the public domain - despite Wiley's copyright claim

Genetic determinants of heel bone properties: genome-wide association meta-analysis and replication in the GEFOS/GENOMOS consortium

Quantitative ultrasound of the heel captures heel bone properties that independently predict fracture risk and, with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by X-ray (DXA), may be convenient alternatives for evaluating osteoporosis and fracture risk. We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) studies to assess the genetic determinants of heel broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA; n = 14 260), velocity of sound (VOS; n = 15 514) and BMD (n = 4566) in 13 discovery cohorts. Independent replication involved seven cohorts with GWA data (in silico n = 11 452) and new genotyping in 15 cohorts (de novo n = 24 902). In combined random effects, meta-analysis of the discovery and replication cohorts, nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had genome-wide significant (P < 5 × 10(-8)) associations with heel bone properties. Alongside SNPs within or near previously identified osteoporosis susceptibility genes including ESR1 (6q25.1: rs4869739, rs3020331, rs2982552), SPTBN1 (2p16.2: rs11898505), RSPO3 (6q22.33: rs7741021), WNT16 (7q31.31: rs2908007), DKK1 (10q21.1: rs7902708) and GPATCH1 (19q13.11: rs10416265), we identified a new locus on chromosome 11q14.2 (rs597319 close to TMEM135, a gene recently linked to osteoblastogenesis and longevity) significantly associated with both BUA and VOS (P < 8.23 × 10(-14)). In meta-analyses involving 25 cohorts with up to 14 985 fracture cases, six of 10 SNPs associated with heel bone properties at P < 5 × 10(-6) also had the expected direction of association with any fracture (P < 0.05), including three SNPs with P < 0.005: 6q22.33 (rs7741021), 7q31.31 (rs2908007) and 10q21.1 (rs7902708). In conclusion, this GWA study reveals the effect of several genes common to central DXA-derived BMD and heel ultrasound/DXA measures and points to a new genetic locus with potential implications for better understanding of osteoporosis pathophysiology