96 research outputs found
Spanning trees short or small
We study the problem of finding small trees. Classical network design
problems are considered with the additional constraint that only a specified
number of nodes are required to be connected in the solution. A
prototypical example is the MST problem in which we require a tree of
minimum weight spanning at least nodes in an edge-weighted graph. We show
that the MST problem is NP-hard even for points in the Euclidean plane. We
provide approximation algorithms with performance ratio for the
general edge-weighted case and for the case of points in the
plane. Polynomial-time exact solutions are also presented for the class of
decomposable graphs which includes trees, series-parallel graphs, and bounded
bandwidth graphs, and for points on the boundary of a convex region in the
Euclidean plane. We also investigate the problem of finding short trees, and
more generally, that of finding networks with minimum diameter. A simple
technique is used to provide a polynomial-time solution for finding -trees
of minimum diameter. We identify easy and hard problems arising in finding
short networks using a framework due to T. C. Hu.Comment: 27 page
On the equivalence, containment, and covering problems for the regular and context-free languages
We consider the complexity of the equivalence and containment problems for regular expressions and context-free grammars, concentrating on the relationship between complexity and various language properties. Finiteness and boundedness of languages are shown to play important roles in the complexity of these problems. An encoding into grammars of Turing machine computations exponential in the size of the grammar is used to prove several exponential lower bounds. These lower bounds include exponential time for testing equivalence of grammars generating finite sets, and exponential space for testing equivalence of non-self-embedding grammars. Several problems which might be complex because of this encoding are shown to simplify for linear grammars. Other problems considered include grammatical covering and structural equivalence for right-linear, linear, and arbitrary grammars
Bicriteria Network Design Problems
We study a general class of bicriteria network design problems. A generic
problem in this class is as follows: Given an undirected graph and two
minimization objectives (under different cost functions), with a budget
specified on the first, find a <subgraph \from a given subgraph-class that
minimizes the second objective subject to the budget on the first. We consider
three different criteria - the total edge cost, the diameter and the maximum
degree of the network. Here, we present the first polynomial-time approximation
algorithms for a large class of bicriteria network design problems for the
above mentioned criteria. The following general types of results are presented.
First, we develop a framework for bicriteria problems and their
approximations. Second, when the two criteria are the same %(note that the cost
functions continue to be different) we present a ``black box'' parametric
search technique. This black box takes in as input an (approximation) algorithm
for the unicriterion situation and generates an approximation algorithm for the
bicriteria case with only a constant factor loss in the performance guarantee.
Third, when the two criteria are the diameter and the total edge costs we use a
cluster-based approach to devise a approximation algorithms --- the solutions
output violate both the criteria by a logarithmic factor. Finally, for the
class of treewidth-bounded graphs, we provide pseudopolynomial-time algorithms
for a number of bicriteria problems using dynamic programming. We show how
these pseudopolynomial-time algorithms can be converted to fully
polynomial-time approximation schemes using a scaling technique.Comment: 24 pages 1 figur
Symmetry Properties of Nested Canalyzing Functions
Many researchers have studied symmetry properties of various Boolean
functions. A class of Boolean functions, called nested canalyzing functions
(NCFs), has been used to model certain biological phenomena. We identify some
interesting relationships between NCFs, symmetric Boolean functions and a
generalization of symmetric Boolean functions, which we call -symmetric
functions (where is the symmetry level). Using a normalized representation
for NCFs, we develop a characterization of when two variables of an NCF are
symmetric. Using this characterization, we show that the symmetry level of an
NCF can be easily computed given a standard representation of . We also
present an algorithm for testing whether a given -symmetric function is an
NCF. Further, we show that for any NCF with variables, the notion of
strong asymmetry considered in the literature is equivalent to the property
that is -symmetric. We use this result to derive a closed form
expression for the number of -variable Boolean functions that are NCFs and
strongly asymmetric. We also identify all the Boolean functions that are NCFs
and symmetric.Comment: 17 page
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Complexity of analysis and verification problems for communicating automata and discrete dynamical systems.
