Emission of gamma rays shifted from resonant absorption by electron-nuclear double transitions in ^{151}Eu^{2+}:CaF_2

We show that the emission of a gamma-ray photon by a nucleus can be influenced by a microwave magnetic field acting on the atomic electrons. We study theoretically these electron-nuclear double transitions (ENDTs) for ^{151}Eu nuclei in a CaF_2 lattice at low temperature, in the presence of a static magnetic field and of a microwave magnetic field. The ENDTs acquire a significant intensity for certain resonance frequencies. The ENDTs are of interest for the identification of the position of the lines in complex M\"{o}ssbauer spectra.Comment: 8 pages; 3 Postscript figures: Fig. 1, Fig. 2(a), Fig. 2(b

SEE-TREND: SEcurE Traffic-Related EveNt Detection in Smart Communities

It has been widely recognized that one of the critical services provided by Smart Cities and Smart Communities is Smart Mobility. This paper lays the theoretical foundations of SEE-TREND, a system for Secure Early Traffic-Related EveNt Detection in Smart Cities and Smart Communities. SEE-TREND promotes Smart Mobility by implementing an anonymous, probabilistic collection of traffic-related data from passing vehicles. The collected data are then aggregated and used by its inference engine to build beliefs about the state of the traffic, to detect traffic trends, and to disseminate relevant traffic-related information along the roadway to help the driving public make informed decisions about their travel plans, thereby preventing congestion altogether or mitigating its nefarious effects

Fast analytical methods for the correction of signal random time-shifts and application to segmented HPGe detectors

Detection systems rely more and more on on-line or off-line comparison of detected signals with basis signals in order to determine the characteristics of the impinging particles. Unfortunately, these comparisons are very sensitive to the random time shifts that may alter the signal delivered by the detectors. We present two fast algebraic methods to determine the value of the time shift and to enhance the reliability of the comparison to the basis signals.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Measuring the Degree of Market Power in the Export Demand for Nigerian Cocoa: An Analysis of Dutch Market

The study examined the degree of market power in the export demand for Nigerian Cocoa with focus on the Dutch Market. The study covered the periods of 1961–2007 and data comprised published national aggregates on specific trade and macroeconomic variables from reputable sources. Two Stage Least Squares (2 SLS) approach was used in the estimation after instrumenting for simultaneity and establishing stationarity alongside cointegration relationship. Findings, on the demand side, showed that the demand for cocoa increases as income of Netherlands (importing country) increases. Total production of the non– participating countries traced out a positive relationship with demand for cocoa by the importing country while the coefficient of price of Coffee (substitute crop) possessed a negative sign. On the supply relation side, the demand for the export crop has a negative sign, indicating decreasing marginal output with respect to cost while the proxy for ocean freight rate with its negative sign, imply increasing export cost. The result further showed that there is relative competitiveness in the Dutch market on the strength of a market power coefficient -0.712 with a Lerner index of 0.122. Based on the findings, the study calls for government intervention in the agricultural export subsector with the aim to revitalize the country’s agricultural export capacity and enhance her market power via increased market shares. These interventions could be in the form of input/production subsidies, targeted export promotion programs, farm settlement, expanded export processing zones to mention but a few

Giant hernia patient, particular aspects in treatment and surgical approach - case presentation

Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Victor Babeș”, Clinica I Chirurgie, Spitalul Clinic Judeţean de Urgenţă „Pius Brinzeu”, Timișoara, România, Al XIII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” și al III-lea Congres al Societății de Endoscopie, Chirurgie miniminvazivă și Ultrasonografie ”V.M.Guțu” din Republica MoldovaIntroducere: Herniile abdominale gigante sunt patologii mai rar întalnite în zilele noastre, dar pot ridica probleme deosebite în terapie. Scopul: Prezentarea unui caz particular al unui pacient cu hernie de linie albă abdominală voluminoasă. Material şi metode: Pacient obez, cunoscut cu hipertensiune arterială, insuficiență venoasă cronică, ce prezintă hernie de linie albă abdominală gigantă cu dimensiunile aproximative 30/35/15cm, cu leziuni locale cutanate tegumentare de decubit, afirmativ debutată în urmă cu peste 10 ani, se interenază în clinica noastră pentru tratament electiv. La tentativa de cură chirurgicală a defectului parietal prin procedeu anatomic, se constată o scădere bruscă a saturației de oxigen (sub 90%), impunandu-se repararea herniei cu material protetic. S-a practicat cura chirurgicală cu plasă de substituție din polipropilenă, reanatomizare. Rezultate: Evoluția post operatorie a fost favorabilă, pacientul fiind externat în ziua 8 postoperator. Procedeele chirurgicale certificate în literatura de specialitate trebuiesc adaptate particularității cazurilor. Concluzii: Managementul pacienților cu hernii ventrale voluminoase este complex, atât din punct de vedere operator, cat și medical, și necesită în multe cazuri colaborare interdisciplinară, controlul afecțiunilor asociate și schimbarea stilului de viață fiind aspecte fundamentale ce influențează evoluția cazului.Introduction: Giant abdominal hernias are rare nowadays, but in those cases, treatment could be difficult. Aim: Presentation of a particular case of giant ventral hernia. Material and methods: Obese, hypertensive patient, with chronic venous insufficiency, presents giant ventral hernia associated with local skin lesions (approximate dimensions 30/35/15 centimeters), with over ten years of evolution. At the attempt of anatomically procedure hernia repair, oxygen saturation decrease occurs (<90%), so we performed substitution mesh hernia repair, anatomically closure. Results: Favorable postoperative evolution. The patient was discharged after 8 post-operative days surgically cured. Surgical procedures and technique had to be adapted to each particular case. Conclusions: Patients with giant ventral hernias treatment is complex, from surgical and medical view. Interdisciplinary medical team could be required. Related diseases and weight control are important aspects for a good outcome

