"After Me,The Deluge": Uncertainty and Water Policy in Israel

Israel's water system is characterized by a very high degree of uncertainty, emanating from the semi-arid climatic position, and the dynamic population growth.The agricultural sector dominates water policy making, thereby giving preference to the sector that consumes roughly 70% of the available resources. Water for agriculture is priced too low, resulting in its inefficient use. This paper seeks to explain water policy making in Israel, as an attempt to cope with uncertainty. We show that the pattern has been to shift the burden of uncertainty from present consumers to future consumers. This pattern is explained by the following factors: the high vulnerability of Israel's water system, due to uncertainty in both supply and demand; the inclination of elected policy makers to give preference to short-term objectives over long-term objectives; the acceptance of uncertainty as a constraint rather than a policy variable; and the acceptance of a given level of agricultural activity as a permanent constraint.     

Feasibility study of parameter estimation of random sampling jitter using the bispectrum

An actual sampling process can be modeled as a random process, which consists of the regular (uniform) deterministic sampling process plus an error in the sampling times which constitutes a zero-mean noise (the jitter). In this paper we discuss the problem of estimating the jitter process. By assuming that the jitter process is an i.i.d. one, with standard deviation that is small compared to the regular sampling time, we show that the variance of the jitter process can be estimated from thenth order spectrum of the sampled data,n=2, 3, i.e., the jitter variance can be extracted from the 2nd-order spectrum or the 3rd-order spectrum (the bispectrum) of the sampled data, provided the continuous signal spectrum is known. However when the signal skewness exceeds a certain level, the potential performance of the bispectrum-based estimation is better than that of the spectrum-based estimation. Moreover, the former can also provide jitter variance estimates when the continuous signal spectrum is unknown while the latter cannot. This suggests that the bispectrum of the sampled data is potentially better for estimating any parameter of the sampling jitter process, once the signal skewness is sufficiently large.     

Insulin and C-peptide (proinsulin) packaging: A quantitative immunocytochemical approach

C-peptide and insulin antigenic sites in rat pancreatic β cells were both labeled by the protein A and immunogold techniques. Gold bead density in the secretory granules was correlated with granule size distribution. Our results demonstrate that the distribution patterns of antigenic sites for C-peptide (which also represents proinsulin sites) and insulin are similar when granule size distribution is correlated to the density of antigenic sites. It was found that the ratio of C-peptide to insulin in granules is independent of granule size. Examination of frequency histograms by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov analysis excluded the possibility that the antigenic sites of C-peptide and insulin are distributed in the same manner. Mean gold bead density for insulin antigen (97 ± 24) was slightly higher than C-peptide density (64 ± 18). The efficiency of labeling was found to be very low; less than 0.1% of the theoretically estimated antigenic sites were labeled.     

Induction of central tolerance by intrathymic inoculation of adenoviral antigens into the host thymus permits long-term gene therapy in Gunn rats

Recombinant adenoviruses are highly efficient at transferring foreign genes in vivo. However, duration of gene expression is limited by the host antiviral immune response which precludes expression upon viral readministration. We tested the feasibility of prolonging gene expression by induction of central tolerance to adenoviral antigens in bilirubin-UDP-glucuronosyltransferase-1 (BUGT1)-deficient Gunn rats. Tolerance was induced by intraperitoneal injection of antilymphocyte serum, followed by intrathymic inoculation of one of the following: a recombinant adenovirus (Ad), adenovirus human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (Ad-hBUGT1) carrying the hBUGT1 gene; a protein extract of the same virus; or viral infected hepatocytes. Controls received intrathymic injections of normal saline. After 12 d all groups were injected intravenously with 5 x 10(9) pfu of either Ad-hBUGT1 or adenovirus beta-galactosidase (Ad-LacZ) (expressing the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase [LacZ] gene). In all three groups of tolerized rats, hBUGT1 was expressed in the liver after administration of Ad-hBUGT1, with glucuronidation of biliary bilirubin of above 95%. Serum bilirubin levels decreased from 7.2 to 1.8 mg/dl within 1 wk and remained low for 7 wk. Similar findings were observed following repeat injections given on days 45 and 112. In control rats serum bilirubin levels were reduced for only 4 wk, and viral readministration was ineffective. In all tolerized groups, but not in controls, there was a marked inhibition of appearance of neutralizing antibodies and cytotoxic lymphocytes against the recombinant adenovirus. Injection of wild type adenovirus-5 (Ad5) into the tolerized rats elicited a wild type-specific cytotoxic lymphocyte response. This is the first demonstration of Ad-directed long-term correction of an inherited metabolic disease following central tolerization with thymic antigen.     

