Matching with don't-cares and a small number of mismatches

In matching with don't-cares and k mismatches we are given a pattern of length m and a text of length n, both of which may contain don't-cares (a symbol that matches all symbols), and the goal is to find all locations in the text that match the pattern with at most k mismatches, where k is a parameter. We present new algorithms that solve this problem using a combination of convolutions and a dynamic programming procedure. We give randomized and deterministic solutions that run in time O(nk²logm) and O(nk³logm), respectively, and are faster than the most efficient extant methods for small values of k. Our deterministic algorithm is the first to obtain an O(polylog(k)⋅nlogm) running time.     

Superfast densification of nanocrystalline oxide powders by spark plasma sintering

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is a newly discovered old technique which recently has been used for superfast densification of ceramic powders. Simultaneous application of pulsed high dc current densities and load is the necessary condition for rapid and full densification of ceramic powders by SPS. Commercial nanocrystalline magnesium oxide (nc-MgO) and yttrium aluminum garnet (nc-YAG) powders were densified to optical transparency using spark plasma sintering at distinctly different homologous temperatures (0.3 T _m for nc-MgO and 0.7 T _m for nc-YAG). The observed microstructure, density and grain size evolutions versus the SPS temperature were analyzed. The enhanced densification of the nc-MgO powder at the present SPS conditions was related to plastic deformation followed by diffusion processes. Densification of nc-YAG powder was described by the formation of viscous layer at the particle surfaces and corresponding densification by grain rotation and diffusion through the liquid phase. Densification by normal grain growth takes place at higher relative densities, regardless of the material.     

Effect of grain size on elastic modulus and hardness of nanocrystalline ZrO2-3 wt% Y2O3 ceramic

Dense nanocrystalline ZrO₂-3 wt% Y₂O₃ ceramics with grain sizes ranging between 23 to 130 nm were tested by ultrasonic pulse echo and Vickers hardness. The elastic modulus and hardness results were corrected for the residual porosity and the phase content. The corrected elastic moduli exhibited continuous decrease with decrease in the grain size. In contrast, no correlation was found between the corrected hardness and grain size. The percolative composite model was used to describe the changes in the elastic moduli in terms of percolation of the elastic wave through the intercrystalline phase at the percolation threshold. The absence of correlation with the hardness results was explained due to the other energy absorbing mechanisms such as microcracking beneath the indenter.     

Discovery of an Allosteric Ligand Binding Site in SMYD3 Lysine Methyltransferase

SMYD3 is a multifunctional epigenetic enzyme with lysine methyltransferase activity and various interaction partners. It is implicated in the pathophysiology of cancers but with an unclear mechanism. To discover tool compounds for clarifying its biochemistry and potential as a therapeutic target, a set of drug-like compounds was screened in a biosensor-based competition assay. Diperodon was identified as an allosteric ligand; its R and S enantiomers were isolated, and their affinities to SMYD3 were determined (K_D=42 and 84 μM, respectively). Co-crystallization revealed that both enantiomers bind to a previously unidentified allosteric site in the C-terminal protein binding domain, consistent with its weak inhibitory effect. No competition between diperodon and HSP90 (a known SMYD3 interaction partner) was observed although SMYD3–HSP90 binding was confirmed (K_D=13 μM). Diperodon clearly represents a novel starting point for the design of tool compounds interacting with a druggable allosteric site, suitable for the exploration of noncatalytic SMYD3 functions and therapeutics with new mechanisms of action.     

Electric field effects during spark plasma sintering of ceramic nanoparticles

The effects of the applied electric field during the spark plasma sintering of ceramic nanoparticles were examined at various stages of the process. It was assumed that local intensification of the electric field arises due to the nanoscale structural features. Enhanced surface conductivity is expected in the nanoparticles during the heating, which otherwise are electrically non-conducting as a bulk. Percolation of the electric current at “optimal” electrical conductivity is obtained by fractal dimension. The defective nanoparticle surfaces experience charging–discharge cycles which lead to local breakdown and to plasma formation due to the ionized surface molecules. High local temperatures which evolved in a nonlinear fashion at the particle surfaces lead to enhanced sintering and densification kinetics, consistent with the flash sintering phenomenon. The contribution of the pondermotive force to the enhancement of the diffusion kinetics is discussed. Temperature windows for enhanced densification kinetics via plastic deformation or plasma-assisted processes are estimated for MgO, Al₂O₃, and YAG.     

