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• Video case studies are an effective alternative to the traditional case study. • Video case studies with SLT provide an interactive way to learn about leadership. • SLT can be used for teaching leadership content to undergraduate nursing students. Leadership is an essential nursing competency. Specific leadership competencies of assignment, delegation, and supervision are imperative. While written case studies are commonly used, use of video case studies may increase student engagement. An alternative teaching strategy using synthetic learning technologies can be used to meet the same objectives while increasing student interest. There were 99 participants in the intervention group and 94 participants in the control group between 2 campuses. A traditional case study was transformed into a video case study with the help of the university technology team using standardized patients, video recordings, and a storyboard in the Learning Management System. There were statistically significant differences on 4 exam items about assignment, delegation, and supervision. Students can effectively learn about assignment, delegation, and supervision through synthetic learning technologies. There is potential to develop additional activities using this technology in nursing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Shared memory. • Fault tolerance. • Concurrent programming. In the allocation problem, asynchronous processors must partition a set of items so that each processor leaves knowing all items exclusively allocated to it. We introduce a new variant of the allocation problem called the assignment problem, in which processors might leave having only partial knowledge of their assigned items. The missing items in a processor's assignment must eventually be announced by other processors. While allocation has consensus number 2, we show that the assignment problem is solvable read-write wait-free when k processors compete for at least 2 k − 1 items. Moreover, we propose a long-lived read-write wait-free assignment algorithm which is fair, allocating no more than 2 items per processor, and in which a slow processor may delay the assignment of at most n items, where n is the number of processors. The assignment problem and its read-write solution may be of practical interest for implementing resource allocators and work queues, which are pervasive concurrent programming patterns, as well as stream-processing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate a market without money in which every agent offers indivisible goods in multiple copies, in exchange for goods of other agents. The exchange must be balanced in the sense that each agent should receive a quantity of good(s) equal to the one she transfers to others. We describe the market in graph-theoretic terms hence we use the notion of circulations to describe a balanced exchange of goods. Each agent has strict preferences over the agents from which she will receive goods and an upper bound on the quantity of each transaction, while a positive integer weight reflects the social importance of each unit exchanged. In this paper, we propose a simple variant of the Top Trading Cycles mechanism that finds a Pareto optimal circulation. We then offer necessary and sufficient conditions for a circulation to be Pareto optimal and, as a consequence, a easy recognition procedure. Last, we show that finding a maximum weight Pareto optimal circulation is NP-hard but becomes polynomial if weights are concordant with preferences. • Introducing a preference-based exchange market without money. • Providing a mechanism that returns a Pareto optimal exchange. • Characterization and recognition of Pareto optimal exchanges. • Showing that maximum weight Pareto optimal exchange is NP-hard and computing it in some special cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Attributes like team work, experiment designing, contemporary learning are achieved. • Its an annual activity part of fluid mechanics lab course since 2015. • The video of each exhibit is uploaded on the YouTube Channel. • Videos are used by fellow students for peer to peer learning. • The assignment is curbing tendency of copying and fostering creativity. Fluid mechanics (FM) is a core course of the Chemical (ChE), Mechanical, Civil, and Aerospace Engineering programs. The general expectation is that students should be able to demonstrate the fundamentals learnt in theory and get hands-on experience during the lab course. In this regard, the author of this paper organized an assignment plus competition entitled "Fun with Fluid" (FwF). The event had the following four segments: (1) fun with fluid, (2) frugal lab, (3) design of a thought problem, and (4) a PowerPoint presentation of the FM concepts. The author of this paper had two cabin meetings with each group (registration/guidance in selecting topic and presentation rehearsal). Through this assignment, students were able to design and conduct experiments. Additionally, it gave them a chance to assess their communication ability, work with multidisciplinary teams, and understand contemporary issues. Each exhibit was evaluated in three stages. Before the event, instructor and teaching assistants assessed projects while for evaluation during the event three experts from outside the institute were invited. Evaluation was based on scientific content, novelty, presentation and questions-answer session. Since 2015 FwF is an annual activity. Videos of exhibits are available on YouTube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A data-parallel multiple source shortest path algorithm is proposed. • Achieves high performance for sparse graphs when executed on many-core processors. • The algorithm is implemented in SATURN for macroscopic road network assignment. • The assignment application run-time is reduced by a factor of 7.8 for a 5194 zone network. The performance and scalability of macroscopic assignment and simulation software limits the quantity, scale and complexity of simulations of transport networks that are used to aid the planning, design and operation of transport systems. Through the application of many-core processing architectures (such as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)) and data-parallel algorithms, the performance of such software can be dramatically increased. In this paper, a work-efficient, Multiple Source Shortest Path (MSSP) implementation of the Bellman-Ford algorithm is proposed to dramatically increase the performance of shortest path calculations for low-density high-diameter graphs, which are characteristic of transportation networks. This is achieved through the use of an Origin-Vertex Frontier to increase the level of parallelism within the shortest path algorithm for multiple source vertices in low-density graphs, when executed on GPUs. The algorithm is implemented within the SATURN transport simulation software and benchmarked on a range of real-world transportation networks. Our algorithm improves hardware utilisation of massively-parallel GPUs; demonstrating performance improvements of up to 7.8 x over a multi-core CPU (Central Processing Unit) implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consider a situation in which individuals –the buyers –have different valuations for the products of a given set. An envy-free assignment of product items to buyers requires that the items obtained by every buyer be purchased at a price not larger than his/her valuation, and each buyer's welfare (difference between product value and price) be the largest possible. Under this condition, the problem of finding prices maximizing the seller's revenue is known to be APX -hard even for unit-demand bidders (with several other inapproximability results for different variants), that is, when each buyer wishes to buy at most one item. Here, we focus on Envy-free Complete Allocation , the special case where a fixed number of copies of each product is available, each of the n buyers must get exactly one product item, and all the products must be sold. This case is known to be solvable in O (n 4) time. We revisit a series of results on this problem and, answering a question found in Leonard (1983), show how to solve it in O (n 3) time by connections to perfect matchings and shortest paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Only a small set of SNPs, when accurately chosen, was needed to differentiate among the Dutch local cattle breeds. • The reference population of purebred animals showed genetic clusters that corresponded to their breed designations and its usefulness for assignment of future unknowns. • A genetic test was developed to