Exact algorithms for the 0–1 Time-Bomb Knapsack Problem

We consider a stochastic version of the 0–1 Knapsack Problem in which, in addition to profit and weight, each item is associated with a probability of exploding and destroying all the contents of the knapsack. The objective is to maximise the expected profit of the selected items. The resulting problem, denoted as 0–1 Time-Bomb Knapsack Problem (01-TB-KP), has applications in logistics and cloud computing scheduling. We introduce a nonlinear mathematical formulation of the problem, study its computational complexity, and propose techniques to derive upper and lower bounds using convex optimisation and integer linear programming. We present three exact approaches based on enumeration, branch and bound, and dynamic programming, and computationally evaluate their performance on a large set of benchmark instances. The computational analysis shows that the proposed methods outperform the direct application of nonlinear solvers on the mathematical model, and provide high quality solutions in a limited amount of time

Emotion regulation and desire thinking as predictors of problematic Facebook use

Background: Research evidence suggests that problematic Facebook use (PFU) affects large numbers of people worldwide. A variety of studies have investigated the relationship between PFU and psychological dysfunction, revealing that negative mood and cognitive self-regulation are common among problematic Facebook users. Aim: The aim of the present study was to examine the role of craving, emotion regulation and desire thinking in predicting PFU. Methods: An online survey was administered to 750 participants (males = 82%; Mage = 23.38 years; SDage = 5.72). Correlation analyses were conducted in order to test the associations between emotion regulation, craving, desire thinking and PFU. A path analysis was run to model the inter-relationships between the variables based on previous research findings. Results: Correlation analyses indicated that all predictor variables were positively associated with PFU. Path analysis showed that imaginal prefiguration was associated with craving, which, in turn, was associated with verbal prefiguration that was directly linked to PFU, beyond the direct effect of emotion regulation. Conclusions: These findings provide further support for the importance of desire thinking in predicting problematic behaviours. Desire thinking and emotion regulation should be considered in the modification of problematic Facebook use

Laparotomic intrauterine insemination with frozen-thawed semen in Sopravissana breed ewes in Central Italy

Intrauterine laparoscopic insemination is diffuse in sheep breeding, yet requires veterinary expertise and expensive equipment. Our aim was to evaluate the time required, reproductive outcome and post-operative complications of mini invasive laparotomic intrauterine insemination, as an alternative approach to laparoscopy. A total of 115 Sopravvissana breed ewes were enrolled, including 75 adults and 40 lamb ewes, after oestrus synchronisation. Ewes were sedated and restrained in dorsal recumbence. Uterine horns were exposed through an abdominal incision of 4\u20137 cm, cranially to the udder. Thawed semen, containing 100 7 106 progressive motile (70%) and morphologically normal (80%) sperm cells, was inoculated into uterine lumen through an intravenous catheter. The abdominal incision was then routinely closed. The time interval for: (a) laparotomy and uterine exteriorisation, (b) intrauterine insemination, (c) abdominal wall closure and (d) total procedure was recorded. Pregnancy, lambing, twinning rates and sex ratio were submitted to chi-square test, comparing lamb and adult ewes. Time intervals and the duration of laparotomic procedure were compared in lamb and adults through Mann\u2013Whitney U test for independent samples. Median \ub1 standard error (SE) of total time for laparotomic intrauterine insemination was 5.53 \ub1 0.07 and 4.99 \ub1 0.11 min, for adult and lamb ewes (p<.05), which was similar to what was reported for laparoscopic methods. At pregnancy check, 60% and 70% of adult and lamb ewes resulted pregnant. Laparotomy is poorly applied due to risk of adherence and decreased fertility. In our study, ewes were naturally bred in the following season with 90% pregnancy rate. Our results showed that time for laparotomy is quite similar to laparoscopic insemination, as for the conception and lambing rates.HIGHLIGHTS Time required for the overall procedure (5.53 \ub1 0.07 and 4.99 \ub1 0.11 min, for adult and lamb ewes, respectively, with significant difference (p<.05)) was similar to laparoscopic artificial insemination. About 60% and 70% of adult and lamb ewes resulted pregnant, respectively. No decreased fertility was observed in the following breeding season (90% pregnancy rate at natural insemination). Laparotomic approach is quite similar to laparoscopic insemination, in terms of time required for its complete achievement, for the conception and lambing rates; furthermore it has the advantage of reducing equipment costs

Blind Audio-Visual Source Separation Using Sparse Redundant Representations

This report presents a new method to confront the Blind Audio Source Separation (BASS) problem, by means of audio and visual information. In a given mixture, we are able to locate the video sources first and, posteriorly, recover each source signal, only with one microphone and the associated video. The proposed model is based on the Matching Pursuit (MP) [18] decomposition of both audio and video signals into meaningful structures. Frequency components are extracted from the soundtrack, with the consequent information about energy content in the time-frequency plane of a sound. Moreover, the MP decomposition of the audio is robust in front of noise, because of its plain characteristic in this plane. Concerning the video, the temporal displacement of geometric features means movement in the image. If temporally close to an audio event, this feature points out the video structure which has generated this sound. The method we present links audio and visual structures (atoms) according to their temporal proximity, building audiovisual relationships. Video sources are identified and located in the image exploiting these connections, using a clustering algorithm that rewards video features most frequently related to audio in the whole sequence. The goal of BASS is also achieved considering the audiovisual relationships. First, the video structures close to a source are classified as belonging to it. Then, our method assigns the audio atoms according to the source of the video features related. At this point, the separation performed with the audio reconstruction is still limited, with problems when sources are active exactly at the same time. This procedure allows us to discover temporal periods of activity of each source. However, with a temporal analysis alone it is not possible to separate audio features of different sources precisely synchronous. The goal, now, is to learn the sources frequency behavior when only each one of them is active to predict those moments when they overlap. Applying a simple frequency association, results improve considerably with separated soundtracks of a better audible quality. In this report, we will analyze in depth all the steps of the proposed approach, remarking the motivation of each one of them

Tracking Atoms with Particles

We present a general framework and an efficient algorithm for tracking relevant video structures. The structures to be tracked are implicitly defined by a Matching Pursuit procedure that extracts and ranks the most important image contours. Based on the ranking, the contours are automatically selected to initialize a Particle Filtering tracker. The proposed algorithm deals with salient video entities whose behavior has an intuitive meaning, related to the physics of the signal. Moreover, as the interactions between such structures are easily defined, the inference of higher level signal configurations can be made intuitive. The proposed algorithm improves the performance of existing video structures trackers, while reducing the computational complexity. The algorithm is demonstrated on audiovisual source localization

Prototype gluten-free breads from processed durum wheat: Use of monovarietal flours and implications for gluten detoxification strategies

gluten-free; detoxification strategies; sourdough; celiac disease; epitopes; in-vitro simulated human gastroduodenal digestionIn this investigation, we reported the production of prototype breads from the processed flours of three specific Triticum turgidum wheat genotypes that were selected in our previous investigation for their potential low toxic/immunogenic activity for celiac disease (CD) patients. The flours were subjected to sourdough fermentation with a mixture of selected Lactobacillus strains, and in presence of fungal endoproteases. The breads were characterized by R5 competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in order to quantify the residual gluten, and the differential efficacy in gluten degradation was assessed. In particular, two of them were classified as gluten-free (&lt;20 ppm) and very low-gluten content (&lt;100 ppm) breads, respectively, whereas the third monovarietal prototype retained a gluten content that was well above the safety threshold prescribed for direct consumption by CD patients. In order to investigate such a genotype-dependent efficiency of the detoxification method applied, an advanced proteomic characterization by high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry was performed. Notably, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first proteomic investigation which benefitted, for protein identification, from the full sequencing of the Triticum turgidum ssp. durum genome. The differences of the proteins’ primary structures affecting their susceptibility to hydrolysis were investigated. As a confirmation of the previous immunoassay-based results, two out of the three breads made with the processed flours presented an exhaustive degradation of the epitopic sequences that are relevant for CD immune stimulatory activity. The list of the detected epitopes was analyzed and critically discussed in light of their susceptibility to the detoxification strategy applied. Finally, in-vitro experiments of human gastroduodenal digestion were carried out in order to assess, in-silico, the toxicity risk of the prototype breads under investigation for direct consumption by CD patients. This approach allowed us to confirm the total degradation of the epitopic sequences upon gastro-duodenal digestion