We identify several simple but powerful concepts, techniques, and results; and we use them to characterize the complexities of a number of basic problems II, that arise in the analysis and verification of the following models M of communicating automata and discrete dynamical systems: systems of communicating automata including both finite and infinite cellular automata, transition systems, discrete dynamical systems, and succinctly-specified finite automata. These concepts, techniques, and results are centered on the following: (1) reductions Of STATE-REACHABILITY problems, especially for very simple systems of communicating copies of a single simple finite automaton, (2) reductions of generalized CNF satisfiability problems [Sc78], especially to very simple communicating systems of copies of a few basic acyclic finite sequential machines, and (3) reductions of the EMPTINESS and EMPTINESS-OF-INTERSECTION problems, for several kinds of regular set descriptors. For systems of communicating automata and transition systems, the problems studied include: all equivalence relations and simulation preorders in the Linear-time/Branching-time hierarchies of equivalence relations and simulation preorders of [vG90, vG93], both without and with the hiding abstraction. For discrete dynamical systems, the problems studied include the INITIAL and BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS (denoted IVPs and BVPs, respectively), for nonlinear difference equations over many different algebraic structures, e.g. all unitary rings, all finite unitary semirings, and all lattices. For succinctly specified finite automata, the problems studied also include the several problems studied in [AY98], e.g. the EMPTINESS, EMPTINESS-OF-INTERSECTION, EQUIVALENCE and CONTAINMENT problems. The concepts, techniques, and results presented unify and significantly extend many of the known results in the literature, e.g. [Wo86, Gu89, BPT91, GM92, Ra92, HT94, SH+96, AY98, AKY99, RH93, SM73, Hu73, HRS76, HR78], for communicating automata including both finite and infinite cellular automata and for finite automata specified by special kinds of context-free grammars, by regular operations augmented with squaring and intersection, and specified succinctly as in [AY98, AKY99]. Moreover, our development of these concepts, techniques, and results shows how several ideas, techniques, and results, for the individual models M above can be extended to apply to all or to most of these models. As one example of this and paraphrasing [BPTBl] , we show that most of these models M exhibit computationally-intractable sensitive dependence on initial conditions, for the same reason. These computationally-intractable sensitivities range from PSPACE-hard to undecidable
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Sequential dynamical systems with threshold functions.
A sequential dynamical system (SDS) (see [BH+01] and the references therein) consists of an undirected graph G(V,E) where each node {nu} {epsilon} V is associated with a Boolean state (s{sub {nu}}) and a symmetric Boolean function f{sub {nu}} (called the local transition function at {nu}). The inputs to f{sub {nu}} are s{sub {nu}} and the states of all the nodes adjacent to {nu}. In each step of the SDS, the nodes update their state values using their local transition functions in the order specified by a given permutation {pi} of the nodes. A configuration of the SDS is an n-tuple (b{sub 1}, b{sub 2}...,b{sub n}) where n = |V| and b{sub i} {epsilon} {l_brace}0,1{r_brace} is the state value of node {nu}{sub i}. The system starts in a specified initial configuration and each step of the SDS produces a (possibly new) configuration
Optimum imaging strategies for advanced prostate cancer: ASCO guideline
PURPOSE Provide evidence- and expert-based recommendations for optimal use of imaging in advanced prostate cancer. Due to increases in research and utilization of novel imaging for advanced prostate cancer, this guideline is intended to outline techniques available and provide recommendations on appropriate use of imaging for specified patient subgroups. METHODS An Expert Panel was convened with members from ASCO and the Society of Abdominal Radiology, American College of Radiology, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, American Urological Association, American Society for Radiation Oncology, and Society of Urologic Oncology to conduct a systematic review of the literature and develop an evidence-based guideline on the optimal use of imaging for advanced prostate cancer. Representative index cases of various prostate cancer disease states are presented, including suspected high-risk disease, newly diagnosed treatment-naïve metastatic disease, suspected recurrent disease after local treatment, and progressive disease while undergoing systemic treatment. A systematic review of the literature from 2013 to August 2018 identified fully published English-language systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses, reports of rigorously conducted phase III randomized controlled trials that compared $ 2 imaging modalities, and noncomparative studies that reported on the efficacy of a single imaging modality. RESULTS A total of 35 studies met inclusion criteria and form the evidence base, including 17 systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis and 18 primary research articles. RECOMMENDATIONS One or more of these imaging modalities should be used for patients with advanced prostate cancer: conventional imaging (defined as computed tomography [CT], bone scan, and/or prostate magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) and/or next-generation imaging (NGI), positron emission tomography [PET], PET/CT, PET/MRI, or whole-body MRI) according to the clinical scenario
Multi-dimensional modeling and simulation of semiconductor nanophotonic devices
Self-consistent modeling and multi-dimensional simulation of semiconductor nanophotonic devices is an important tool in the development of future integrated light sources and quantum devices. Simulations can guide important technological decisions by revealing performance bottlenecks in new device concepts, contribute to their understanding and help to theoretically explore their optimization potential. The efficient implementation of multi-dimensional numerical simulations for computer-aided design tasks requires sophisticated numerical methods and modeling techniques. We review recent advances in device-scale modeling of quantum dot based single-photon sources and laser diodes by self-consistently coupling the optical Maxwell equations with semiclassical carrier transport models using semi-classical and fully quantum mechanical descriptions of the optically active region, respectively. For the simulation of realistic devices with complex, multi-dimensional geometries, we have developed a novel hp-adaptive finite element approach for the optical Maxwell equations, using mixed meshes adapted to the multi-scale properties of the photonic structures. For electrically driven devices, we introduced novel discretization and parameter-embedding techniques to solve the drift-diffusion system for strongly degenerate semiconductors at cryogenic temperature. Our methodical advances are demonstrated on various applications, including vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, grating couplers and single-photon sources
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