Bounded Unpopularity Matchings

We investigate the following problem: given a set of jobs and a set of people with preferences over the jobs, what is the optimal way of matching people to jobs? Here we consider the notion of popularity. A matching M is popular if there is no matching M′ such that more people prefer M′ to M than the other way around. Determining whether a given instance admits a popular matching and, if so, finding one, was studied by Abraham et al. (SIAM J. Comput. 37(4):1030–1045, 2007). If there is no popular matching, a reasonable substitute is a matching whose unpopularity is bounded. We consider two measures of unpopularity—unpopularity factor denoted by u(M) and unpopularity margin denoted by g(M). McCutchen recently showed that computing a matching M with the minimum value of u(M) or g(M) is NP-hard, and that if G does not admit a popular matching, then we have u(M)≥2 for all matchings M in G.Here we show that a matching M that achieves u(M)=2 can be computed in \(O(m\sqrt{n})\) time (where m is the number of edges in G and n is the number of nodes) provided a certain graph H admits a matching that matches all people. We also describe a sequence of graphs: H=H ₂,H ₃,…,H _k such that if H _k admits a matching that matches all people, then we can compute in \(O(km\sqrt{n})\) time a matching M such that u(M)≤k?1 and \(g(M)\le n(1-\frac{2}{k})\). Simulation results suggest that our algorithm finds a matching with low unpopularity in random instances.     

A multidimensional environmental evaluation of packaging materials

To reduce environmental damage, the properties of environmental issues must be understood. Most previous research has performed relevant assessment either qualitatively or quantitatively. This paper provides a new comprehensive evaluative framework to integrate these two types of approaches. Three methods are combined: (1) life cycle assessment (LCA), a quantitative method, to assess environmental loading, (2) analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a qualitative method, to obtain opinions from experts, and (3) cluster analysis to integrate the results of the former two methods. This new framework could provide integrated information and avoid a bias towards either qualitative or quantitative approach. To present the process of this new evaluative framework, packaging materials are selected as the case study in this paper.     

Experimental and theoretical characterization of the engineering behavior of bitumen mixed with mineral filler

The dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and the bending beam rheometer (BBR) were used to characterize the rheological properties of bitumen mixed with mineral filler that is smaller than 75 μm in size. The study focuses on using a rheology-based model to assess the effect of two distinctly different fillers, quartz and calcite, on the engineering behavior of the bitumen-mineral filler mastic. Four conventionally different bitumens were selected to assess the filler effect. By mathematically modeling the rheological response, predicting the rheological behavior of mastics becomes simpler and more efficient in approach. The rheological properties of bitumen-mineral filler mastics are characterized using the time–temperature superposition principle after data obtained from DSR and BBR are converted to the same unit. The stiffening effects of the filler are relatively small at short loading times or low temperatures, but are larger at higher temperatures or long loading times. This stiffening effect is found to be bitumen dependent as well as filler dependent. The validity of a micromechanical model is confirmed in this study. The Nielsen model was selected since it employs rheological parameters that could explain the filler effect. The micromechanical model shows good agreement with testing data at the filler volume fraction up to 22%.     

Controlled Gelation and Sintering of Monolithic Gels Prepared from γ-Alumina Fume Powder

The gelation, phase transformation, and densification of a colloidal monolithic gel made from γ-Al₂O₃ fume powder are investigated. Among the six gelation agents that we use, formamide and urea are quick in causing gelation and easy to burn off. The densification rate of this gel decreases rapidly after the γ-to-α phase transformation. TiO₂ is an effective sintering aid to overcome this bottleneck of densification because (1) it enhances the phase transformation rate so that the sintering of α-alumina occurs at a lower temperature, and (2) it promotes sintering rates at the initial and intermediate stages after phase transformation. On the other hand, MgO has an inappreciable effect on gel sintering. The effect of MgO at the final sintering stage is obstructed by this densification barrier after transformation. The titania-doped gel monoliths can be sintered to high density and fine microstructure at 1400°C.     

Targeting CCN Proteins in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis

The CCN family of matricellular proteins (CYR61/CCN1, CTGF/CCN2, NOV/CCN3 and WISP1-2-3/CCN4-5-6) are essential players in the key pathophysiological processes of angiogenesis, wound healing and inflammation. These proteins are well recognized for their important roles in many cellular processes, including cell proliferation, adhesion, migration and differentiation, as well as the regulation of extracellular matrix differentiation. Substantial evidence implicates four of the proteins (CCN1, CCN2, CCN3 and CCN4) in the inflammatory pathologies of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). A smaller evidence base supports the involvement of CCN5 and CCN6 in the development of these diseases. This review focuses on evidence providing insights into the involvement of the CCN family in RA and OA, as well as the potential of the CCN proteins as therapeutic targets in these diseases.     

Fabrication of steel roller imprinting molds through adapting conventional planar micro fabrication tools

A soft lithography process has been developed to transfer a pattern directly from a flat PDMS stamp to a stainless steel cylindrical substrate using an SAM ink, without any need to physically attach the stamp to a roller. The process uses standard semiconductor wafer processing equipment, along with specially designed elements to adapt to the cylindrical substrates. The entire process can be applied to batch processing and thus can be directly applied to manufacturing. This technique was demonstrated by fabricating a steel herringbone journal bearing with a diameter of 1.5 mm. The HGJB is an important element which is used for high-speed rotating spindles of electro-mechanical systems such as hard disk drives, CD-Rom drives, and DVD drives in the consumer electronics industry. In this case, the pattern had a dimension of 85 microns and depth of 3 microns. Features as deep as ten microns and as narrow as two microns have been also demonstrated.     

Optoelectronic characteristics of YAG phosphor-incorporated ZnO films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

This work presents a novel white light device. An yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) phosphor-incorporated zinc oxide (ZnO) film is deposited on a slide glass substrate by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. A nanoflower consisting of a hexagonal nanopetal is formed on the surfaces of the samples, and the sizes of the nanopetal are approximately 200 to 700 nm. Additionally, the nanopetal becomes blunted with an increasing incorporated amount of YAG. As the incorporated amount is 1.5 and 2.5 wt.%, the photoluminescence color of the YAG-incorporated ZnO film is nearly white, possibly contributing to the YAG emission and the band-to-deep level transition in the ZnO film.     

Multibeam antenna-based topology control with directional power intensity for ad hoc networks

This paper proposes a new approach that applies multibeam directional antennas to controlling topology by reducing the power intensity directionally instead of omnidirectionally. In contrast to omnidirectional topology control, which reduces transmission power (and, thus, the resulting transmission range) in all directions, the proposed approach maintains the original power range in certain directions while clearing the power intensity in other directions. This paper shows that the proposed approach and the. omnidirectional topology control approach are equivalent in terms of the probability distribution of the number of symmetric neighbors in their resulting topologies. Major benefits of this approach include reduced and steady hop count, power saving independent of the number of neighbors within the original power range, and symmetric link in terms of SNR quality, as compared to omnidirectional topology control approaches. Simulation studies have demonstrated these benefits and highlighted its trade-offs.     

Multicast Communication in Ad Hoc Networks with Directional Antennas

This paper investigates the benefits and impacts of using directional antennas for multicast communications in ad hoc networks. In terms of signal reception, directional antennas have shown considerable improvement in the performance of all aspects over omni-directional antennas, especially over dense networks with heavy traffic load. In addition, we have found that transmitting multicast packets directionally to known neighboring group members or forwarders can help reduce the average end-to-end packet delay and increase the overall throughput. However, directional transmission of unacknowledged data transfers may result in lower performance in terms of packet delivery ratio than omni-directional transmission in any carrier sensing MAC protocols under moderate load due to the effect from the hidden terminal problem. Both analytical results and simulation results, as well as an acknowledgment mechanism to improve the successful delivery rate of multicast data packets, are presented. Prepared through collaborative participation in the Communications and Networks Consortium sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory under the Collaborative Technology Alliance Program, Cooperative Agreement DAAD19-01-2-0011. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.