A proof of Culter’s theorem on the existence of periodic orbits in polygonal outer billiards

We prove a recent theorem by C. Culter every polygonal outer billiard in the affine plane has a periodic trajectory.      

Orbifold fibrations of Eschenburg spaces

Most of the few known examples of compact Riemannian manifolds with positive sectional curvature are the total space of a Riemannian submersion. In this article we show that this is true for all known examples, if we enlarge the category to orbifold fibrations. For this purpose we study all almost free isometric circle actions on positively curved Eschenburg spaces, which give rise to principle orbifold bundle structures, and we examine in detail their geometric properties. In particular, we obtain a new family of 6-dimensional orbifolds with positive sectional curvature whose singular locus consists of just two points.      

Existence and Ergodicity for the Two-Dimensional Stochastic Magneto-Hydrodynamics Equations

The paper proves the existence of solutions to the magneto-hydrodynamics equations driven by random exterior forcing terms both in the velocity and in the magnetic field. The existence and uniqueness of an invariant measure is also obtained via coupling methods.     

Differential effects of synchronous and asynchronous multifinger coactivation on human tactile performance

Background  

Repeated execution of a tactile task enhances task performance. In the present study we sought to improve tactile performance with unattended activation-based learning processes (i.e., focused stimulation of dermal receptors evoking neural coactivation (CA)). Previous studies show that the application of CA to a single finger reduced the stationary two-point discrimination threshold and significantly increased tactile acuity. These changes were accompanied by an expansion of the cortical finger representation in primary somatosensory cortex (SI). Here we investigated the effect of different types of multifinger CA on the tactile performance of each finger of the right hand.     

AI and OR in management of operations: history and trends

The last decade has seen a considerable growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for operations management with the aim of finding solutions to problems that are increasing in complexity and scale. This paper begins by setting the context for the survey through a historical perspective of OR and AI. An extensive survey of applications of AI techniques for operations management, covering a total of over 1200 papers published from 1995 to 2004 is then presented. The survey utilizes Elsevier's ScienceDirect database as a source. Hence, the survey may not cover all the relevant journals but includes a sufficiently wide range of publications to make it representative of the research in the field. The papers are categorized into four areas of operations management: (a) design, (b) scheduling, (c) process planning and control and (d) quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Each of the four areas is categorized in terms of the AI techniques used: genetic algorithms, case-based reasoning, knowledge-based systems, fuzzy logic and hybrid techniques. The trends over the last decade are identified, discussed with respect to expected trends and directions for future work suggested.