Properties of the mixed μ problem and its bounds

Upper and lower bounds for the mixed μ problem have recently been developed, and here we examine the relationship of these bounds to each other and to μ. A number of interesting properties are developed and the implications of these properties for the robustness analysis of linear systems and the development of practical computation schemes are discussed. In particular we find that current techniques can only guarantee easy computation for large problems when μ equals its upper bound, and computational complexity results prohibit this possibility for general problems. In this context we present some special cases where computation is easy and make some direct comparisons between mixed μ and “Kharitonov-type” analysis methods

Multi-State Logging Freeze Detection Passive RFID Tags

In this work the design and measurement of a passive UHF RFID smart tag suitable for monitoring and recording critical temperature violations in cold chain management are presented. The tag uses moving parts to detect and log different temperate states without the requirement for transceivers, memory and batteries. A simple mechanical method is proposed whereby a moving metallic plate is trapped in one of 4 possible positions by specific environmental temperatures whereby inducing a permanent state based change in the passive RFID tag response. The latched product critical temperature violations can be monitored via the read power required to turn on the tag transponder chip which differs in each state

Log::ProgramInfo: A Perl module to collect and log data for bioinformatics pipelines.

BackgroundTo reproduce and report a bioinformatics analysis, it is important to be able to determine the environment in which a program was run. It can also be valuable when trying to debug why different executions are giving unexpectedly different results.ResultsLog::ProgramInfo is a Perl module that writes a log file at the termination of execution of the enclosing program, to document useful execution characteristics. This log file can be used to re-create the environment in order to reproduce an earlier execution. It can also be used to compare the environments of two executions to determine whether there were any differences that might affect (or explain) their operation.AvailabilityThe source is available on CPAN (Macdonald and Boutros, Log-ProgramInfo. http://search.cpan.org/~boutroslb/Log-ProgramInfo/).ConclusionUsing Log::ProgramInfo in programs creating result data for publishable research, and including the Log::ProgramInfo output log as part of the publication of that research is a valuable method to assist others to duplicate the programming environment as a precursor to validating and/or extending that research

Brief Amicus Curiae of the Honorable Margaret W. Hassan Governor of the State of New Hampshire in Support of the Plaintiffs/Cross-Appellants

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT The Governor confines her argument in this amicus brief to whether the superior court correctly concluded that the education tax credit program enacted under RSA § 77-G violates Article 83 insofar as it permits organizations authorized to receive donations subsidized by the credit to use those donations to fund student scholarships to religious, non-public schools. In the Governor’s view, the superior court’s finding of unconstitutionality was correct. In its text, structure, and history (including its interpretive history), the New Hampshire Constitution significantly differs from the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause with respect to the question whether revenue generated through taxation—i.e., public funds—may be used to subsidize student scholarships to religious, non-public schools. Accordingly, more permissive federal court precedents interpreting the Establishment Clause should have little bearing on this question. Under the New Hampshire Constitution, the answer to the question is “no”; public funds may not be used to subsidize student scholarships to religious, non-public schools. Public financial support of religious schools would not only violate the constitutional rights of New Hampshire taxpayers who do not wish their tax dollars to subsidize the operation of such schools, but it also would necessitate additional public regulation of the affairs of religious schools. Either way, the result would be a dangerous state entanglement in religion that is inconsistent with New Hampshire’s Constitution and traditions. The question therefore becomes whether the superior court correctly concluded that revenue raised and appropriated through the tax credit program enacted pursuant to RSA § 77-G constitutes “money raised by taxation” within the meaning of Article 83. The superior court’s conclusion was correct. The monies made available to schools through RSA § 77-G are monies raised by taxation. The legislature has appropriated a portion of New Hampshire’s tax dollars to pay for scholarships to religious schools through the tax credit program. Any other conclusion would require this Court to bless a formalistic and functionally meaningless distinction between tax dollars appropriated directly by the State, and tax dollars directed to religious schools through the tax credit program legislation. Such a crabbed reading of the Article 83 guarantee would jeopardize both the hallowed underpinnings of religious tolerance and freedom, and the prohibition against entanglement made sacred by our New Hampshire Constitution. This Court should not vindicate a formalism that would enable an easy end-run around a basic constitutional limit on the power of the State with respect to taxpayer funds. Finally, the violation of Article 83 occasioned by RSA § 77-G is no mere technical breach of the wall of separation between church and state. The Governor views tax incentives as appropriate tools of public policy when revenues are allocated to constitutional uses. Moreover, nothing prevented individuals or businesses from contributing to private religious schools of choice—and from enjoying the federal tax benefits of such contributions— before RSA § 77-G was adopted, and nothing prevents them from doing so now. Yet § 77-G creates a vehicle by which substantial sums of public revenue raised through the taxation of New Hampshire citizens would be diverted to religious, non-public institutions. Such a financially imprudent diversion of scarce tax dollars would undermine the State’s ability to meet its other obligations in the coming years, including the provision of an adequate education for all New Hampshire children; providing New Hampshire’s civil and criminal justice systems with adequate resources to ensure the delivery of justice in New Hampshire; and maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of New Hampshire’s citizens. The superior court’s order should be affirmed

Some Further Economics of Easter Island: Adding Subsistence and Resource Conservation

We extend Brander-Taylor's model of development on Easter Island by adding a resource subsistence requirement to people's preferences, and a conservation incentive in the form of a revenue-neutral, ad valorem tax on resource consumption. Adding subsistence improves plausibility; makes overshoot and collapse of population more extreme, and the steady state less stable; and allows for the possibility that statue building and erection will suddenly stop, in line with the archaeological evidence. We find a tax rate path which almost completely prevents overshoot, and conjecture that the overall strength of this path must rise when the subsistence level rises.

Self-induced structure in the current-voltage characteristics of RSQUIDs

Resistive two-junction SQUIDs (RSQUIDs) made from high-temperature superconductors are being developed as narrow-linewidth tunable oscillators in the GHz frequency range. We present here the results of numerical simulation of RSQUIDs of this type. These studies have identified conditions where sub-harmonic steps and other features are apparent in the current-voltage characteristics, driven by the internally-generated heterodyne frequency. The behavior is sensitive to the frequency (set by the voltage across the resistive element in the RSQUID), the temperature and also the loop inductance. We have studied the effects of thermal noise on these features. We also assess how these effects might be observed, and consider how they might affect practical applications of high frequency heterodyne RSQUID oscillators

Running Economy while Running in Extreme Cushioning and Normal Cushioning Running Shoes

The purpose of the study was to determine if running economy was influenced by wearing maximal cushioning shoes vs. control (neutral cushioning) shoes. (Please see Abstract in text