Very large-scale neighborhoods with performance guarantees for minimizing makespan on parallel machines

We study the problem of minimizing the makespan on m parallel machines. We introduce a very large-scale neighborhood of exponential size (in the number of machines) that is based on a matching in a complete graph. The idea is to partition the jobs assigned to the same machine into two sets. This partitioning is done for every machine with some chosen rule to receive 2m parts. A new assignment is received by putting to every machine exactly two parts. The neighborhood Nsplit consists of all possible rearrangements of the parts to the machines. The best assignment of Nsplit can be calculated in time O(mlogm) by determining the perfect matching having minimum maximal edge weight in an improvement graph, where the vertices correspond to parts and the weights on the edges correspond to the sum of the processing times of the jobs belonging to the parts. Additionally, we examine local optima in this neighborhood and in combinations with other neighborhoods. We derive performance guarantees for these local optima.operations research and management science;

Making as a means to re-engage disengaged young people back into education:a case study

Lickable Cities is a research project that responds to the recent and overwhelming abundance of non-calls for gustatory exploration of urban spaces. In this paper, we share experiences from nearly three years of nonrepresentational, absurdist, and impractical research. During that time, we licked hundreds of surfaces, infrastructures, and interfaces in cities around the world. We en-countered many challenges from thinking with, designing for, and interfacing through taste, including: - how can and should we grapple with contamination?, and - how might lickable interfaces influence more-than-humans? We discuss these challenges to compassionately question the existing framework for designing with taste in HCI

THE SUCCESS OF A SOCCER KICK DEPENDS ON RUN UP DECELERATION

The purpose of the study was to relate the motion of the centre of mass (CoM) during run ups in soccer full insteps kicks with the obtained ball speeds. Nineteen experienced play-ers performed kicks onto the goal and their full body kinematics as well as ball motion were analysed in three dimensions using two high speed video cameras. Higher decel-erations of the CoM with the last step are associated with higher ball velocities and higher thigh angular impulses. Those data suggest, that an intensive breaking of the CoM veloc-ity provides a prerequisite to transfer a portion of the CoM impulse into angular impulse of the thigh. High angular impulse of the thigh however can be beneficial for fast instep kicks

Antimicrobial-drug use and changes in resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to antimicrobial drugs is increasing. To investigate the relationship between antimicrobial use and susceptibility of S. pneumoniae isolates at 24 U.S. medical centers, we obtained data on outpatient antimicrobial-drug use for the regions surrounding 23 of these centers. We found an association between decreased penicillin susceptibility and use of beta-lactam antimicrobial drugs

Send in the clowns : scoping non-representational theory as ally and method to foster inclusiveness in digital Iinnovation

Send in the clowns is the account of a post-disciplinary, critical, creative practise that over the course of 6 years explored the subject of ‘digital innovation’ and ‘innovating in the digital’. The digital in this context is interpreted in the widest possible sense and includes any instance where cybertechnology relates to/with humans. This framing has put forward my proposed concept of the digiscape; a phenomenological interpretation of cyber-technology. In 3 distinct interventions (Ch.3,4,5) I have appropriated literatures on inventive methods, sustainable design and diffraction for my thinking. Through the lessons learned from each intervention I have constructed my own interpretation of non-representational theory and methods. I make the case that these can be a fertile ground for emancipatory politics concerning research and development in/on the digital. Seeking to test my claim that such approaches can be deemed valuable to practising innovators, I have submitted my hypothesis together with a non-representational experiment (‘Lickable Cities’) to CHI 2018 [a] (the pre-eminent journal in the field of Human-ComputerInteraction). The submission was accepted. Ch.6 discusses the implications of this on the scholarship of non-representational-theory and philosophy. Thus my conclusion is that non-representational approaches are indeed of value to innovators as a means to catalyse a type of awareness(es) that makes otherwise inutterable questions possible. I am claiming that through fostering alliances across methods, traditions, disciplines, writing styles, ethnicities, media and epistemologies - with the help of non-representational theory - more inclusive research is enabled and method itself can be invigorated (Ch.7). As my work is concerned with knowing about knowing, and knowing about ways of knowing, my work is firmly placed within Science and Technology Studies (STS) and is written for an STS audience

Send in the Clowns: Scoping Non-Representational Theory as Ally and Method to Foster Inclusiveness in Digital Innovation

Send in the clowns is the account of a post-disciplinary, critical, creative practise that over the course of 6 years explored the subject of ‘digital innovation’ and ‘innovating in the digital’. The digital in this context is interpreted in the widest possible sense and includes any instance where cybertechnology relates to/with humans. This framing has put forward my proposed concept of the digiscape; a phenomenological interpretation of cyber-technology. In 3 distinct interventions (Ch.3,4,5) I have appropriated literatures on inventive methods, sustainable design and diffraction for my thinking. Through the lessons learned from each intervention I have constructed my own interpretation of non-representational theory and methods. I make the case that these can be a fertile ground for emancipatory politics concerning research and development in/on the digital. Seeking to test my claim that such approaches can be deemed valuable to practising innovators, I have submitted my hypothesis together with a non-representational experiment (‘Lickable Cities’) to CHI 2018 [a] (the pre-eminent journal in the field of Human-ComputerInteraction). The submission was accepted. Ch.6 discusses the implications of this on the scholarship of non-representational-theory and philosophy. Thus myconclusion is that non-representational approaches are indeed of value to innovators as a means to catalyse a type of awareness(es) that makes otherwise inutterable questions possible. I am claiming that through fostering alliances across methods, traditions, disciplines, writing styles, ethnicities, media and epistemologies- with the help of non-representational theory- more inclusive research is enabled and method itself can be invigorated (Ch.7). As mywork is concerned with knowing about knowing, and knowing about ways of knowing, myworkis firmly placed within Science and Technology Studies (STS) and is written for an STS audience. [a]The ‘ACM’ Conference on ‘Human Factors in Computing Systems’, the principal venue for research in the f ield of ’Human-Computer Interaction’ (HCI

Controlled lasing from active optomechanical resonators

Planar microcavities with distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) host, besides confined optical modes, also mechanical resonances due to stop bands in the phonon dispersion relation of the DBRs. These resonances have frequencies in the sub-terahertz (10E10-10E11 Hz) range with quality factors exceeding 1000. The interaction of photons and phonons in such optomechanical systems can be drastically enhanced, opening a new route toward manipulation of light. Here we implemented active semiconducting layers into the microcavity to obtain a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Thereby three resonant excitations -photons, phonons, and electrons- can interact strongly with each other providing control of the VCSEL laser emission: a picosecond strain pulse injected into the VCSEL excites long-living mechanical resonances therein. As a result, modulation of the lasing intensity at frequencies up to 40 GHz is observed. From these findings prospective applications such as THz laser control and stimulated phonon emission may emerge

Impact of Multiple Factors on the Degree of Tinnitus Distress

Objective: The primary cause of subjective tinnitus is a dysfunction of the auditory system; however, the degree of distress tinnitus causes depends largely on the psychological status of the patient. Our goal was to attempt to associate the grade of tinnitus-related distress with the psychological distress, physical, or psychological discomfort patients experienced, as well as potentially relevant social parameters, through a simultaneous analysis of these factors. Methods: We determined the level of tinnitus-related distress in 531 tinnitus patients using the German version of the tinnitus questionnaire (TQ). In addition, we used the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ); General Depression Scale Allgemeine Depression Skala (ADS), Berlin Mood Questionnaire (BSF); somatic symptoms inventory (BI), and SF-8 health survey as well as general information collected through a medical history. Results: The TQ score significantly correlated with a score obtained using PSQ, ADS, BSF, BI, and SF-8 alongside psychosocial factors such as age, gender, and marital status. The level of hearing loss and the auditory properties of the specific tinnitus combined with perceived stress and the degree of depressive mood and somatic discomfort of a patient were identified as medium-strong predictors of chronic tinnitus. Social factors such as gender, age, or marital status also had an impact on the degree of tinnitus distress. The results that were obtained were implemented in a specific cortical distress network model. Conclusions: Using a large representative sample of patients with chronic tinnitus permitted a simultaneous statistical measurement of psychometric and audiological parameters in predicting tinnitus distress. We demonstrate that single factors can be distinguished in a manner that explains their causative association and influence on the induction of tinnitus-related distress

