1,921 research outputs found
Analyzing combined vehicle routing and break scheduling from a distributed decision making perspective
We analyze the problem of combined vehicle routing and break scheduling from a distributed decision making perspective. The problem of combined vehicle routing and break scheduling can be defined as the problem of finding vehicle routes to serve a set of customers such that a cost criterion is minimized and legal rules on driving and working hours are observed. In the literature, this problem is always analyzed from a central planning perspective. In practice, however, this problem is solved interactively between planners and drivers. In\ud
many practical scenarios, the planner first clusters the customer requests and instructs the drivers which customers they have to visit. Subsequently, the drivers decide upon the routes to be taken and their break schedules. We apply a framework for distributed decision making to model this planning scenario and propose various ways for planners to anticipate the drivers' planning behavior. Especially in the case of antagonistic objectives, which are often encountered in practice, a distributed decision making perspective is necessary to analyze this planning process. Computational experiments demonstrate that a high degree of anticipation by the planner has a strong positive impact on the overall planning quality, especially in the case of conflicting planner's and drivers' objectives
Traffic Noise and the Hyperbolic Plane
We consider the problem of sound propagation in a wind. We note that the
rays, as in the absence of a wind, are given by Fermat's principle and show how
to map them to the trajectories of a charged particle moving in a magnetic
field on a curved space. For the specific case of sound propagating in a
stratified atmosphere with a small wind speed we show that the corresponding
particle moves in a constant magnetic field on the hyperbolic plane. In this
way we give a simple `straightedge and compass' method to estimate the
intensity of sound upwind and downwind. We construct Mach envelopes for moving
sources. Finally, we relate the problem to that of finding null geodesics in a
squashed anti-de Sitter spacetime and discuss the
symmetry of the problem from this point of view.Comment: Typos correcte
Characterizing Scales of Genetic Recombination and Antibiotic Resistance in Pathogenic Bacteria Using Topological Data Analysis
Pathogenic bacteria present a large disease burden on human health. Control
of these pathogens is hampered by rampant lateral gene transfer, whereby
pathogenic strains may acquire genes conferring resistance to common
antibiotics. Here we introduce tools from topological data analysis to
characterize the frequency and scale of lateral gene transfer in bacteria,
focusing on a set of pathogens of significant public health relevance. As a
case study, we examine the spread of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus
aureus. Finally, we consider the possible role of the human microbiome as a
reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. To appear in AMT 2014 Special Session on
Advanced Methods of Interactive Data Mining for Personalized Medicin
Discrete-time quantum walks on one-dimensional lattices
In this paper, we study discrete-time quantum walks on one-dimensional
lattices. We find that the coherent dynamics depends on the initial states and
coin parameters. For infinite size of lattice, we derive an explicit expression
for the return probability, which shows scaling behavior
and does not depends on the initial states of the walk. In the long-time limit,
the probability distribution shows various patterns, depending on the initial
states, coin parameters and the lattice size. The average mixing time
closes to the limiting probability in linear (size of the
lattice) for large values of thresholds . Finally, we introduce
another kind of quantum walk on infinite or even-numbered size of lattices, and
show that the walk is equivalent to the traditional quantum walk with
symmetrical initial state and coin parameter.Comment: 17 pages research not
The quadratic spinor Lagrangian is equivalent to the teleparallel theory
The quadratic spinor Lagrangian is shown to be equivalent to the teleparallel
/ tetrad representation of Einstein's theory. An important consequence is that
the energy-momentum density obtained from this quadratic spinor Lagrangian is
essentially the same as the ``tensor'' proposed by Moller in 1961.Comment: 10 pages, RevTe
Dynamic Image-Based Modelling of Kidney Branching Morphogenesis
Kidney branching morphogenesis has been studied extensively, but the
mechanism that defines the branch points is still elusive. Here we obtained a
2D movie of kidney branching morphogenesis in culture to test different models
of branching morphogenesis with physiological growth dynamics. We carried out
image segmentation and calculated the displacement fields between the frames.
The models were subsequently solved on the 2D domain, that was extracted from
the movie. We find that Turing patterns are sensitive to the initial conditions
when solved on the epithelial shapes. A previously proposed diffusion-dependent
geometry effect allowed us to reproduce the growth fields reasonably well, both
for an inhibitor of branching that was produced in the epithelium, and for an
inducer of branching that was produced in the mesenchyme. The latter could be
represented by Glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which is expressed in
the mesenchyme and induces outgrowth of ureteric branches. Considering that the
Turing model represents the interaction between the GDNF and its receptor RET
very well and that the model reproduces the relevant expression patterns in
developing wildtype and mutant kidneys, it is well possible that a combination
of the Turing mechanism and the geometry effect control branching
morphogenesis
Basic science research opportunities in thrombosis and hemostasis : Communication from the SSC of the ISTH
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Drs. Hari Hara Sudhan Lakshmanan and Sven Olson for illustrative assistance and design.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Quantum walk on distinguishable non-interacting many-particles and indistinguishable two-particle
We present an investigation of many-particle quantum walks in systems of
non-interacting distinguishable particles. Along with a redistribution of the
many-particle density profile we show that the collective evolution of the
many-particle system resembles the single-particle quantum walk evolution when
the number of steps is greater than the number of particles in the system. For
non-uniform initial states we show that the quantum walks can be effectively
used to separate the basis states of the particle in position space and
grouping like state together. We also discuss a two-particle quantum walk on a
two- dimensional lattice and demonstrate an evolution leading to the
localization of both particles at the center of the lattice. Finally we discuss
the outcome of a quantum walk of two indistinguishable particles interacting at
some point during the evolution.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, To appear in special issue: "quantum walks" to be
published in Quantum Information Processin
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