Parallelized solution to the asymmetric travelling salesman problem using central processing unit acceleration

Travelling salesman problem is a well researched problem in computer science and has many practical applications. It is classified as a NP-hard problem as its exact solution can only be obtained in exponential time unless P = NP. There are different variants of the travelling salesman problem (TSP) and in this paper, asymmetric travelling salesman problem is addressed since this variant is quite often observed in real world scenarios. There are a number of heuristic approaches to this problem which provides approximate solutions in polynomial time, however this paper proposes an exact optimal solution which is accelerated with the help of multi-threading-based parallelization. In order to find the exact optimal solution, we have used the held-karp algorithm involving dynamic programming and to reduce the time taken to find the optimal path, we have used a multi-threaded approach to parallelize the processing of sub-problems by leveraging the central processing unit cores (CPUs). This method is an extension of a well researched solution to the TSP; however, this method shows that solutions to computationally intensive problems involving sub-problems such as the asymmetic travelling salesman problem (ATSP) can be accelerated with the help of modern CPUs

Role of knowledge management initiatives in organizational innovativeness: Empirical findings from the IT industry

This paper addresses the relationship between knowledge management initiatives in Indian IT organizations and their innovativeness at the organization level by using the survey research methodology. Knowledge management initiatives were measured in the context of cultural, structural, and technological interventions. Innovation was measured in terms of organizational behaviour related to sensitivity, learning, newness, trialability, communicability, risk-readiness, and absorption. A conceptual model was developed to assess the relationship between knowledge management initiatives and innovativeness. A hypothesis that knowledge management initiatives (KMI) influence the innovativeness of the organization was propounded. The questionnaire developed to assess knowledge management initiatives had 60 items, while an already available questionnaire consisting of 65 items was used to measure innovativeness. Eventually, the number of items in the knowledge management initiatives and innovativeness questionnaires was bought down to 45 and 34 respectively. Items were measured on a fivepoint Likert type rating scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The reliability of the questionnaires was checked using Cronbach Alpha. The study was carried out on 84 professionals from 20 Bangalore-based IT organizations that had implemented knowledge management initiatives and had SEI CMM level 5. Means and standard deviations of the variables were computed. The variables were subjected to correlation analysis and factor analysis. A multiple regression analysis was done to identify the influence of knowledge management initiatives on organizational innovativeness. An organizational innovativeness score, was used as the dependent variable and the variables of knowledge management initiatives were used as the independent variables. The results of data analysis showed that the initiatives taken by companies to enhance their knowledge assets fall into the culture, structure, and technology subsystems and that all the three are highly correlated: • Technology and culture are more strongly associated with each other, as compared to their association with structure. • All the three KMI variables strongly influence organizational innovativeness, with 'culture' being the most important. • 'Learning climate,' a variable of culture, is found to be the most significant of the variables to influence innovativeness. Hence, organizations that lay emphasis on learning and provide excellent training facilities can foster a more innovative environment. • Interestingly, 'risk readiness' is not a factor contributing to innovativeness and is not significantly associated with the other variables. • The variables like leadership, networking, reward and recognition, structure and technology do not significantly influence innovativeness

The use of jackruit peel as filler in polylactic acid biocomposite films: effect of filler modification

Access is limited to UniMAP community.The biocomposite films of jackfruit peel filler (JPF) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) were prepared by solution casting method. The effect of jackfruit peel filler (JPF) content and modification of JPF by silane coupling agent on tensile and thermal properties, morphology and biodegradation of PLA/JPF biocomposite films were studied. The result obtained showed that the tensile strength and elongation at break decreased as JPF content in biocomposite films increased. Meanwhile, Young’s modulus increased with increasing JPF content. The SEM micrographs showed poor filler-matrix interaction between JPF and PLA matrix. The improved thermal stability was observed at higher JPF content as the total weight loss of biocomposite films was lower. The weight loss of biocomposite films in enzymatic biodegradation increased with increasing JPF content. The modification of JPF by silane coupling agent results in improved tensile strength and Young’s modulus but reduced elongation a break of modified biocomposite films. The morphological studies proved that modified JPF has better dispersion in PLA matrix. The modified biocomposite films have better thermal stability as shown by the lower weight loss at temperature at higher degradation temperature. The changes of functional group of unmodified and modified biocomposite films were proven by the FTIR study. The enzymatic biodegradation of modified biocomposite films showed lower weight loss compared to unmodified biocomposite films

Parallelized solution to the asymmetric travelling salesman problem using central processing unit acceleration

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Travelling salesman problem is a well researched problem in computer science and has many practical applications. It is classified as a NP-hard problem as its exact solution can only be obtained in exponential time unless P = NP. There are different variants of the travelling salesman problem (TSP) and in this paper, asymmetric travelling salesman problem is addressed since this variant is quite often observed in real world scenarios. There are a number of heuristic approaches to this problem which provides approximate solutions in polynomial time, however this paper proposes an exact optimal solution which is accelerated with the help of multi-threading-based parallelization. In order to find the exact optimal solution, we have used the held-karp algorithm involving dynamic programming and to reduce the time taken to find the optimal path, we have used a multi-threaded approach to parallelize the processing of sub-problems by leveraging the central processing unit cores (CPUs). This method is an extension of a well researched solution to the TSP; however, this method shows that solutions to computationally intensive problems involving sub-problems such as the asymmetic travelling salesman problem (ATSP) can be accelerated with the help of modern CPUs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

<i>Role of Knowledge Management Initiatives in Organizational Innovativeness: Empirical Findings from the IT Industry</i>

This paper addresses the relationship between knowledge management initiatives in Indian IT organizations and their innovativeness at the organization level by using the survey research methodology. Knowledge management initiatives were measured in the context of cultural, structural, and technological interventions. Innovation was measured in terms of organizational behaviour related to sensitivity, learning, newness, trialability, communicability, risk-readiness, and absorption. A conceptual model was developed to assess the relationship between knowledge management initiatives and innovativeness. A hypothesis that knowledge management initiatives (KMI) influence the innovativeness of the organization was propounded. The questionnaire developed to assess knowledge management initiatives had 60 items, while an already available questionnaire consisting of 65 items was used to measure innovativeness. Eventually, the number of items in the knowledge management initiatives and innovativeness questionnaires was bought down to 45 and 34 respectively. Items were measured on a fivepoint Likert type rating scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The reliability of the questionnaires was checked using Cronbach Alpha. The study was carried out on 84 professionals from 20 Bangalore-based IT organizations that had implemented knowledge management initiatives and had SEI CMM level 5. Means and standard deviations of the variables were computed. The variables were subjected to correlation analysis and factor analysis. A multiple regression analysis was done to identify the influence of knowledge management initiatives on organizational innovativeness. An organizational innovativeness score, was used as the dependent variable and the variables of knowledge management initiatives were used as the independent variables. The results of data analysis showed that the initiatives taken by companies to enhance their knowledge assets fall into the culture, structure, and technology subsystems and that all the three are highly correlated: Technology and culture are more strongly associated with each other, as compared to their association with structure. All the three KMI variables strongly influence organizational innovativeness, with ‘culture’ being the most important. ‘Learning climate,’ a variable of culture, is found to be the most significant of the variables to influence innovativeness. Hence, organizations that lay emphasis on learning and provide excellent training facilities can foster a more innovative environment. Interestingly, ‘risk readiness‘ is not a factor contributing to innovativeness and is not significantly associated with the other variables. The variables like leadership, networking, reward and recognition, structure and technology do not significantly influence innovativeness. </jats:p

Dehydroepiandrosterone and Acute Stress Attenuation: An Interventional Rodent Study

Introduction: Stress activates hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis leading to the release of glucocorticoid that mediates the stress response. This adaptive response is self-limited but if persistent for prolonged periods can lead to disease states. Nature has endowed the body with efficient buffer systems to attenuate the stress effects and Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a steroid hormone with neuromodulatory functions is implicated as an efficient candidate to buffer stress. Aim: To assess the effect of prophylactic administration of DHEA in the attenuation of acute stress in male Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: This interventional study was carried out at centre for Toxicology and Developmental Research, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, between June 2021 and August 2021, in compliance with the animal welfare guidelines of CPCSEA, and in accordance to the protocol approved by Institutional animal ethics committee. The 18 male Wistar rats approved for the study were segregated into 3 groups with 6 animals in control (no stress) group, 6 in stress group and 6 in intervention group that received DHEA prophylactically 30 min before stress procedure. Animals in stress and intervention groups were subjected to one hour immobilisation stress. Blood samples were collected from all animals after the stress period and serum corticosterone, the stress marker, was estimated. The data were expressed as mean±standard error of mean (mean±SEM) and Mann-Whitney U test was used to test the significant difference between the: (i) control &amp; stress groups; (ii) stress &amp; study groups; and (iii) control &amp; study groups. The p-value&lt;0.05 was considered significant. The analysis was done using SPSS version 23.0. Results: The values of corticosterone in control, stress and intervention groups were 26.6±4.4 ng/mL, 51.6±3.9 ng/mL and 23.4±3.6 ng/mL, respectively. Significant difference in the mean serum corticosterone levels with p-value 0.013 between control and stress groups and with p-value 0.008 between stress and DHEA groups were observed. Conclusion: It could be observed from the findings that prophylactic DHEA administration attenuated acute stress efficiently in male Wistar rats as reflected by the significant decrease in serum corticosterone levels in the group that received DHEA intervention, thus inferring the efficiency of DHEA in stress buffering.</jats:p