Crystal structure analysis of intermetallic compounds

Study concerns crystal structures and lattice parameters for a number of new intermetallic compounds. Crystal structure data have been collected on equiatomic compounds, formed between an element of the Sc, Ti, V, or Cr group and an element of the Co or Ni group. The data, obtained by conventional methods, are presented in an easily usable tabular form

Seniors and Information Technology: Are We Shrinking The Digital Divide?

The “digital divide” has been present in the field of information technology (IT) since the inception of the digital computer. Throughout the course of history, one group (or more) has had better access to computer and information technology than another faction. For example: rich versus poor, young versus old, advanced societies versus less developed countries, etc. This disparity has existed for a variety of reasons, among them political, cultural, economic and even class or socioeconomic in nature. This paper examines one particular component of this phenomenon, the “gray divide” pertaining to the use of IT by our elderly, or senior citizens. By utilizing census data and marketing research, we paint a portrait of a vastly underrepresented target market pertaining to IT and IT-related products: our seniors. While the elderly have more assets and disposable income than their younger counterparts, by and large the IT industry is aimed squarely away from this ever-increasing group of consumers. We offer insights into this trend and offer suggestions for future research

Covering Pairs in Directed Acyclic Graphs

The Minimum Path Cover problem on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) is a classical problem that provides a clear and simple mathematical formulation for several applications in different areas and that has an efficient algorithmic solution. In this paper, we study the computational complexity of two constrained variants of Minimum Path Cover motivated by the recent introduction of next-generation sequencing technologies in bioinformatics. The first problem (MinPCRP), given a DAG and a set of pairs of vertices, asks for a minimum cardinality set of paths "covering" all the vertices such that both vertices of each pair belong to the same path. For this problem, we show that, while it is NP-hard to compute if there exists a solution consisting of at most three paths, it is possible to decide in polynomial time whether a solution consisting of at most two paths exists. The second problem (MaxRPSP), given a DAG and a set of pairs of vertices, asks for a path containing the maximum number of the given pairs of vertices. We show its NP-hardness and also its W[1]-hardness when parametrized by the number of covered pairs. On the positive side, we give a fixed-parameter algorithm when the parameter is the maximum overlapping degree, a natural parameter in the bioinformatics applications of the problem

Monolithic microwave integrated circuits: Interconnections and packaging considerations

Monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC's) above 18 GHz were developed because of important potential system benefits in cost reliability, reproducibility, and control of circuit parameters. The importance of interconnection and packaging techniques that do not compromise these MMIC virtues is emphasized. Currently available microwave transmission media are evaluated to determine their suitability for MMIC interconnections. An antipodal finline type of microstrip waveguide transition's performance is presented. Packaging requirements for MMIC's are discussed for thermal, mechanical, and electrical parameters for optimum desired performance

Note and Comment

Power of Municipal Corporations to Grant Exclusive Privileges; Police Regulation of Sleeping Car Berths; The Liability of a Husband for Slander and Libel Committed by His Wife; Sufficiency of a Verdict Which Fails to Fix the Time of an Attempt to Commit Burglary, the Punishment Varying With the Time; Grantor\u27s Remedy on Breach of Condition Subsequent

Upper and Lower Bounds for Weak Backdoor Set Detection

We obtain upper and lower bounds for running times of exponential time algorithms for the detection of weak backdoor sets of 3CNF formulas, considering various base classes. These results include (omitting polynomial factors), (i) a 4.54^k algorithm to detect whether there is a weak backdoor set of at most k variables into the class of Horn formulas; (ii) a 2.27^k algorithm to detect whether there is a weak backdoor set of at most k variables into the class of Krom formulas. These bounds improve an earlier known bound of 6^k. We also prove a 2^k lower bound for these problems, subject to the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis.Comment: A short version will appear in the proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testin

Dimension Spectra of Lines

This paper investigates the algorithmic dimension spectra of lines in the Euclidean plane. Given any line L with slope a and vertical intercept b, the dimension spectrum sp(L) is the set of all effective Hausdorff dimensions of individual points on L. We draw on Kolmogorov complexity and geometrical arguments to show that if the effective Hausdorff dimension dim(a, b) is equal to the effective packing dimension Dim(a, b), then sp(L) contains a unit interval. We also show that, if the dimension dim(a, b) is at least one, then sp(L) is infinite. Together with previous work, this implies that the dimension spectrum of any line is infinite

The parameterized complexity of some geometric problems in unbounded dimension

We study the parameterized complexity of the following fundamental geometric problems with respect to the dimension $d$: i) Given $n$ points in \Rd, compute their minimum enclosing cylinder. ii) Given two $n$-point sets in \Rd, decide whether they can be separated by two hyperplanes. iii) Given a system of $n$ linear inequalities with $d$ variables, find a maximum-size feasible subsystem. We show that (the decision versions of) all these problems are W[1]-hard when parameterized by the dimension $d$. %and hence not solvable in ${O}(f(d)n^c)$ time, for any computable function $f$ and constant $c$ %(unless FPT=W[1]). Our reductions also give a $n^{\Omega(d)}$-time lower bound (under the Exponential Time Hypothesis)

Systems of Linear Equations over F2\mathbb{F}_2 and Problems Parameterized Above Average

In the problem Max Lin, we are given a system $Az=b$ of $m$ linear equations with $n$ variables over $\mathbb{F}_2$ in which each equation is assigned a positive weight and we wish to find an assignment of values to the variables that maximizes the excess, which is the total weight of satisfied equations minus the total weight of falsified equations. Using an algebraic approach, we obtain a lower bound for the maximum excess. Max Lin Above Average (Max Lin AA) is a parameterized version of Max Lin introduced by Mahajan et al. (Proc. IWPEC'06 and J. Comput. Syst. Sci. 75, 2009). In Max Lin AA all weights are integral and we are to decide whether the maximum excess is at least $k$, where $k$ is the parameter. It is not hard to see that we may assume that no two equations in $Az=b$ have the same left-hand side and $n={\rm rank A}$. Using our maximum excess results, we prove that, under these assumptions, Max Lin AA is fixed-parameter tractable for a wide special case: $m\le 2^{p(n)}$ for an arbitrary fixed function $p(n)=o(n)$. Max $r$-Lin AA is a special case of Max Lin AA, where each equation has at most $r$ variables. In Max Exact $r$-SAT AA we are given a multiset of $m$ clauses on $n$ variables such that each clause has $r$ variables and asked whether there is a truth assignment to the $n$ variables that satisfies at least $(1-2^{-r})m + k2^{-r}$ clauses. Using our maximum excess results, we prove that for each fixed $r\ge 2$, Max $r$-Lin AA and Max Exact $r$-SAT AA can be solved in time $2^{O(k \log k)}+m^{O(1)}.$ This improves $2^{O(k^2)}+m^{O(1)}$-time algorithms for the two problems obtained by Gutin et al. (IWPEC 2009) and Alon et al. (SODA 2010), respectively