A railway timetable rescheduling approach for handling large scale disruptions

On a daily basis, relatively large disruptions require infrastructure managers and railway operators to reschedule their railway timetables together with their rolling stock and crew schedules. This research focuses on timetable rescheduling for passenger trains at a macroscopic level in a railway network. An integer programming model is formulated for solving the timetable rescheduling problem, which minimizes the number of cancelled and delayed trains while adhering to infrastructure and rolling stock capacity constraints. The possibility of rerouting trains in order to reduce the number of cancelled and delayed trains is also considered. In addition, all stages of the disruption management process (from the start of the disruption to the time the normal situation is restored) are taken into account. Computational tests of the described model on a heavily used part of the Dutch railway network show that we are able to find optimal solutions in short computation times. This makes the approach applicable for use in practice

Temperature-induced pair correlations in clusters and nuclei

The pair correlations in mesoscopic systems such as $nm$-size superconducting clusters and nuclei are studied at finite temperature for the canonical ensemble of fermions in model spaces with a fixed particle number: i) a degenerate spherical shell (strong coupling limit), ii) an equidistantly spaced deformed shell (weak coupling limit). It is shown that after the destruction of the pair correlations at T=0 by a strong magnetic field or rapid rotation, heating can bring them back. This phenomenon is a consequence of the fixed number of fermions in the canonical ensemble

An exactly solvable self-convolutive recurrence

We consider a self-convolutive recurrence whose solution is the sequence of coefficients in the asymptotic expansion of the logarithmic derivative of the confluent hypergeometic function $U(a,b,z)$. By application of the Hilbert transform we convert this expression into an explicit, non-recursive solution in which the $n$th coefficient is expressed as the $(n-1)$th moment of a measure, and also as the trace of the $(n-1)$th iterate of a linear operator. Applications of these sequences, and hence of the explicit solution provided, are found in quantum field theory as the number of Feynman diagrams of a certain type and order, in Brownian motion theory, and in combinatorics

A Generalization of the Stillinger-Lovett Sum Rules for the Two-Dimensional Jellium

In the equilibrium statistical mechanics of classical Coulomb fluids, the long-range tail of the Coulomb potential gives rise to the Stillinger-Lovett sum rules for the charge correlation functions. For the jellium model of mobile particles of charge $q$ immersed in a neutralizing background, the fixing of one of the $q$-charges induces a screening cloud of the charge density whose zeroth and second moments are determined just by the Stillinger-Lovett sum rules. In this paper, we generalize these sum rules to the screening cloud induced around a pointlike guest charge $Z q$ immersed in the bulk interior of the 2D jellium with the coupling constant $\Gamma=\beta q^2$ ($\beta$ is the inverse temperature), in the whole region of the thermodynamic stability of the guest charge $Z>-2/\Gamma$. The derivation is based on a mapping technique of the 2D jellium at the coupling $\Gamma$ = (even positive integer) onto a discrete 1D anticommuting-field theory; we assume that the final results remain valid for all real values of $\Gamma$ corresponding to the fluid regime. The generalized sum rules reproduce for arbitrary coupling $\Gamma$ the standard Z=1 and the trivial Z=0 results. They are also checked in the Debye-H\"uckel limit $\Gamma\to 0$ and at the free-fermion point $\Gamma=2$. The generalized second-moment sum rule provides some exact information about possible sign oscillations of the induced charge density in space.Comment: 16 page

Recent breakthroughs in Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov mass formulas

We review our recent achievements in the construction of microscopic mass tables based on the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov method with Skyrme effective interactions. In the latest of our series of HFB-mass models, we have obtained our best fit ever to essentially all the available mass data, by treating the pairing more realistically than in any of our earlier models. The rms deviation on the 2149 measured masses of nuclei with N and Z>8 has been reduced for the first time in a mean field approach to 0.581 MeV. With the additional constraint on the neutron-matter equation of state, this new force is thus very well-suited for the study of neutron-rich nuclei and for the description of astrophysical environments like supernova cores and neutron-star crusts.Comment: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Exotic Nuclei and Atomic Masses, September 7-13 2008, Ryn (Poland). To appear in the European Physical Journal

Thermal shape fluctuation effects in the description of hot nuclei

The behavior of several nuclear properties with temperature is analyzed within the framework of the Finite Temperature Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (FTHFB) theory with the Gogny force and large configuration spaces. Thermal shape fluctuations in the quadrupole degree of freedom, around the mean field solution, are taken into account with the Landau prescription. As representative examples the nuclei $^{164}$Er, $^{152}$Dy and $^{192}$Hg are studied. Numerical results for the superfluid to normal and deformed to spherical shape transitions are presented. We found a substantial effect of the fluctuations on the average value of several observables. In particular, we get a decrease in the critical temperature ($T_c$) for the shape transition as compared with the plain FTHFB prediction as well as a washing out of the shape transition signatures. The new values of $T_c$ are closer to the ones found in Strutinsky calculations and with the Pairing Plus Quadrupole model Hamiltonian.Comment: 17 pages, 8 Figure

Exploring leadership in multi-sectoral partnerships

This article explores some critical aspects of leadership in the context of multi-sectoral partnerships. It focuses on leadership in practice and asks the question, `How do managers experience and perceive leadership in such partnerships?' The study contributes to the debate on whether leadership in a multi-sectoral partnership context differs from that within a single organization. It is based on the accounts of practising managers working in complex partnerships. The article highlights a number of leadership challenges faced by those working in multi-sectoral partnerships. Partnership practitioners were clear that leadership in partnerships was more complex than in single organizations. However, it was more difficult for them to agree a consensus on the essential nature of leadership in partnership. We suggest that a first-, second- and third-person approach might be a way of better interpreting leadership in the context of partnerships

Universal Sequencing on an Unreliable Machine

We consider scheduling on an unreliable machine that may experience unexpected changes in processing speed or even full breakdowns. Our objective is to minimize ∑ wjf(Cj) for any nondecreasing, nonnegative, differentiable cost function f(Cj). We aim for a universal solution that performs well without adaptation for all cost functions for any possible machine behavior. We design a deterministic algorithm that finds a universal scheduling sequence with a solution value within 4 times the value of an optimal clairvoyant algorithm that knows the machine behavior in advance. A randomized version of this algorithm attains in expectation a ratio of e. We also show that both performance guarantees are best possible for any unbounded cost function. Our algorithms can be adapted to run in polynomial time with slightly increased cost. When jobs have individual release dates, the situation changes drastically. Even if all weights are equal, there are instances for which any universal solution is a factor of Ω(log n / log log n) worse than an optimal sequence for any unbounded cost function. Motivated by this hardness, we study the special case when the processing time of each job is proportional to its weight. We present a nontrivial algorithm with a small constant performance guarantee

Increased hepatitis E virus seroprevalence correlates with lower CD4+ cell counts in HIV-infected persons in Argentina

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that can cause hepatitis in an epidemic fashion. HEV usually causes asymptomatic or limited acute infections in immunocompetent individuals, whereas in immunosuppressed individuals such as transplant recipients, HEV can cause chronic infections. The risks and outcomes of HEV co-infection in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are poorly characterized. We used a third generation immunoassay to measure serum IgG antibodies specific for HEV in 204 HIV-infected individuals from Argentina and a control group of 433 HIV-negative individuals. We found 15 of 204 (7.3%, 95%CI 3.74-10.96%) individuals in the HIV-positive group to have positive HEV IgG levels suggestive of previous infection, compared to 19 of 433 (4.4%, 95% CI 2.5-6.3%) individuals in the HIV-negative control group (p = 0.12). Among HIV-positive individuals, those with HEV seropositivity had lower CD4 counts compared to those that were HEV seronegative (average CD4 count of 234 vs 422 mm3, p = 0.01), indicating that patients with lower CD4 counts were more likely to be HEV IgG positive. Moreover, HEV seropositivity in patients with CD4 counts 200 mm3 (p = 0.012). We found a positive PCR result for HEV in one individual. Our study found that increased seroprevalence of HEV IgG correlated with lower CD4 counts in HIV-infected patients in Argentina

Determination of the Deep Inelastic Contribution to the Generalised Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Integral for the Proton and Neutron

The virtual photon absorption cross section differences [sigma_1/2-sigma_3/2] for the proton and neutron have been determined from measurements of polarised cross section asymmetries in deep inelastic scattering of 27.5 GeV longitudinally polarised positrons from polarised 1H and 3He internal gas targets. The data were collected in the region above the nucleon resonances in the kinematic range nu < 23.5 GeV and 0.8 GeV**2 < Q**2 < 12 GeV**2. For the proton the contribution to the generalised Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral was found to be substantial and must be included for an accurate determination of the full integral. Furthermore the data are consistent with a QCD next-to-leading order fit based on previous deep inelastic scattering data. Therefore higher twist effects do not appear significant.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, revte