737 research outputs found
Linking anthropogenic resources to wildlife-pathogen dynamics: a review and meta-analysis
Urbanisation and agriculture cause declines for many wildlife, but some species beneļ¬t from novelresources, especially food, provided in human-dominated habitats. Resulting shifts in wildlife ecol-ogy can alter infectious disease dynamics and create opportunities for cross-species transmission,yet predicting hostāpathogen responses to resource provisioning is challenging. Factors enhancingtransmission, such as increased aggregation, could be offset by better host immunity due toimproved nutrition. Here, we conduct a review and meta-analysis to show that food provisioningresults in highly heterogeneous infection outcomes that depend on pathogen type and anthropo-genic food source. We also ļ¬nd empirical support for behavioural and immune mechanismsthrough which human-provided resources alter host exposure and tolerance to pathogens. Areview of recent theoretical models of resource provisioning and infection dynamics shows thatchanges in host contact rates and immunity produce strong non-linear responses in pathogen inva-sion and prevalence. By integrating results of our meta-analysis back into a theoretical frame-work, we ļ¬nd provisioning ampliļ¬es pathogen invasion under increased host aggregation andtolerance, but reduces transmission if provisioned food decreases dietary exposure to parasites.These results carry implications for wildlife disease management and highlight areas for futurework, such as how resource shifts might affect virulence evolution
Space-Efficient Parallel Algorithms for Combinatorial Search Problems
We present space-efficient parallel strategies for two fundamental
combinatorial search problems, namely, backtrack search and branch-and-bound,
both involving the visit of an -node tree of height under the assumption
that a node can be accessed only through its father or its children. For both
problems we propose efficient algorithms that run on a -processor
distributed-memory machine. For backtrack search, we give a deterministic
algorithm running in time, and a Las Vegas algorithm requiring
optimal time, with high probability. Building on the backtrack
search algorithm, we also derive a Las Vegas algorithm for branch-and-bound
which runs in time, with high probability. A
remarkable feature of our algorithms is the use of only constant space per
processor, which constitutes a significant improvement upon previous algorithms
whose space requirements per processor depend on the (possibly huge) tree to be
explored.Comment: Extended version of the paper in the Proc. of 38th International
Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS
Constructing multiple unique input/output sequences using metaheuristic optimisation techniques
Multiple unique input/output sequences (UIOs) are often used to generate robust and compact test sequences in finite state machine (FSM) based testing. However, computing UIOs is NP-hard. Metaheuristic optimisation techniques (MOTs) such as genetic algorithms (GAs) and simulated annealing (SA) are effective in providing good solutions for some NP-hard problems. In the paper, the authors investigate the construction of UIOs by using MOTs. They define a fitness function to guide the search for potential UIOs and use sharing techniques to encourage MOTs to locate UIOs that are calculated as local optima in a search domain. They also compare the performance of GA and SA for UIO construction. Experimental results suggest that, after using a sharing technique, both GA and SA can find a majority of UIOs from the models under test
Node-balancing by edge-increments
Suppose you are given a graph with a weight assignment
and that your objective is to modify using legal
steps such that all vertices will have the same weight, where in each legal
step you are allowed to choose an edge and increment the weights of its end
points by .
In this paper we study several variants of this problem for graphs and
hypergraphs. On the combinatorial side we show connections with fundamental
results from matching theory such as Hall's Theorem and Tutte's Theorem. On the
algorithmic side we study the computational complexity of associated decision
problems.
Our main results are a characterization of the graphs for which any initial
assignment can be balanced by edge-increments and a strongly polynomial-time
algorithm that computes a balancing sequence of increments if one exists.Comment: 10 page
Reconstruction of Black Hole Metric Perturbations from Weyl Curvature
Perturbation theory of rotating black holes is usually described in terms of
Weyl scalars and , which each satisfy Teukolsky's complex
master wave equation and respectively represent outgoing and ingoing radiation.
