FFTPL: An Analytic Placement Algorithm Using Fast Fourier Transform for Density Equalization

We propose a flat nonlinear placement algorithm FFTPL using fast Fourier transform for density equalization. The placement instance is modeled as an electrostatic system with the analogy of density cost to the potential energy. A well-defined Poisson's equation is proposed for gradient and cost computation. Our placer outperforms state-of-the-art placers with better solution quality and efficiency

Systematics and zoogeography of the squid genus Illex (oegopsida; cephalopoda)

A study of the systematics and the distribution of the squid genus Illex Steenstrup, 1880 was made, utilizing specimens and data from the collections of various institutions throughout the world. The thesis begins with an extensive survey of the literature on the four species of this ommastrephid genus. Three species, Illex illecebrosus (Lesueur, 1821), I. coindetii (Verany, 1837) and I. argentinus (Castellanos, 1960) are here described and illustrated in detail, together with a modified description of I. oxygonius Roper, Lu and Mangold, 1969. Neotypes of I. illecebrosus and I. coindetii are established. A selection of morphometric characters are studied to determine the growth pattern of each species. The growth patterns are expressed as linear regressions between the mantle length and various measurements and indices standard in teuthoid systematics. The taxonomic and morphometric characters of all four species are compared. Strong sexual dimorphism in the head dimensions, arm lengths and sucker sizes exist in I. coindetii, I. oxygonius I argentinus. Sexual dimorphism involving these characters in I. illecebrosus is not apparent. The bathymetric range of I. illecebrosus is 0-500 m. During its inshore migration in Newfoundland waters it is in relatively shallow water of 15-30 m, in the Chesapeake Bay region it is concentrated in the upper 150 m. The bathymetric range of I. coindetii is 0-1080 m, but concentrated at 200-500 m in the Gulf of Mexico and at 400-600 m in the Caribbean Sea. In the eastern Atlantic, I. coindetii is found at 160-320 min the Blanes region of Spain, 200-250 m along the Algerian coast, 40-500 m in the PortVendres and Las Rosas region, and at 37-485 m in the Gulf of Guinea. The bathymetric range for I. argentinus is 0-800 m and that of I oxygonius is 50-555 m with greatest concentration at 50-300 m in the Chesapeake Bay region. All four species appear to exhibit diel vertical migration in that they are closely associated with the bottom during the daylight hours and disperse at night. The relationship between the occurrence of Illex and basic hydrographic conditions, e.g., temperature, salinity, and density are analyzed insofar as the available data permits. I. coindetii and I. oxygonius inhabit warmer, more saline water, while I. illecebrosus and I. argentinus are distinctly boreal and antiboreal species, inhabiting less saline cold water. Noting the amphi-Atlantic distribution of I. coindetii, yet the lack of collections from the mid- Atlantic region, it is postulated that the distribution is associated with the gyre of water circulation in the northern Atlantic. The most important limiting factor appears to be temperature. All four species are valid, although some characteristics commonly associated with cephalopod taxonomy are felt to be of little importance in delineating the species of this genera. It is further suggested that greater importance be given to some characters not commonly employed

OPTIMAL REASSIGNMENT OF FLIGHTS TO AIRPORT BAGGAGE UNLOADING CAROUSELS IN RESPONSE TO TEMPORARY MALFUNCTIONS

Being able to efficiently reassign outbound flights to baggage unloading carousels (BUCs) following temporary malfunctions is very important for airport operators. This study proposes an optimization model with a heuristic to solve the carousel reassignment problem. The objective is to minimize the total disturbance and overlapping time caused by the reassignment of outbound flights. A heuristic is developed to efficiently solve large-sized instances. The proposed approach is then applied to solve real-world instances of the problem at a major international airport in Taiwan. The computation time is about two minutes. The objective value obtained with the heuristic is more than 15% better than that obtained by the manual approach currently used by the operator. The improvement is gained mostly from the reduction in total temporal disturbance and overlapping time. The proposed approach could assist the operator in reassigning outbound flights to BUCs in response to malfunctions

