Strategic Out-Tasking: Creating “win–win” outsourcing partnerships

IT outsourcing is one of the most prevalent trends in business today. Yet traditional outsourcing models force tradeoffs by both the enterprise and its outsourcer. The former often compromise operational flexibility and innovation while the latter price deals to win, resulting in razor-thin margins and aggressive cost reduction. Strategic Out-Tasking can be seen as a “win–win” model that breaks the traditional, vicious cycle of negative compromise. Many visionary enterprises and leading outsourcers are embracing the guiding principles of a Strategic Out-Tasking model. From an operational perspective, this helps drive greater innovation within enterprises, yields higher outsourcer margins, and, more importantly, reduces partnership risk. We believe that Strategic Out-Tasking can, over the next few years, deliver $16 to $23 billion in industry bottom-line savings that enterprises and outsourcers can share.     

Flow of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>–ethanol and of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>–methanol in a non-adiabatic microfluidic T-junction at high pressures

In this work, an experimental investigation of the single- and multiphase flows of two sets of fluids, CO₂–ethanol and CO₂–methanol, in a non-adiabatic microfluidic T-junction is presented. The operating conditions ranged from 7 to 18 MPa, and from 294 to 474 K. The feed mass fraction of CO₂ in the mixtures was 0.95 and 0.87, respectively. Under these operating conditions, CO₂ was either in liquid, gas or supercritical state; and the mixtures experienced a miscible single phase or a vapour–liquid equilibrium (VLE), with two separated phases. Taylor, annular and wavy were the two-phase flow regimes obtained in the VLE region. In the single phase region, the observed flows were classified into standard single-phase flows, “pseudo” two-phase flows and local phenomena in the T-junction. Flow regime maps were generated, based on temperature and pressure conditions. Two-phase flow void fractions and several parameters of Taylor flow were analysed. They showed a clear dependency on temperature, but were mostly insensitive to pressure. A continuous accumulation of liquid, either in the CO₂ channel or at the CO₂-side wall after the T-junction, disturbed most of the experiments in VLE conditions by randomly generating liquid plugs. This phenomenon is analysed, and capillary and wetting effects due to local Marangoni stresses are suggested as possible causes.     

A fourth order modified trigonometrically fitted symplectic Runge–Kutta–Nyström method

In this work we construct a modified trigonometrically fitted symplectic Runge Kutta Nyström method based on the fourth order five stages method of Calvo and Sanz-Serna (1994). We apply the new method on the numerical integration of the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator, the two-body problem, a perturbed two-body problem and two two-dimensional nonlinear oscillatory Hamiltonian systems.     

Modeling of Ni–Cr–Mo based alloys: Part II — Kinetics

The CALPHAD approach is applied to kinetic studies of phase transformations and to aging of prototypes of Ni–Cr–Mo-based alloys selected for waste disposal canisters in the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). Based on a previous study on alloy stability for several candidate alloys, the thermodynamic driving forces, together with a newly developed mobility database, have been used to analyze diffusion-controlled transformations in these Ni-based alloys. Results on precipitation of the Ni₂Cr-ordered phase in Ni–Cr and Ni–Cr–Mo alloys, and of the complex P and σ$\sigma$ phases in a surrogate of Alloy 22 are presented, and the output from the modeling are compared with experimental data on aging.     

On stable exponential solutions in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet cosmology with zero variation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>

A D-dimensional gravitational model with a Gauss–Bonnet term and the cosmological constant Λ is considered. Assuming diagonal cosmological metrics, we find, for certain Λ > 0, new examples of solutions with an exponential time dependence of two scale factors, governed by two Hubble-like parameters H > 0 and h < 0, corresponding to submanifolds of dimensions m and l, respectively, with (m, l) = (4, 2), (5, 2), (5, 3), (6, 7), (7, 5), (7, 6) and D = 1 + m + l. Any of these solutions describes an exponential expansion of our 3-dimensional factor space with the Hubble parameter H and zero variation of the effective gravitational constant G. We also prove the stability of these solutions in the class of cosmological solutions with diagonal metrics.     

A bound for the Rosenfeld–Gröbner algorithm

We consider the Rosenfeld–Gröbner algorithm for computing a regular decomposition of a radical differential ideal generated by a set of ordinary differential polynomials in n$n$ indeterminates. For a set of ordinary differential polynomials F$F$, let M(F)$M\left(F\right)$ be the sum of maximal orders of differential indeterminates occurring in F$F$. We propose a modification of the Rosenfeld–Gröbner algorithm, in which for every intermediate polynomial system F$F$, the bound M(F)?(n−1)!M(_F0)$M\left(F\right)?(n-1)!M\left(F_0\right)$ holds, where _F0$F_0$ is the initial set of generators of the radical ideal. In particular, the resulting regular systems satisfy the bound. Since regular ideals can be decomposed into characterizable components algebraically, the bound also holds for the orders of derivatives occurring in a characteristic decomposition of a radical differential ideal.     

Alternative proof of the Lyndon–Schützenberger Theorem

Some observations on products of primitive words are discussed. By these results, alternative proof is given for the Lyndon–Schützenberger Theorem, which says that every solution of the equation a^mbⁿ=c^k$a^m{b}^n=c^k$ over Σ^*${\Sigma }^{*}$ is trivial.     

On exponential solutions in the Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet cosmology,stability and variation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>

A D-dimensional gravitational model with Gauss–Bonnet and cosmological terms is considered. When an ansatz with a diagonal cosmological metric is adopted, we find new examples of solutions for Λ Λ ≠ 0 and D = 8 with an exponential dependence of the scale factors, which describe expansion of our 3D factor-space and contraction of 4D internal space. We also study the stability of the solutions with static Hubble-like parameters h ⁱ and prove that two solutions with Λ = 0 in dimensions D = 22, 28, which were found earlier, are stable. For both solutions we find asymptotic relations for the effective gravitational constant.     

Space–time <Emphasis Type="Italic">hp</Emphasis>-approximation of parabolic equations

A new space–time finite element method for the solution of parabolic partial differential equations is introduced. In a mesh and degree-dependent norm, it is first shown that the discrete bilinear form for the space–time problem is both coercive and continuous, yielding existence and uniqueness of the associated discrete solution. In a second step, error estimates in this mesh-dependent norm are derived. In particular, we show that combining low-order elements for the space variable together with an hp-approximation of the problem with respect to the temporal variable allows us to decrease the optimal convergence rates for the approximation of elliptic problems only by a logarithmic factor. For simultaneous space–time hp-discretization in both, the spatial as well as the temporal variable, overall exponential convergence in mesh-degree dependent norms on the space–time cylinder is proved, under analytic regularity assumptions on the solution with respect to the spatial variable. Numerical results for linear model problems confirming exponential convergence are presented.     

The isothermal section of the La–Si–Mg system at 500 C

The isothermal section of the La–Si–Mg system at 500 ^°C was constructed in the whole concentration range by means of the SEM-EDXS and XRPD characterization of about forty alloys prepared by induction melting and then annealed. Phase equilibria are characterized by the following ternary phases: τ₁-La_2+xSi₂Mg_1−x (0≤x≤0.35,tP10-Mo₂FeB₂), τ₂-LaSi₂Mg₂ (tP5-CeSi₂Mg₂), τ₃-LaSi₂Mg (structure still unknown) and τ₄-La₆SiMg₂₃ (cF120-Zr₆SiZn₂₃). The high temperature binary phase LaMg₂ (cF24-MgCu₂) has been found to be stabilized at 500 ^°C probably by a small amount of Si. Phases in binary subsystems do not generally form extended ternary solid solutions except for (La_1−xMg_x)₃Si₂ (0≤x≤0.167,tP10-U₃Si₂). Crystal structures of phases τ₁-La_2+xSi₂Mg_1−x and (La_1−xMg_x)₃Si₂ are correlated, the former being a substitution derivative of the latter.     

Plus–minus algorithm — A method for derivation of the Bäcklund transformations

A new way of deriving Bäcklund transformations for nonlinear partial differential evolution equations is presented and applied to the following equations: Korteweg–de Vries, Gardner, Burgers, generalized KdV and the fifth order equations of the KdV hierarchies. The presented method is based on the assumption of the existence of particular forms of the Bäcklund transformations. This assumption is supported by the strong or semi-strong necessary condition concepts [Sokalski, K., Wietecha, T., Lisowski, Z., 2001. Acta Phys. Polon. B32, 17; Sokalski, K., Wietecha, T., Lisowski, Z., 2002. Int. J. Theor. Phys. Group Theory Nonlinear Opt., NOVA, 9, 331; Sokalski, K., Wietecha, T., Lisowski, Z., 2001. Acta Phys. Polon. B32, 2771; Sokalski, K., Wietecha, T., Sokalska, D. 2005. J. Nonlinear Math. Phys. 12, 31]. Its general form has been put within the framework of an algorithm and implemented in MAPLE.     

Fast generation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-atom Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state in separate coupled cavities via transitionless quantum driving

By jointly using quantum Zeno dynamics and the approach of “transitionless quantum driving (TQD)” proposed by Berry to construct shortcuts to adiabatic passage, we propose an efficient scheme to fast generate multiatom Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state in separate cavities connected by optical fibers only by one-step manipulation. We first detail the generation of the three-atom GHZ state via TQD; then, we compare the proposed TQD scheme with the traditional ones with adiabatic passage. At last, the influence of various decoherence factors, such as spontaneous emission, cavity decay and fiber photon leakage, is discussed by numerical simulations. All of the results show that the present TQD scheme is fast and insensitive to atomic spontaneous emission and fiber photon leakage. Furthermore, the scheme can be directly generalized to realize N-atom GHZ state generation by the same principle in theory.     