unequivocally determine the breed origin of animals without pedigree data. Abstract Breed registries have been established for livestock species to maintain the purity of breeds and to document the ancestry of animals. However, a significant number of animals are unregistered with no or incomplete pedigree data and uncertain ancestral breed origin. Although many local livestock breeds are "at risk" on the basis of the number of purebred breeding females in a breed registry, there is often also a reservoir of unregistered animals that may belong to the same breed. However, due to the missing pedigree it is not possible for breed societies or herd books to include those animals in their breeding program for purebred animals. A genetic test was developed to unequivocally determine the breed origin of cattle without pedigree data. Such a test will open up the possibility to incorporate animals without pedigree data in the breed registry that turn out to be purebred based on the test results. In this study we developed and validated such a test. Genotype data (50k SNP array) were used to compose reference populations for six local Dutch cattle breeds. The combination Principal Component Analysis and Random Forest was used to perform SNP selection. A total of 133 informative SNPs were selected to determine breed composition of individual animals. Overall, 82.0% of the animals in the test population are correctly assigned to the breed in question. For Dutch Red and White Friesian and Deep Red Cattle we suggest that if an animal has a percentage for its own breed <0.775 to use the combined percentage of two breeds (Deep Red Cattle with Meuse‐Rhine‐Yssel and Dutch Red and White Friesian with Dutch Friesian). Using this criteria 88.9% (104 out of 117) of the animals in the test population is correctly assigned. The developed test was successful and will be implemented in practice to identify (partly) unregistered individuals as being purebred (or not) for one of the Dutch local cattle breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cross-docking, as one of the efficient strategies of distribution systems can reduce the inventory costs and accelerate the delivery of products to customers. One of the important truck scheduling problems in multi-door cross-docks is a multi-period planning horizon, which is rarely taken into consideration. In addition, a way to assign the cross-dock transportation equipment, such as forklifts to doors and trucks as well as the energy consumption optimization of the equipment has not yet been addressed. Furthermore, due to a number of constraints in transportation equipment of the cross-docks, the formation of a waiting queue for outbound trucks for assigning to outbound doors is one of the most important issues that have been rarely investigated. Accordingly, in this research, a bi-objective optimization model is presented for the problem of scheduling, the sequence of trucks, and the assignment of trucks and forklifts to the doors in a multi-door cross-dock with flexible doors. In addition, in order to make a better plan for inbound and outbound trucks, the time window constraints are used. Moreover, an M/M/1 queuing system is provided to minimize the waiting times for trucks in the queue for the assignment to doors. The first objective function of the proposed model seeks to minimize the costs of holding products in a cross-dock, delaying trucks in delivering shipments to customers, and waiting for trucks in the queue. The aim of the second objective function is to minimize the energy consumption of forklift in a cross-dock. In order to solve the problem, two multi-objective meta-heuristic algorithms, including a multi objective imperialist competitive algorithm (MOICA) and a multi objective grey wolf optimizer (MOGWO) are presented. Finally, to illustrate the accuracy of the model and algorithms presented, various numerical examples are solved and the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract During multi-robot exploration, the calculation cost of the target assignment increases significantly with an increase in the map size and number of robots. In this study, a target elimination method is proposed to overcome this challenge. The benefit of the proposed method increases as the map size and number of robots increase, which is demonstrated both empirically and theoretically. Moreover, it is established that the proposed method does not rely on a specific map representation or robot–target assignment method. Highlights • A more scalable solution to the multi-robot–multi-target assignment problem. • Proposed method does not rely on a specific map representation or a robot–target assignment method. • The elimination method we propose can be used as an acceleration element for any robot–target assignment algorithm. • The benefit of the proposed method increases as the map size and the number of robots increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Naturally occurring γ-butyrolactones and their synthetic analogues display a wide range of bioactivities. Here, the multicomponent reaction of dimethyl 2-benzyl-3-methylenesuccinate with bromobenzene and benzaldehyde catalyzed by cobalt (II) bromide afforded a maculalactone derivative with three stereogenic centers. This reaction presented moderate diastereoselectivity and yielded different proportions of all the four possible diastereoisomers. The anti:anti (majority), anti:syn , syn:anti , and syn:syn diastereoisomers were isolated and characterized by 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Because the stereochemical assignment of all the diastereoisomers by Nuclear Overhauser Effect Difference (NOEDiff) experiments was not definitive, the 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts were predicted by theoretical calculations with the density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. The relative configurations of all the four diastereoisomers were assigned by using the CP3 parameter to compare the experimental and the calculated data and by determining the CP3 probability, which provided high level of confidence. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • NMR chemical shifts calculation and the relative configurations of lactones. • Stereochemical assignment of diastereoisomers of a tri-benzylated γ-butyrolactone. • Determination of the relative configurations of a maculalactone derivative. • CP3 parameter applied to distinguish four diastereoisomers. • Assignment of the relative configurations corroborated a proposed reaction mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In previous optimization methods for multi-module satellite equipment (component) layout optimization problem, each component was limited to certain module or supporting surface and could only search its position there. Components could not migrate from one module or supporting surface to another. In this case, the layout design of components within satellite module was seriously hindered from further improvement. In this study a component assignment and layout integration optimization algorithm is presented to deal with this problem, which can assign components to each module of satellite dynamically during optimization procedure. The aim of this paper is to expand the solution space of component layout optimization so as to further improve the component layout design. The proposed component assignment and layout integration optimization algorithm is inspired from the idea of stepwise regression in multiple regression analysis, which allows independent variables to enter or leave regression equation freely. In the proposed algorithm components enter the satellite module one by one in descending order of the product of mass and height. For all supporting surfaces within satellite module, each component will try all of them through layout optimization together with these components have been in the satellite module, and finally select the one with the best fitness as its initial assignment. At the same time, these components have been in the satellite module will be evaluated by their moment of inertia to decide whether they leave the current supporting surfaces and move to another or not. The layout optimization algorithm uses the differential evolution (DE) and random mutation operation to optimize the coordinates and orientations of components, respectively. The performance of the proposed algorithm is finally evaluated on a simplified satellite case. