Network Topology and Time Criticality Effects in the Modularised Fleet Mix Problem

In this paper, we explore the interplay between network topology and time criticality in a military logistics system. A general goal of this work (and previous work) is to evaluate land transportation requirements or, more specifically, how to design appropriate fleets of military general service vehicles that are tasked with the supply and re-supply of military units dispersed in an area of operation. The particular focus of this paper is to gain a better understanding of how the logistics environment changes when current Army vehicles with fixed transport characteristics are replaced by a new generation of modularised vehicles that can be configured task-specifically. The experimental work is conducted within a well developed strategic planning simulation environment which includes a scenario generation engine for automatically sampling supply and re-supply missions and a multi-objective meta-heuristic search algorithm (i.e. Evolutionary Algorithm) for solving the particular scheduling and routing problems. The results presented in this paper allow for a better understanding of how (and under what conditions) a modularised vehicle fleet can provide advantages over the currently implemented system

CFP - Tales of Terror: Gothic and the Short Form

The aim of this special issue of Gothic Studies (23/3, to be published Nov 2021) is to bring together research that does not simply consider Gothic short fiction and its artistic and cultural brethren as incidental, but integral to the design and effect and/or cultural significance of the piece because the short form in the Gothic tradition has, as yet, received little in the way of sustained scholarly attention. Form and structure, publication histories, and multi-media adaptation, in various guises, will comprise a key focus of the issue [full CFP attached] Guest editor: Dr Jen Baker Please send a (fairly detailed) proposal of about 500 words and a short biography, to [email protected] by 12th August 2019 [extended deadline]. Informal enquiries may also be sent to this address. Contributors can expect to be notified of the outcome by Monday 9th September 2019. The deadline for submission of completed draft articles (c.5-6000 words) will be 19th April 2020

First-principles soft-mode lattice dynamics of PbZr₀.₅Ti₀.₅O₃ and shortcomings of the virtual crystal approximation

A comparative study of PbTiO 3 , PbZrO 3 , and the solid solution PbZr 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 3 is performed on the soft-mode lattice dynamics within the first Brillouin zone. We consider the six unique B-site orderings for PbZr 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 3 representable within the 2 × 2 × 2 primitive perovskite supercell as well as the virtual crystal approximation (VCA) to extract the phonon dispersion relations of a high-symmetry cubic-constrained form using density functional perturbation theory. We find that the most unstable modes in the rock-salt ordered structure and the VCA, like pure PbZrO 3 , are antiferrodistortive (AFD) while lower symmetry arrangements are dominated by Γ -point ferroelectric (FE) instabilities like pure PbTiO 3 . Despite similarities in the phonon dispersion relations between the rock-salt ordered supercell and the VCA, the character of modes at high symmetry points are found to be different. In particular, the a 0 a 0 c − and a 0 a 0 c + AFD instabilities of the rock-salt ordering are replaced with a − b − c − and a + b + c + instabilities within the VCA. Such a rotation pattern is not seen in any of the supercell-based calculations, thus serving as a quantitative example of the inability of the method to accurately represent local structural distortions. Single modes are found exhibiting dual order parameters. At the zone center, some arrangements show mixed FE and antipolar soft modes (due to Pb motion transverse to the polar axis), and at long wavelengths all arrangements have soft modes of a mixed antipolar and AFD character. These are described with direct analysis of the eigendisplacements

Origin of Ferroelectric Domain Wall Alignment with Surface Trenches in Ultrathin Films

Engraving trenches on the surfaces of ultrathin ferroelectric (FE) films and superlattices promises control over the orientation and direction of FE domain walls (DWs). Through exploiting the phenomenon of DW-surface trench (ST) parallel alignment, systems where DWs are known for becoming electrical conductors could now become useful nanocircuits using only standard lithographical techniques. Despite this clear application, the microscopic mechanism responsible for the alignment phenomenon has remained elusive. Using ultrathin PbTiO3 films as a model system, we explore this mechanism with large scale density functional theory simulations on as many as 5,136 atoms. Although we expect multiple contributing factors, we show that parallel DW-ST alignment can be well explained by this configuration giving rise to an arrangement of electric dipole moments which best restore polar continuity to the film. These moments preserve the polar texture of the pristine film, thus minimizing ST-induced depolarizing fields. Given the generality of this mechanism, we suggest that STs could be used to engineer other exotic polar textures in a variety of FE nanostructures as supported by the appearance of ST-induced polar cycloidal modulations in this Letter. Our simulations also support experimental observations of ST-induced negative strains which have been suggested to play a role in the alignment mechanism

