On recognition of symmetries for switching functions in Reed-Muller forms

This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. As such, it is in the public domain, and under the provisions of Title 17, United States Code, Section 105, may not be copyrighted.Pattern Recognition and Information Processing, 18-20 May 1999, Minsk, Belarus, 1998This paper addresses the recognition of partial symmetry in variables of switching functions represented in positive polarity Reed-Muller (RM) form. We develop a formal representation of partial symmetries in this RM form and present algorithms for their detection. In addition, we show necessary and sufficient conditions to recognize in RM expression partial and total symmetries in variables of the function. Our program RECsym successfully recognized symmetries in RM expansion in standard benchmark circuits

Joint toxicity of copper and zinc to a terrestrial nematode community in an acid sandy soil

Heavy metal toxicity to an indigenous nematode community was examined following the addition of Cu and Zn, alone or in combination, to agricultural soil. The dissolved Cu or Zn concentrations measured after equilibrating soil samples with a 0.01 M solution of CaCl2 showed that the metal concentrations found in soils with combined metal additions were not significantly different from those with single metal additions. After an exposure period of six months, many nematode community parameters and individual nematode taxa were significantly affected by increasing concentrations of Cu and Zn up to 200 mg kg-1. Some nematode taxa, such as Thonus, Alaimus and Aporcelaimellus were very sensitive and disappeared at Cu and Zn concentrations exceeding 50 mg kg-1. For several nematode community parameters and nematode taxa, EC50 values for single metal exposures were used to calculate TU50 values for the joint toxicity of Cu and Zn. Based on these calculations, it is concluded that the effects of a combined exposure to Cu and Zn were additive or less than additive. Before this conclusion can be generalised, however, more data are needed on other types of soil, other pH values and other combinations of pollutants

A phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of gabapentin in the management of hot flashes in men (N00CB)

Introduction: Hot flashes represent a significant problem in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy