5,068 research outputs found
Optimum Tariffs in a Distorted Economy: An Application to U.S. Agriculture
Optimal distortions for the agricultural sector are calculated taking as given distortions in the nonagricultural sector. The calculations use a general equilibrium model and assume that the sole criterion is economic efficiency. For most agricultural commodities, existing distortions should be decreased; for the cotton and oil bearing sector, however, the existing tariff should be increased.International Relations/Trade,
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
Host Selection of the giant willow aphid (Tuberolachnus salignus)
The giant willow aphid [Tuberolachnus salignus (Gmelin)] has recently become noteworthy as a potential pest species due to the increased uptake of willow, its host-plant, for use in growing biomass for energy production. In this paper we describe host selection studies of T. salignus on short rotation coppice (SRC) willow varieties in laboratory bioassays and field experiments. In laboratory olfactometry tests, T. salignus was significantly attracted to certain SRC willow varieties, but not to others. Field trials during 2007 and 2008 showed that T. salignus infestation levels varied significantly on different SRC willow varieties and that levels are highest on the varieties to which they are most strongly attracted in the laboratory bioassays
Recommended from our members
The role of sex and body weight on the metabolic effects of high-fat diet in C57BL/6N mice.
BACKGROUND: Metabolic disorders are commonly investigated using knockout and transgenic mouse models on the C57BL/6N genetic background due to its genetic susceptibility to the deleterious metabolic effects of high-fat diet (HFD). There is growing awareness of the need to consider sex in disease progression, but limited attention has been paid to sexual dimorphism in mouse models and its impact in metabolic phenotypes. We assessed the effect of HFD and the impact of sex on metabolic variables in this strain. METHODS: We generated a reference data set encompassing glucose tolerance, body composition and plasma chemistry data from 586 C57BL/6N mice fed a standard chow and 733 fed a HFD collected as part of a high-throughput phenotyping pipeline. Linear mixed model regression analysis was used in a dual analysis to assess the effect of HFD as an absolute change in phenotype, but also as a relative change accounting for the potential confounding effect of body weight. RESULTS: HFD had a significant impact on all variables tested with an average absolute effect size of 29%. For the majority of variables (78%), the treatment effect was modified by sex and this was dominated by male-specific or a male stronger effect. On average, there was a 13.2% difference in the effect size between the male and female mice for sexually dimorphic variables. HFD led to a significant body weight phenotype (24% increase), which acts as a confounding effect on the other analysed variables. For 79% of the variables, body weight was found to be a significant source of variation, but even after accounting for this confounding effect, similar HFD-induced phenotypic changes were found to when not accounting for weight. CONCLUSION: HFD and sex are powerful modifiers of metabolic parameters in C57BL/6N mice. We also demonstrate the value of considering body size as a covariate to obtain a richer understanding of metabolic phenotypes
Generalized Fock spaces and the Stirling numbers
The Bargmann-Fock-Segal space plays an important role in mathematical
physics, and has been extended into a number of directions. In the present
paper we imbed this space into a Gelfand triple. The spaces forming the
Fr\'echet part (i.e. the space of test functions) of the triple are
characterized both in a geometric way and in terms of the adjoint of
multiplication by the complex variable, using the Stirling numbers of the
second kind. The dual of the space of test functions has a topological algebra
structure, of the kind introduced and studied by the first named author and G.
Salomon.Comment: revised versio
Lost in translation: data integration tools meet the Semantic Web (experiences from the Ondex project)
More information is now being published in machine processable form on the
web and, as de-facto distributed knowledge bases are materializing, partly
encouraged by the vision of the Semantic Web, the focus is shifting from the
publication of this information to its consumption. Platforms for data
integration, visualization and analysis that are based on a graph
representation of information appear first candidates to be consumers of
web-based information that is readily expressible as graphs. The question is
whether the adoption of these platforms to information available on the
Semantic Web requires some adaptation of their data structures and semantics.
Ondex is a network-based data integration, analysis and visualization platform
which has been developed in a Life Sciences context. A number of features,
including semantic annotation via ontologies and an attention to provenance and
evidence, make this an ideal candidate to consume Semantic Web information, as
well as a prototype for the application of network analysis tools in this
context. By analyzing the Ondex data structure and its usage, we have found a
set of discrepancies and errors arising from the semantic mismatch between a
procedural approach to network analysis and the implications of a web-based
representation of information. We report in the paper on the simple methodology
that we have adopted to conduct such analysis, and on issues that we have found
which may be relevant for a range of similar platformsComment: Presented at DEIT, Data Engineering and Internet Technology, 2011
IEEE: CFP1113L-CD
Statistical Mechanics of Steiner trees
The Minimum Weight Steiner Tree (MST) is an important combinatorial
optimization problem over networks that has applications in a wide range of
fields. Here we discuss a general technique to translate the imposed global
connectivity constrain into many local ones that can be analyzed with cavity
equation techniques. This approach leads to a new optimization algorithm for
MST and allows to analyze the statistical mechanics properties of MST on random
graphs of various types
Secret Sharing Based on a Hard-on-Average Problem
The main goal of this work is to propose the design of secret sharing schemes
based on hard-on-average problems. It includes the description of a new
multiparty protocol whose main application is key management in networks. Its
unconditionally perfect security relies on a discrete mathematics problem
classiffied as DistNP-Complete under the average-case analysis, the so-called
Distributional Matrix Representability Problem. Thanks to the use of the search
version of the mentioned decision problem, the security of the proposed scheme
is guaranteed. Although several secret sharing schemes connected with
combinatorial structures may be found in the bibliography, the main
contribution of this work is the proposal of a new secret sharing scheme based
on a hard-on-average problem, which allows to enlarge the set of tools for
designing more secure cryptographic applications
- …