Antibiotic-induced changes of mycelial growth of Botrytis cinerea

The effect of antibiotics and metabolic inhibitors on mycelial growth of Botrytis cinera was followed. Inhibitors of protein synthesis, chloramphenicol, erythromycin and tetracycline inhibit growth or sporulation of Botrytis cinera. Ethidium bromide, 5-fluorouracil, phenylethylalcohol and K 20 cause granulation, vacuolization and undulation of hyphase. 2,4-Dinitrophenol, boromycin, macrotetrolides, monensin, scopathricin and TX2 at subfungistatic concentrations induce intensive branching of hyphal tips i.e. at the site of synthesis of the cell wall. In older hyphase grown in the absence of the antibiotics the branching begins after their addition, particularly in the septum region. When comparing the results referred to here with those obtained previously and on the basis of literature data it may be assumed that the changes in polarity of growth of Botrytis cinerea might be caused primarily or secondarily by impairing membrane functions and formation of cell walls.     

On the a-posteriori error bounds for the solution of ordinary nonlinear differential equations

This paper advances a procedure to compute the a-posteriori error bounds for the solution of a wide class of ordinary differential equations with given initial conditions. The method is based on an iterative scheme which yields upper and lower bounds which approach each other. The convergence of these iterations is proved analytically. Application of the proposed method is demonstrated by several examples. The method is independent of the integration scheme used. Also, separate bounds for each component of the solution are specifically available as a function of time compared to the bound on the norm yielded by conventional methods.     

An ecology of ideology: theory and evidence from four populations

This paper analyzes the founding rates of two types of Jewishagricultural cooperatives, the moshav and the kibbutz, to showhow political ideology intersects with resource requirementsto produce competition and mutualism between organizations.These two populations, which share ideology and a resource base,competed with each other. They both enjoyed mutualism with thepopulation of credit cooperatives, which represented a kindredideology, but relied on different resources. They both sufferedcompetition from the population of corporations, which representeda rival ideology, capitalism.     

RSA-Based Undeniable Signatures

We present the first undeniable signatures scheme based on RSA. Since their introduction in 1989 a significant amount of work has been devoted to the investigation of undeniable signatures. So far, this work has been based on discrete log systems. In contrast, our scheme uses regular RSA signatures to generate undeniable signatures. In this new setting, both the signature and verification exponents of RSA are kept secret by the signer, while the public key consists of a composite modulus and a sample RSA signature on a single public message. Our scheme possesses several attractive properties. First, provable security, as forging the undeniable signatures is as hard as forging regular RSA signatures. Second, both the confirmation and denial protocols are zero-knowledge. In addition, these protocols are efficient (particularly, the confirmation protocol involves only two rounds of communication and a small number of exponentiations). Furthermore, the RSA-based structure of our scheme provides with simple and elegant solutions to add several of the more advanced properties of undeniable signatures found in the literature, including convertibility of the undeniable signatures (into publicly verifiable ones), the possibility to delegate the ability to confirm and deny signatures to a third party without giving up the power to sign, and the existence of distributed (threshold) versions of the signing and confirmation operations. Due to the above properties and the fact that our undeniable nsignatures are identical in form to standard RSA signatures, the scheme we present becomes a very attractive candidate for practical implementations. Received 25 July 1997 and revised 5 November 1998     

Prominent Field for Shape Processing and Analysis of?Archaeological Artifacts

Archaeological artifacts are an essential element of archaeological research. They provide evidence of the past and enable archaeologists to obtain qualified conclusion. Nowadays, many artifacts are scanned by 3D scanners. While convenient in many aspects, the 3D representation is often unsuitable for further analysis, due to flaws in the scanning process or defects in the original artifacts. We propose a new approach for automatic processing of scanned artifacts. It is based on the definition of a new direction field on surfaces (a normalized vector field), termed the prominent field. The prominent field is oriented with respect to the prominent feature curves of the surface. We demonstrate the applicability of the prominent field in two applications. The first is surface enhancement of archaeological artifacts, which helps enhance eroded features and remove scanning noise. The second is artificial coloring that can replace manual artifact illustration in archaeological reports.     

The Tempering Effect of Transportation: Exploring the Effects of Transportation and Identification During Exposure to Controversial Two‐Sided Narratives

In 2 studies, we explored the effects of transportation and identification on attitudes following exposure to relevant and controversial 2‐sided narratives. Participants read a story featuring 2 protagonists who held 2 opposing positions about a provocative issue. In Study 1, we manipulated identification and found that identification with the concordant character tended to polarize attitudes whereas identification with the discordant character tempered attitudes. In Study 2, we manipulated transportation and found that it moderated pre‐exposure attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of the differences between these processes and their effects, and the potential use of narratives to moderate attitudes even in the context of highly charged conflicts.     

Aesthetics and usability of in-vehicle navigation displays

This research evaluates the aesthetics and usability of various in-vehicle electronic navigation map configurations. Study 1 adapted the aesthetics scale (Lavie and Tractinsky, 2004) to accommodate evaluations of map displays. Study 2 examined map displays that vary in the amount of data presented, their abstraction level and color schema, using objective and subjective usability measures. Maps with minimal detail produced best performances and highest evaluations. Abstractions were found to be advantageous when combined with reduced amount of detail and specific color schemas. Moderate abstractions were sufficient for obtaining the desired benefits. The color schema mainly affected the objective measures, pointing to the importance of good contrast between the cursor and the map colors. Study 3 further examined map schemas. Color schemas again had no effect on the perceptions of aesthetics and usability. Overall, similar results and high correlations were found for the perceived aesthetics and usability scales, indicating the connection between perceived aesthetics and usability. Lower correlations were found between the actual usability (performance) and the aesthetics scale. Finally, users’ usability evaluations were not always in line with their actual performance, pointing to the importance of using objective usability measures.     

Linear programming-based algorithms for the minimum makespan high multiplicity jobshop problem

We study a generalized version of the minimum makespan jobshop problem in which multiple instances of each job are to be processed. The system starts with specified inventory levels in all buffers and finishes with some desired inventory levels of the buffers at the end of the planning horizon. A schedule that minimizes the completion time of all the operations is sought. We develop a polynomial time asymptotic approximation procedure for the problem. That is, the ratio between the value of the delivered solution and the optimal one converge into one, as the multiplicity of the problem increases. Our algorithm uses the solution of the linear relaxation of a time-indexed Mixed-Integer formulation of the problem. In addition, a heuristic method inspired by this approximation algorithm is presented and is numerically shown to out-perform known methods for a large set of standard test problems of moderate job multiplicity.     

Functional check test for high-speed milling centres of up to five axes

This paper offers a system for checking three or five axes high-speed machining centres by milling a sample sphere pattern. Using the right choice of toolpath, it is possible to check and compare the performance which the centre is capable of following. The main features under study here are ease of use and the great amount of information that can be drawn regarding high-speed machine performances, including the geometrical precision of the machine and tool setup for the chosen machining conditions.