On the complexity of finding a local maximum of functions on discrete planar subsets

We study how many values of an unknown integer-valued function f one needs to know in order to find a local maximum of f. We consider functions defined on finite subsets of discrete plane. We prove upper bounds for functions defined on rectangles and present lower bounds for functions defined on arbitrary domains in terms of the size of the domain and the size of its border.     

Misuse and abuse cases: getting past the positive

Software development is all about making software do something: when software vendors sell their products, they talk about what the products do to make customers' lives easier, such as encapsulating business processes or something similarly positive. Following this trend, most systems for designing software also tend to describe positive features. The authors provide a nonacademic introduction to the software security best practice of misuse and abuse cases, showing you how to put the basic science to work.     

Social class, education, and smoking cessation: Long-term follow-up of patients treated at a smoking cessation unit.

Our objective was to examine social class and educational differences in long-term smoking cessation success among a cohort of smokers attending a specialized smoking clinic. We studied sustained abstinence after cessation among 1,516 smokers (895 men and 621 women) treated for smoking cessation between 1995 and 2001 at a university teaching hospital in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. We calculated 1-year and long-term (up to 8-year) abstinence probabilities by means of Kaplan-Meier curves and the hazard ratio of relapse by means of Cox regression, after adjusting for other predictors of relapse. Overall abstinence probability was .277 (95% CI = .254-.301). Men and women in social classes IV-V had significant hazard ratios of relapse after long-term follow-up (men: 1.36, 95% CI = 1.07-1.72; women: 1.60, 95% CI = 1.24-2.06), as compared with patients in social classes I-II. The same independent effect was observed for education: Men and women with primary or less than primary studies had higher hazard ratios of relapse (men: 1.75, 95% CI = 1.35-2.25; women: 1.92, 95% CI = 1.51-2.46), as compared with patients with a university degree. Similar estimates were obtained after adjustment for stage of change, Fagerstr?m score for nicotine dependence, and type of treatment. Patients of lower socioeconomic status are at higher risk of relapse, and this association is independent of other well-known predictors of relapse. Social differences have to be taken into account in the clinical setting when tailoring specific actions to treat smoking dependence.     

Processing parameters of the diethylenetriamine and unsaturated aldehyde resin

The dependence of processing parameters of the reaction between diethylenetriamine (DETA) and crotonaldehyde (CR) or cinnamaldehyde (CA) on reaction time were followed by calorimetric and viscosity measurements. Resins with molecular weights up to 800 g/mol and content of unreacted monomers under 1% were formed. The most reactive were the amino and aldehyde groups. The aldehyde groups are five times more reactive than double bonds. ? NHCHOH, ? CH₂NH? , ? CHNH? , and ? N?CH? groups were formed. The rates of the reactions and the rate constants decrease with increasing molar ratio between DETA and unsaturated aldehydes. The heat of the addition of DETA to CR was up to 54 KJ/mol and the total heat of reaction was up to 71 KJ/mol. The heat of addition of DETA to CA was up to 32 KJ/mol and the total heat of reaction was up to 61 KJ/mol. For DETA and CR the activation energy of condensation were 57.3 KJ/mol, and 42.0 KJ/mol for DETA and CA. The viscosity of the final products increased up to hard resins.     

Influence of the molecular weight of ionenes on the cobaltphthalocyanine-catalysed autoxidation of mercaptoethanol

In order to study the promoting effect of polycations on the cobalt(II)phthalocyanine-tetrasodiumsulphonate (CoPc(NaSO₃)₄)-catalysed autoxidation of thiols, it is imperative to know the molecular weight dependence of the polymer. Monodisperse oligomers can often supply a lot of information. To elecidate the mechanism of the promoting effect of 2,4-ionene, a poly(quaternary ammonium)salt, on the CoPc(NaSO₃)₄-catalysed autoxidation of 2-mercaptoethanol, a series of monodisperse 2,4-ionene oligomers were prepared. Trimeric 2,4-ionenes, containing two quaternary ammonium groups separated by four methylene groups, showed a high co-catalytic activity, and active Co-aggregates were detected with visible light spectroscopy. The spectroscopic behaviour was in close agreement with that of high molecular 2,4-ionene/CoPc(NaSO₃)₄ complexes. In order to achieve this aggregation several oligomeric ionenes have to act concertedly. If the distance between the ionic sites is short the trimer acts as a simple salt in stablizing the aggregates. With respect to the catalytic activity the optimum polycation/catalyst ratio, expressed as the N⁺/Co ratio, decreased with increasing chain lenght and reached a constant level of 50 at a 2,4-ionene nonamer. For the trimers and pentamers this ratio is affected by the type of end-group. All synthesized 2,4-ionene oligomers exhibited excellent co-catalytic properties at the optimum N⁺/Co ratio, with maximum turnover frequencies of 4600 mol thiol/(mol Co s), i.e. 50 times higher than those obtained for the polymer-free system. In the case of monodisperse 2,4-ionene pentamer with bromo end-groups, double Michaelis–Menten kinetics were observed, as also was exhibited by high molecular weight ionene.     

A multidimensional wave digital filter bank for video-based motion analysis

Multidimensional wave digital filters (MDWDF) exhibit the same desirable properties as 1D WDFs, most notably including passivity and therefore guaranteed stability as well as high robustness. A possible application for such MDWDFs may be found in motion analysis of image sequences by means of filters with fan-shaped transfer functions, where content with specific movement information can be extracted. For that matter, a parallel filter bank is needed to differentiate object motion into separate classes. In this paper, a new specialized MDWDF fan filter structure is introduced, possessing both reduced computational complexity and memory requirements compared to existing approaches. Additionally, part of the processing can be shared among all bands, further increasing efficiency.     

MaxPHOS Ligand: PH/NH Tautomerism and Rhodium‐ Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenations

MaxPHOS is an active and robust P‐stereogenic ligand for asymmetric catalysis. The presence of an  NH bridge between the two phosphine moieties allows the NH/PH tautomerism to take place. The neutral ligand, in which the NH form predominates, is an air‐sensitive compound. However, protonation of MaxPHOS leads to the stable PH form of the ligand, in which the overall positive charge is distributed on both P centers. This protonation turns the MaxPHOS⋅HBF₄ salt 3 into an air‐stable compound both in the solid state and in solution. The salt 3 is also a convenient precursor for the preparation of rhodium(I) complexes by direct ligand exchange with the complex [Rh(acac)(cod)]. Finally, the corresponding rhodium(I)‐MaxPHOS complex was tested in the asymmetric hydrogenation of a wide range of substrates. The complex proved to be a highly selective and robust system in these reactions.