Pooled versus separate measurements of tree-ring stable isotopes

δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of tree rings contain time integrated information about the environmental conditions weighted by seasonal growth dynamics and are well established as sources of palaeoclimatic and ecophysiological data. Annually resolved isotope chronologies are frequently produced by pooling dated growth rings from several trees prior to the isotopic analyses. This procedure has the advantage of saving time and resources, but precludes from defining the isotopic error or statistical uncertainty related to the inter-tree variability. Up to now only a few studies have compared isotope series from pooled tree rings with isotopic measurements from individual trees. We tested whether or not the δ¹³C and the δ¹⁸O chronologies derived from pooled and from individual tree rings display significant differences at two locations from the Iberian Peninsula to assess advantages and constraints of both methodologies. The comparisons along the period 1900-2003 reveal a good agreement between pooled chronologies and the two mean master series which were created by averaging raw individual values (Mean) or by generating a mass calibrated mean (MassC). In most of the cases, pooled chronologies show high synchronicity with averaged individual samples at interannual scale but some differences also show up especially when comparing δ¹⁸O decadal to multi-decadal variations. Moreover, differences in the first order autocorrelation among individuals may be obscured by pooling strategies. The lack of replication of pooled chronologies prevents detection of a bias due to a higher mass contribution of one sample but uncertainties associated with the analytical process itself, as sample inhomogeneity, seems to account for the observed differences.     

A simplified correctness proof for a well-known algorithm computing strongly connected components

The computation of the strongly connected components of a directed graph is one of the fundamental algorithmic graph problems. Linear-time algorithms with simple implementations are known. Here a simplified correctness proof for one of these algorithms is presented.     

The Theory of Zero-Suppressed BDDs and the Number of Knight's Tours

Zero-suppressed binary decision diagrams (ZBDDs) have been introduced by Minato [14–17] who presents applications for cube set representations, fault simulation, timing analysis and the n-queens problem. Here the structural properties of ZBDDs are worked out and a generic synthesis algorithm is presented and analyzed. It is proved that ZBDDs can be at most by a factor n + 1 smaller or larger than ordered BDDs (OBDDs) for the same function on n variables. Using ZBDDs the best known upper bound on the number of knight's tours on an 8 × 8 chessboard is improved significantly.     

包装行业教育的未来

作为战略因素的包装工业 近年来,整个包装工业的地位突然有了巨大的提高,尤其是在亚洲,如中国.     

The method of angular lines to solve cylindrical electromagnetic boundary-value problems

A method for solving cylindrical electromagnetic boundary-value problems is presented. The method is semidiscrete. The wave equation is written in cylindrical coordinates and a differential-discretizing process is used in angular direction, and in the radial direction the analytic solutions are used. The new method is called the method of angular lines (MAL). To confirm the validity of MAL Dirichlet- and Neumann-type boundary-value problems of a two-dimensional scalar wave equation are investigated. The results show good agreement with previously published results. Advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.