Joint multicast routing and channel assignment in multiradio multichannel wireless mesh networks using simulated annealing

This is the post-print version of the article - Copyright @ 2008 Springer-VerlagThis paper proposes a simulated annealing (SA) algorithm based optimization approach to search a minimum-interference multicast tree which satisfies the end-to-end delay constraint and optimizes the usage of the scarce radio network resource in wireless mesh networks. In the proposed SA multicast algorithm, the path-oriented encoding method is adopted and each candidate solution is represented by a tree data structure (i.e., a set of paths). Since we anticipate the multicast trees on which the minimum-interference channel assignment can be produced, a fitness function that returns the total channel conflict is devised. The techniques for controlling the annealing process are well developed. A simple yet effective channel assignment algorithm is proposed to reduce the channel conflict. Simulation results show that the proposed SA based multicast algorithm can produce the multicast trees which have better performance in terms of both the total channel conflict and the tree cost than that of a well known multicast algorithm in wireless mesh networks.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of UK under Grant EP/E060722/1

Mediation as A Tool for Resolving Corporate Conflicts in Russia

The scientific community, rating agencies and news media pay close attention to the issue of corporate conflicts, which affect company's operations, business reputation and capitalization. The research conducted by the authors of this article is devoted to the search for answers to questions about corporate conflict resolution tools. In our research mediation is regarded as an instrument for resolving corporate conflicts in Russia. The article presents the content of the mediation process and emphasizes the importance of this method in resolving persisting corporate conflicts that are witnessed in current Russian practice. The authors analyze the characteristics of corporate conflicts and highlight the fundamentals of mediation in resolving them in Russia. The article concludes that the institution of mediation in Russia does not match the essence of mediation as an extra-judicial form of conflict resolution

Psychosocial Development in Schoolchildren: Creating and Testing the Monitoring System

In this paper we argue that creating and implementing a monitoring system for psychosocial development of schoolchildren is reasonable as it is one of the most effective and easily applied means of addressing a number of significant tasks, both psychological/pedagogical and organizational/administrative. In the context of testing the general hypothesis that the introduction of the monitoring system will promote individually oriented approach to learning without radical transformation of the existing secondary education system we developed and verified a set of techniques to be used in the monitoring, including the following: differential of psychosocial development, technique for defining group value orientations, and a social psychological modification of G. Kelly’s repertory grid. The paper presents outcomes of a study that aimed to prove the heuristic character of the chosen theoretical and methodological approach; it was carried out on a sample of children of 6th—10th classes of the Moscow school #1409.It is shown that monitoring of psychosocial development of schoolchildren helps to reveal educational and developmental difficulties and develop effective means of psychological and pedagogical intervention taking into account the specifics of a particular educational institution