Contemporary XML database querying systems have to deal with a rapidly growing amount of data and a large number of users. As a consequence, if access control is used to protect sensitive XML data at a fine-grained level, it is inefficient when it comes to query evaluation, since it is difficult to enforce access control on each node in an XML document when the user’s view needs to be computed....

A semioval in a finite projective plane is a non-empty pointset S with the property that for every point in S there exists a unique line tP such that S ∩ tP = {P}. This line is called the tangent to S at P . Semiovals arise in several parts of finite geometries: as absolute points of a polarity (ovals, unitals), as special minimal blocking sets (vertexless triangle), in connection with cryptogr...

BACKGROUND The Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) mostly uses 'Situational' Questions (SQs) as an interview format within a station, rather than 'Past-Behavioural' Questions (PBQs), which are most frequently adopted in traditional single-station personal interviews (SSPIs) for non-medical and medical selection. This study investigated reliability and acceptability of the postgraduate admissions MMI ...

A binary extended 1-perfect code C folds over its kernel via the Steiner quadruple systems associated with its codewords. The resulting folding, proposed as a graph invariant for C, distinguishes among the 361 nonlinear codes C of kernel dimension κ obtained via Solov’eva-Phelps doubling construction, where 9 ≥ κ ≥ 5. Each of the 361 resulting graphs has most of its nonloop edges expressible in...

Gadolinia doped ceria in its doped or strained form is considered to be an electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cell applications. The simulation of the defect processes in these materials is complicated by the random distribution of the constituent atoms. We propose the use of the special quasirandom structure (SQS) approach as a computationally efficient way to describe the random nature of the l...

Statins and nitrogenous bisphosphonates (NBP) inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme-A reductase (HMGCR) and farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS), respectively, leading to depletion of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) and disruption of protein prenylation. Squalene synthase (SQS) utilizes FPP in the first committed step from the mevalonate pathway toward cholesterol biosynthesis. Herein, we have...

Statistical image reconstruction methods for X-ray CT provide good images even for reduced dose levels but require substantial compute time. Iterative algorithms that converge in fewer iterations are preferable. Spatially non-homogeneous iterative coordinate descent (NH-ICD) accelerates convergence by updating more frequently the voxels that are predicted to change the most between the current ...