A geometric view of parametric linear programming

We present a new definition of optimality intervals for the parametric right-hand side linear programming (parametric RHS LP) Problem () = min{c ^t x¦Ax =b + ¯b,x 0}. We then show that an optimality interval consists either of a breakpoint or the open interval between two consecutive breakpoints of the continuous piecewise linear convex function (). As a consequence, the optimality intervals form a partition of the closed interval {; ¦()¦ < }. Based on these optimality intervals, we also introduce an algorithm for solving the parametric RHS LP problem which requires an LP solver as a subroutine. If a polynomial-time LP solver is used to implement this subroutine, we obtain a substantial improvement on the complexity of those parametric RHS LP instances which exhibit degeneracy. When the number of breakpoints of () is polynomial in terms of the size of the parametric problem, we show that the latter can be solved in polynomial time.This research was partially funded by the United States Navy-Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-87-K-0202. Its financial support is gratefully acknowledged.     

Characterizing error propagation in quantum circuits: the Isotropic Index

This paper presents a novel index in order to characterize error propagation in quantum circuits by separating the resultant mixed error state in two components: an isotropic component that quantifies the lack of information, and a disalignment component that represents the shift between the current state and the original pure quantum state. The Isotropic Triangle, a graphical representation that fits naturally with the proposed index, is also introduced. Finally, some examples with the analysis of well-known quantum algorithms degradation are given.     

Development and Production of Array Barrier Detectors at SCD

XBn or XBp barrier detectors exhibit diffusion-limited dark currents comparable with mercury cadmium telluride Rule-07 and high quantum efficiencies. In 2011, SemiConductor Devices (SCD) introduced “HOT Pelican D”, a 640 × 512/15-μm pitch InAsSb/AlSbAs XBn mid-wave infrared (MWIR) detector with a 4.2-μm cut-off and an operating temperature of ～150 K. Its low power (～3 W), high pixel operability (>99.5%) and long mean time to failure make HOT Pelican D a highly reliable integrated detector-cooler product with a low size, weight and power. More recently, “HOT Hercules” was launched with a 1280 × 1024/15-μm format and similar advantages. A 3-megapixel, 10-μm pitch version (“HOT Blackbird”) is currently completing development. For long-wave infrared applications, SCD’s 640 × 512/15-μm pitch “Pelican-D LW” XBp type II superlattice (T2SL) detector has a ～9.3-μm cut-off wavelength. The detector contains InAs/GaSb and InAs/AlSb T2SLs, and is fabricated into focal plane array (FPA) detectors using standard production processes including hybridization to a digital silicon read-out integrated circuit (ROIC), glue underfill and substrate thinning. The ROIC has been designed so that the complete detector closely follows the interfaces of SCD’s MWIR Pelican-D detector family. The Pelican-D LW FPA has a quantum efficiency of ～50%, and operates at 77 K with a pixel operability of >99% and noise equivalent temperature difference of 13 mK at 30 Hz and F/2.7.     

Public–Private Partnerships for the Development of Disaster Resilient Communities

Increasingly, countries around the world are adopting policies that emphasize the importance of partnerships for disaster resilience. The overarching questions that this paper investigates are how to form and sustain (1) effective collaborative arrangements involving governments, businesses, non‐governmental organizations and communities to ensure development of disaster resilient communities, and (2) governance institutions that can effectively mobilize geographically dispersed disaster response resources with fragmented ownership. We have reviewed case studies of alternative inter‐sectoral collaborative arrangements that were formed to (1) promote the development of resilient communities and critical physical and social systems; (2) mitigate or respond to emerging crises; or (3) facilitate post‐disaster recovery and learning. We have developed grounded propositions articulating the antecedents of performance of inter‐sectoral collaborative arrangements.     

Estimation of the mean caliper: A new simple approach

Morphometric measurements are commonly carried out on structures the shape of which approximates that of a sphere. We calculated some stereological data of eosinophil granules by using digitized planimetry, performed on transmission electronmicrographs. By using a new approach for mean caliper (D) estimation and extrapolating an approximate granule axial ratio, we were able to calculate the granule density size. We deduced from a numerical analysis for various sphere sizes distributions from which an underestimation of not more than 4% may be contributed to D in most cases, assuming that the diameter coefficient of variation is less than 35%. The methodology we propose for mean ellipsoid caliper estimation seems to be useful in cases in which the disector method is not suitable.     

Telecommunications,cities and technological opportunism

The advent of telecommunications and the emergence of the information age have given rise to great expectations regarding urban change. The paper examines the assumptions underlying the claims for change and distinguishes between processes which may alter the structure of the city and those which change the functions of cities. In the former, it examines the assumptions underlying the decentralization-concentration hypotheses, suggesting that there is no deterministic effect of telecommunications, and that the structure of cities is largely affected by the persistent need for physical transport. Telecommunications can be used by agents to exercise greater flexibility in location decisions. At the global scale, the emergence of the world cities is facilitated by telecommunications, but only few cities are likely to gain this status. The effects of telecommunications on urban form and function are mostly the result of opportunities seized by individual agents and not by deterministic or naive policy approaches.