Chuck Palahniuckas Fight Club Apropos of Sartreas Bad Faith and Camusas Calculated

This essay explores the existential philosophy that exists in Chuck Palahniuck s first novel Fight Club 1996 Surprisingly there has been little discussion of this novel s connection to Jean-Paul Sartre s notion of the look and the three patterns of bad faith in Being and Nothingness nor of Camus s discussion of calculated culpability in The Just Assassins this has largely been overlooked and presents a creative opportunity to better interpret Fight Club its concomitant existential analysis and the continuing fight between Camus and Sartre s political stances not to mention the interpretive territory of existentialist humo

Disclosure of Patient’s Medical Record to the Spouse An Islamic Law Perspective

This article aims to clarify the limitations of Sharia that distinguished between what a doctor must conceal and what to disclose from the secrets related to one of the spouses. The basic principle in the viewpoint of Sharia is that secrets must be preserved and concealed and that no one should be informed of them. The doctor is forbidden by virtue of religion and law from disclosing the secrets of his patients or informing anyone of them. However, this principle may not always apply to the relationship between the spouses, as it is a relationship of a special kind, governed by different dimensions including interest, rights and obligations. If the above principle is strictly applied here, it would threaten marital life and its stability. The research has shown that Sharia, since the beginnings of its stability, preserves the private life of individuals, and - by means of encouragement and intimidation - prevented the eyes and ears of intruders from violating privacy. Additionally, Sharia made provisions for the maintenance of marital relations and established the rules of stability and continuity in order to preserve the humankind and protect family harmony. Through a unique tripartite formula, it was able to balance between competing interests: keeping the secret and concealing it, maintaining marital life, and the doctor’s responsibility towards his/her patients. General rules were produced for the maintenance of rights and duties, and special rules for dealing with exceptional issues without breaching or invalidating the general principles. Sharia, therefore, allowed one of the spouses to access the medical secrets of his partner for a special interest of their relation on their mutual marital life, or for a general interested to society and its protection from diseases. يهدف البحث إلى بيان الحدود الشرعية التي تفصل بين ما يجب على الطبيب كتمانه أو إفشاؤه من أسرار طبيبة تتعلق بأحد الزوجين. فالأصل في منظور الشريعة هو وجوب حفظ الأسرار وكتمانها وعدم إطلاع أحد عليها، والطبيب ممنوع بحكم الدين والقانون أن يفشي أسرار مرضاه أو أن يطلع عليها أحد. إلا أن هذا الأصل قد لا ينسحب -دائماً-على العلاقة بين الزوجين لكونها علاقة من نوع خاص، تحكمها أبعاد مختلفة ما بين المصلحة والحق والوجوب، مما قد يجعل حكم الأصل هنا مهدداً للحياة الزوجية واستقرارها. وقد توصل البحث إلى أن الشريعة كما تشوفت منذ بدايات استقرارها إلى حفظ الحياة الخاصة للأفراد، ومنعت -بالترغيب والترهيب-عيون المتطفلين وآذانهم من أن يخترقوا جدار الخصوصية، كذلك عملت على صيانة العلاقات الزوجية وأرست قواعد استقرارها وديمومتها حفظاً للنوع الإنساني وحماية للوئام الأسري، وفي ثلاثية متفردة استطاعت أن توازن بين مصالح متجاذبة : حفظ السر وكتمانه، واستصلاح الحياة الزوجية ، ومسؤولية الطبيب أمام مرضاه، فأنتجت قواعد عامة لصيانة الحقوق والواجبات، وقواعد خاصة لمعالجة المسائل الاستثنائية دون خرق للعموم أو إبطال له، فسمحت لأحد الزوجين أن يطلع على أسرار قرينه الطبية لمصلحة خاصة بأحدهما أو بحياتهما المشتركة، أو مصلحة عامة تتعلق بالمجتمع وصيانته من الأمراض

Avoidability of formulas with two variables

In combinatorics on words, a word $w$ over an alphabet $\Sigma$ is said to avoid a pattern $p$ over an alphabet $\Delta$ of variables if there is no factor $f$ of $w$ such that $f=h(p)$ where $h:\Delta^*\to\Sigma^*$ is a non-erasing morphism. A pattern $p$ is said to be $k$-avoidable if there exists an infinite word over a $k$-letter alphabet that avoids $p$. We consider the patterns such that at most two variables appear at least twice, or equivalently, the formulas with at most two variables. For each such formula, we determine whether it is $2$-avoidable, and if it is $2$-avoidable, we determine whether it is avoided by exponentially many binary words