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This paper reports about progress in two areas towards quantum computing architectures with elements inspired from biological controls, as proposed in an earlier paper. The first area is about exploiting mathematical results in coloured algebras, which, combined with the colouring of particle flows, would reduce the decoherence and enhance the decidability in the quantum processing elements; definitions are being recalled, with the required assumptions and results. The second area is to provide experimental results, and a patented biological feedback process in synapse , about light and acoustic excitations in a live animal species to enhance reactivity; the experimental set-up is characterized , the measurement results provided, and the implications are explicated for quantum processing elements approximating a synapse. A paragraph on open issues explains how the results in the two areas will be combined and will help in the design a very early compiler version.

Although the Republic of South Africa telecommunications market is a maturing one with a large customer base to serve, it has been repeatedly been observed over the past few years that many good intentions were formulated in the regulatory sphere with sometimes poor outcomes and unclear governance. A number of surprising observations have been made on the outcomes, the delays or other process related events linked to regulatory measures. The paper thus researches first, from a governance point of view, who is actually regulating the telecommunications industry; it identifies next opportunities and bottlenecks whereby a change might happen to reach the expected outcomes. A political economy methodology is taken, backed up by extensive field work over 2010 and 2011, leading to a web of conjectures providing answers to the first question, based on an extensive analysis of key stakeholders goals, positions and interactions. Finally, a number of measures are proposed to improve the governance, regulatory impact and efficiency, and evolve the South African telecommunications eco-system.

In classical economics, very often the costs of communications and media services are just treated as a consumable expense. This approach does not realize the social and business roles of these services, as opposed to a consumption, to achieve survival or production for households and enterprises. As a result, costs of these services are included either in the cost of living index via a nominal percentage and tariff, or as a nominal share of the general and administration expenses of corporations. There has been little consideration by scholars of the evolution and forces driving changes in these nominal shares.

The article discusses the service level agreement (SLA) and the privacy aspect. Economic and business considerations around privacy, and privacy of information in general have different levels of analysis and enforcement, as mentioned in the article. Economic and business considerations, require economic and business value to be defined and transacted upon. It should also be stressed that legal aspects are essential, as they may determine the nature of some privacy features as well as limits. Legal aspects obviously also apply to the fulfillment of the transactions between the economic individual and economic agents, directly or indirectly. The paper defines the framework and implementation of SLA management for privacy, as well as privacy metrics. A case study implementation in Cisco was mentioned. This article recognizes that privacy SLA's business value does not extend to all domains. But there are application domains where their introduction would be a major incentive scheme to increase controlled information and business interactions.

Rabbit does (7-9 per group) were treated daily per orum from gestation day 15 through post-natal week 4 to provide per kg body wt 25 micaromol (low) or 250 micromol (high) p,p'-DDT or a mixture of DDT and vinclozolin (12.5 and 125 micromol each). Developmental as well as post-pubertal reproductive sequelae of male progeny were studied. Testicular descent in some pups was impaired by DDT. Serum LH or testosterone was not affected. FSH was lower in mixture- but not in DDT-exposed rabbits. Lack of sexual interest, penile erection and ejaculation were observed in some mixture rabbits. Sperm counts were unaffected, but morphologically normal spermatozoa were fewer; nuclear and acrosomal morphogenesis was disrupted. Atypical germ cells resembling carcinoma in situ were found. Also considering data for vinclozolin [Veeramachaneni DNR, Palmer JS, Amann RP, Kane CM, Higuchi TT, Pau K-YF. Disruption of sexual function, FSH secretion, and spermiogenesis in rabbits following developmental exposure to vinclozolin, a fungicide. Reproduction 2006;131:805-16], we concluded that DDT causes cryptorchidism and germ cell atypia, vinclozolin permanently disrupts FSH secretion and sexual function, and the mixture causes the full spectrum of dysgenesis.

The search for enablers of continued growth of SMS traffic, as well as the take-off of the more diversified MMS message contents, open up for enterprises the potential of bulk use of mobile messaging, instead of essentially one-by-one use. In parallel, such enterprises or value added services needing mobile messaging in bulk --- for spot use or for use over a prescribed period of time --- want to minimize total acquisition costs, from a set of technically approved providers of messaging capacity. This leads naturally to the evaluation of auctioning for bulk SMS or MMS messaging capacity, with the intrinsic advantages therein such as reduction in acquisition costs, allocation efficiency, and optimality. The paper shows, with extensive results as evidence from simulations carried out in the Rotterdam School of Management e-Auction room, how multi-attribute reverse auctions perform for the enterprise-buyer, as well as for the messaging capacity-sellers. We compare 1- and 5-round auctions, to show the learning effect and the benefits thereof to the various parties. The sensitivity will be reported to changes in the enterprise's and the capacity providers utilities and priorities between message attributes (such as price, size, security, and delivery delay). At the organizational level, the paper also considers alternate organizational deployment schemes and properties for an off-line or spot bulk messaging capacity market, subject to technical and regulatory constraints.

