Privacy and pricing personal information

The issues we address here are – How should a firm (e.g. Internet service provider (ISP)) that is capable of collecting personal information (browsing information, purchase history, etc.) about consumers, price its service, given that consumers vary in their valuation for privacy, and also vary in terms of the value of their personal information to a third party (firms that need consumer information)? Should the firm have a blanket policy of never collecting, or a policy of always collecting and revealing information? Surprisingly we find that in some cases the collector of information may be no worse off in the asymmetric information case than in the full information case. The paper provides a justification for the strategy of some firms such as ISP’s which never collect information and also for the strategy of other firms, like grocery stores that do. We also find that it is non-optimal for the firm to design contracts where the consumer can choose an intermediate level of privacy.     

Determination of gap symmetry from angle-dependent H(c2) measurements on CeCu₂Si₂

The tetragonal heavy-fermion compound CeCu?Si? exhibits a superconducting ground state (S type, T(c) = 0.67 K) close to a magnetic instability. Here, we present angle-resolved resistivity measurements of the upper critical field H(c2). In-plane rotation of S-type CeCu?Si? single crystals reveals a fourfold oscillation of H(c2). An extended weak-coupling BCS model for a d-wave symmetry including strong Pauli-limiting effects confirms the aforementioned angular dependence and points towards d(xy) symmetry of the order parameter.     

Magnetic moment distributions and form factors in ferromagnetic nickel-ruthenium alloys

Using polarised neutrons, the full three-dimensional magnetic structure amplitudes in the Ni_1?c Ru _c single crystals forc = 0·027, 0·033 and 0·046 were measured. Moment density maps in various portions of the Wigner-Seitz cell were obtained. It is seen from these maps that unlike Ni-based alloys with 3d impurities, the introduction of Ru to the Ni matrix produces extensive perturbations in the diffuse moment density, giving rise to a netpositive diffuse moment which tends to increase with Ru concentration. The asphericity of the host moment at first increases and then decreases with increasing Ru content. Another significant outcome of the present study is the evidence for the reversal of the sign of the Ru moment, from negative to positive, obtained by comparing the shape of the spherical site form factors of the three-alloy concentrations with the Ni spherical form factor itself. The sign reversal of the impurity moment is confirmed by the form factor analyses. Strong local environmental effects seem to play a major role in this alloy system.     

A polarised neutron study of magnetic moment density in Cu2MnAl

A polarised neutron study of the ferromagnetic Heusler alloy Cu₂Mn_0.863Al_1.057 has been made. It has been concluded that the magnetic moment density is primarily situated on the Mn ions. On assigning the Mn-moment value, the observed magnetic form factor is found to be in good agreement with the Mn²⁺ free ion form factor calculated by Watson and Freeman. A slight asphericity has been observed in the moment density. It is estimated that there are about 3% excess 3d-electrons in the Eg states compared to spherical distribution. There is evidence of a very small positive polarisation of the Cu atoms. No appreciable conduction electron polarisation is found.     

Relevance of ferromagnetic correlations for the electron spin resonance in Kondo lattice systems

Electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements of the ferromagnetic (FM) Kondo lattice system CeRuPO show a well defined ESR signal which is related to the Ce3+ magnetism. In contrast, no ESR could be observed in the antiferromagnetic (AFM) homologue CeOsPO. Additionally, we detect an ESR signal in ferromagnetic YbRh while it was absent in a number of Ce or Yb intermetallic compounds with dominant AFM exchange. Thus, the observation of an ESR signal in a Kondo lattice is neither specific to Yb nor to the proximity to a quantum critical point, but seems to be connected to the presence of FM fluctuations. These conclusions not only provide a basic concept to understand the ESR in Kondo lattice systems even well below the Kondo temperature (as observed in YbRh2Si2) but point out ESR as a prime method to investigate directly the spin dynamics of the Kondo ion.     

