Determining the relative position of vehicles considering bidirectional traffic scenarios in VANETS

Researchers pertaining to both academia and industry have shown strong interest in developing and improving the existing critical ITS solutions. In some of the existing solutions, specially the ones that aim at providing context aware services, the knowledge of relative positioning of one node by other nodes becomes crucial. In this paper we explore, apart from the conventional use of GPS data, the applicability of image processing to aid in determining the relative positions of nodes in a vehicular network. Experiments conducted show that both the use of location information and image processing works well and can be deployed depending on the requirement of the application. Our experiments show that the results that used location information were affected by GPS errors, while the use of image processing, although producing more accurate results, require significantly more processing power

The Cave Beetle Neaphaenops tellkampfi Erichson: Relationships Within and Among Related Genera Using Molecular Data

Studies of North American cave beetle systematics have been based primarily on morphology. This project analyzes the relationships and validity of the four subspecies of the monotypic Neaphaenops based on monophyly, as well as relationships with the remaining four eastern N.A. cave beetle genera (Pseudanophthalmus, Nelsonites, Darlingtonea, and Ameroduvalius) using molecular methods. This study utilized 39 beetle samples collected from 27 Kentucky caves and one outgroup accessed from GenBank. Evidence for phylogenetic hypotheses is based on sequences of one nuclear protein-coding gene (arginine kinase) and one mitochondrial gene (CO1). Analyses support Neaphaenops as sister to all other taxa. One subspecies of Neaphaenops is valid, a second possibly so, and the other two are not. All tested genera are monophyletic except for Pseudanophthalmus; Nelsonites appears to be a derived clade of Pseudanophthalmus

Developing an index of vulnerability to motor fuel price increases in England

As the outlook for oil prices remains uncertain, this paper develops a method to assess which areas of England would be most vulnerable to future motor fuel price increases. Building on previous research, we define and operationalise three dimensions of vulnerability: exposure (the cost burden of motor fuel), sensitivity (income) and adaptive capacity (accessibility with modes alternative to the car). We exploit unique data sets available in England, including the ‘MOT’ vehicle inspection data and DfT Accessibility Statistics. This allows us to map vulnerability to fuel price increases at a spatially disaggregated level (Lower-layer Super Output Areas), taking into account motor-fuel expenditure for all travel purposes, and the ability of households to shift to other modes of travel. This is an advancement on the ‘oil vulnerability’ indices developed in previous international research

Playful Tarot: Adaptations of Tarot In, Through, and Across Games.

The magical practice of divination through tarot emanates from the sacred, ritualistic power of play. Long before tarot accretes esoteric symbolism as a divinatory tool, Italians played it as the parlour game tarrochi. Extending this history, many games implement tarot as a mechanical framework and a source of visual imagery. Yet, not all implementations of tarot are equally successful artistically and spiritually. Ludic tarot is often mechanistic (just another way to think about buffs and stats) or superficially thematic (visual imagery without underlying semiotic content). In this paper, we will unravel the intertwined history of games and tarot, exploring its relationship to other cartomantic practices, including the dark Gnostic “Game of Saturn” decoded by Peter Mark Adams in the Sola-Busca deck, the pragmatically cryptic Lenormand deck, and the divinatory use of standard 52-card playing decks in folk witchcraft. Building upon this historical insight, we will then analyse three related tabletop games as case studies: Chalice (in which tarot generates narratives of a failed Grail quest), Alas Vegas (which resolves conflict and generates narrative through tarot-driven blackjack), and Invisible Sun (which reinvents tarot through the circular Sooth deck driving its magic system). All three of these games weave resonant connections between the imagery and mechanics of cards and fictional gameworlds, thereby investing tarot with an eerie sense of meaningful coincidence or synchronicity. Understanding the techniques that create a more resonant experience of tarot can open the way for a deeper implementation of tarot in game development, as well as enable playful reflection and insight within the magical practice. Specifically, insights into non-digital ludic implementations of tarot can pave the way for richer and more resonant digital tarot applications, building upon and deepening the recent use of tarot in videogames (such as Tanya X. Short’s Cartomancy anthology and Adam Malone’s VR tarot)