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm outperforms other two algorithms that did not consider component assignment in computational accuracy. Graphical abstract Highlights • Multi-module satellite layout problem usually did not consider component assignment. • We propose a component assignment algorithm based on the idea of stepwise regression. • Components outside of satellite module enter the module one by one in a proper order. • Components in the module are allowed to migrate from one sub-module to another. • Whether a component enters or leaves a sub-module depends on the results of layout optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to both the rapid growth of world and the expansion of the flow of container shipment, a maritime container terminal plays a vital role in global coverage of supply chain. In this market, because shipping is growing fast, container terminals should be able to serve the vessels in the shortest possible time. Alternatively, the limited availability of operational facilities, such as internal trucks, makes servicing more complicated in container terminals. Therefore, this study aimed to integrate the assignment of quay cranes in container terminals and internal truck sharing assignment among them. For this purpose, a bi-objective optimization model is developed. In the proposed model, several assignment phases, including the assignments of the vessel to container terminals, cranes to terminals, cranes to vessels and trucks to cranes are performed. The model also seeks to increase and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of internal trucks by sharing them among different terminals, so that there is an appropriate balance between the volume of workloads of the terminals and the trucks in question. The first objective function in the proposed model seeks to minimize operational costs and the second objective function seeks to minimize the maximum overflowed workload in the terminals. Furthermore, in order to solve the proposed model, two meta-heuristic multi-objective algorithms, including modified non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (MNSGA-II) and modified multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MMOPSO) are presented. Several numerical examples have been investigated and analyzed to show the accuracy of the proposed model and the methods. In addition, the results demonstrated that the simultaneous consideration of the assignments and the sharing of trucks would reduce the remaining workload in the terminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study provides a novel method to study bus service assignment on staggered bus stops. • Concept of bus stop occupancy time series and cluster compactness is adopted for staggered bus stop studies. • Feasibility of developed method is demonstrated through a case study in Singapore. • Study provides operators an easily-implementable mean to assign bus services in staggered bus stops. The assignment of bus services to appropriate stops is a crucial parameter in ensuring a high level of service for commuters at staggered bus stops. In this study, an innovative similarity-based assignment method is proposed to assign a set of bus services to a set of stop areas in such a configuration, while considering the capacity constraint of the bus stop areas. First, a new concept of the time series of bus stop occupancy is introduced to dynamically track if a bus stop is occupied by a specific bus service. Then, a dynamic time warping-based algorithm is proposed to measure the similarity level of the time series of bus stop occupancy between different bus services. Considering both capacity constraint and performance of similarity level at each bus stop area, bus services assignment can be modelled as a Pareto efficiency problem. We can trade off within the Pareto efficient solutions and determine the best assignment scheme. Finally, the performance of our proposed method is evaluated using data collected from four staggered bus stops in Singapore. To evaluate the model's stability and reliability, sensitivity analyses are conducted to test the effect of (i) pre-defined bus arrival rate, (ii) time interval used for creating the time series of bus stop occupancy, and (iii) day of week on staggered bus stop performance. The proposed method developed in this study can help transit agencies and operators determine the appropriate bus service assignment within a staggered bus stop configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The estimation of stock specific exploitation is imperative to fisheries management and the conservation of biodiversity, particularly in instances where fisheries simultaneously exploit mixtures of stocks. Mixed stock harvests are particularly common in species that have extensive marine migrations, such as Atlantic and Pacific salmon. Here we develop a range-wide genetic baseline for Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) from North American and European rivers to allow regional assignment of individuals targeted in international mixed stock fisheries. A combination of published data and additional genotyping was used to assemble a dataset of 96 SNPs for 285 range-wide Atlantic salmon populations for regional assignment. Clustering of baseline samples identified 20 North American and eight European reporting groups with mean individual assignment accuracy of 90% (range 70–100%). This baseline was applied to disentangle the stock composition of individuals in a subset of individuals from the West Greenland Atlantic salmon fishery. Genetic mixture analysis revealed that both European and North American individuals originated from multiple regions, with 92% of European individuals originating from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and North American individuals originating from three regions; Gulf of St. Lawrence (28%), Gaspé Peninsula (23%), and coastal Labrador (21%). The baseline represents a significant resource for the management of Atlantic salmon fisheries and the quantification of salmon migration patterns at sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian modeling is essential for evacuation simulations. One unrealistic phenomenon observed in AnyLogic and open-source software is that running pedestrians often hit the wall then they try to pass an exit. We find that there is only one characteristic time in the social force model (SFM), which means SFM does not divide the desired speed effect on the normal and tangential direction of current speed. To avoid hitting the wall, we propose to calibrate the tangential characteristic time that changing moving direction with real-life experiment. Comparisons of simulation and real experiment show that this characteristic time is 0.2 s. Based on this improvement, another common problem of existing evacuation strategies is studied. The problem is that they only assume exit capacity (EC) of gate is linearly equal to door width. As such, an EC based exit assignment strategy is proposed to fully use multiple gates’ capacities. Furthermore, we propose to regard congested bottlenecks as virtual gates (VG), which is equivalent to real gates in EC computation. Simulation results show that our nonlinear EC based assignment strategy outperforms other methods because it can compute the queue time near exit more accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laser-activated spectra of nanocrystalline Y 2 O 3 :Er 3+ recorded at various temperatures and two excitation energies are described and analysed herein. Based on recently published modified values of the C 2 -type Stark splitting of Er 3+ in the cubic Y 2 O 3 lattice, the Er 3+ multiplets in the observed spectra have been re-assigned. The upconversion routes of three 2 H 11/2 → 4 I 15/2 hot bands from 4 S 3/2 Kramers doublets have been traced, based on an Arrhenius-type analysis of these hot bands. We observed 5 peaks in the 2 H 11/2 → 4 I 15/2 hot band region with a different temperature behaviour. These bands belong to the 2 P 3/2 → 4 I 9/2 multiplet and their deviating temperature behaviour has been explained in terms of a cross relaxation mechanism. From the ratio between the laser-activated spectra that were recorded at different excitation energies we concluded that the two-photon absorption process becomes more efficient upon increasing the excitation energy. We have also put forward an explanation for the gradual broadening of the fluorescence bands of the 2 H 11/2 → 4 I 15/2 multiplet in going from 518 nm to 542 nm. The higher Stark splitting levels are due to a stronger electrostatic field of the host lattice and experience therefore a higher electron-phonon interaction, which explains the observed increase of FWHM at larger wavelengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maps of scientific knowledge are generally created by analyzing scientific literature including journal articles, conference proceedings, books, and