Hypoxia shapes autophagy in LPS-activated dendritic cells

During their lifespan, dendritic cells (DCs) are exposed to different pO2 levels that affect their differentiation and functions. Autophagy is one of the adaptive responses to hypoxia with important implications for cell survival. While the autophagic machinery in DCs was shown to impact signaling of TLRs, its regulation by the MD-2/TLR4 ligand LPS is still unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether LPS can induce autophagy in DCs exposed to either aerobic or hypoxic conditions. Using human monocyte-derived DCs and the combination of immunofluorescence confocal analysis, measure of mitochondrial membrane potential, Western blotting, and RT-qPCR, we showed that the ability of LPS to modulate autophagy was strictly dependent upon pO2 levels. Indeed, LPS inhibited autophagy in aerobic conditions whereas the autophagic process was induced in a hypoxic environment. Under hypoxia, LPS treatment caused a significant increase of functional lysosomes, LC3B and Atg protein upregulation, and reduction of SQSTM1/p62 protein levels. This selective regulation was accompanied by activation of signalling pathways and expression of cytokines typically associated with DC survival. Bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine, which are recognized as autophagic inhibitors, confirmed the induction of autophagy by LPS under hypoxia and its impact on DC survival. In conclusion, our results show that autophagy represents one of the mechanisms by which the activation of the MD-2/TLR4 ligand LPS promotes DC survival under hypoxic conditions

Analisi dei cambiamenti di uso del suolo nell’area montuosa e collinare dell’Emilia-Romagna nel periodo 1954-1994

Lo scopo di questo studio è stato la realizzazione di una banca dati multitemporale di uso del suolo per i territori montuosi e collinari della Regione Emilia-Romagna, relativa al periodo 1954-1994. Tale banca dati riporta gli attributi relativi all’uso del suolo del 1954-55 e 1994 e consente di analizzare i cambiamenti di estensione, tipologia e localizzazione delle classi di uso del suolo. I dati più recenti sono quelli relativi alla banca dati vettoriale di uso del suolo del 1994 già pubblicata dalla Regione Emilia-Romagna. I dati del 1954 sono stati ottenuti dall’interpretazione e delineazione visuale di ortofoto ottenute da foto aeree pancromatiche del volo G.A.I. del 1954- 1955. È stata utilizzata una nomenclatura di uso del suolo a priori gerarchica a due livelli comparabile con quella della banca dati del 1994. I risultati dimostrano che in quaranta anni, l’area indagata ha subito una significativa evoluzione di uso del suolo. Le aree a seminativo ed a foresta sono aumentate, a scapito delle aree a coltivazione parcellizzata e specializzata e di cespuglieto

Algorithm Engineering in Robust Optimization

Robust optimization is a young and emerging field of research having received a considerable increase of interest over the last decade. In this paper, we argue that the the algorithm engineering methodology fits very well to the field of robust optimization and yields a rewarding new perspective on both the current state of research and open research directions. To this end we go through the algorithm engineering cycle of design and analysis of concepts, development and implementation of algorithms, and theoretical and experimental evaluation. We show that many ideas of algorithm engineering have already been applied in publications on robust optimization. Most work on robust optimization is devoted to analysis of the concepts and the development of algorithms, some papers deal with the evaluation of a particular concept in case studies, and work on comparison of concepts just starts. What is still a drawback in many papers on robustness is the missing link to include the results of the experiments again in the design