Multicomputer communication system

A local area network is provided for a plurality of autonomous computers which operate at different rates and under different protocols coupled by network bus adapters to a global bus. A host computer (HC) divides a message file to be transmitted into blocks, each with a header that includes a data type identifier and a trailer. The associated network bus adapter (NBA) then divides the data into packets, each with a header to which a transport header and trailer is added with frame type code which specifies one of three modes of addressing in the transmission of data, namely a physical address mode for computer to computer transmission using two bytes for source and destination addresses, a logical address mode and a data type mode. In the logical address mode, one of the two addressing bytes contains a logical channel number (LCN) established between the transmitting and one or more receiving computers. In the data type mode, one of the addressing bytes contains a code identifying the type of data

Understanding honey bee worker sterility: a conceptual-empirical framework

Kin selection explains how complex social behaviour can evolve at the gene level, but this theory does not identify which genes are necessary for the expression of altruism. In my first chapter I overview seven criteria for genes for altruism using the honey bee as a model species. In the second chapter I explore one criterion in detail – that altruism genes are differentially expressed between reproductive and sterile workers. I used results from previous microarray studies to reconstruct nine knowledge-based gene networks that describe reproductive altruism by means of ovary activation and de-activation. All networks were enriched for Gene Ontology terms pertaining to reproduction, and the hub genes in each network tend to consist of genes involved in expression and signaling. 138 genes overlap among networks for workers of different ages and tissues. These networks provide testable hypotheses that explain the expression of altruistic sterility in workers

Lithofacies of the Pliocene-Pleistocene Lucayan Limestone, Great Abaco Island, Little Bahama Bank

Petrographic and sedimentologic analyses of eleven shallow subsurface cores (3 to 19 meters in length) from the Lucayan Limestone where it occurs along northeastern Great Abaco Island (little Bahama Bank) are used to delineate five carbonate lithofacies. The most prevalent lithofacies is a mottled, nonskeletal, peloidal packstone to grainstone. Other lithofacies include a rudstone, a laminated nonskeletal grainstone, a crossbedded grainstone and a mudstone-wackestone. Cementation varies from poor to very well cemented core intervals. Cements observed included equant granular, equant blocky, drusy, meniscus, and needle fiber whisker cements. These cements reflect a variety of diagenetic environments such as the vadose, meteoric, and phreatic zones. It is not possible to use the cement types to define past sea level positions. However, the cement types indicate periods of subaerial exposure that may have been a result of sea level fluctuations. The near surface carbonates of northeastern Great Abaco Island can be correlated with the upper Lucayan Limestone found on Little Bahama Bank, northwestern Great Bahama Bank and in the southeastern Bahama

Interactions between the endocrine and immune systems in locusts

The prophenoloxidase cascade in the haemolymph of mature adult Locusta migratoria migratorioides (R & F) is activated in response to injection of laminarin, a -1,3 glucan. Co-injection of adipokinetic hormone-I (Lom-AKH-I) and laminarin prolongs the activation of the enzyme in a dose-dependent manner. However, injections of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) do not activate prophenoloxidase unless AKH is co-injected, when there is a dose-dependent increase in the level of phenoloxidase that persists in the haemolymph for several hours. Even when AKH is co-injected, the highest levels of phenoloxidase activity are always greater after injection of laminarin than after LPS, and these two immunogens must activate the prophenoloxidase cascade by quite distinct pathways. In the present study, interactions between the endocrine and immune systems were examined with respect to activation of prophenoloxidase and the formation of nodules: injection of LPS induces nodule formation in adult locusts. With LPS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, nodules form exclusively in dense accumulations in the anterior portion of the abdomen on either side of the dorsal blood vessel associated with the dorsal diaphragm. However, with LPS from Escherichia coli, fewer nodules are formed but with a similar distribution, except that occasionally some nodules are aligned additionally on either side of the ventral nerve cord. Co-injection of Lom-AKH-I with LPS from either bacteria stimulates greater numbers of nodules to be formed. This effect of coinjection of AKH on nodule formation is seen at low doses of hormone with only 0.3 or 0.4 pmol of Lom-AKH-1, respectively, increasing the number of nodules by 50%. Injections of octopamine or 5-hydroxytryptamine do not mimic either of the actions of Lom-AKH-I described here. Co-injection of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, captopril, reduces nodule formation in response to injections of LPS but has no effect on the activation of phenoloxidase. Co-injection of an inhibitor of eicosanoid synthesis, dexamethasone, with LPS influences nodule formation (with or without AKH) in different ways according to the dose of dexamethasone used, but does not affect activation of prophenoloxidase. Eicosanoid synthesis is important for nodule formation, but not for the activation of the prophenoloxidase cascade in locust haemolymph

Automatic normal orientation in point clouds of building interiors

Orienting surface normals correctly and consistently is a fundamental problem in geometry processing. Applications such as visualization, feature detection, and geometry reconstruction often rely on the availability of correctly oriented normals. Many existing approaches for automatic orientation of normals on meshes or point clouds make severe assumptions on the input data or the topology of the underlying object which are not applicable to real-world measurements of urban scenes. In contrast, our approach is specifically tailored to the challenging case of unstructured indoor point cloud scans of multi-story, multi-room buildings. We evaluate the correctness and speed of our approach on multiple real-world point cloud datasets

An Empirical Investigation Into Significant Factors of Moral Reasoning and Their Influences on Ethical Judgment and Intentions

This dissertation is a partial test of the Hunt-Vitell (1986, 1993) general theory of marketing ethics, which, along with previous tests of the model and other empirical and theoretical work, serves as the basis for this research. The dissertation model is the most comprehensive test of Hunt-Vitell to date, in the sense that it tests variables at almost every stage of the ethical decision making process described in the Hunt-Vitell theory. The sample was obtained through a mail survey of American Marketing Association (AMA) practitioner members. Empirical testing was carried out through correlation and regression analysis. Of the seventeen hypotheses, nine were supported and three had weak support. The findings confirm the hypothesis that marketers who work in firms with higher corporate ethical values are more perceptive of situations with problematic ethical content. Personal religiousness is also positively related to such perception; relativism, as a personal moral philosophy, is negatively related, both as hypothesized. Though these characteristics are exogenous in the model, and somewhat distant from actual ethical behavior, the findings are important because perception of an ethical problem actually triggers the entire process of ethical decision making. Also well supported in this research is the hypothesized predominance of the deontological (duty-based) evaluation over the teleological one (consequential). Marketers who tend toward deontological reasoning make more ethical judgments, and that judgment was found to be positively related to ethical intentions. A weak link was found between personal relativism and teleological evaluation, as hypothesized. Insignificant results include the fact that no support was found for a link between a teleological evaluation and ethical judgment, or for a negative relationship between personal religiousness and teleological reasoning. There was also no relationship between higher corporate ethical values and either deontological or teleological evaluation. Finally, the data do not support a negative relationship between personal relativism and teleological evaluations