In this paper we study External A*, a variant of the internal A* algorithm that employs external memory. The approach applies to implicit, undirected, unweighted state space problem graphs with consistent estimates. The complexity of the External algorithm is almost linear in external sorting time and accumulates to O(sort(|E|) + scan(|V |)) I/Os, where V and E are the set of nodes and edges in...

OBJECTIVES This study investigates work performance among 79 mental health teams in Quebec (Canada). We hypothesized that work performance was positively associated with the use of standardized clinical tools and clinical approaches, integration strategies, "clan culture," and mental health funding per capita. METHODS Work performance was measured using an adapted version of the Work Role Que...

Simulation analyses of pedaling demonstrate how individual muscle forces act to accelerate and decelerate the leg segments and the crank to perform external work. The work done by the muscles to accelerate the leg segments ultimately drives the pedals because when the legs decelerate, their mechanical energy is used to overcome the external load.

Ten normal adult subjects were tested under a wide range of combinations of stride length and stride frequency. Both longitudinal and vertical accelerations of the body increased with velocity, while stride frequency to stride length ratio (SF/SL) had little effect. The peak-to-peak amplitude of the forward velocity (V) decreased with SF/SL, but at constant SF/SL remained essentially unchanged ...

This paper assesses the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on CO2 emissions. With this aim a dynamic panel data model is estimated for a cross-section of 213 countries over the period 1960 to 2009. The model, based on a STIRPAT approach, also integrates the EKC approach and specifically considers the endogeneity of the policy variable. To sort out causality the number of financed CDM projects is used...

Walking is the most common type of physical activity prescribed for the treatment of obesity. The net metabolic rate during level walking (W/kg) is approximately 10% greater in obese vs. normal weight adults. External mechanical work (W(ext)) is one of the primary determinants of the metabolic cost of walking, but the effects of obesity on W(ext) have not been clearly established. The purpose o...

We consider a particle, confined to a moving harmonic potential, under the influence of friction and external asymmetric Poissonian shot noise (PSN). We study the fluctuations of the work done to maintain this system in a nonequilibrium steady state. PSN generalizes the usual Gaussian noise and can be considered to be a paradigm of external noise, where fluctuation and dissipation originate fro...