Design Deficiencies and Lost Votes

In 2010, tens of thousands of votes in New York did not count due to overvotes -- the invalid selection of more than one candidate. This report demonstrates how the lack of adequate overvote protections disproportionately affected the state's poorest communities, suggests commonsense reforms, and examines national implications

Deficiencies of the microelements, folate and vitamin B12 in women of the child bearing ages in Gorgan, Northern Iran

Background: The deficiencies of folic acid, vitamin B12, and microelements during pregnancy may affect the health of newborns. Objectives: To assess the serum levels of folate, vitamin B12, iron, zinc and copper in healthy women of the childbearing ages in Gorgan, northern Iran. Methodology: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 women of childbearing ages in northern Iran during November 2007-March 2008. The serum levels of folate, vitamin B12, iron, copper and zinc were evaluated by laboratory tests. Results: Iron, copper, folate, vitamin B12 deficiencies and folate with vitamin B12 deficiency were detected in 13%, 32%, 13%, 32% and 11% women of the childbearing ages, respectively. According to the ethnicity, vitamin B12, folate and iron deficiencies in the Sistani group were observed in 38.3%, 12.9% and 12.9% of the women, respectively. In the native Fars group, the above mentioned deficiencies were found in 31.1%, 13.4% and 7.5% of the subjects. Folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies were observed in the urban habitant in 32.7% and 11.5% of the subjects as compared to those in the rural habitant (in 30.4% and 15.2%of the subjects respectively). The folate deficiencies in the under and above 18 years old subjects were 22.2% and 9.9%, respectively. Conclusions: This study showed that the deficiency of the micronutrients was considerable in women of the childbearing ages in Gorgan, northern Iran

Deficiencies of certain classes of meromorphic functions

Denote by B the class of transcendental meromorphic functions for which the set of finite critical and asymptotic values is bounded, and by S that class of functions for which this set is finite. We give some conditions on transcendental deficient functions of members of the class B, including an improvement of a result of Langley and Zheng. This leads to corresponding results for the class S. It is also proved that no derivative of a finite lower order periodic function has non-zero finite deficient values. We show by example that the finite lower order condition is necessary here

No 'No' : on the crosslinguistic absence of a determiner 'No'

This paper concerns the semantics of determiners. I point out that the currently dominant generalized quantifiers analysis of determiners has certain deficiencies. I then provide an alternative which seems offer some hope not suffer from the same deficiencies

Coenzyme Q10 deficiencies: pathways in yeast and humans.

Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone or CoQ) is an essential lipid that plays a role in mitochondrial respiratory electron transport and serves as an important antioxidant. In human and yeast cells, CoQ synthesis derives from aromatic ring precursors and the isoprene biosynthetic pathway. Saccharomyces cerevisiae coq mutants provide a powerful model for our understanding of CoQ biosynthesis. This review focusses on the biosynthesis of CoQ in yeast and the relevance of this model to CoQ biosynthesis in human cells. The COQ1-COQ11 yeast genes are required for efficient biosynthesis of yeast CoQ. Expression of human homologs of yeast COQ1-COQ10 genes restore CoQ biosynthesis in the corresponding yeast coq mutants, indicating profound functional conservation. Thus, yeast provides a simple yet effective model to investigate and define the function and possible pathology of human COQ (yeast or human gene involved in CoQ biosynthesis) gene polymorphisms and mutations. Biosynthesis of CoQ in yeast and human cells depends on high molecular mass multisubunit complexes consisting of several of the COQ gene products, as well as CoQ itself and CoQ intermediates. The CoQ synthome in yeast or Complex Q in human cells, is essential for de novo biosynthesis of CoQ. Although some human CoQ deficiencies respond to dietary supplementation with CoQ, in general the uptake and assimilation of this very hydrophobic lipid is inefficient. Simple natural products may serve as alternate ring precursors in CoQ biosynthesis in both yeast and human cells, and these compounds may act to enhance biosynthesis of CoQ or may bypass certain deficient steps in the CoQ biosynthetic pathway

Space shuttle orbiter leading-edge flight performance compared to design goals

Thermo-structural performance of the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia's leading-edge structural subsystem for the first five (5) flights is compared with the design goals. Lessons learned from thse initial flights of the first reusable manned spacecraft are discussed in order to assess design maturity, deficiencies, and modifications required to rectify the design deficiencies. Flight data and post-flight inspections support the conclusion that the leading-edge structural subsystem hardware performance was outstanding for the initial five (5) flights

A Portable, Low-Cost Wheelchair Ergometer Design Based on a Mathematical Model of Pediatric Wheelchair Dynamics

Evaluation and training of wheelchair propulsion improves efficiency and prevents orthopaedic injury in pediatric manual wheelchair users. Ergometers allow static propulsion and emulate typical conditions. Currently available ergometers have deficiencies that limit their use in motion analysis. A new ergometer is developed and evaluated based on a model of wheelchair inertial dynamics that eliminates these deficiencies. This makes integrated motion analysis of wheelchair propulsion in current community, home, and international outreach efforts possible