Wfs1 Is Expressed In Dopaminoceptive Regions Of The Amniote Brain And Modulates Levels Of D1-Like Receptors

During amniote evolution, the construction of the forebrain has diverged across different lineages, and accompanying the structural changes, functional diversification of the homologous brain regions has occurred. This can be assessed by studying the expression patterns of marker genes that are relevant in particular functional circuits. In all vertebrates, the dopaminergic system is responsible for the behavioral responses to environmental stimuli. Here we show that the brain regions that receive dopaminergic input through dopamine receptor D1 are relatively conserved, but with some important variations between three evolutionarily distant vertebrate lines–house mouse (Mus musculus), domestic chick (Gallus gallus domesticus) / common quail (Coturnix coturnix) and red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta). Moreover, we find that in almost all instances, those brain regions expressing D1-like dopamine receptor genes also express Wfs1. Wfs1 has been studied primarily in the pancreas, where it regulates the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, cellular Ca2+ homeostasis, and insulin production and secretion. Using radioligand binding assays in wild type and Wfs1-/- mouse brains, we show that the number of binding sites of D1-like dopamine receptors is increased in the hippocampus of the mutant mice. We propose that the functional link between Wfs1 and D1-like dopamine receptors is evolutionarily conserved and plays an important role in adjusting behavioral reactions to environmental stimuli

Data Handling and Analysis for the 1971 Corn Blight Watch Experiment

In the summer of 1971 the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing at Purdue University conducted a pioneering experiment in the application of remote sensing technology to a large scale earth resource surveillance problem. In 1970 a plant disease called the Southern Corn Leaf Blight infected large areas of corn production in the United States and it is estimated that total national corn production pas reduced by 15% due to this disease. In the winter of 1970, an experiment was designed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASA, and the University of Michigan Institute of Science and Technology\u27s Willow Run Laboratories for the summer of 1971 to study the feasibility of detecting and mapping this disease using remote sensing techniques. In this paper, the Corn Blight Watch Experiment will be described from the point of view of data handling, data analysis and interpretation procedures used

Spectrum of the Hermitian Wilson-Dirac Operator for a Uniform Magnetic Field in Two Dimensions

It is shown that the eigenvalue problem for the hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator of for a uniform magnetic field in two dimensions can be reduced to one-dimensional problem described by a relativistic analog of the Harper equation. An explicit formula for the secular equations is given in term of a set of polynomials. The spectrum exhibits a fractal structure in the infinite volume limit. An exact result concerning the index theorem for the overlap Dirac operator is obtained.Comment: 8 pages, latex, 3 eps figures, minor correction

Anderson Transition in Disordered Graphene

We use the regularized kernel polynomial method (RKPM) to numerically study the effect disorder on a single layer of graphene. This accurate numerical method enables us to study very large lattices with millions of sites, and hence is almost free of finite size errors. Within this approach, both weak and strong disorder regimes are handled on the same footing. We study the tight-binding model with on-site disorder, on the honeycomb lattice. We find that in the weak disorder regime, the Dirac fermions remain extended and their velocities decrease as the disorder strength is increased. However, if the disorder is strong enough, there will be a {\em mobility edge} separating {\em localized states around the Fermi point}, from the remaining extended states. This is in contrast to the scaling theory of localization which predicts that all states are localized in two-dimensions (2D).Comment: 4 page

Pricing Discretely Monitored Asian Options by Maturity Randomization

We present methodologies to price discretely monitored Asian options when the underlying evolves according to a generic Levy process. For geometric Asian options we provide closed-form solutions in terms of the Fourier transform and we study in particular these formulas in the Levy-stable case. For arithmetic Asian options we solve the valuation problem by recursive integration and derive a recursive theoretical formula for the moments to check the accuracy of the results. We compare the implementation of our method to Monte Carlo simulation implemented with control variates and using different parametric Levy processes. We also discuss model-risk issues