We deal with a sequencing problem that arises when there are multiple repair actions available to fix a broken man-made system and the true cause of the system failure is uncertain. The system is formally described by a probabilistic model, and it is to be repaired by a sequence of troubleshooting actions designed to identify the cause of the malfunction and fix the system. The task is to find a course of repair with minimal expected cost. We propose a binary integer programming formulation for the problem. This can be used to solve the problem directly or to compute lower bounds of the minimal expected cost using linear programming relaxation. We also present three greedy algorithms for computing initial feasible solutions.
Purpose of this work is to show that the Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm may improve the results of some well known Machine Learning methods in the resolution of discrete classification problems. A binary version of the PSO algorithm is used to obtain a set of logic rules that map binary masks (that represent the attribute values), to the available classes. This algorithm has been tested both in a single pass mode and in an iterated mode on a well-known set of problems, called the MONKS set, to compare the PSO results against the results reported for that domain by the application of some common Machine Learning algorithms.
We introduce the function Z(x;ξ,ν):=∫x−∞φ(t−ξ)⋅Φ(νt)dt, where φ and Φ are the pdf and cdf of N(0,1), respectively. We derive two recurrence formulas for the effective computation of its values. We show that with an algorithm for this function, we can efficiently compute the second-order terms of Bonferroni-type inequalities yielding the upper and lower bounds for the distribution of a max-type binary segmentation statistic in the case of small samples (where asymptotic results do not work), and in general for max-type random variables of a certain type. We show three applications of the method -- (a) calculation of critical values of the segmentation statistic, (b) evaluation of its efficiency and (c) evaluation of an estimator of a point of change in the mean of time series.
The area of biomedicine is one of the fastes developing areas of science and technology. The perception of its possible and wxpected positive or negative impacts results in the growing number of bioethical discussions in scientific community, politics and public. Their intensity, focus and used methods differ from country to country. he authors of the prologue have tried to map the state of the art and expected development of bioethical discussion in the coutnries of Middle and Eastern Europe. In the beginning, they addressed the bioethical experts with short questionnaire from 7 "new" European coutries (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and two "old" European coutries (Germany and Austria). In the end, seven experts have responde their question (Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Austria and Germany) and expressed their expectations and difficulties of the development of bioethical discussions and institutionalisations in their countries. The authors summarize in the prologue the most interesting results. and Gerhard Banse, Monika Bartíková.
A hydroponic experiment was conducted to investigate bioaccumulation and photosynthetic activity response to Cd in sweet sorghum seedlings. The seedlings were treated with 0, 50, and 100 μM Cd for 15 d. Our results showed that morphological characteristics of sweet sorghum were significantly affected by Cd treatments. The Cd concentrations in roots and shoots increased with increasing Cd concentrations in the nutrition solution; higher Cd accumulation was observed in the roots. Meanwhile, the photosynthetic activity decreased significantly and a shape of chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence transient in leaves was altered by Cd treatments. The Chl contents in the leaves decreased significantly, which was demonstrated by a change of spectral reflectance. Our data indicated that the higher Cd concentration reduced Chl contents and inhibited electron transport in the leaves, leading to the decrease of photosynthetic activity., Z. C. Xue, J. H. Li, D. S. Li, S. Z. Li, C. D. Jiang, L. A. Liu, S. Y. Wang, W. J. Kang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
From the bioarchaeological and morphofunctional point of view, a skeletal deformity is described from an individual buried in a settlement pit at an archaeological site Třebčín in Moravia dating from the period of the Great Moravian (AD 800-950). Macroscopic and radiological examinations are employed to diagnose pathological leasions on the skeleton of an adult female. Female was probably affected by a haematogenous form of acute osteomyelitis from early neonatal age., Anna Pankowská., and Obsahuje bibliografii