Co-creation and user-generated content–elderly people’s user requirements

There is an increasing demand on citizens to participate in social network websites and to create and share their own user-generated content (UGC), such as photographs, videos, and blogs. So far, little is known about how elderly people respond to these new trends and master the techniques required. This paper reports on three studies that investigated elderly people’s user requirements related to consumption, sharing and co-creation of UGC in new media. The first study, conducted in Norway, identifies patterns of Internet usage, age differences, and participation in online communities and the consumption, sharing and co-creation of UGC on a macro level. The second study, conducted in Belgium, investigated the social requirements of elderly people on a group level. The third study, also conducted in Belgium, investigated user and context requirements on an individual level. The results of the first study show that the elderly rarely participate in online communities and share audio-visual UGC. However, they embrace some aspects of the new media and more often express themselves politically. The results of the second study show that the elderly are very motivated to contribute with UGC, given the right circumstances. The results of the third study show that it is important for elderly people that they be able to use the new technologies easily and identifies their worries about using them.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ebaluatoia</Emphasis>: crowd evaluation for English–Basque machine translation

This work explores the feasibility of a crowd-based pair-wise comparison evaluation to get feedback on machine translation progress for under-resourced languages. Specifically, we propose a task based on simple work units to compare the outputs of five English-to-Basque systems, which we implement in a web application. In our design, we put forward two key aspects that we believe community collaboration initiatives should consider in order to attract and maintain participants, that is, providing both a community challenge and a personal challenge. We describe how these aspects can comply with a strict methodology to ensure research validity. In particular, we consider the evaluation set size and the characteristics of the test sentences, the number of evaluators per comparison pair, and a mechanism to identify dishonest participation (or participants with insufficient linguistic knowledge). We also describe our dissemination effort, which targeted both general users and interest groups. Over 500 people participated actively in the Ebaluatoia campaign and we were able to collect over 35,000 evaluations in a short period of 10 days. From the results, we complete the ranking of the systems under evaluation and establish whether the difference in quality between the systems is significant.     

Local abstraction–refinement for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">μ</Emphasis>-calculus

A key technique for the verification of programs is counterexample-guided abstraction–refinement (CEGAR). Grumberg et al. (LNCS, vol 3385, pp. 233–249. Springer, Berlin, 2005; Inf Comput 205(8):1130–1148, 2007) developed a CEGAR-based algorithm for the modal μ-calculus. There, every abstract state is split in a refinement step. In this paper, the work of Grumberg et al. is generalized by presenting a new CEGAR-based algorithm for the μ-calculus. It is based on a more expressive abstract model and applies refinement only locally (at a single abstract state), i.e., the lazy abstraction technique for safety properties is adapted to the μ-calculus. Furthermore, it separates refinement determination from the (3-valued based) model checking. Three different heuristics for refinement determination are presented and illustrated.     

Robust Plackett–Luce model for <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-ary crowdsourced preferences

The aggregation of k-ary preferences is an emerging ranking problem, which plays an important role in several aspects of our daily life, such as ordinal peer grading and online product recommendation. At the same time, crowdsourcing has become a trendy way to provide a plethora of k-ary preferences for this ranking problem, due to convenient platforms and low costs. However, k-ary preferences from crowdsourced workers are often noisy, which inevitably degenerates the performance of traditional aggregation models. To address this challenge, in this paper, we present a RObust PlAckett–Luce (ROPAL) model. Specifically, to ensure the robustness, ROPAL integrates the Plackett–Luce model with a denoising vector. Based on the Kendall-tau distance, this vector corrects k-ary crowdsourced preferences with a certain probability. In addition, we propose an online Bayesian inference to make ROPAL scalable to large-scale preferences. We conduct comprehensive experiments on simulated and real-world datasets. Empirical results on “massive synthetic” and “real-world” datasets show that ROPAL with online Bayesian inference achieves substantial improvements in robustness and noisy worker detection over current approaches.     

Fabrication and packaging of MEMS based platform for hydrogen sensor using ZnO–SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> composites

Thin films of metal-oxide with integrated microheater on micromachined silicon substrate have attracted great deal of interest towards the development of extremely small and highly sensitive gas sensor. Fabrication of MEMS microheater which is the key component for the development of low power gas sensor is reported here. The microheater is fabricated in a novel co planer fashion where the heating element and the inter-digitated electrode are place side by side. The fabricated device is structurally and electrically characterized by SEM and I–V measurements. Using ZnO–SnO₂ composite material, hydrogen sensor was constructed on the microheater platform. A suitable package for encapsulating the fabricated device is designed and the device was successfully mounted on it. The sensing behavior of the packaged sensor is performed by exposing the sensor to hydrogen.     

Adiabatic passage for one-step generation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-qubit Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states of superconducting qubits via quantum Zeno dynamics

An efficient scheme is proposed for generating n-qubit Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states of n superconducting qubits separated by (\(n-1\)) coplanar waveguide resonators capacitively via adiabatic passage with the help of quantum Zeno dynamics in one step. In the scheme, it is not necessary to precisely control the time of the whole operation and the Rabi frequencies of classical fields because of the introduction of adiabatic passage. The numerical simulations for three-qubit Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state show that the scheme is insensitive to the dissipation of the resonators and the energy relaxation of the superconducting qubits. The three-qubit Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state can be deterministically generated with comparatively high fidelity in the current experimental conditions, though the scheme is somewhat sensitive to the dephasing of superconducting qubits.