We present here a decision-theoretic framework for the analysis of organizational change under risk. An algorithm is demonstrated which identifies optimal change paths given uncertainty involving execution time, intervention cost, and payoffs resulting from particular structural configurations. An elaboration of the basic framework to accommodate external structural perturbations is shown, and ...

We discover that Au-rich Cu1-xAux and Pt-rich Ni1-xPtx contain a composition range in which there is a quasicontinuum of stable, ordered "adaptive structures" made of (001) repeat units of simple structural motifs. This is found by searching approximately 3x10(6) different fcc configurations whose energies are parametrized via a "cluster expansion" of first-principles-calculated total energies ...

We advance an institutional formalisation of the logical systems that underlie the K semantic framework and are used to capture both structural properties of program configurations through pattern matching, and changes of configurations through reachability rules. By defining encodings of matching and reachability logic into the institution of first-order logic, we set the foundation for integr...

The interaction among topological defects can induce novel phenomena such as disclination pairs in liquid crystals and superconducting vortex lattices. Nanoscale topological vortices with swirling ferroelectric, magnetic, and structural antiphase relationships were found in multiferroic h-YMnO(3). Herein, we report the discovery of intriguing, but seemingly irregular configurations of a zoo of ...

We study the structure of numerically simulated hard sphere packings at different densities by investigating local tetrahedral configurations of the spheres. Clusters of tetrahedra adjacent by faces present relatively dense aggregates of spheres atypical for crystals. The number of spheres participating in such polytetrahedral configurations increases with densification of the packing, and at t...

In this paper, we present a metamodel for specifying redundable software and hardware architectures. This metamodel takes into account the constraints on the number of redundant elements, the number of allowed failures, the execution times and allocation constraints. From such a specification, we generate all possible structural configurations. Then, we check that each of these configurations c...