Psychological Treatment Effects Unrelated to Hair-Cortisol and Hair-BDNF Levels in Chronic Tinnitus

Background: Currently, there are no objective markers to measure treatment efficacy in chronic (distressing) tinnitus. This study explores whether stress-related biomarkers cortisol and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) measured in hair samples of chronic tinnitus patients change after compact multimodal tinnitus-specific cognitive behavioral therapy. Methods: In this longitudinal study, hair-cortisol and hair-BDNF levels, self-reported tinnitus-related distress (Tinnitus Questionnaire; TQ), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Questionnaire; PSQ-20) were assessed before and 3 months after 5 days of treatment in N = 80 chronic tinnitus patients. Linear mixed-effects models with backward elimination were used to assess treatment-induced changes, and a cross-lagged panel model (structural equation model) was used for additional exploratory analysis of the temporal associations between TQ and hair-BDNF. Results: At follow-up, a reduction in TQ (p < 0.001) and PSQ-20 scores (p = 0.045) was observed, which was not influenced by baseline hair-cortisol or hair-BDNF levels. No changes in biomarker levels were observed after treatment. The exploratory analysis tentatively suggests that a directional effect of baseline TQ scores on hair-BDNF levels at follow-up (trend; p = 0.070) was more likely than the opposite directional effect of baseline hair-BDNF levels on TQ scores at follow-up (n.s.). Discussion: While the treatment effectively reduced tinnitus-related distress and perceived stress in chronic tinnitus patients, this effect was not mirrored in biological changes. However, the lack of changes in hair-cortisol and hair-BDNF levels might have been influenced by the treatment duration, follow-up interval, or confounding medical factors, and therefore must be interpreted with caution. The relationship between tinnitus-related distress and hair-BDNF levels should be explored further to obtain a better understanding of stress-related effects in chronic tinnitus

Hair-cortisol and hair-BDNF as biomarkers of tinnitus loudness and distress in chronic tinnitus

The role of stress and its neuroendocrine mediators in tinnitus is unclear. In this study, we measure cortisol as an indicator of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis alterations and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a marker of adaptive neuroplasticity in hair of chronic tinnitus patients to investigate relationships with tinnitus-related and psychological factors. Cross-sectional data from chronic tinnitus inpatients were analyzed. Data collection included hair sampling, pure tone audiometry, tinnitus pitch and loudness matching, and psychometric questionnaires. Elastic net regressions with n-fold cross-validation were performed for cortisol (N = 91) and BDNF (N = 87). For hair-cortisol (R-2 = 0.10), the strongest effects were sampling in autumn and body-mass index (BMI) (positive), followed by tinnitus loudness (positive) and smoking (negative). For hair-BDNF (R-2 = 0.28), the strongest effects were hearing aid use, shift work (positive), and tinnitus loudness (negative), followed by smoking, tinnitus-related distress (Tinnitus Questionnaire), number of experienced traumatic events (negative), and physical health-related quality of life (Short Form-12 Health Survey) (positive). These findings suggest that in chronic tinnitus patients, higher perceived tinnitus loudness is associated with higher hair-cortisol and lower hair-BDNF, and higher tinnitus-related distress with lower hair-BDNF. Regarding hair-BDNF, traumatic experiences appear to have additional stress-related effects, whereas hearing aid use and high physical health-related quality of life appear beneficial. Implications include the potential use of hair-cortisol and hair-BDNF as biomarkers of tinnitus loudness or distress and the need for intensive future research into chronic stress-related HPA axis and neuroplasticity alterations in chronic tinnitus