8,845 research outputs found
European Union - Reforms - Hungarian interests. What kind of European Union would we like?
The lecture deals with broad topics. First, it addresses some questions related to the current state of the EU integration regarding institutions and common policies. Second, it discusses the continued importance, the main results and hindering factors related to the Lisbon Programme, with a special emphasis on the educational system in Europe and Hungary. Third, the lecture deals with some possibilities in changing the EU’s rather limited external relation models to more flexible instruments
An absentee monitoring device
Development of audio alarm system to provide remote monitoring of warning devices is discussed. Device uses photodiode connected to self-powered audio alarm unit. Photograph of equipment is included
A Spitzer Spectrum of the Exoplanet HD 189733b
We report on the measurement of the 7.5-14.7 micron spectrum for the
transiting extrasolar giant planet HD 189733b using the Infrared Spectrograph
on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Though the observations comprise only 12 hours
of telescope time, the continuum is well measured and has a flux ranging from
0.6 mJy to 1.8 mJy over the wavelength range, or 0.49 +/- 0.02% of the flux of
the parent star. The variation in the measured fractional flux is very nearly
flat over the entire wavelength range and shows no indication of significant
absorption by water or methane, in contrast with the predictions of most
atmospheric models. Models with strong day/night differences appear to be
disfavored by the data, suggesting that heat redistribution to the night side
of the planet is highly efficient.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letter
Enceladus: Cassini observations and implications for the search for life
Aims. The recent Cassini discovery of water vapor plumes ejected from the south pole of the Saturnian satellite, Enceladus, presents a unique window of opportunity for the detection of extant life in our solar system.
Methods. With its significant geothermal energy source propelling these plumes >80 km from the surface of the moon and the ensuing large temperature gradient with the surrounding environment, it is possible to have the weathering of rocks by liquid water at the rock/liquid interface. For the cases of the putatively detected salt-water oceans beneath the ice crusts of Europa and Callisto, an isolated subsurface ocean without photosynthesis or contact with an oxidizing atmosphere will approach chemical equilibrium and annihilate any ecosystems dependent on redox gradients unless there is a substantial alternative energy source. This thermodynamic tendency imposes severe constraints on any biota that is based on chemical energy. On Enceladus, the weathering of rocks by liquid water and any concomitant radioactive emissions are possible incipient conditions for life. If there is CO, CO2 and NH3 present in the spectra obtained from the plume, then this is possible evidence that amino acids could be formed at the rock/liquid interface of Enceladus. The combination of a hydrological cycle, chemical redox gradient and geochemical cycle give favorable conditions for life.
Results. We discuss the search for signatures of these species and organics in the Cassini UVIS spectra of the plume and implications for the possible detection of life
Roles of binding elements, FOXL2 domains, and interactions with cJUN and SMADs in regulation of FSHβ.
We previously identified FOXL2 as a critical component in FSHβ gene transcription. Here, we show that mice deficient in FOXL2 have lower levels of gonadotropin gene expression and fewer LH- and FSH-containing cells, but the same level of other pituitary hormones compared to wild-type littermates, highlighting a role of FOXL2 in the pituitary gonadotrope. Further, we investigate the function of FOXL2 in the gonadotrope cell and determine which domains of the FOXL2 protein are necessary for induction of FSHβ transcription. There is a stronger induction of FSHβ reporter transcription by truncated FOXL2 proteins, but no induction with the mutant lacking the forkhead domain. Specifically, FOXL2 plays a role in activin induction of FSHβ, functioning in concert with activin-induced SMAD proteins. Activin acts through multiple promoter elements to induce FSHβ expression, some of which bind FOXL2. Each of these FOXL2-binding sites is either juxtaposed or overlapping with a SMAD-binding element. We determined that FOXL2 and SMAD4 proteins form a higher order complex on the most proximal FOXL2 site. Surprisingly, two other sites important for activin induction bind neither SMADs nor FOXL2, suggesting additional factors at work. Furthermore, we show that FOXL2 plays a role in synergistic induction of FSHβ by GnRH and activin through interactions with the cJUN component of the AP1 complex that is necessary for GnRH responsiveness. Collectively, our results demonstrate the necessity of FOXL2 for proper FSH production in mice and implicate FOXL2 in integration of transcription factors at the level of the FSHβ promoter
Attacking Group Protocols by Refuting Incorrect Inductive Conjectures
Automated tools for finding attacks on flawed security protocols often fail to deal adequately with group protocols. This is because the abstractions made to improve performance on fixed 2 or 3 party protocols either preclude the modelling of group protocols all together, or permit modelling only in a fixed scenario, which can prevent attacks from being discovered. This paper describes Coral, a tool for finding counterexamples to incorrect inductive conjectures, which we have used to model protocols for both group key agreement and group key management, without any restrictions on the scenario. We will show how we used Coral to discover 6 previously unknown attacks on 3 group protocols
Proof Theory, Transformations, and Logic Programming for Debugging Security Protocols
We define a sequent calculus to formally specify, simulate, debug and verify security protocols. In our sequents we distinguish between the current knowledge of principals and the current global state of the session. Hereby, we can describe the operational semantics of principals and of an intruder in a simple and modular way. Furthermore, using proof theoretic tools like the analysis of permutability of rules, we are able to find efficient proof strategies that we prove complete for special classes of security protocols including Needham-Schroeder. Based on the results of this preliminary analysis, we have implemented a Prolog meta-interpreter which allows for rapid prototyping and for checking safety properties of security protocols, and we have applied it for finding error traces and proving correctness of practical examples
Local Justice Reinvestment Pilot: Final process evaluation report
This is the final report of the process evaluation of the Local Justice Reinvestment pilot commissioned by the Ministry of Justice. The pilot aimed to: test the premise that there were significant potential reductions in crime and reoffending to be made by partners working more effectively together at the local level; understand the extent to which local partners were incentivised to change their behaviours; and test a concept from which evidence could be generated to inform the development of policy on widening the use of Payment by Results, local partnership working and local commissioning decisions The report summarises the governance arrangements at each of the sites, outlines the interventions implemented by the sites during the pilot, summarises how the reward payment from year one was allocated and examines other initiatives that may have impacted on the pilot. It identifies the strengths and challenges in the implementation of the pilot. examines the performance of the sites against the metrics and identifies factors that may have contributed to the results. It outlines the main conclusions and implications for policy based on the lessons learned from both years of the pilot
Discrete Model of Ideological Struggle Accounting for Migration
A discrete in time model of ideological competition is formulated taking into
account population migration. The model is based on interactions between global
populations of non-believers and followers of different ideologies. The complex
dynamics of the attracting manifolds is investigated.
Conversion from one ideology to another by means of (i) mass media influence
and (ii) interpersonal relations is considered. Moreover a different birth rate
is assumed for different ideologies, the rate being assumed to be positive for
the reference population, made of initially non-believers. Ideological
competition can happen in one or several regions in space. In the latter case,
migration of non-believers and adepts is allowed; this leads to an enrichment
of the ideological dynamics. Finally, the current ideological situation in the
Arab countries and China is commented upon from the point of view of the
presently developed mathematical model. The massive forced conversion by
Ottoman Turks in the Balkans is briefly discussed.Comment: 24 pages, with 5 figures and 52 refs.; prepared for a Special issue
of Advances in Complex System
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