monographs. Although citation analysis is the most popular method for generating maps of science from scientific journal articles and their citations, other relationships between scientific topics can be used to map science. This study offers a map of science generated from examining non-fiction book topics and their relationships as defined by Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) co-assignments. The resulting map reveals which sub-disciplines of science must be learned together, showing that Physics and Mathematics are the central topics required to practice science, which is not revealed by previous studies. This novel LCSH-based science map reveals new relations between the major sub-disciplines of science to produce a more complete representation of scientific domains and how they interact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a tridentate Schiff base of 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde and its Ni(II) complex have been newly synthesized and characterized by the IR and NMR spectroscopies together with the elemental analysis. In addition, optimized geometries, the Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analyses, assignment of the IR bands and NMR chemical shifts of the synthesized compounds were computed by using density functional theory (DFT) methods. In the optimized geometry of the free ligand, the aromatic rings are not in the same plane. But, the Ni complex is square planar, where the deprotonated Schiff base acts as a N 3 -tridentate ligand. The chloro ligand occupies another coordination position of the complex. The DFT-calculated vibrational wavenumbers and NMR chemical shifts are in agreement with the experimental values, confirming suitability of the optimized geometries for the Schiff base and Ni(II) complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absorption spectra of van der Waals helium nano clusters ( 4 He n ; n = 2–29), belonging to different symmetry point groups, were calculated in the present work to study the evolution of the spectra in the considered cluster size range which there is no experimental observations. The configuration interaction singles (CIS) methodology and 6-311 + G(2d,p) basis set augmented with additional diffuse functions were employed to calculate several vertical excitation energies and their related intensities for each cluster. It was observed that the general shapes of the spectra of the clusters are almost the same and composed from three resolved peaks. The variations of the first excitation energy, first absorption band, the energy position of the first and second peak in the absorption spectrum were investigated with the cluster size. The first five absorption bands of each cluster were assigned and the change in their assignments with the cluster size was studied. The calculated absorption spectra of He 20 and He 29 were compared with the experimental absorption spectra of He 450 , He 1800 and He 9200 reported in literature. It was observed that the calculated spectrum of He 20 and He 29 can relatively well describe the absorption spectra of large clusters which cannot be obtained, theoretically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2010s, the meal delivery business went through a veritable revolution due to online food delivery platforms. By allowing customers to quickly order from a wide range of restaurants and outsourcing currently available couriers using their vehicles (crowdsourcing), this typology of service dynamically bridges demand and supply. The main goal of online food delivery platforms consists of matching couriers to meal orders within short time intervals to provide an efficient, reliable, and sustainable service. A way to increase efficiency consists of consolidating orders into batches, such that the same courier can serve several orders in multiple pickup and drop-off routes. Since such an assignment-batching problem becomes computationally prohibitively costly in real-world scenarios characterized by a large number of customer orders as well as uncertain demand and supply, heuristic solution methods come into play. This study proposes an order batching and assignment algorithm that leverages a graph-based approach after decomposing the original problem into more tractable sub-problems employing clustering. The solution is improved by local search moves and re-optimization procedures and integrated with advanced policies to improve solutions over time. An 'Insertion policy' aimed at increasing batch size, and a 'Swap policy' aimed at identifying more efficient assignments, are implemented and compared to a 'Myopic policy' that does not involve any re-optimization over time. An agent-based simulation framework is developed to implement dynamic policies where couriers' operations and movements are realistically reproduced. The performance of the developed solution approach is tested through experiments based on a real-world case study. Results show that the algorithm allows for high-quality solutions in several configurations characterized by different demand and supply patterns (e.g., density levels, couriers availability) and problem sizes.In particular, the two advanced policies investigated considerably improve the solutions. • The algorithm batches and assigns orders to couriers for on-demand food delivery. • The algorithm is suitable for problems with significant demand and supply uncertainty. • With two rolling horizon policies, the algorithm greatly improves service performance. • The algorithm allows for high-quality solutions at reasonable computational costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of optimization techniques to home care service planning has received increasing attention, as more patients are in need of dedicated care. Currently, the problem of scheduling home care services is not performed in an optimal way taking into account the complexities of the problem in an integrated way and thus there is substantial room for improvement as the scale of the industry increases. We address the home care planning problem by formulating a mixed integer programming model that simultaneously considers the assignment of nurses to patients, the scheduling of nurses' workdays and the routing of nurses between patients. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective problem that aims to minimize healthcare-associated service and routing costs while maximizing compatibility of nurses and patients. Two approaches are developed to solve the problem, namely a branch-and-price algorithm as well as a two-stage meta-heuristic. We evaluate the performance of each solution approach, and also assess the value of integrating the assignment, scheduling and routing decisions versus solving these problems sequentially. Computational studies demonstrate that our multi-objective model can bring about savings in healthcare costs and improve the compatibility between nurses and patients. These studies also demonstrate that solutions with increased compatibility do not necessarily come at a price of increased healthcare costs. Furthermore, we show that the two approaches we develop are superior to solving the mixed integer programming model using a conventional solver. • We study a problem of routing and assignment arising from home healthcare delivery. • We build a mixed-integer program model and a branch-and-price algorithm. • We also develop a two-stage meta-heuristic based on Tabu search. • We run extensive computational experiments to test the algorithms. • We run experiments to analyze different models to gain policy insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model in order to determine optimal line frequencies and capacities in dense railway rapid transit (RRT) networks in which typically several lines can run over the same open tracks. Given a certain demand matrix, the model determines the most appropriate frequency and train capacity for each line taking into account infrastructure capacity constraints, allocating lines to tracks while assigning passengers to lines. The service provider and the user points of view are simultaneously taken into account. The first one is considered by selecting the most convenient set of frequencies and capacities and routing passengers from their origins to their destinations while minimizing the average trip time. The second one by minimizing operation, maintenance and fleet acquisition costs. Due to the huge number of variables and constraints appearing in real size instances, a preprocessing phase determining the best k-paths linking origin and destination stations is followed. Then, the best paths are used to define sparse index sets in order to drastically reduce the size of the problem. As illustration, the model is applied to a simplified version of the Madrid Metropolitan Railway network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the assignment of the solid-state 13 C NMR signals in the C4 region, distinct types of crystalline cellulose, cellulose at crystalline surfaces, and disordered cellulose can be identified and quantified. For regenerated cellulose, complete 13 C assignments of the other carbon regions have not previously been attainable, due to signal overlap. In this study, two-dimensional (2D) NMR correlation methods were used to resolve and assign 13 C signals for all carbon atoms in regenerated cellulose. 