Scheduling in or-parallel Prolog systems: Survey and open problems

Implementation of or-parallel Prolog systems offers a number of interesting scheduling problems. The main issues are the interaction between memory models and scheduling, ordering of multiple solutions, and scheduling of speculative work. The problems occur partly because of the design choices (e.g. the choice of a memory model), and partly because of the desire to maintain observational equivalence between parallel and sequential implementations of Prolog, while achieving high efficiency. In the first part of this paper a common framework for discussing scheduling in or-parallel systems is introduced, and also a collection of issues that must be addressed in such systems is presented. In the second part of the paper we survey a number of solutions to these problems comparing their efficiency whenever possible. We close the survey with a short discussion of open problems.Current association: Carlstedt Elektronik AB     

Molecular orientation and stress in biaxially deformed polymers. II. Steady potential flow

The development of biaxial segmental orientation and stress in a flexible-chain polymer fluid subjected to steady biaxial extensional flow is analyzed. Closed-formula model based on the Padè approximation of the inverse Langevin function in the non-Gaussian distribution of the chain end-to-end vectors is considered. The approach is free from the limitations related to finite chain extensibility and slow convergence of the series expansion formulations at higher chain deformations.Segmental orientation is characterized by the average orientation tensor, related axial orientation factors and global orientation anisotropy. Orientational behavior and corresponding stresses in the biaxial elongational potential flow are discussed in a wide range of elongation rates. Orientation characteristics calculated for the biaxial flow deformation are much higher than those predicted for the affine biaxial stretch deformation in polymer solids.     

Inhibition of nitrification in the packed bed reactors by selected organic compounds

The effect of methanol, acetone, formalin and glucose on the nitrification process in the packed bed reactors has been investigated. For the utilized compounds the inhibition constant K_i was determined according to Dixon's method. The determined values were as follows: methanol K_i = 116.0 mg l^?1; acetone K_i = 804.2 mg l^?1; formalin K_i = 61.5 mg l^?1. The value of K_i for glucose has not been determined because glucose in applied concentration up to 11,325 mg l^?1 had no effect on the nitrification course.     

AlxGa−xAs/GaAs heterostructure characterization by wet chemical etching

Selective wet chemical etching of the Al_xGa_1−xAs/GaAs system has been applied to heterostructure characterization. Samples of LPE grown AlGaAs/GaAs laser double-heterostructures and separate confinement heterostructures as well as antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides heterostructures were treated with “I2 solution” (I₂:KI:H₂O) and hydrochloric acid. These compounds selectively etch the ternary Al_xGa_1−xAs layers, but with different “threshold composition” x_th values (the x value is that above which the etching rate of a given compound increases sharply). Selectively etched samples have been examined by SEM. The experimental dependence of etching rate on the x value for I2 solution has been derived. From this dependence, the x composition of any ternary layer can be estimated simply. Observations were made of the “microscopic” properties of the heterostructure, such as the smoothness of the interfaces and the uniformity of layers. All imperfections resulting from the growth process, such as interface perturbations or compositional nonuniformity of layers, are clearly seen. An additional advantage of this etching technique is its simplicity. It allows quick examination of grown heterostructure for the selection of wafers for further processing.     

Technical risk involved in long-term operation of steam turbines

The scope of the paper is the assessment of the technical risk involved in long-term operation of power units. Detailed analyses have been conducted for steam turbine components. The sources and consequences of risk have been identified and the probability of turbine components failure calculated. The quantitative assessment of the risk has been made and possibilities of its reduction discussed.     

Influence of the amount of ferromagnetic addition on the rheological properties of spinning solutions,the structure,the strength,and thermal properties of polyacrylonitrile fibres

The rheological properties of spinning solutions of polyacrylonitrile in dimethyl formamide (DMF) containing various amounts of a ferromagnetic nanoaddition were investigated. The porous structure, the strength and thermal properties of fibers obtained from these solutions were assessed, as well as the uniformity of the nanoaddition distribution on the fiber surface was estimated. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Correlative MR-anatomic study of the median nerve

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of MR imaging for showing the intrinsic anatomy of a peripheral nerve. Cadaver wrist specimens that included the median nerve were imaged with MR imaging at 3 T, then sectioned, stained, and inspected grossly and microscopically. The size, shape, and signal intensity of the sheath and axonal structures in the median nerve were identified in MR images by comparison with anatomic sections. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that MR imaging with sufficiently high-resolution techniques shows the internal structure of peripheral nerves. These results suggest that MR imaging may be a means to distinguish neuritis, tumor, degeneration, or fatty proliferation in a peripheral nerve and to evaluate the nerve before microsurgical anastomosis.     

Note on covering monotone orthogonal polygons with star-shaped polygons

In 1986, Keil provided an O(n²) time algorithm for the problem of covering monotone orthogonal polygons with the minimum number of r-star-shaped orthogonal polygons. This was later improved to O(n) time and space by Gewali et al. in [L. Gewali, M. Keil, S.C. Ntafos, On covering orthogonal polygons with star-shaped polygons, Information Sciences 65 (1992) 45-63]. In this paper we simplify the latter algorithm—we show that with a little modification, the first step Sweep1 of the discussed algorithm—which computes the top ceilings of horizontal grid segments—can be omitted.In addition, for the minimum orthogonal guard problem in the considered class of polygons, our approach provides a linear time algorithm which uses O(k) additional space, where k is the size of the optimal solution—the algorithm in [L. Gewali, M. Keil, S.C. Ntafos, On covering orthogonal polygons with star-shaped polygons, Information Sciences 65 (1992) 45-63] uses both O(n) time and O(n) additional space.