On the other hand metric perturbations of a Kerr hole can be described in terms
of (Hertz-like) potentials in outgoing or ingoing {\it radiation
gauges}. In this paper we relate these potentials to what one actually computes
in perturbation theory, i.e and . We explicitly construct
these relations in the nonrotating limit, preparatory to devising a
corresponding approach for building up the perturbed spacetime of a rotating
black hole. We discuss the application of our procedure to second order
perturbation theory and to the study of radiation reaction effects for a
particle orbiting a massive black hole.Comment: 6 Pages, Revtex
Contention Resolution with Heterogeneous Job Sizes
Abstract. We study the problem of contention resolution for differentsized jobs on a simple channel. When a job makes a run attempt, it learns only whether the attempt succeeded or failed. We first analyze binary exponential backoff, and show that it achieves a makespan of V2 Ī( logn) with high probability, where V is the total work of all n contending jobs. This bound is significantly larger than when jobs are constant sized. A variant of exponential backoff, however, achieves makespan O(V logV) with high probability. Finally, we introduce a new protocol, size-hashed backoff, specifically designed for jobs of multiple sizes that achieves makespan O(V log 3 logV). The error probability of the first two bounds is polynomially small in n and the latter is polynomially small in logV.
Popular matchings in the marriage and roommates problems
Popular matchings have recently been a subject of study in the context of the so-called House Allocation Problem, where the objective is to match applicants to houses over which the applicants have preferences. A matching M is called popular if there is no other matching Mā² with the property that more applicants prefer their allocation in Mā² to their allocation in M. In this paper we study popular matchings in the context of the Roommates Problem, including its special (bipartite) case, the Marriage Problem. We investigate the relationship between popularity and stability, and describe efficient algorithms to test a matching for popularity in these settings. We also show that, when ties are permitted in the preferences, it is NP-hard to determine whether a popular matching exists in both the Roommates and Marriage cases
Adaptations in the Temporalis Muscles of Rabbits after Masseter Muscle Removal
Masseter muscles were surgically removed in six young female rabbits so that we could study adaptations of the superficial temporalis muscles (ST) to increased functional requirements. Eight weeks following surgery, we used morphological measurements, histochemistry, contractile properties in situ, and occlusal force in vivo to compare the muscles in the experimental animals and six control rabbits. Analysis of the results demonstrated a decrease in fatigability of ST after masseter myectomy. Incisal occlusal force decreased by 65% during the first two weeks, and no recovery was observed during the following six weeks. At eight weeks post-surgery, the mass, twitch tensions, and tetanic tensions of ST were not significantly different from those of the controls. An increase in the percent of the cross-sectional area composed of fast fatigue-resistant fibers, a slower time-to-peak twitch tension, and a decrease in fatigability suggest an increase in oxidative metabolism. Analysis of these results suggests that muscles used for highly repetitious activities with submaximal loadings adapt to increased functional requirements by increasing fatigue-resistant properties.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68261/2/10.1177_00220345860650110201.pd
The imposition of Cauchy data to the Teukolsky equation I: The nonrotating case
Gravitational perturbations about a Kerr black hole in the Newman-Penrose
formalism are concisely described by the Teukolsky equation. New numerical
methods for studying the evolution of such perturbations require not only the
construction of appropriate initial data to describe the collision of two
orbiting black holes, but also to know how such new data must be imposed into
the Teukolsky equation. In this paper we show how Cauchy data can be
incorporated explicitly into the Teukolsky equation for non-rotating black
holes. The Teukolsky function and its first time derivative
can be written in terms of only the 3-geometry and the
extrinsic curvature in a gauge invariant way. Taking a Laplace transform of the
Teukolsky equation incorporates initial data as a source term. We show that for
astrophysical data the straightforward Green function method leads to divergent
integrals that can be regularized like for the case of a source generated by a
particle coming from infinity.Comment: 9 pages, REVTEX. Misprints corrected in formulas (2.4)-(2.7). Final
version to appear in PR
Mechanism of polarization of Listeria monocytogenes surface protein ActA
The polar distribution of the ActA protein on the surface of the Gram-positive intracellular bacterial pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, is required for bacterial actin-based motility and successful infection. ActA spans both the bacterial membrane and the peptidoglycan cell wall. We have directly examined the de novo ActA polarization process in vitro by using an ActAāRFP (red fluorescent protein) fusion. After induction of expression, ActA initially appeared at distinct sites along the sides of bacteria and was then redistributed over the entire cylindrical cell body through helical cell wall growth. The accumulation of ActA at the bacterial poles displayed slower kinetics, occurring over several bacterial generations. ActA accumulated more efficiently at younger, less inert poles, and proper polarization required an optimal balance between protein secretion and bacterial growth rates. Within infected host cells, younger generations of L. monocytogenes initiated motility more quickly than older ones, consistent with our in vitro observations of de novo ActA polarization. We propose a model in which the polarization of ActA, and possibly other Gram-positive cell wall-associated proteins, may be a direct consequence of the differential cell wall growth rates along the bacterium and dependent on the relative rates of protein secretion, protein degradation and bacterial growth
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