13 C-enriched bacterial nanocellulose was biosynthesized, dissolved, and coagulated as highly crystalline cellulose II. Specifically, four distinct 13 C signals were observed corresponding to conformationally different anhydroglucose units: two signals assigned to crystalline moieties and two signals assigned to non-crystalline species. The C1, C4 and C6 regions for cellulose II were fully examined by global spectral deconvolution, which yielded qualitative trends of the relative populations of the different cellulose moieties, as a function of wetting and drying treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the GlobalFiler ® Express amplification kit was evaluated for forensic use in 541 South African individuals belonging to the Afrikaaner, amaXhosa, 1 1 Prefixes ama- and isi- are used within Bantu populations to indicate population group and language respectively. amaZulu, 1 Asian Indian and Coloured population groups. Allelic frequencies, genetic diversity parameters and forensic informative metrics were calculated for each population. A total of 301 alleles were observed ranging between 5 and 44.2 repeat units, 43 were rarely observed partial repeats and seven were novel. The combined match probability (CMP) ranged from 2.21 × 10 −26 (Coloured) to 5.21 × 10 −25 (AmaZulu), and the combined power of exclusion (CPE) 0.9999999978 (Afrikaaner) to 0.99999999979 (AmaZulu) respectively. No significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were observed after Bonferroni correction. Strong evidence of genetic structure was detected using the coancestry coefficient θ , Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) and an unsupervised Bayesian clustering method (STRUCTURE). The efficiency of assignment of individuals to population groups was evaluated by applying likelihood ratios with WHICHRUN, and the individual ancestral membership probabilities inferred by STRUCTURE. Likelihood ratios performed the best in the assignment of individuals to population groups. Signs of positive selection were detected for TH01 and D13S317 and purifying/balancing selection for locus SE33. These three loci also displayed the largest informativeness for assignment ( I n ) values. The results of this study supports the use of the GlobalFiler ® STR profiling kit for forensic applications in South Africa with the additional capability to predict ethnicity or continental origin of a random sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying nursery habitats for an aquatic species generally requires tracing adult individuals back through time and space to the area or habitat in which they developed as juveniles. We develop and trial a study design and analytical approach to evaluate the suitability of using stable isotopes to trace emigrating prawns to putative nursery sites, and evaluate assumptions inherent in the application of the approach using two penaeid species with Type-II life cycles: Penaeus ( Melicertus ) plebejus and Metapenaeus macleayi . Prawns were collected in putative nursery sites within the Hunter River, Australia, and analysed as composite samples of 6 individuals to provide habitat-specific isotopic signatures. Prawns emigrating from the mouth of the river were used as a proxy for individuals recruiting to the adult population, and assigned to putative nursery sites using a probabilistic mixing model and a simple, distance-based approach. Bivariate (δ 15 N and δ 13 C) isotopic data was sufficient to distinguish prawns from different putative nursery sites, and isotopic composition correlated closely with salinity. Approximately 90% of emigrating prawns collected could be assigned to these sites using bivariate isotopic data, and both analytical approaches gave similar results. The design developed here is broadly applicable to a suite of penaeid species, but its application will be most powerful when sampling is also aimed at understanding nursery function by simultaneous monitoring of size structure/growth, density, and trophic relationships within nursery habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyper-heuristics introduce novel approaches for solving challenging combinatorial optimization problems by operating over a set of low level (meta)-heuristics. This is achieved by an evolutionary selection mechanism that controls and combines the strengths of the low level (meta)-heuristics. In this study, we propose a high-performance MultiStart Hyper-heuristic algorithm (MSH-QAP) on the grid for the solution of the Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). MSH-QAP algorithm makes use of state-of-the-art (meta)-heuristics, Simulated Annealing (SA), Robust Tabu Search (RTS), Ant Colony Optimization (FAnt), and Breakout Local Search (BLS) that have been reported among the best performing algorithms for the solution of difficult QAP instances in standard benchmark libraries. In the first phase of the algorithm, the most appropriate (meta)-heuristic with its near-optimal parameter settings is selected by using a genetic algorithm optimization layer that uses a self-adaptive parameter setting method for the given problem instance. In the second phase, if an optimal solution cannot be found, selected best performing (meta)-heuristic (with its finely adjusted parameter settings) is executed on the grid using parallel processing and performing several multistarts in order to increase the quality of the discovered solution. MSH-QAP algorithm is tested on 134 problem instances of the QAPLIB benchmark and is shown to be able to solve 122 of the instances exactly. The overall deviation for the problem instances is obtained as 0.013% on the average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

4- N , N -dimethylamino-4′- N ′-methyl-stilbazolium tosylate (DAST) crystal has excellent properties of nonlinear optics and electro-optical effect, and it can be used in the fields of radiation and detection through wave bands from infrared to terahertz. Besides, DAST thin films have exhibited their excellent properties and have expanded application fields of DAST material. CD 3 OD was chosen as the solvent to conduct 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, 1 H– 1 H COSY, 1 H– 13 C HSQC and 1 H– 13 C HMBC characterization of DAST respectively. All peaks in 1 H and 13 C NMR spectra of DAST were assigned with assistance of 2D NMR correlation peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Objectives To explore if active learning principles be applied to nursing bioscience assessments and will this influence student perception of confidence in applying theory to practice? Design and Data Sources A review of the literature utilising searches of various databases including CINAHL, PUBMED, Google Scholar and Mosby's Journal Index. Methods The literature search identified research from twenty-six original articles, two electronic books, one published book and one conference proceedings paper. Results Bioscience has been identified as an area that nurses struggle to learn in tertiary institutions and then apply to clinical practice. A number of problems have been identified and explored that may contribute to this poor understanding and retention. University academics need to be knowledgeable of innovative teaching and assessing modalities that focus on enhancing student learning and address the integration issues associated with the theory practice gap. Increased bioscience education is associated with improved patient outcomes therefore by addressing this “bioscience problem” and improving the integration of bioscience in clinical practice there will subsequently be an improvement in health care outcomes. Conclusion From the literature several themes were identified. First there are many problems with teaching nursing students bioscience education. These include class sizes, motivation, concentration, delivery mode, lecturer perspectives, student's previous knowledge, anxiety, and a lack of confidence. Among these influences the type of assessment employed by the educator has not been explored