Bargaining over a finite set of alternatives

We analyze bilateral bargaining over a finite set of alternatives. We look for “good” ordinal solutions to such problems and show that Unanimity Compromise and Rational Compromise are the only bargaining rules that satisfy a basic set of properties. We then extend our analysis to admit problems with countably infinite alternatives. We show that, on this class, no bargaining rule choosing finite subsets of alternatives can be neutral. When rephrased in the utility framework of Nash (1950), this implies that there is no ordinal bargaining rule that is finite-valued

Hydrostatic pressure effect on Tc of new BiS2 based Bi4O4S3 and NdO0.5F0.5BiS2 layered superconductors

We investigate the external hydrostatic pressure effect on the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of new layered superconductors Bi4O4S3 and NdO0.5F0.5BiS2. Though the Tc is found to have moderate decrease from 4.8 K to 4.3 K (dTconset/dP = -0.28 K/GPa) for Bi4O4S3 superconductor, the same increases from 4.6 K to 5 K (dTconset/dP = 0.44 K/GPa) upto 1.31 GPa followed by a sudden decrease from 5 K to 4.7 K upto 1.75 GPa for NdO0.5F0.5BiS2 superconductor. The variation of Tc in these systems may be correlated to increase or decrease of the charge carriers in the density of states under externally applied pressure.Comment: 3 pages text +Fig

Regular subgraphs of almost regular graphs

AbstractSuppose every vertex of a graph G has degree k or k + 1 and at least one vertex has degree k + 1. It is shown that if k ≥ 2q − 2 and q is a prime power then G contains a q-regular subgraph (and hence an r-regular subgraph for all r < q, r ≡ q (mod 2)). It is also proved that every simple graph with maximal degree Δ ≥ 2q − 2 and average degree d > ((2q − 2)(2q − 1))(Δ + 1), where q is a prime power, contains a q-regular subgraph (and hence an r-regular subgraph for all r < q, r ≡ q (mod 2)). These results follow from Chevalley's and Olson's theorems on congruences

EEFECT OF NANO FILLER ADHESIVE IN SINGLE LAP JOINT BONDED STRUCTURES

This work focuses on developing new adhesive formulations based on epoxy/nanostructures carbon forms. Different types of Nano fillers were dispersed in an epoxy matrix for developing toughened epoxy paste aeronautic adhesives. The reinforced adhesives were used for bonding glass fiber/epoxy composite adherents. Data were also compared to the result obtained both for the unfilled adhesive and/or adherents. Single lap joint sample were prepared to measure mechanical strength and adhesion properties of the joint configurations to analyze the types of failure mode using Acoustic emission testing

Sequential Deliberation for Social Choice

In large scale collective decision making, social choice is a normative study of how one ought to design a protocol for reaching consensus. However, in instances where the underlying decision space is too large or complex for ordinal voting, standard voting methods of social choice may be impractical. How then can we design a mechanism - preferably decentralized, simple, scalable, and not requiring any special knowledge of the decision space - to reach consensus? We propose sequential deliberation as a natural solution to this problem. In this iterative method, successive pairs of agents bargain over the decision space using the previous decision as a disagreement alternative. We describe the general method and analyze the quality of its outcome when the space of preferences define a median graph. We show that sequential deliberation finds a 1.208- approximation to the optimal social cost on such graphs, coming very close to this value with only a small constant number of agents sampled from the population. We also show lower bounds on simpler classes of mechanisms to justify our design choices. We further show that sequential deliberation is ex-post Pareto efficient and has truthful reporting as an equilibrium of the induced extensive form game. We finally show that for general metric spaces, the second moment of of the distribution of social cost of the outcomes produced by sequential deliberation is also bounded

Combination of 16S rRNA variable regions provides a detailed analysis of bacterial community dynamics in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients

Chronic bronchopulmonary bacterial infections remain the most common cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Recent community sequencing work has now shown that the bacterial community in the CF lung is polymicrobial. Identifying bacteria in the CF lung through sequencing can be costly and is not practical for many laboratories. Molecular techniques such as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism or amplicon length heterogeneity-polymerase chain reaction (LH-PCR) can provide many laboratories with the ability to study CF bacterial communities without costly sequencing. The aim of this study was to determine if the use of LH-PCR with multiple hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene could be used to identify organisms found in sputum DNA. This work also determined if LH-PCR could be used to observe the dynamics of lung infections over a period of time. Nineteen samples were analysed with the V1 and the V1_V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Based on the amplicon size present in the V1_V2 region, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was confirmed to be in all 19 samples obtained from the patients. The V1 region provided a higher power of discrimination between bacterial profiles of patients. Both regions were able to identify trends in the bacterial population over a period of time. LH profiles showed that the CF lung community is dynamic and that changes in the community may in part be driven by the patient\u27s antibiotic treatment. LH-PCR is a tool that is well suited for studying bacterial communities and their dynamics

Production and characterization of antimicrobials from isolate Pantoea agglomerans of Medicago sativa plant rhizosphere soil

Due to rise in drug resistance among pathogens, there is always an urge to look for new drug alternatives. So in this study we aimed to identify the unexplored rhizosphere microflora of alfalfa plant for new antimicrobials. With initial screening for isolates from rhizosphere region for antibacterial activity against selected bacterial pathogens, the isolate AL10 had better activity selected for this study. The isolate mass was cultured and secondary metabolites were extracted using ethyl acetate and subjected to FTIR and GC-MS analysis. Based on functional diversity analysis, the isolate subjected to anti-bacterial activity revealed significant activity against Streptococcus pneumonia, Klebsiella, S. aureus with zone of inhibition in the range of18-20 mm. Based on GC-MS analysis report ten compounds were identified and 1-Octadecane and 1-nonadecanol were found to be responsible for bio-activity. FT-IR results showed that N-H stretching functional group was dominantly present in the extract. Molecular identification of the isolate by 16S rRNA sequencing showed the isolate as Pantoea agglomerans. The results showed that the isolate P.agglomerans, gram negative bacteria had wide antibacterial activity due to 1-Octadecane and 1-nonadecanol. Though Alfalfa plant has been described for various biological activities, this is a first report on rhizosphere region of plant reporting for antibacterial potential microbes

Alterations in tumour suppressor gene p53 in human gliomas from Indian patients

Alterations in the tumour suppressor p53 gene are among the most common defects seen in a variety of human cancers. In order to study the significance of the p53 gene in the genesis and development of human glioma from Indian patients, we checked 44 untreated primary gliomas for mutations in exons 5-9 of the p53 gene by PCR-SSCP and DNA sequencing. Sequencing analysis revealed six missense mutations. The incidence of p53 mutations was 13.6% (6 of 44). All the six mutations were found to be located in the central core domain of p53, which carries the sequence-specific DNA-binding domain. These results suggest a rather low incidence but a definite involvement of p53 mutations in the gliomas of Indian patients