4,834 research outputs found
Parametric microwave noise generator Patent
Radio frequency noise generator having microwave slow-wave structure in gas discharge plasm
Implied Professional Obligation of Confidentiality Sufficient to Overcome Public Use Defense to a Claim of Patent Infringement? Bernhardt v. Collezione--The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals\u27 Surprising Recent Announcement on the Public Use Bar
Implied Professional Obligation of Confidentiality Sufficient to Overcome Public Use Defense to a Claim of Patent Infringement? Bernhardt v. Collezione--The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals\u27 Surprising Recent Announcement on the Public Use Bar
On the Approximability of Digraph Ordering
Given an n-vertex digraph D = (V, A) the Max-k-Ordering problem is to compute
a labeling maximizing the number of forward edges, i.e.
edges (u,v) such that (u) < (v). For different values of k, this
reduces to Maximum Acyclic Subgraph (k=n), and Max-Dicut (k=2). This work
studies the approximability of Max-k-Ordering and its generalizations,
motivated by their applications to job scheduling with soft precedence
constraints. We give an LP rounding based 2-approximation algorithm for
Max-k-Ordering for any k={2,..., n}, improving on the known
2k/(k-1)-approximation obtained via random assignment. The tightness of this
rounding is shown by proving that for any k={2,..., n} and constant
, Max-k-Ordering has an LP integrality gap of 2 -
for rounds of the
Sherali-Adams hierarchy.
A further generalization of Max-k-Ordering is the restricted maximum acyclic
subgraph problem or RMAS, where each vertex v has a finite set of allowable
labels . We prove an LP rounding based
approximation for it, improving on the
approximation recently given by Grandoni et al.
(Information Processing Letters, Vol. 115(2), Pages 182-185, 2015). In fact,
our approximation algorithm also works for a general version where the
objective counts the edges which go forward by at least a positive offset
specific to each edge.
The minimization formulation of digraph ordering is DAG edge deletion or
DED(k), which requires deleting the minimum number of edges from an n-vertex
directed acyclic graph (DAG) to remove all paths of length k. We show that
both, the LP relaxation and a local ratio approach for DED(k) yield
k-approximation for any .Comment: 21 pages, Conference version to appear in ESA 201
Solidification of undercooled liquids
During rapid solidification processing (RSP) the amount of liquid undercooling is an important factor in determining microstructural development by controlling phase selection during nucleation and morphological evolution during crystal growth. While undercooling is an inherent feature of many techniques of RSP, the deepest undercoolings and most controlled studies have been possible in carefully prepared fine droplet samples. From past work and recent advances in studies of nucleation kinetics it has become clear that the initiation of crystallization during RSP is governed usually by heterogeneous sites located at surfaces. With known nucleant sites, it has been possible to identify specific pathways of metastable phase formation and microstructural development in alloys. These advances have allowed for a clearer assessment of the interplay between undercooling, cooling rate and particle size statistics in structure formation. New approaches to the examination of growth processes have been developed to follow the thermal behavior and morphology in small samples in the period of rapid crystallization and recalescence. Based upon the new experimental information from these studies, useful models can be developed for the overall solidification process to include nucleation behavior, thermodynamic constraints, thermal history, growth kinetics, solute redistribution and resulting structures. From the refinement of knowledge concerning the underlying factors that govern RSP a basis is emerging for an effective alloy design and processing strategy
Patient satisfaction and anxiety with informed consent delivered through informational video compared to the traditional physician interview [abstract]
Objective: 1. To evaluate patient satisfaction and anxiety towards informed consent with traditional physician interview compared to combination of watching an informational video and patient-specific physician interview. 2. To discover how an informational video will affect physician time management
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Retraction Note: An apoptosis-enhancing drug overcomes platinum resistance in a tumour-initiating subpopulation of ovarian cancer.
This Article has been retracted; see accompanying Retraction Note
Key HRM strategies for M&A integration in the global banking industry: a comparative study of the USA, Europe and South America
Based on in-depth interviews with over ten major banks and financial corporations in the USA, Europe, and South America, this paper identifies the main reasons for the more effective post-merger integration strategy of European and South American banks than that of their US counterparts. Overall, we found that human resource managers are essential to the M&A integration process in Europe and South America owing to the influence of labour laws in those regions. In particular, substantial differences were noted in the retention strategy and negotiation process regarding compensation between the USA and both European and South American banks
An improved procedure for generating standardised load-time histories for marine structures
The load sequence effect has been proved from laboratory tests to be an influencing factor that cannot be neglected in the fatigue analysis of marine structures. To take account of this significant factor, fatigue life prediction should be based on fatigue crack propagation theory rather than the currently used cumulative fatigue damage theory. Accordingly, fatigue loading needs to be provided as the load-time history in the time domain rather than the load spectrum in the frequency domain. A general procedure for generating the standardised load-time history for marine structures based on a short-term load measurement has been proposed by the authors. This article seeks to further improve on this procedure and explain how to apply the determined standardised load-time history in the fatigue life prediction method based on the fatigue crack propagation theory. Finally, generation and application of a standardised load-time history are given for a tubular T-joint of an offshore platform, which demonstrates the practical and effective use of the proposed approach
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