Densification of nanocrystalline Y2O3 ceramic powder by spark plasma sintering

Nanocrystalline Y₂O₃ powders with 18 nm crystallite size were sintered using spark plasma sintering (SPS) at different conditions between 1100 and 1600 °C. Dense specimens were fabricated at 100 MPa and 1400 °C for 5 min duration. A maximum in density was observed at 1400 °C. The grain size continuously increased with the SPS temperature into the micrometer size range. The maximum in density arises from competition between densification and grain growth. Retarded densification above 1400 °C is associated with enhanced grain growth that resulted in residual pores within the grains. Analysis of the grain growth kinetics resulted in activation energy of 150 kJ mol^?1 and associated diffusion coefficients higher by 10³ than expected for Y³⁺ grain boundary diffusion. The enhanced diffusion may be explained by combined surface diffusion and particle coarsening during the heating up with grain boundary diffusion at the SPS temperature.     

The Effect of External Electrostatic Field Orientation on Aerosol Filtration by Granular Filters

The separation of fine aerosol particles by a packed granular-bed filter, enhanced by external electrostatic fields, was studied experimentally and theoretically. The filtration efficiencies of charged and neutralized aerosols were measured for external fields aligned with the air flow, transverse to the flow, and opposite to the flow. Theoretical models of electrostatically enhanced granular-bed filtration of micrometer and submicrometer particles were developed. Experimental results which demonstrate the relative merit of each configuration were presented and compared with the theory. The parallel-field configuration yielded the best filtration efficiency followed by the transverse configuration.     

Atomic snapshots using lattice agreement

Summary Thesnapshot object is an important tool for constructing wait-free asynchronous algorithms. We relate the snapshot object to thelattice agreement decision problem. It is shown that any algorithm for solving lattice agreement can be transformed into an implementation of a snapshot object. The overhead cost of this transformation is only a linear number of read and write operations on atomic single-writer multi-reader registers. The transformation uses an unbounded amount of shared memory. We present a deterministic algorithm for lattice agreement that usedO (log² n) operations on 2-processorTest & Set registers, plusO (n) operations on atomic single-writer multi-reader registers. The shared objects are used by the algorithm in adynamic mode, that is, the identity of the processors that access each of the shared objects is determined dynamically during the execution of the algorithm. By a randomized implementation of 2-processorsTest & Set registers from atomic registers, this algorithm implies a randomized algorthm for lattice agreement that uses an expected number ofO (n) operations on (dynamic) atomic single-writer multi-reader registers. Combined with our transformation this yields implementations of atomic snapshots with the same complexity.Cambridge Research Laboratory, Digital Equipment Corporation Hagit Attiya received the B.Sc. degreeiin Mathematics and Computer Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in 1981, the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in 1983 and 1987, respectively. She is presently a senior lecturer at the departtment of Computer Science at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Prior to this, she has been a post-doctoral research associate at the Laboratory for Computer Science at M.I.T. Her general research interests are distributed computation and theoretical computer science. More specific interests include fault-tolerance, timing-based and asynchronous algorithms. Maurice Herlihy received the A.B. degree in Mathematics from Harvard University, and the M.S. and the Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from M.I.T. From 1984 to 1989 he was a faculty member in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1989 he joined the research staff at the Digital Equipment Corporation's Cambridge Research Laboratory in Cambridge MA. Since 1994, he has been on the faculty at the Computer Science Department at Brown University. Dr. Herlihy's research interests encompass practical and theoretical aspects of distributed and concurrent computation. Ophir achman received a B.A. in computer science from the Technion, Haifa, Israel in 1989 and M.Sc. in computer science from the Technion, Haifa, Israel, in 1992. He is now studying for a D.Sc. in computer science at the Technion. His currentarea of research is distributed computing, and in particular, asynchronous shared memory systems.This work appeared in preliminary form in proceedings ofthe 6th International Workshop on Distributed Algorithms [12]. This research was partially supported by grant No. 92-0233 from the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Technion V.P.R. funds — B. and G. Greenberg Research Fund (Ottawa), and the fund for the promotion of research in the TechnionPart of the work of this author was performed while visiting DEC Cambridge Research Laboratory     

On the Microstructures Resulting from the Diffusionless Cubic→Tetragonal Transformation in ZrO2-Y2O3 Alloys

A diffusionless cubic (c)→metastable tetragonal (t') phase transformation occurs in certain alloys in the ZrO₂-Y₂O₃ system on quenching from elevated temperatures. Microstructural features due to this phase transformation, principally anti-phase domain boundaries (APB's) and mechanical accommodation twins, have been characterized using transmission electron microscopy. Certain differences between our interpretation and those of other workers are discussed.