Faster Deterministic Communication in Radio Networks

We study the communication primitives of broadcasting (one-to-all communication) and gossiping (all-to-all communication) in known topology radio networks, i.e., where for each primitive the schedule of transmissions is precomputed based on full knowledge about the size and the topology of the network. We show that gossiping can be completed in time units in any radio network of size n, diameter D, and maximum degree Δ=Ω(log n). This is an almost optimal schedule in the sense that there exists a radio network topology, specifically a Δ-regular tree, in which the radio gossiping cannot be completed in less than units of time. Moreover, we show a schedule for the broadcast task. Both our transmission schemes significantly improve upon the currently best known schedules by Gąsieniec, Peleg, and Xin (Proceedings of the 24th Annual ACM SIGACT-SIGOPS PODC, pp. 129–137, 2005), i.e., a O(D+Δlog n) time schedule for gossiping and a D+O(log ³ n) time schedule for broadcast. Our broadcasting schedule also improves, for large D, a very recent O(D+log ² n) time broadcasting schedule by Kowalski and Pelc. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the proceedings of ISAAC’06. F. Cicalese supported by the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award 2004 of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. F. Manne and Q. Xin supported by the Research Council of Norway through the SPECTRUM project.     

Comparisons of computed mobile phone induced SAR in the SAM phantom to that in anatomically correct models of the human head

The specific absorption rates (SAR) determined computationally in the specific anthropomorphic mannequin (SAM) and anatomically correct models of the human head when exposed to a mobile phone model are compared as part of a study organized by IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 34, Sub-Committee 2, and Working Group 2, and carried out by an international task force comprising 14 government, academic, and industrial research institutions. The detailed study protocol defined the computational head and mobile phone models. The participants used different finite-difference time-domain software and independently positioned the mobile phone and head models in accordance with the protocol. The results show that when the pinna SAR is calculated separately from the head SAR, SAM produced a higher SAR in the head than the anatomically correct head models. Also the larger (adult) head produced a statistically significant higher peak SAR for both the 1- and 10-g averages than did the smaller (child) head for all conditions of frequency and position.     

On parallel push–relabel based algorithms for bipartite maximum matching

We study multithreaded push–relabel based algorithms for computing maximum cardinality matching in bipartite graphs. Matching is a fundamental combinatorial problem with applications in a wide variety of problems in science and engineering. We are motivated by its use in the context of sparse linear solvers for computing the maximum transversal of a matrix. Other applications can be found in many fields such as bioinformatics (Azad et al., 2010) [4], scheduling (Timmer and Jess, 1995) [27], and chemical structure analysis (John, 1995) [14]. We implement and test our algorithms on several multi-socket multicore systems and compare their performance to state-of-the-art augmenting path-based serial and parallel algorithms using a test set comprised of a wide range of real-world instances.     

Using a molten organic conducting material to infiltrate a nanoporous semiconductor film and its use in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

We describe a method to fill thin films of nanoporous TiO₂ with solid organic hole-conducting materials and demonstrate the procedure specifically for use in the preparation of dye-sensitized solar cells. Cross-sections of the films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and it was observed that a hot molten organic material fills pores that are 10 μm below the surface of the film. We characterized the incident photon to current conversion efficiency properties of the solid TiO₂/organic dye/organic hole-conductor heterojunctions and the spectra show that the dye is still active after the melting process.     

Partner unsupportive responses, avoidant coping, and distress among women with early stage breast cancer: Patient and partner perspectives.

This 18-month longitudinal study examined the associations among partner unsupportive behavior, avoidant coping, and distress experienced by 219 women with early stage breast cancer. The role of patient and partner ratings of unsupportive behavior were evaluated. Results indicated that patient and partner ratings of unsupportive behavior were highly correlated. Growth curve modeling suggested that unsupportive behavior, from both patient and partner perspectives, predicted more avoidant coping and distress. When partner and patient perceptions were placed in the same model, patient perceptions mediated the association between partners' ratings of their unsupportive behavior and patient distress. Avoidance also mediated the association between unsupportive behavior and distress, extending prior cross-sectional findings. Results highlight the long-term detrimental effects of partners' unsupportive behavior on the quality of life of women with early stage breast cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)