Computation of limit periodic continued fractions. A survey

Over the last 20 years a large number of algorithms has been published to improve the speed and domain of convergence of continued fractions. In this survey we show that these algorithms are strongly related. Actually, they essentially boil down to two main principles.We also prove some results on asymptotic expansions of tail values of limit periodic continued fractions.Dedicated to Luigi Gatteschi on his seventieth birthdayThis research was partially supported by The Norwegian Research Council and by the HMC project ROLLS, under contract CHRX-CT93-0416.     

Deformation Quantization for Systems with Fermions

Deformation quantization, which achieves the passage from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics by the replacement of the pointwise multiplication of functions on phase space by the star product, is a powerful tool for treating systems involving bosonic degrees of freedom, both in quantum mechanics and in quantum field theory. In the present paper we show how these methods may be naturally extended to systems involving fermions. In particular we show how supersymmetric quantum mechanics can be formulated in this approach and consider examples involving both non-relativistic and relativistic systems.     

Application of hydrophilic ionic liquids as co-solvents in chloroperoxidase catalyzed oxidations

The effect of hydrophilic ionic liquids (ILs) on the activity of chloroperoxidase (CPO) was checked through kinetic and stereochemical studies. The possibility to employ this enzyme in synthesis has been demonstrated investigating the chemo- and stereoselectivity of oxidation of phenyl methylsulfide in several citrate buffer-IL mixtures.     

Pediatric Laryngotracheal Stenosis and Airway Reconstruction: A Review of Voice Outcomes, Assessment, and Treatment Issues

Laryngotracheal stenosis is defined as a congenital or acquired narrowing of the airway. Congenital causes may include subglottic membranous or cartilaginous narrowing. Acquired causes may include trauma due to prolonged endotracheal or tracheal intubation or laryngotracheal injury. Although advances have been made over the past 30 years in reconstructive surgeries to improve airway patency in these patients, long-term laryngeal function for voice production is not well defined in this population. This review examines causes, symptoms and signs, and methods for diagnosing laryngotracheal stenosis. Surgical management procedures are briefly summarized. The current literature on voice outcomes is summarized. The predominant voice characteristics in the population are presented, although results are challenged by the heterogeneity of voice presentation and paucity of data from instrumental measures. Considerations for subjective and instrumental assessment, measures of quality of life, instrumental methods, and treatment options specific to the needs of this population are discussed. Research strategies to identify long-term outcomes of surgical and behavioral treatments in this population are posed.     

Plasmon-induced terahertz absorption and photoconductivity in a grid-gated double-quantum-well structure

The terahertz absorption spectra of plasmon modes in a grid-gated double-quantum-well field-effect transistor structure is analyzed theoretically and numerically using the scattering matrix approach and is shown to faithfully reproduce strong resonant features of recent experimental observations of terahertz photo-conductivity in such a structure.     

Adaptive local grid refinement algorithms for finite-element collocation

An adaptive grid refinement procedure allows accurate solutions to advection-dominated, time-dependent flows using finite-element collocation. The technique relies on a data structure that is readily amenable to parallel computing. The paper discusses computational aspects of the method.     

Global Optimization of Stochastic Black-Box Systems via Sequential Kriging Meta-Models

This paper proposes a new method that extends the efficient global optimization to address stochastic black-box systems. The method is based on a kriging meta-model that provides a global prediction of the objective values and a measure of prediction uncertainty at every point. The criterion for the infill sample selection is an augmented expected improvement function with desirable properties for stochastic responses. The method is empirically compared with the revised simplex search, the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation, and the DIRECT methods using six test problems from the literature. An application case study on an inventory system is also documented. The results suggest that the proposed method has excellent consistency and efficiency in finding global optimal solutions, and is particularly useful for expensive systems.     

Cliffordization, spin, and fermionic star products

Deformation quantization is a powerful tool for quantizing theories with bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom. The star products involved generate the mathematical structures which have recently been used in attempts to analyze the algebraic properties of quantum field theory. In the context of quantum mechanics they provide a quantization procedure for systems with either bosonic or fermionic degrees of freedom. We illustrate this procedure for a number of physical examples, including bosonic, fermionic, and supersymmetric oscillators. We show how non-relativistic and relativistic particles with spin can be naturally described in this framework.