This paper presents experimental results on an atmospheric plasma jet generated by a rectangular wave-guide based microwave system operating at 896 MHz. Argon gas emerging from a copper nozzle, which is placed inside the wave-guide short circuited at one end (hereafter referred to as the cavity for convenience), jets into the atmosphere through an aperture in the cavity wall. The plasma jet can be visually divided into two parts: a very bright patch (active zone) where microwave discharge takes place and a large, weakly illuminating tail attached to the active zone. The plasma jet is characterized in this work by measuring the electron number density, temperature and an excitation temperature of the argon atoms in the active zone over a range of microwave source power from 2 to 5 kW and argon flow rate from 2 to 7 litre min−1. Results show that the plasma is not in a local thermodynamic equilibrium state and the temperature of electrons is considerably higher than the excitation temperature of the heavy particles which indicates the upper limit of the translation temperature of the heavy particles.

Departing from traditional project management, this article focuses on cultural and localized differences and influences on a specific project activity, and furthermore on the specific influences on large important critical projects (also called "megaprojects"). It analyzes relevant methodologies, theories and results from other disciplines such as micro-behaviors influenced by local cultures, socio-cultural theories, cultural synergy processes and hybrid institutions, physioeconomics as well as different practices in contracting. It is shown that the very definitions of the concept of "megaproject" are diverse in the world, and details are given. A scaled gap analysis tool is proposed, rooted in the above theories and results, aiming at identifying cultural differences between megaprojects from a set of qualitative measures. To further allow for causal analysis, a set of cultural impact measures is proposed, and the same sample of international megaprojects is assessed correspondingly. The tool has allowed analyzing a sample of 16 documented international megaprojects on 5 continents. The taxonomy of the cultural attributes and causal impacts allows grouping the megaprojects by clusters of similar culturally driven management styles, irrespective of implementation countries. Taking thereafter the viewpoint of characterizing a given regional culture, it is shown that Scandinavian project management practices evidence a specific combination of cultural influence measures relying on hybrid governance and communications, unique work culture and tools, as well as an approach to adaptation. The paper finally discusses ethical characteristics of megaprojects, to conjecture that the alternatives are far fewer and more globalized. The conclusion shows that, despite the fact that to apprehend cultural factors in general is a very complex endeavor; the limited set of cultural influence measures identified here allows characterizing cultural impact on megaprojects. Megaprojects can be clustered or contrasted by cultural influences, by mana. This article focuses on cultural differences and influences on a specific project activity, and furthermore on the specific influences on the execution outcomes of large important critical projects (also called "megaprojects"). It analyzes relevant methodologies, theories and results from other disciplines such as cross-cultural analysis, micro-behaviors influenced by local cultures, sociocultural theories, cultural synergy processes and hybrid institutions, physioeconomics as well as different practices in contracting. It is shown that the very definitions of the concept of "megaproject" are diverse in the world, and details are given. A set of 16 megaproject cultural attributes, and of impact attributes, is proposed. A scaled gap analysis is enabled, rooted in the above theories and results, aiming at identifying cultural differences between megaprojects and project outcomes, from the proposed attributes. That analysis is applied to a sample of 16 documented international megaprojects on 5 continents. The taxonomy of the cultural attributes and causal impacts allows grouping the megaprojects by clusters of similar culturally driven management styles, irrespective of implementation countries and national cultures. Megaprojects can now be clustered or contrasted by cultural influences, by management styles, thus serving concrete needs in megaproject management Taking thereafter the viewpoint of characterizing a given regional culture, it is shown that Scandinavian project management practices evidence a specific combination of cultural influence measures relying on hybrid governance and communications, unique work culture and tools, as well as an approach to adaptation. The paper finally discusses ethical characteristics of megaprojects, to conjecture that the alternatives are few and more globalized.

Noradrenaline plays a key role in the initiation of ovulation in nonprimate species. A similar noradrenaline role in the primate has not been established experimentally. We utilized the ovariectomized-oestrogen-supplemented (OVX + E) rhesus macaque to examine the effects of intravenous (i.v.) infusion of oestradiol-17beta (E2) on the activity of the brain noradrenaline system. Experiment 1 established the induction of a preovulatory surge-like release of luteinizing hormone in OVX + E monkeys by i.v. infusion of E2 (OVX + E + E2). In experiment 2, a marked increase in hypothalamic microdialysate noradrenaline concentrations occurred after identical E2 infusion into the OVX + E monkeys that were used in experiment 1. In experiment 3, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA expression in the locus coeruleus of the brainstem increased at various times after E2 infusion as determined by semiquantitative in situ hybridization. The amount of TH mRNA in OVX + E + E2 animals was higher (P < 0.05) than that in either the OVX + E or OVX monkeys; no difference was found in the latter two groups. Moreover, selected locus coeruleus sections from E2-infused monkeys were examined for the localization of oestrogen receptors (ER) by in situ hybridization. Both ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNAs were expressed in the locus coeruleus, although the expression was greater for ER-alpha than for ER-beta. We conclude that i.v. infusion of E2, which induces a preovulatory surge-like release of LH, stimulates brain noradrenaline activity; this enhanced activity likely involves an ER-mediated process and is reflected by hypothalamic noradrenaline release and locus coeruleus TH mRNA expression. The results support the concept that noradrenaline can influence the E2-stimulated ovulation in nonhuman primates and that the brainstem is one of the components in this neuroendocrine process.