A Greedy Hypercube-Labeling Algorithm

Due to its attractive topological properties, the hypercube multiprocessor has emerged as one of the architectures of choice when it comes to implementing a large number of computational problems. In many such applications, Gray-code labelings of the hypercube are a crucial prerequisite for obtaining efficient algorithms. We propose a greedy algorithm that, given an n-dimensional hypercube H with N=22 nodes, returns a Gray-code labeling of H, that is, a labeling of the nodes with binary strings of length n such that two nodes are neighbors in the hypercube if, and only if, their labels differ in exactly one bit. Our algorithm is conceptually very simple and runs in O(N log N) time being, therefore, optimal. As it turns out, with a few modifications our labeling algorithm can be used to recognize hypercubes as well

17O NMR study of the intrinsic magnetic susceptibility and spin dynamics of the quantum kagome antiferromagnet ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2

We report through 17O NMR, an unambiguous local determination of the intrinsic kagome lattice spin susceptibility as well as that created around non-magnetic defects issued from natural Zn/ Cu exchange in the S=1/2 (Cu2+) herbertsmithite ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2 compound. The issue of a singlet-triplet gap is addressed. The magnetic response around a defect is found to markedly differ from that observed in non-frustrated antiferromagnetic materials. Finally, we discuss our relaxation measurements in the light of Cu and Cl NMR data [cond-mat 070314] and suggest a flat q-dependence of the excitations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett., 3 jan. 2008 Figure 1 has been modified to include a two-components fit of the 17O NMR spectru

Measuring the Degree of Market Power in the Export Demand for Nigerian Cocoa: An Analysis of Dutch Market

The study examined the degree of market power in the export demand for Nigerian Cocoa with focus on the Dutch Market. The study covered the periods of 1961–2007 and data comprised published national aggregates on specific trade and macroeconomic variables from reputable sources. Two Stage Least Squares (2 SLS) approach was used in the estimation after instrumenting for simultaneity and establishing stationarity alongside cointegration relationship. Findings, on the demand side, showed that the demand for cocoa increases as income of Netherlands (importing country) increases. Total production of the non–participating countries traced out a positive relationship with demand for cocoa by the importing country while the coefficient of price of Coffee (substitute crop) possessed a negative sign. On the supply relation side, the demand for the export crop has a negative sign, indicating decreasing marginal output with respect to cost while the proxy for ocean freight rate with its negative sign, imply increasing export cost. The result further showed that there is relative competitiveness in the Dutch market on the strength of a market power coefficient -0.712 with a Lerner index of 0.122. Based on the findings, the study calls for government intervention in the agricultural export subsector with the aim to revitalize the country’s agricultural export capacity and enhance her market power via increased market shares. These interventions could be in the form of input/production subsidies, targeted export promotion programs, farm settlement, expanded export processing zones to mention but a few.Peer reviewe

Selective Mutation Accumulation: A Computational Model of the Paternal Age Effect

Motivation: As the mean age of parenthood grows, the effect of parental age on genetic disease and child health becomes ever more important. A number of autosomal dominant disorders show a dramatic paternal age effect due to selfish mutations: substitutions that grant spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) a selective advantage in the testes of the father, but have a deleterious effect in offspring. In this paper we present a computational technique to model the SSC niche in order to examine the phenomenon and draw conclusions across different genes and disorders. Results: We used a Markov chain to model the probabilities of mutation and positive selection with cell divisions. The model was fitted to available data on disease incidence and also mutation assays of sperm donors. Strength of selective advantage is presented for a range of disorders including Apert\u27s syndrome and achondroplasia. Incidence of the diseases was predicted closely for most disorders and was heavily influenced by the site-specific mutation rate and the number of mutable alleles. The model also successfully predicted a stronger selective advantage for more strongly activating gain-of-function mutations within the same gene. Both positive selection and the rate of copy-error mutations are important in adequately explaining the paternal age effect. Availability and Implementation: C++/R source codes and documentation including compilation instructions are available under GNU license at https://github.com/anwala/NicheSimulation. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Providing VANET Security Through Active Position Detection

Our main contribution is a novel approach to enhancing position security in VANET. We achieve local and global position security by using the on-board radar to detect neighboring vehicles and to confirm their announced coordinates. We compute cosine similarity among data collected by radar and neighbors\u27 reports to filter the forged data from the truthful data. Based on filtered data, we create a history of vehicle movement. By checking the history and computing similarity, we can prevent a large number of Sybil attacks and some combinations of Sybil and position-based attacks