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The Atlantic auk assemblage includes four extant species, razorbill (Alca torda), dovekie (Alle alle), common murre (Uria aalge), and thick-billed murre (U. lomvia), and one recently extinct species, the flightless great auk (Pinguinus impennis). To determine the phylogenetic relationships among the species, a contiguous 4.2-kb region of the mitochondrial genome from the extant species was amplifi

The concept of perceptual defensiveness is related to subliminal perception and preconscious processing. Meta-analyses of earlier experiments, 6 in the United States and Holland and 10 in Iceland, on the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT)-ESP relationship had shown significantly higher ESP scoring by less defensive participants. In the present experiment, conducted in Freiburg, Germany, 50 participants

Retinoic acid (RA) is an important morphogen that regulates many biological processes, including the development of the central nervous system (CNS). Its synthesis from vitamin A (retinol) occurs in two steps, with the second reaction - catalyzed by retinal dehydrogenases (RALDHs) - long considered to be crucial for tissue-specific RA production in the embryo. We have recently identified the Xenop

We have previously proposed the use of Doppler ultrasound to non-invasively stage sinus infection, as we showed that acoustic streaming could be generated in nonpurulent sinus secretions and helped to distinguish it from mucopurulent sinus secretions. In order to continue this development of a clinically applicable Doppler equipment, we need to determine different dimensions of the paranasal sinus

HQC is an IND-CCA2 KEM running for standardization in NIST’s post-quantum cryptography project and has advanced to the second round. It is a code-based scheme in the class of public key encryptions, with given sets of parameters spanning NIST security strength 1, 3 and 5, corresponding to 128, 192 and 256 bits of classic security.In this paper we present an attack recovering the secret key of an H

Whole-genome sequencing projects are increasingly populating the tree of life and characterizing biodiversity1–4. Sparse taxon sampling has previously been proposed to confound phylogenetic inference5, and captures only a fraction of the genomic diversity. Here we report a substantial step towards the dense representation of avian phylogenetic and molecular diversity, by analysing 363 genomes from

Software quality engineering is concerned with building software products with required quality and assessing the level of quality. Software processes are important assets in achieving and assessing the software quality. Furthermore the adherence to defined processes is a key issue to having the software engineering under control and to enable process improvement. The software quality assurance (S

Zooplankton have evolved several mechanisms to deal with environmental threats, such as ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and in order to identify strategies inherent to organisms exposed to different UVR environments, we here examine life-history traits of two lineages of Daphnia pulex. The lineages differed in the UVR dose they had received at their place of origin from extremely high UVR stress at h

In the ActivAbles and STARR projects we are developing interactive training tools for stroke survivors. As our initial user studies pointed to balance being a key ability, one of the developed tools is an interactive balance mat. While balance equipment is common, interactive balancing equipment for persons with poor balance is less common. Equipment exists for persons with good balance (eg. Wii),

Due to increasing oil price and environmental concerns, current European initiatives are aiming to increase the share of Biofuel used for transportation from approx. 2 % (2005) to 5.75% in 2010. The production capacity of bioethanol in Germany alone has therefore to increase during this period from 0.7 mio. m³ to 1.8 mio. m³ 1. The feed stocks of current bioethanol concepts are sugar and starch

We present evidence of a submerged early Holocene landscape off the Blekinge coastline in the Baltic Sea, dating to the Yoldia Sea and Initial Littorina Sea Stages when the water level was lower than at present. 14C dated wood remains obtained by surveillance diving and new archaeological findings in combination with bathymetric analyses and interpolations between other sites across the Baltic Sea

In a world of nearly 10 billion people, competition for the conditions of life and wealth can only accelerate. Our contention is that with such increasing competition, more and more material as well as immaterial things will be turned into resources – a process that we suggest to label resourcification.Resourcification is not another term for processes of economisation such as commodification and

Researches on the modeling of machining difficult-to-cut metals are important for optimization of the processing parameters, in which the force modeling is essential due to its significant influence on the performance of tools and the quality of parts. A semi-analytical method for force prediction in orthogonal cutting with chamfered tools considering both edge and size effect is proposed in this

In response to social fragmentation and segregation, public space is increasingly conceived of as an instrument for fostering openness towards differences. Drawing on two recent public spaces—Superkilen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Jubileumsparken in Gothenburg, Sweden—this article explores the ethical potential of two different design approaches to the sharing of public space—designing for an ethi

Fires in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas is a worldwide problem, which is gaining more importance over time due to climate change and constructions in the WUI areas. Standards and guidelines may greatly help the activities of planning, prevention and protection against wildfires. Some countries/States/local communities can already rely on existing standards and guidelines, while other are

Searches for exclusively produced W boson pairs in the process pp(γγ)→pW+W-p and an exclusively produced Higgs boson in the process pp(gg)→pHp have been performed using e±μ final states. These measurements use 20.2 fb-1 of pp collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment at a center-of-mass energy s=8 TeV at the LHC. Exclusive production of W+W- consistent with the Standard Model prediction is foun

Recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to produce specific Fab and scFv antibody (Ab) fragments in prokaryotic host cells. Using vectors designed for periplasmic expression of encoded Ab fragments, we have been studying how the sequence and genetic localization of the light chain (L-chain) variable region gene of a mouse Ab (CB-Nm.1) determined the level of Ab production. The variable reg

DNA barcodes carry coarse-grained genetic information of DNA sequences taken from a genome. Potential applications include bacteriology, medical diagnosis and taxonomy. However, the current state-of-the-art tools for extracting DNA molecules from cells provide only fragmented pieces of chromosomal DNA. As a consequence, also DNA barcodes are fragmented. This calls for the development of complement

China's rapid urbanization since the reform and opening up in 1978 has drawn international attention. Scholars like David Harvey has written a lot regarding the capitalized urbanizaiton in China. After studying Harvey’s books, articles and other related works, I found that it is reasonable to apply them into Chinese spatial context since they provide well-founded reference and enlightenment to