La adquisición del tiempo-aspecto en español en L3 para los aprendices taiwaneses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-language development of the Spanish past tense by Taiwanese learners who learned Spanish as a second foreign language. The analysis of this study was based on the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis, which focuses on the inherent lexical aspect of verbs. We came to the following conclusions. (1) Taiwanese learners, whose first language was Mandarin Chinese, demonstrated more accurate uses of the Spanish preterite than the imperfect in written texts at their early stages of development. The acquisition of the lexical aspects of verbs in the preterite in terms of lexical aspect demonstrated the following order: achievement + accomplishment, activity and finally stative, whereas the acquisition of the imperfect showed the opposite sequence. (2) In the majority of the cases, the Taiwanese learners of Spanish demonstrated a similar pattern of acquisition of the Spanish past tense in terms of lexical aspect as that of English-speaking learner of Spanish. This paper will end with discussions on pedagogical implications of the findings and we hope this study will shed light on the current research on the second language acquisition of the Spanish tense/aspect.Este trabajo tiene como fin investigar el desarrollo de los tiempos pasados en la interlengua de los aprendices taiwaneses que aprenden español como segunda lengua extranjera. El análisis se basa en la Hipótesis de Aspecto Léxico que se centra en la importancia del aspecto léxico de los verbos. Llegamos a las siguientes conclusiones: (1) los aprendices taiwaneses de español cuya lengua materna es chino-mandarín manejan el pretérito mejor que el imperfecto en la producción escrita de los niveles iniciales de aprendizaje, el desarrollo de adquisición del pretérito indefinido es de acuerdo al siguiente orden: estado, actividad y realización+logro, mientras que para la adquisición del imperfecto los estudiantes siguen un orden contrario. (2) En la mayoría de los casos los aprendices taiwaneses de español siguen el mismo patrón de aprendizaje que los aprendices cuya lengua materna es el inglés en la adquisición del aspecto temporal. Por último, hacemos sugerencias pedagógicas correspondientes a las conclusiones deducidas para mejorar el resultado de aprendizaje. Con esto, esperamos que esta investigación represente una contribución al estudio relacionado con la adquisición del tiempo-aspecto en español

Prostatic Relaxation Induced by Loperamide Is Reduced in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

This paper shows a new finding about the decrease of relaxative response to loperamide in prostate of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) as compare to normal rats (WKY). Authors demonstrated the reduction of ATP-sensitive potassium channels is resposible for this change using immunoblotting analysis and the decrease of action induced by diazoxide. This view is not mentioned before and is the first one reporting this result

Multi-Criterion Dynamic Traffic Assignment Models and Algorithms for Road Pricing Applications with Heterogeneous Users

This study develops a simulation-based dynamic traffic assignment, or dynamic user equilibrium (DUE), model for dynamic road pricing applications. This proposed model is considered as the bi-criterion DUE (BDUE) model, because it explicitly considers heterogeneous users with different values of time (VOT) choose paths that minimize the two path attributes: travel time and out-of-pocket cost. This study assumed trip-makers would select their respective least generalized cost paths, the generalized cost being the sum of travel cost and travel time weighted by the trip-maker's VOT. The VOT is modeled as a continuous random variable distributed across all users in a network. The BDUE problem is formulated as an infinite dimensional variational inequality (VI), and solved by a column generation-based algorithmic framework which embeds (i) a parametric analysis (PAM) to obtain the VOT breakpoints which determine multiple user classes, and find the set of extreme non-dominated paths, (ii) a simulator to determine experienced travel times, and (iii) a multi-class path flow equilibrating scheme to update path assignments. The idea of finding and assigning heterogeneous trips to the set of extreme non-dominated paths is based on the assumption that in the disutility minimization path choice model with convex utility functions, all trips would choose only among the set of extreme non-dominated paths. Moreover, to circumvent the difficulty of storing the grand path set and assignment results for large-scale network applications, a vehicle-based implementation technique is proposed. This BDUE model is generalized to the multi-criterion DUE (MDUE) model, in which heterogeneous users with different VOT and values of reliability (VOR) make path choices so as to minimize their path travel cost, travel time, and travel time variability. Another important extension of the BDUE model is the multi-criterion simultaneous route and departure time user equilibrium (MSRDUE) model, which considers heterogeneous trip-makers with different VOT and values of schedule delay (VOSD) making simultaneous route and departure time choices so as to minimize their respective trip costs, defined as the sum of travel cost, travel time weighted by VOT, and schedule delay weighted by VOSD. The MSRDUE problem is also solved by the column generation-based algorithmic framework. The Sequential Parametric Analysis Method (SPAM) is developed to find the VOT and VOSD breakpoints that define multiple user classes, and determine the least trip cost alternative (a combination of departure time and path) for each user class

IMAGE-BASED MEASUREMENT AND BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE KNEE JOINT DURING FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

A new approach based on the integration of medical image-based measurement techniques, infrared stereophotogrammetry and finite element modelling (FEM) was developed for comprehensive subject-specific biomechanical analyses of the knee joint during weight-bearing functional activities including cycling. The medical image-based methods include digitally reconstructed radiograph (DRR) based 3D fluoroscopy methods, and a new slice-to-volume registration method using FLASH MRI for the real-time measurement of the 3D kinematics of the knee in vivo. With the new approach, the soft tissue artefacts associated with skin marker-based stereophotogrammetry and their effects on the calculated biomechanical variables were also investigated