Structural,Computational and 3D Interaction Energy Calculations of the Compound 2-chloro-3-(1-napthyl)-5,5-dimethyl-2-cyclohexenone

Crystallography Reports - The molecular structure of 2-chloro-3-(1'-napthyl)-5,5-dimethyl-2- cyclohexenone was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallized in a...     

A nonrigid registration algorithm for longitudinal breast MR images and the analysis of breast tumor response

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) can estimate parameters relating to blood flow and tissue volume fractions and therefore may be used to characterize the response of breast tumors to treatment. To assess treatment response, values of these DCE-MRI parameters are observed at different time points during the course of treatment. We propose a method whereby DCE-MRI data sets obtained in separate imaging sessions can be co-registered to a common image space, thereby retaining spatial information so that serial DCE-MRI parameter maps can be compared on a voxel-by-voxel basis. In performing inter-session breast registration, one must account for patient repositioning and breast deformation, as well as changes in tumor shape and volume relative to other imaging sessions. One challenge is to optimally register the normal tissues while simultaneously preventing tumor distortion. We accomplish this by extending the adaptive bases algorithm through adding a tumor-volume preserving constraint in the cost function. We also propose a novel method to generate the simulated breast magnetic resonance (MR) images, which can be used to evaluate the proposed registration algorithm quantitatively. The proposed nonrigid registration algorithm is applied to both simulated and real longitudinal 3D high resolution MR images and the obtained transformations are then applied to lower resolution physiological parameter maps obtained via DCE-MRI. The registration results demonstrate the proposed algorithm can successfully register breast MR images acquired at different time points and allow for analysis of the registered parameter maps.     

A disaster queue with Markovian arrivals and impatient customers

We consider a single server queueing system in which arrivals occur according to a Markovian arrival process. The system is subject to disastrous failures at which times all customers in the system are lost. Arrivals occurring during the time the system undergoes repair are stored in a buffer of finite capacity. These customers can become impatient after waiting a random amount of time and leave the system. However, these customers do not become impatient once the system becomes operable. When the system is operable, there is no limit on the number of customers who can be admitted. The structure of this queueing model is of GI/M/1-type that has been extensively studied by Neuts and others. The model is analyzed in steady state by exploiting the special nature of this type queueing model. A number of useful performance measures along with some illustrative examples are reported.     

Equipment scheduling problem under disruptions in mail processing and distribution centres

This paper addresses the production and workforce scheduling problem under disruptions in United States Postal Service mail processing facilities. These facilities contain a large variety of equipment and employ a non-homogeneous workforce that work on shifts of various lengths and start times. Disruptions such as demand fluctuation and absenteeism happen and may significantly change demand and the size of workforce. How to adjust production plans and workforce schedules through the use of overtime and flexible employees in the face of these disruptions to meet the service commitment is a challenging problem yet to be solved. This problem is modelled as a large-scale integer program, which contains equipment scheduling, shift scheduling and overtime management, and break assignment modules. Problems of realistic size are solved efficiently through an LP-based decomposition algorithm. Comprehensive experiments have been designed to investigate the effects of the use of overtime, the control of absenteeism, and the importance of integrating equipment and workforce scheduling simultaneously. The model integrates seamlessly with other research studies and provides the necessary and critical tools to manage the resources in a facility on a routine basis.     

Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in a Vertical Annular Porous Cylinder Using FEM

The present study is intended to study heat and mass transfer in a vertical annular cylinder embedded with saturated porous medium. The inner surface of cylinder is maintained at uniform wall temperature and uniform wall concentration. The governing partial differential equations are non-dimensionalised and solved by using finite element method (FEM). The porous medium is discritised using triangular elements with uneven element size. Large number of smaller-sized elements are placed near the walls of the annulus to capture the smallest variation in solution parameters. The results are reported for both aiding and opposing flows. The effects of various non-dimensional numbers such as buoyancy ratio, Lewis number, Rayleigh number, aspect ratio, etc on heat and mass transfer are discussed. The temperature and concentration profiles are presented.