Sub 1GHz M2M communications standardization: The advancement in white space utilization for enhancing the energy efficiency

Energy efficiency of machine to machine (M2M) communications terminals is one of the major design goals of M2M networks, resulting from anticipated over 50 billion M2M communications devices to be deployed into the networks by 2020 [1]. The stakeholders in the M2M communications have observed that it will be environmental and economic catastrophic to deploy M2M communications devices without solving the energy inefficiencies associated with wireless devices that are expected to be used for M2M communications. In view of the aforementioned energy challenge, sub 1GHz spectra have provided enormous opportunities that can be energy efficient, cost effective and coverage efficiency which can be utilized for M2M communications. This work will evaluate the energy efficiency benefits of optimized Sub 1GHz spectra for M2M communications

Horizontal transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during cattle housing, survival kinetics in feces and water of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and characterisation of E. coli O157:H7 isolates from cattle faeces and a feedlot environment

End of project reportTeagasc acknowledges with gratitude the support of European Union Structural Funds (EAGGF) in financing this research projectEscherichia coli O157:H7 can cause severe illness and in some cases leading to death. Cattle are the main reservoir with transmission to humans occurring through contamination of food or the environment. Improved understanding of the survival and transmission and survival of E. coli O157:H7 on the farm is essential for developing future controls of this pathogen. This study showed that transmission of E. coli O157:H7 can occur rapidly in groups of housed cattle, with contamination of the pens and hides occurring in 24 hrs. The inoculation dose for cattle is lower than previously reported. Ingestion of bacteria from the hide through social grooming is important for pathogen transmission in housed cattle along with faecal contamination of the environment. Sampling hide will improve the estimation of prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in pens

Predicting the Outcome of Marketing Negotiations: Role-Playing versus Unaided Opinions

Role-playing and unaided opinions were used to forecast the outcome of three negotiations. Consistent with prior research, role-playing yielded more accurate predictions. In two studies on marketing negotiations, the predictions based on role-playing were correct for 53% of the predictions while unaided opinions were correct for only 7% (p \u3c 0.001)

Beyond Brooke Group: Bringing Reality to the Law of Predatory Pricing

This Feature offers a roadmap for bringing and deciding predatory pricing cases under the Supreme Court’s restrictive Brooke Group decision. Brooke Group requires a plaintiff to show that the defendant set a price below cost and had a sufficient likelihood of recouping its investment in predation. This framework, which was adopted without any contested presentation of its merits, has endured despite its flaws. Beyond this framework, the Court opined in dicta that predation is implausible. We identify points of flexibility within the Court’s framework that permit an empirically grounded evaluation of the predation claim. Under the price-cost test, a plaintiff has leeway to select an appropriate measure of cost, including incremental cost. In considering recoupment, Brooke Group’s skeptical dicta should be confined to the particular market structure and theory of recoupment analyzed in that case. The dicta do not apply, for example, to a monopolist who recoups by earning a reputation for predation. A further reason to confine Brooke Group’s dicta is the Court’s highly unusual reweighing of the evidence presented at trial. As we explain using new historical research, this was not the Court’s initial plan after oral argument, but Justice Kennedy switched his vote. We also make the case against extending the price-cost test to more complex pricing strategies, such as loyalty discounts, in which the motivation for a stringent rule—to avoid costly false positives—has little purchase

Beyond Brooke Group: Bringing Reality to the Law of Predatory Pricing

This Feature offers a roadmap for bringing and deciding predatory pricing cases under the Supreme Court’s restrictive Brooke Group decision. Brooke Group requires a plaintiff to show that the defendant set a price below cost and had a sufficient likelihood of recouping its investment in predation. This framework, which was adopted without any contested presentation of its merits, has endured despite its flaws. Beyond this framework, the Court opined in dicta that predation is implausible. We identify points of flexibility within the Court’s framework that permit an empirically grounded evaluation of the predation claim. Under the price-cost test, a plaintiff has leeway to select an appropriate measure of cost, including incremental cost. In considering recoupment, Brooke Group’s skeptical dicta should be confined to the particular market structure and theory of recoupment analyzed in that case. The dicta do not apply, for example, to a monopolist who recoups by earning a reputation for predation. A further reason to confine Brooke Group’s dicta is the Court’s highly unusual reweighing of the evidence presented at trial. As we explain using new historical research, this was not the Court’s initial plan after oral argument, but Justice Kennedy switched his vote. We also make the case against extending the price-cost test to more complex pricing strategies, such as loyalty discounts, in which the motivation for a stringent rule—to avoid costly false positives—has little purchase

A Direct Manipulation Language for Explaining Algorithms

Instructors typically explain algorithms in computer science by tracing their behavior, often on blackboards, sometimes with algorithm visualizations. Using blackboards can be tedious because they do not facilitate manipulation of the drawing, while visualizations often operate at the wrong level of abstraction or must be laboriously hand-coded for each algorithm. In response, we present a direct manipulation (DM) language for explaining algorithms by manipulating visualized data structures. The language maps DM gestures onto primitive program behaviors that occur in commonly taught algorithms. We performed an initial evaluation of the DM language on teaching assistants of an undergraduate algorithms class, who found the language easier to use and more helpful for explaining algorithms than a standard drawing application (GIMP)

Trends in region-based localism among MPs: 2010-2019

Voters typically want their elected representatives to have roots in their local area, yet a large number of British MPs lack close ties with their constituency. Drawing on new research, Rob Gandy, Philip Cowley and Scott Foster illustrate trends in localism among MPs between the 2010 and 2019 general elections

Polymorphic Automorphisms and the Picard Group

We investigate the concept of definable, or inner, automorphism in the logical setting of partial Horn theories. The central technical result extends a syntactical characterization of the group of such automorphisms (called the covariant isotropy group) associated with an algebraic theory to the wider class of quasi-equational theories. We apply this characterization to prove that the isotropy group of a strict monoidal category is precisely its Picard group of invertible objects. Furthermore, we obtain an explicit description of the covariant isotropy group of a presheaf category

Effects of carbon dioxide on the searching behaviour of the root-feeding clover weevil <i>Sitona lepidus</i> (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The respiratory emission of CO2 from roots is frequently proposed as an attractant that allows soil-dwelling insects to locate host plant roots, but this role has recently become less certain. CO2 is emitted from many sources other than roots, so does not necessarily indicate the presence of host plants, and because of the high density of roots in the upper soil layers, spatial gradients may not always be perceptible by soil-dwelling insects. The role of CO2 in host location was investigated using the clover root weevil Sitona lepidus Gyllenhall and its host plant white clover (Trifolium repens L.) as a model system. Rhizochamber experiments showed that CO2 concentrations were approximately 1000 ppm around the roots of white clover, but significantly decreased with increasing distance from roots. In behavioural experiments, no evidence was found for any attraction by S. lepidus larvae to point emissions of CO2, regardless of emission rates. Fewer than 15% of larvae were attracted to point emissions of CO2, compared with a control response of 17%. However, fractal analysis of movement paths in constant CO2 concentrations demonstrated that searching by S. lepidus larvae significantly intensified when they experienced CO2 concentrations similar to those found around the roots of white clover (i.e. 1000 ppm). It is suggested that respiratory emissions of CO2 may act as a ‘search trigger’ for S. lepidus, whereby it induces larvae to search a smaller area more intensively, in order to detect location cues that are more specific to their host plant.<br/