On Measuring Influence in Non-Binary Voting Games

In this note, we demonstrate using two simple examples that generalization of the Banzhaf measure of voter influence to non-binary voting games that requires as starting position a voter’s membership in a winning coalition is likely to incompletely reflect the influence a voter has on the outcome of a game. Generalization of the Banzhaf measure that takes into consideration all possible pivot moves of a voter including those moves originating from a losing coalition will, on the other hand, result in a measure that is proportional to the Penrose measure only in the ternary case.Penrose measure, Banzhaf index, ternary games, multicandidate weighted voting games

Evaluation of pollutant removal efficiency of a bioretention basin and implications for stormwater management in tropical cities

Non-point source pollution is a prevalent problem throughout the world. Bioretention basins have been deployed worldwide to treat stormwater runoff and alleviate eutrophication in downstream water resources. However, basin performance in the tropics is poorly understood. Given the distinctly different rainfall-runoff characteristics of tropical climates, whether basins that are built according to temperate design guidelines are effective is questionable. There have been no field studies based on continuous, high-resolution, long-term monitoring in the tropics. In this study, 96 storms were monitored in the first bioretention basin in Singapore. Of these, flow measurements were made during 80 events and samples were collected and analyzed for 15 water quality parameters (including nitrogen and phosphorus species, total suspended solids, and chemical oxygen demand) during six events. The mean removal rates were 25%, 46%, and 53% for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids respectively. Results show that a lack of storage capacity and resulting high overflow reduce pollutant removal efficiency for high-rainfall-depth events. The transition from efficient to non-efficient removal occurs at a rainfall depth between 10 and 30 mm. Low EMC (event mean concentration) and weak first flush as a result of frequent and intense rainfall in the tropics also contribute to low removal rate. The results suggest a need to revise bioretention basin design guidelines for the tropics to be based on WQV or WQD (water quality volume or depth) instead of ARI (average recurrence interval). A larger basin volume (WQD between 10 to 30 mm) is recommended.Singapore. National Research Foundation (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling

Evaluating disease severity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Accurate assessment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) disease severity is integral to the care provided to patients with IPF. However, to date, there are no generally accepted or validated staging systems. There is an abundance of data on using information acquired from physiological, radiological and pathological parameters, in isolation or in combination, to assess disease severity in IPF. Recently, there has been interest in using serum biomarkers and computed tomography-derived quantitative lung fibrosis measures to stage disease severity in IPF. This review will focus on the suggested methods for staging IPF, at baseline and on serial assessment, their strengths and limitations, as well as future developments

InGaN nano-ring structures for high-efficiency light emitting diodes

A technique based on the Fresnel diffraction effect for the fabrication of nano-scale site-controlled ring structures in InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well structures has been demonstrated. The ring structures have an internal diameter of 500 nm and a wall width of 300 nm. A 1 cm-1 Raman shift has been measured, signifying substantial strain relaxation from the fabricated structure. The 9 nm blueshift observed in the cathodoluminescence spectra can be attributed to band filling and/or screening of the piezoelectric field. A light emitting diode based on this geometry has been demonstrated

Evidence for Factorization in Three-body B --> D(*) K- K0 Decays

Motivated by recent experimental results, we use a factorization approach to study the three-body B --> D(*) K- K0 decay modes. Two mechanisms are proposed for kaon pair production: current-produced (from vacuum) and transition (from B meson). The Bbar0 --> D(*)+ K- K0 decay is governed solely by the current-produced mechanism. As the kaon pair can be produced only by the vector current, the matrix element can be extracted from e+ e- --> K Kbar processes via isospin relations. The decay rates obtained this way are in good agreement with experiment. Both current-produced and transition processes contribute to B- --> D(*)0 K- K0 decays. By using QCD counting rules and the measured B- --> D(*)0 K- K0 decay rates, the measured decay spectra can be understood.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Low-Mass Baryon-Antibaryon Enhancements in B Decays

The nature of low-mass baryon-antibaryon enhancements seen in B decays is explored. Three possibilities include (i) states near threshold as found in a model by Nambu and Jona-Lasinio, (ii) isoscalar states with $J^{PC} = 0^{\pm +}$ coupled to a pair of gluons, and (iii) low-mass enhancements favored by the fragmentation process. Ways of distinguishing these mechanisms using angular distributions and flavor symmetry are proposed.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, no figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. D. One reference adde

Approach to Rectal Cancer Surgery

Rectal cancer is a distinct subset of colorectal cancer where specialized disease-specific management of the primary tumor is required. There have been significant developments in rectal cancer surgery at all stages of disease in particular the introduction of local excision strategies for preinvasive and early cancers, standardized total mesorectal excision for resectable cancers incorporating preoperative short- or long-course chemoradiation to the multimodality sequencing of treatment. Laparoscopic surgery is also increasingly being adopted as the standard rectal cancer surgery approach following expertise of colorectal surgeons in minimally invasive surgery gained from laparoscopic colon resections. In locally advanced and metastatic disease, combining chemoradiation with radical surgery may achieve total eradication of disease and disease control in the pelvis. Evidence for resection of metastases to the liver and lung have been extensively reported in the literature. The role of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal metastases is showing promise in achieving locoregional control of peritoneal dissemination. This paper summarizes the recent developments in approaches to rectal cancer surgery at all these time points of the disease natural history

Patterns of RAPD markers and heavy metal concentrations in Perna viridis (L.), collected from metal-contaminated and uncontaminated coastal waters: Are they correlated with each other?

Genetic variation due to heavy metal contamination has always been an interesting topic of study. Because of the numerous contaminants being found in coastal and intertidal waters, there is always much discussion and argument as to which contaminant(s) caused the variations in the genetic structures of biomonitors. This study used a Single Primer Amplification Reaction (SPAR) technique, namely Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), to determine the genetic diversity of the populations of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis collected from a metal-contaminated site at Kg. Pasir Puteh and those from four relatively uncontaminated sites (reference sites). Heavy metal levels (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) were also measured in the soft tissues and byssus of the mussels from all the sites. Cluster analyses employing UPGMA based on the RAPD markers grouped the populations into two major clusters; the Bagan Tiang, Pantai Lido, Pontian, and Kg. Pasir Puteh populations were in one cluster, while the Sg. Belungkor population clustered by itself. This indicated that the genetic diversity based on bands resulting from the use of all four RAPD primers on P. viridis did not indicate its potential use as a biomarker of heavy metal pollution in coastal waters. However, based on a correlation analysis between a particular metal and a band resulting from a specific RAPD primer revealed some significant (P < 0.01) correlations between the primers and the heavy metal concentrations in the byssus and soft tissues. Thus, the correlation between a particular metal and the bands resulting from the use of a specific RAPD primer on P. viridis could be used as biomonitoring tool of heavy metal pollution