or identified as a contributor to student learning specifically in nursing bioscience instruction. Second that educating could be achieved more effectively if active learning principles were applied and the needs and expectations of the student were met. Lastly, assessment influences student retention and the student experience and as such assessment should be congruent with the subject content, align with the learning objectives and be used as a stimulus tool for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypergraph assignment problem (HAP) generalizes the assignment problem from bipartite graphs to bipartite hypergraphs; it is motivated by applications in railway vehicle rotation planning. The HAP is NP-hard and APX-hard even for small hyperedge sizes and hypergraphs with a special partitioned structure. We show that an algorithmically tractable model providing a strong LP relaxation which implies all clique inequalities can be derived from a suitable extended formulation of polynomial size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Critical survey of existing performance indices. • Introduce an index, called CorrIndex, whose reliability is proved theoretically. • Provides interpretable upper and lower bounds, with a low computational cost. • Possible applications include Blind Source Separation or Tensor Decompositions. Permutation and scaling ambiguities are relevant issues in tensor decomposition and source separation algorithms. Although these ambiguities are inevitable when working on real data sets, it is preferred to eliminate these uncertainties for evaluating algorithms on synthetic data sets. As shown in the paper, the existing performance indices for this purpose are either greedy and unreliable or computationally costly. In this paper, we propose a new performance index, called CorrIndex, whose reliability can be proved theoretically. Moreover, compared to previous performance indices, it has a low computational cost. Theoretical results and computer experiments demonstrate these advantages of CorrIndex compared to other indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diverse representation in public sector teams is important for the transparent and fair conduct of a democratic society. The problem, especially when creating a large number of teams, is how to efficiently assign employees to teams in a way that reflects the diversity of interests in the organization, and in society at large. This paper analyzes a real-life challenge: creating thousands of three-member teams for a nationwide public sector project, whereby team members must represent diverse and conflicting interests. This meant that guidelines for the project included specific requirements and significant constraints in creating the teams. Previously, employees were assigned to teams through an elaborate process that included random selections, a lottery, and other steps – a process that could take days, yielded a sub-optimal solution, and produced frustration and resentment. We suggest a new approach for the maximal diversity teaming problem (MDTP) which is based on referring to groups and not to individuals, and on imposing penalty costs on all the potential assignments depending on their deviations from the project's requirements. These penalties are then used in integer linear programming formulation of the problem, which is fast converges to an optimal solution. A comparison between the new approach and the previous method clearly demonstrated the new approach advantages: first, producing optimal solution within seconds instead of producing sub-optimal solution within hours. Second, the optimality of the solution assures its acceptance by all parties involved, as none of them could suggest a more diverse solution. While this paper addresses a project that called for three-member teams, the model can be modified to create teams of any size, in the public sector or elsewhere. Moreover, this model is particularly appropriate in cases where members of each team are tasked with monitoring each other. • A new approach for the maximal diversity teaming problem (MDTP) is presented. • The approach is based on imposing a penalty cost on each potential team assignment, depending on its diversity level. • The more diverse is the team, the less its penalty cost is. • A linear programming model calculates the best combinations to choose. • The algorithm is efficient, fast convergent and scalable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A new ONNO tetradentate Schiff base has been synthesized and characterized experimentally and theoretically, too. [•] Geometries of its tautomers were optimized. [•] Theoretical assignments of the IR and NMR spectra have been computed. [•] Its tautomerism was demonstrated by kinetical and AIM analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Grammatical gender is a complex feature of natural languages. [•] The paper discusses ways to assess the degree of complexity of individual gender systems. [•] The complexity of gender systems can differ along three dimensions: gender values, assignment rules and morphological expression. [•] Domains differ in whether or not complexity equals difficulty in language acquisition. [•] Higher complexity of expression facilitates rather than hinders acquisition [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Prediction of protein sub-cellular localisation by employing quantitative mass spectrometry experiments is an expanding field. Several methods have led to the assignment of proteins to specific subcellular localisations by partial separation of organelles across a fractionation scheme coupled with computational analysis. Methods developed to analyse organelle data have largely employed supervised machine learning algorithms to map unannotated abundance profiles to known protein–organelle associations. Such approaches are likely to make association errors if organelle-related groupings present in experimental output are not included in data used to create a protein–organelle classifier. Currently, there is no automated way to detect organelle-specific clusters within such datasets. In order to address the above issues we adapted a phenotype discovery algorithm, originally created to filter image-based output for RNAi screens, to identify putative subcellular groupings in organelle proteomics experiments. We were able to mine datasets to a deeper level and extract interesting phenotype clusters for more comprehensive evaluation in an unbiased fashion upon application of this approach. Organelle-related protein clusters were identified beyond those sufficiently annotated for use as training data. Furthermore, we propose avenues for the incorporation of observations made into general practice for the classification of protein–organelle membership from quantitative MS experiments. Biological significance: Protein sub-cellular localisation plays an important role in molecular interactions, signalling and transport mechanisms. The prediction of protein localisation by quantitative mass-spectrometry (MS) proteomics is a growing field and an important endeavour in improving protein annotation. Several such approaches use gradient-based separation of cellular organelle content to measure relative protein abundance across distinct gradient fractions. The distribution profiles are commonly mapped in silico to known protein–organelle associations via supervised machine learning algorithms, to create classifiers that associate unannotated proteins to specific organelles. These strategies are prone to error, however, if organelle-related groupings present in experimental output are not represented, for example owing to the lack of existing annotation, when creating the protein–organelle mapping. Here, the application of a phenotype discovery approach to LOPIT gradient-based MS data identifies candidate organelle phenotypes for further evaluation in an unbiased fashion. Software implementation and usage guidelines are provided for application to wider protein–organelle association experiments. In the wider context, semi-supervised organelle discovery is discussed as a paradigm with which to generate new protein annotations from MS-based organelle proteomics experiments. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: New Horizons and Applications for Proteomics [EuPA 2012]. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Neisseria meningitidis constitutes the main cause of meningococcal disease in infants. Serogroups A, B, C, W135, Y, and X have the higher incidence in young children and teenagers. The use of polyvalent conjugate carbohydrate-based vaccines has decreased the meningococcal infection around the world. Recently, the serogroup X has been found to be responsible of different outbreaks of meningococcal diseases, mainly in “Meningitis Belt” of Africa and the structure of the repetitive unit of the capsular polysaccharide has been confirmed through a monodimensional 13C NMR study. No further characterization studies have been carried out, especially with the use of other nuclei. In this paper a novel method for quantification of the N. meningitidis serogroup X by proton qNMR is reported. Deep characterization of the serogroup X polysaccharide was also carried out by combination of correlation experiments involving 13C, 1H, and 31P nuclei. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper exploits empirically a key insight from Lucas (1978) and Rosen (1982): that the organization of production and the distribution of earnings across individuals are jointly determined by the equilibrium assignment of individuals to firms and hierarchical positions. We study how different classes of production functions generate alternative equilibrium assignments. We then use confidential Census data on U.S. law offices to investigate the form that the production function should take to rationalize earnings patterns in legal services. We argue that earnings patterns in this industry are consistent with a production function that is characterized by asymmetric sensitivity to the skill of agents in different organizational positions, complementarity between managers’ and workers’ skill, and scale effects in individual skill. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Analysis of the temperature dependence of the ratio of the intensity of two assigned and unassigned lines enables the determination of the most probable energy of the lower state of the unassigned transition. Such a new procedure has been applied to transitions of ammonia in the range 6626.0–6668.5cm−1 between 122K and 300K. This represents a first step in the considerable task of the assignment of the complete infrared spectral range. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A model is presented where workers of differing abilities and from different social backgrounds are assigned to jobs based on grades received at school. It is examined how this matching is affected if good grades are granted to some low-ability students. Such grade inflation is shown to reduce the aggregate wage of the lower class workers because employers use social origin as a signal for productivity if grades are less than fully informative. Moreover, the high-ability students from the higher class may benefit from grade inflation since this shields them from the competition on the part of able students from the lower classes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the 1970s, when major improvements to the water quality were made, the River Thames has been subject to a high-profile project aimed at restoring Atlantic salmon to the catchment. Whilst initially successful, with hundreds of salmon returning each year in the late 1980s, the number of adults returning to the river has declined steeply again in recent years, reaching a low in 2005 when no salmon were recorded. Using a baseline of genetic information gathered from 3830 salmon from throughout their southern European range, and incorporating samples from the hatchery fish used to stock the Thames, all 10 tagged hatchery fish captured in 2003 and all 16 returning untagged adult salmon captured between 2005 and 2008 were assigned to their most likely river of origin. The results suggest that untagged salmon currently ascending the river originate not from exogenous fish stocked into the Thames, but predominantly from other rivers in southern England. This highlights the potential for natural processes of recolonisation to operate in rivers where salmon have become locally extirpated. These findings also underscore several important considerations when undertaking species restoration projects: (i) previous causes of declines must be sufficiently ameliorated to allow new/translocated individuals to thrive, (ii) introduced individuals should originate from a stock that is closely related to the extirpated population, according to the principles of contemporary conservation biology, and (iii) dispersal and gene-flow from neighbouring populations may play a significant role in establishing new populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this work is the specification, calibration and validation of a route choice model distinguishing the phases of set perception and route choice among the alternatives belonging to the chosen set. Route generation is performed with a selective multi-criteria approach; route choice is performed using random and fuzzy utility models. As regards the fuzzy utility models, a new specification of a fuzzy model is introduced. Random and fuzzy utility models are compared and applied on a test road network and were specified and calibrated for national road freight transport on a real Italy-wide network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper transfers the classic frequency-based transit assignment method of Spiess and Florian to containers demonstrating its promise as the basis for a global maritime container assignment model. In this model, containers are carried by shipping lines operating strings (or port rotations) with given service frequencies. An origin–destination matrix of full containers is assigned to these strings to minimize sailing time plus container dwell time at the origin port and any intermediate transhipment ports. This necessitated two significant model extensions. The first involves the repositioning of empty containers so that a net outflow of full containers from any port is balanced by a net inflow of empty containers, and vice versa. As with full containers, empty containers are repositioned to minimize the sum of sailing and dwell time, with a facility to discount the dwell time of empty containers in recognition of the absence of inventory. The second involves the inclusion of an upper limit to the maximum number of container moves per unit time at any port. The dual variable for this constraint provides a shadow price, or surcharge, for loading or unloading a container at a congested port. Insight into the interpretation of the dual variables is given by proposition and proof. Model behaviour is illustrated by a simple numerical example. The paper concludes by considering the next steps toward realising a container assignment model that can, amongst other things, support the assessment of supply chain vulnerability to maritime disruptions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports the first assignment of rovibrational transitions of the 5ν 4 and ν 2+4ν 4 band systems of 12CH4 in the 6287–6550cm−1 region, which is usually referred to as part of the 1.58μm methane transparency window. The analysis was based on two line lists previously obtained in Grenoble by cavity ring down spectroscopy at T=297 and 79K completed by three long-path Fourier transform spectra recorded in Reims (at 290 K, L=1603m, P=1–34mbar). In order to determine the dipole transition moment parameters and quantify the intensity borrowing due to the resonance interactions, we had to include in the fit of the effective Hamiltonian model some lines of the stronger ν 1+3ν 4 and ν 2+4ν 4 bands. For this purpose, intensities of 179 additional lines were retrieved from FTS spectra above 6550cm−1 though the analysis of these higher bands is not complete. About 1955 experimental line positions and 1462 line intensities were fitted with RMS standard deviations of 0.003cm−1 and 13.1%, respectively. A line list of 8029 calculated and observed transitions which are considered as dominant was constructed for 12CH4 in the 6287–6550cm−1 region. This is the first high-resolution analysis and modelling of 5-quanta band systems of 12CH4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a new ARG matching scheme based on the nested assignment structure to assess the similarity between two attributed relational graphs (ARGs). ARGs are represented by nodes and edges containing unary attributes and binary relations between nodes, respectively. The nested assignment structure consists of inner and outer steps. In the inner step, to form a distance matrix, combinatorial differences between every pair of nodes in two ARGs are computed by using an assignment algorithm. Then, in the outer step, a correspondence between nodes in the two ARGs is established by using an assignment algorithm based on the distance matrix. The proposed ARG matching scheme consists of three procedures as follows: first, in the initializing procedure, the nested assignment structure is performed to generate an initial correspondence between nodes in two ARGs. Next, the correspondence is refined by iteratively performing the updating procedure, which also utilizes the nested assignment structure, until the correspondence does not change. Finally, the verifying procedure can be performed in case that some nodes to be matched in the two ARGs are missing. From experimental results, the proposed ARG matching scheme shows superior matching performance and localizes target objects robustly and correctly even in severely noisy and occluded scenes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) plays important roles in normal growth and development, as well as in disease states, and its structure and function have been studied extensively using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. However, IGF-I typically gives poor quality NMR spectra containing many broad peaks, because of aggregation at the protein concentrations generally required for NMR experiments as well as the internal dynamics of the molecule. The present study was undertaken to determine a reliable set of assignments under more physiological conditions. Design: Several reports of chemical shift assignments have been published previously for IGF-I either bound to a ligand or at relatively low pH (∼3–4), but there are many contradictions among them, reflecting the poor behaviour of IGF-I. Low pH conditions are also suboptimal for the analysis of interactions between IGF-I and IGF binding proteins (IGFBP) or IGFBP fragments. Spectra were recorded at low concentrations in order to identify conditions of temperature and pH where all peaks could be observed. Results: We show that good quality 2D 1H–15N HSQC spectra of 15N-labelled IGF-I can be obtained at pH 6 and 37°C, much closer to physiological conditions, by using lower IGF-I concentrations (0.05 mM). Surprisingly, at this concentration and temperature, spectra were of better quality at pH 6 than at pH 4, in contrast to previous observations made at millimolar concentrations of IGF-I. We were then also able to assign the chemical shifts of IGF-I at pH 6 and 37°C using 3D heteronuclear spectra recorded on a 0.7mM 15N/13C-labelled IGF-I sample. Conclusion: These results provide a valuable resource for future studies of the structure, dynamics, folding, and binding interactions of IGF-I, as well as analogues thereof, by means of NMR spectroscopy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: DFT calculations were applied to investigate the relationship between the molecular structure and the Raman spectra of quinolines. A variety of different quinolines with increasing complexity was investigated and an aminoquinoline nucleus was found that describes the Raman spectrum of protonated chloroquine. It was discovered that the biological important, rigid C7-chloro group and C4-side chain of chloroquine significantly disturb certain molecular vibrations. The protonation at the N1 position causes dramatic changes of the Raman bands in the wavenumber region between 1500cm−1 and 1650cm−1. These bands are putative marker bands of the aminoquinoline drugs for π–π interactions to the hematin targets in malaria infected cells. The calculation of the normal modes and the illustration of the associated atomic displacements are very valuable for a deeper understanding of the associated bands in the Raman spectra. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: NMR spectroscopy has great potential to provide us with information on structure and dynamics at atomic resolution of glycoproteins in solution. In larger glycoproteins, however, the detrimental fast 1H transverse relaxation renders the conventional 1H-detected NMR experiments difficult. 13C direct detection potentially offers a valuable alternative to 1H detection to overcome the fast T 2 relaxation. Here, we applied 13C-detected NMR methods to observe the NMR signals of 13C-labeled glycans attached to the Fc fragment of immunoglobulin G with a molecular mass of 56kDa. Spectral analysis revealed that a 13C-detected 13C–13C NOESY experiment is highly useful for spectral assignments of the glycans of large glycoproteins. This approach would be, in part, complementary to 13C–13C TOCSY and 1H-detection experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study reports two new and highly informative multiplex PCRs of microsatellite markers, with redesigned interspecific primer sets for three sparid species: gilthead seabream (Sparus auratus L.), red porgy (Pagrus pagrus L.) and redbanded seabream (P. auriga, Valenciennes, 1843). The evaluation and validation of the two multiplex PCRs, named RimA and RimB (Redesigned Interspecific Multiplex), were carried out upon: 148 individual gilthead seabream (66 breeders of unknown gender, and 82 of their descendents obtained by mass-spawning), 37 red porgy and 125 redbanded seabream. From 15 and 12 redesigned microsatellite markers for RimA and RimB, respectively, the number of markers included in the final multiplex PCRs were 10 in RimA and 7 in RimB for gilthead seabream, 6 in each multiplex PCR for red porgy and 8 in RimA and 5 in RimB for redbanded seabream. The a priori combined parental exclusion probability for each multiplex in the three species was 0.999. For gilthead seabream, it was possible to assign each offspring to a single parent pair (100% success) using the exclusion method with at least seven microsatellite markers for each multiplex PCR. Null alleles were found only for marker PbMS2, through familial segregation, with a frequency similar to the expected one (0.09 vs 0.14). Results revealed that the multiplex reaction no more than one-sixth the cost of single reactions even when these reactions were performed in a unique run, and that genotyping errors were minimized due to automation. These robust multiplex PCRs will be a fundamental tool for the industry to introduce selection programs and to manage their broodstocks under industrial conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new logit-based model for assigning public transit passengers to transit lines or routes is proposed. The model is based on the realistic assumption that once passengers arrive at stops, they can obtain information regarding the specific departure times. Furthermore, it takes into account that passengers are heterogeneous and hence, the choice made by a ‘representative’ passenger appears to be stochastic. The model is evaluated by means of simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) is a membrane channel that conducts calcium ions from the intracellular calcium stores. Despite a wealth of information on the cytoplasmic regulation of the IP3R, little is known about its regulation on the luminal side of the calcium stores. Here, we report studies on the IP3R intraluminal loop L3-2 and a conserved N-terminal region of chromogranin B. The IP3R loop is an important part of the channel''s pore-forming region, and the chromogranin peptide has been shown to competitively inhibit calcium signaling by IP3R. Using the NMR titration approach, we showed that a part of the L3-2 is involved in a specific interaction with the chromogranin B peptide. Further NMR resonance assignments revealed that the 14th–20th residues of L3-2 are the keys to the binding to the chromogranin B peptide. Through detailed analysis of the data, we suggest a mechanism of IP3R regulation by chromogranin B involving conformational exchanges of the L3-2 region. Our report presents the findings of the first study on the interaction between the luminal loop of the IP3 receptor and its regulator at residue-resolution. The approaches described here should help to guide further studies on the interactions between the IP3R and other luminal side regulators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Highly inert yellow solid WO3 was found to be soluble in considerable amounts in molten K2S2O7 at elevated temperatures (∼650°C), if only similar molar amounts of sulfates were also present. The dissolution reaction of WO3 into a melt consisting of a 1:1 molar mixture of K2S2O7 and K2SO4 was studied in detail, and Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the products. In combination with single crystal X-ray crystal structure determination, it was shown that a new dimeric compound, K8[{WVIO2(SO4)2}2(μ-SO4)2], was formed and its assigned Raman spectrum at room temperature is given. The WO2 2+ cores of the dimeric complex have their symmetrical and antisymmetrical stretching modes ν 1(WO2 2+) and ν 3(WO2 2+) at around 1054 (strong) and 1042 (weak), and the bending mode ν 2(WO2 2+) at around 292 (medium intensity), respectively (positions given in cm−1). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]