Effects of tributyltin(IV) chloride on the gametes and fertilization of Ascidia malaca (Ascidiacea: Tunicata)

Ascidia malaca gametes before fertilization incubated in 10^?5 or 10^?7 M solutions of tributyltin(IV) chloride, TBTCl, for 3 h appear highly damaged under transmission electron microscopy observation. Also, the fertilization process is affected by the compound: the damaged spermatozoa are present in the vitelline coat and the egg does not cleave. An increase of microbodies, structurally similar to peroxisomes, have been detected in the egg peripheral cytoplasm, probably in relation to their role in alleviating damage to some cellular components. The results have shown that the reproduction of ascidians under unfavourable environmental conditions is prevented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approximate symmetries and conservation laws for Itô and Stratonovich dynamical systems

A new definition for the approximate symmetries of Itô dynamical system is given. Determining systems of approximate symmetries for Itô and Stratonovich dynamical systems have been obtained. It has been shown that approximate conservation laws can be found from the approximate symmetries of stochastic dynamical systems which do not arise from a Hamiltonian. The results have been applied to an example.     

A two-stage parallel branch and bound algorithm for mixed integer programs

Mixed integer programming (MIP) models are extensively usedto aid strategic and tactical decision making in many businesssectors. Solving MIP models is a computationally intensive processand there is a need to develop solution approaches that enablelarger models to be solved within acceptable timeframes. Inthis paper, we describe the implementation of a two-stage parallelbranch and bound (PB & B) algorithm for MIP. In stage 1of the algorithm, a multiple heuristic search is implementedin which a number of alternative search trees are investigatedusing a forest search in the hope of finding a good solutionquickly. In stage 2, the search is reorganized so that the branchesof a chosen tree are investigated in parallel. A new heuristicis introduced, based on a best projection criterion, which evaluatesalternative B & B trees in order to choose one for investigationin stage 2 of the algorithm. The heuristic also serves as away of implementing a quality load balancing scheme for stage2 of the algorithm. The results of experimental investigationsare reported for a range of models taken from the MIPLIB libraryof benchmark problems.     

Approximating schedules for dynamic process graphs efficiently

A model for parallel and distributed programs, the dynamic process graph (DPG), is investigated under graph-theoretic and complexity aspects. Such graphs embed constructors for parallel programs, synchronization mechanisms as well as conditional branches. They are capable of representing all possible executions of a parallel or distributed program in a very compact way. The size of this representation can be as small as logarithmic with respect to the size of any execution of the program.

In a preceding paper [A. Jakoby, et al., Scheduling dynamic graphs, in: Proc. 16th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects in Computer Science STACS'99, LNCS, vol. 1563, Springer, 1999, pp. 383–392] we have analysed the expressive power of the general model and various variants of it. We have considered the scheduling problem for DPGs given enough parallelism taking into account communication delays between processors when exchanging data. Given a DPG the question arises whether it can be executed (that means whether the corresponding parallel program has been specified correctly), and what is its minimum schedule length.

In this paper we study a subclass of dynamic process graphs called -output DPGs, which are appropriate in many situations, and investigate their expressive power. In a previous paper we have shown that the problem to determine the minimum schedule length is still intractable for this subclass, namely this problem is -complete as is the general case. Here we will investigate structural properties of the executions of such graphs. A natural graph-theoretic conjecture that executions must always split into components that are isomorphic to subgraphs turns out to be wrong. We are able to prove a weaker property. This implies a quadratic upper bound on the schedule length that may be necessary in the worst case, in contrast to the general case, where the optimal schedule length may be exponential with respect to the size of the representing DPG. Making this bound constructive, we obtain an approximation to a -complete problem. Computing such a schedule and then executing the program can be done on a parallel machine in polynomial time in a highly distributive fashion.     

