Approximation Algorithms for Connected Maximum Cut and Related Problems

An instance of the Connected Maximum Cut problem consists of an undirected graph G = (V, E) and the goal is to find a subset of vertices S $\subseteq$ V that maximizes the number of edges in the cut \delta(S) such that the induced graph G[S] is connected. We present the first non-trivial \Omega(1/log n) approximation algorithm for the connected maximum cut problem in general graphs using novel techniques. We then extend our algorithm to an edge weighted case and obtain a poly-logarithmic approximation algorithm. Interestingly, in stark contrast to the classical max-cut problem, we show that the connected maximum cut problem remains NP-hard even on unweighted, planar graphs. On the positive side, we obtain a polynomial time approximation scheme for the connected maximum cut problem on planar graphs and more generally on graphs with bounded genus.Comment: 17 pages, Conference version to appear in ESA 201

Temperature dependent photoluminescence of organic semiconductors with varying backbone conformation

We present photoluminescence studies as a function of temperature from a series of conjugated polymers and a conjugated molecule with distinctly different backbone conformations. The organic materials investigated here are: planar methylated ladder type poly para-phenylene, semi-planar polyfluorene, and non-planar para hexaphenyl. In the longer-chain polymers the photoluminescence transition energies blue shift with increasing temperatures. The conjugated molecules, on the other hand, red shift their transition energies with increasing temperatures. Empirical models that explain the temperature dependence of the band gap energies in inorganic semiconductors can be extended to explain the temperature dependence of the transition energies in conjugated molecules.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Verification and Validation of Semantic Annotations

In this paper, we propose a framework to perform verification and validation of semantically annotated data. The annotations, extracted from websites, are verified against the schema.org vocabulary and Domain Specifications to ensure the syntactic correctness and completeness of the annotations. The Domain Specifications allow checking the compliance of annotations against corresponding domain-specific constraints. The validation mechanism will detect errors and inconsistencies between the content of the analyzed schema.org annotations and the content of the web pages where the annotations were found.Comment: Accepted for the A.P. Ershov Informatics Conference 2019(the PSI Conference Series, 12th edition) proceedin

BIOMARKER OF CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF SUBCLINICAL MASTITIS IN COW

The timing of mastitis and sub-clinical mastitis outbreaks often gives important clues to the origin of herd problems. Infection rates are highest before calving, during early lactation, and near dry-off. The goal of every dairy farmer should be to minimize the number of organisms permitted to come into contact with the teats. To simplify the understanding of mastitis complexity, it is useful to detect the severity of the disease as well as diagnosis and therapeutic strategies. Serum amyloid A and haptoglobin are the two major acute-phase proteins and fibrinogen is a minor acute-phase protein in cattle. The therapeutic experiment was conducted by using four groups including Group A animals treated with only Bovimint, Group B animals with Bovimint + Mastotreet, and Group C with Bovimint + Mastotreet + Inj. Enrofloxacin, and Group D with Bovimint + Inj. Enrofloxacin. They are potentially useful as disease markers owing to their low concentration in normal animals, the rapid increase in their concentration during the acute phase of inflammation, and their rapid decrease with the resolution of the disease. To minimize economic losses due to high prevalence, its early detection with suitable tests and appropriate treatment regimen becomes most important. From the study, it was observed that treatment with Bovimint and Inj Enrofloxacin depicted the best recovery of the other treatment groups. Effective antimicrobial coverage along with local application on the udder would be a more suitable regimen of treatment against sub-clinical mastitis

Is inflammaging an auto[innate]immunity subclinical syndrome?

The low-grade, chronic, systemic inflammatory state that characterizes the aging process (inflammaging) results from late evolutive-based expression of the innate immune system. Inflammaging is characterized by the complex set of five conditions which can be described as 1. low-grade, 2. controlled, 3. asymptomatic, 4. chronic, 5. systemic, inflammatory state, and fits with the antagonistic pleiotropy theory on the evolution of aging postulating that senescence is the late deleterious effect of genes (pro-inflammatory versus anti-inflammatory)that are beneficial in early life. Evolutionary programming of the innate immune system may act via selection on these genetic traits. Here I propose that the already acquired knowledge in this field may pave the way to a new chapter in the pathophysiology of autoimmunity: the auto-innate-immunity syndromes. Indeed, differently from the well known chapter of conventional autoimmune diseases and syndromes where the main actor is the adaptive immunity, inflammaging may constitute the subclinical paradigm of a new chapter of autoimmunity, namely that arising from an autoimmune inflammatory response of the innate-immune-system, an old actor of immunity and yet a new actor of autoimmunity, also acting as a major determinant of elderly frailty and age-associated diseases

Gaussian Quantum Information

The science of quantum information has arisen over the last two decades centered on the manipulation of individual quanta of information, known as quantum bits or qubits. Quantum computers, quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation are among the most celebrated ideas that have emerged from this new field. It was realized later on that using continuous-variable quantum information carriers, instead of qubits, constitutes an extremely powerful alternative approach to quantum information processing. This review focuses on continuous-variable quantum information processes that rely on any combination of Gaussian states, Gaussian operations, and Gaussian measurements. Interestingly, such a restriction to the Gaussian realm comes with various benefits, since on the theoretical side, simple analytical tools are available and, on the experimental side, optical components effecting Gaussian processes are readily available in the laboratory. Yet, Gaussian quantum information processing opens the way to a wide variety of tasks and applications, including quantum communication, quantum cryptography, quantum computation, quantum teleportation, and quantum state and channel discrimination. This review reports on the state of the art in this field, ranging from the basic theoretical tools and landmark experimental realizations to the most recent successful developments.Comment: 51 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic

Two dimensional SU(N)xSU(N) Chiral Models on the Lattice (II): the Green's Function

Analytical and numerical methods are applied to principal chiral models on a two-dimensional lattice and their predictions are tested and compared. New techniques for the strong coupling expansion of SU(N) models are developed and applied to the evaluation of the two-point correlation function. The momentum-space lattice propagator is constructed with precision O(\beta^{10}) and an evaluation of the correlation length is obtained for several different definitions. Three-loop weak coupling contributions to the internal energy and to the lattice $\beta$ and $\gamma$ functions are evaluated for all N, and the effect of adopting the ``energy'' definition of temperature is computed with the same precision. Renormalization-group improved predictions for the two-point Green's function in the weak coupling ( continuum ) regime are obtained and successfully compared with Monte Carlo data. We find that strong coupling is predictive up to a point where asymptotic scaling in the energy scheme is observed. Continuum physics is insensitive to the effects of the large N phase transition occurring in the lattice model. Universality in N is already well established for $N \ge 10$ and the large N physics is well described by a ``hadronization'' picture.Comment: Revtex, 37 pages, 16 figures available on request by FAX or mai