Partially Classical States of a Boson Field

Employing positive-definiteness arguments we analyse Boson field states, which combine classical and quantum mechanical features (signal and noise), in a constructive manner. Mathematically, they constitute Bauer simplexes within the convex, weak-*-compact state space of the C*-Weyl algebra, defined by a presymplectic test function space (smooth one-Boson wave functions) and are affinely homeomorphic to a state space of a classical field. The regular elements are expressed in terms of weak distributions (probability premeasures) on the dual test function space. The Bauer simplex arising from the bare vacuum is shown to generalize the quantum optical photon field states with positive P-functions.     

Three methods for analyzing forced vibration of a fluid-filled cylindrical shell

The forced vibration of an infinite elastic circular cylindrical shell filled with fluid is studied. Three methods are employed to analyze the forced vibration problem of this shell-fluid coupled system, that is, wave propagation approach (wave mode superposition), theorem of residues and a numerical integral method. In order to explain these methods more explicitly, before being used to investigate the vibration of an infinite fluid-filled elastic circular cylindrical shell, all these three methods are employed firstly to analyze the forced vibration problem of an infinite beam and an infinite elastic circular cylindrical shell in vacuo. Advantage and disadvantage of these three methods are discussed and their interesting relationship is revealed. That is, to any circumferential wavenumber and frequency of the external force, there is an unchangeable relationship between the general coordinates of various waves in the wave propagation approach and the residuals in the theorem of residues.     

Volcanic monitoring for radon and chemical species in the soil and in spring water samples

Soil radon has been monitored at two fixed stations in the northern flank of Popocatepetl Volcano, a high risk volcano located 60 km SE from Mexico City. Water samples from three springs were also studied for radon as well as major and trace elements. Radon in the soil was recorded using track detectors. Radon in the water samples was evaluated using the liquid scintillation method and an Alphaguard. The major elements were determined through conventional chemical methods and trace elements using an ICP-MS equipment. Soil radon levels were low, indicating a moderate diffuse degassing through the flanks of the volcano. Groundwater radon had almost no relation with the eruptive stages. Water chemistry was stable in the reported time (2000–2002).     

Inner bounds for the spectrum of quasinormal operators

A linear operator in a separable Hilbert space is called a quasinormal one if it is a sum of a normal operator and a compact one. In the paper, bounds for the spectrum of quasinormal operators are established. In addition, the lower estimate for the spectral radius is derived. Under some restrictions, that estimate improves the well-known results. Applications to integral operators and matrices are discussed. Our results are new even in the finite-dimensional case.

     

Practical algorithms for transposition-invariant string-matching

We consider the problems of (1) longest common subsequence (LCS) of two given strings in the case where the first may be shifted by some constant (that is, transposed) to match the second, and (2) transposition-invariant text searching using indel distance. These problems have applications in music comparison and retrieval. We introduce two novel techniques to solve these problems efficiently. The first is based on the branch and bound method, the second on bit-parallelism. Our branch and bound algorithm computes the longest common transposition-invariant subsequence (LCTS) in time O((m²+loglogσ)logσ) in the best case and O((m²+logσ)σ) in the worst case, where m and σ, respectively, are the length of the strings and the size of the alphabet. On the other hand, we show that the same problem can be solved by using bit-parallelism and thus obtain a speedup of O(w/logm) over the classical algorithms, where the computer word has w bits. The advantage of this latter algorithm over the present bit-parallel ones is that it allows the use of more complex distances, including general integer weights. Since our branch and bound method is very flexible, it can be further improved by combining it with other efficient algorithms such as our novel bit-parallel algorithm. We experiment on several combination possibilities and discuss which are the best settings for each of those combinations. Our algorithms are easily extended to other musically relevant cases, such as δ-matching and polyphony (where there are several parallel texts to be considered). We also show how our bit-parallel algorithm is adapted to text searching and illustrate its effectiveness in complex cases where the only known competing method is the use of brute force.     

Second order parabolic equations in Banach spaces with dynamic boundary conditions

In this paper, we exhibit a unified treatment of the mixed initial boundary value problem for second order (in time) parabolic linear differential equations in Banach spaces, whose boundary conditions are of a dynamical nature. Results regarding existence, uniqueness, continuous dependence (on initial data) and regularity of classical and strict solutions are established. Moreover, several examples are given as samples for possible applications.