We have designed a low-cost and reliable 2.45 GHz waveguide-based applicator to generate a microwave plasma jet (MPJ) at atmospheric pressure. The MPJ system consists of a 1-6 kW magnetron power supply, a circulator, a water-cooled matched load and the applicator. The applicator includes a tuning section, which is required to reduce the reflected power, and the nozzle section. The plasma is formed by the interaction of the high electrical field, generated by the microwave power, between the waveguide aperture and the gas nozzle. A variety of gases have been used to produce the plasma including argon, helium and nitrogen. A 2 kW, 2.45 GHz MPJ, constructed using a rectangular waveguide WG9A (WR340), has been investigated. An MPJ has been used for material processing applications including cutting, welding, glass vitrification and quartz/ceramic processing. This paper discusses the design parameters and the potential of the MPJ for industrial applications and how the jet can be tailored to suit different tasks, by adjusting the various parameters such as the type of gas, the flow rate, the input power and the nozzle design.

We investigated ovarian steroidogenic enzyme gene expression in exogenous androgen induced polycystic ovaries (PCO) in rabbits. Twelve 3-month peripubertal, and seven 9-11 month reproductive aged New Zealand White female rabbits were divided into four treatment (Rx) groups: controls receiving saline only, testosterone (T) treated (6-10 mg/Rx), LHRH analog (L) treated (leuprolide depot 1.0-1.2 mg/Rx), and T plus L treated (T+L). Animals in each group were administered the treatment IM every 2 to 3 weeks for 12-14 weeks. Serum T levels (every 1-3 wks) in T (127 ± 29 ng/dl) and T+L treated (144 ± 27 ng/dl) groups during the treatment period were unequivocally higher than the levels in controls (16 ± 6 ng/dl) and L treatment (22 ± 4 ng/dl) groups. Serum E2, LH and FSH levels (every 1-3 wks) showed no discernable differences between the groups. Microscopic examination of the L, T+L and T treated rabbit ovaries revealed a spectrum of PCO changes in comparison to the age-matched control ovaries, depicting marked interstitial hypercellularity and large cystic follicles in all except markedly decreased immature follicles and a few small cystic follicles in T treated peripubertal rabbits. Ovarian P450 cholesterol side-chain cleavage (P450scc) and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) mRNA and protein levels in PCOs of T and T + L treated animals were similar to the age-matched control ovaries, while in L treated PCOs both P450scc and 3β-HSD mRNA and protein levels were increased. Thus excess T alone did not alter the ovarian steroidogenic enzyme gene expressions despite the morphology changes. The L treatment alone had a gonadotropin agonistic effect resulting in both PCO and increased ovarian steroidogenic enzyme gene expression. However, excess T abolished the L-mediated increased ovarian steroidogenic enzyme gene expression, indicating the presence of an inhibitory effect of T on L induced ovarian steroidogenic enzyme gene expression. These findings suggest that the pathogenic mechanism by which PCO is induced by extra-ovarian source of T differs from that induced by increased gonadotropic effect alone.

This article discusses the need for standard software interfaces for programming of networks, specifically for service and signaling control, through programming interfaces. The objective is to enable the development of open signaling, control, and management applications as well as higher-level multimedia services on networks. The scope of this effort includes ATM switches, circuit switches, IP routers, and hybrid switches such as those that provide for fast switching of IP packets over an ATM backbone. The basic ideas represented herein are in the process of development as a standard for application programming interfaces for networks under IEEE Standards Project IEEE P1520.

In mammalian species, ovulation occurs following a massive release of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Several chemicals, including norepinephrine (NE) and neuropeptide Y (NPY), are responsible for the initiation and/or magnitude and duration of this pre-ovulatory GnRH surge. In the central nervous system, NE neural cell bodies are located in the brainstem; some are co-localized with NPY neurons and/or co-express the NE transporter (NET) gene which dictates NET protein production. The activity of NET at NE terminals is critical for synaptic NE function. In the rabbit, coitus induces a hypothalamic NE release which precedes the GnRH surge. We hypothesize that the coital stimulus is transmitted to the brainstem and transformed and integrated into GnRH-stimulating signals via NE, NET and/or NPY. However, very little is known about the distribution of cells expressing NET, NPY and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, the rate-limiting enzyme of NE synthesis) in this species. Therefore, we utilized the sensitive in situ hybridization technique to identify the presence of these messages in conjunction with the location of NE cells, the latter being marked by dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH), the specific enzyme for NE synthesis. Three non-mated New Zealand White does were perfused with 4% paraformaldeyde and their brainstems were sectioned at 20-μm thick between 2 mm caudal to the obex and the rostral pons. Serial sections were immunohistochemically stained for DBH and hybridized with rabbit-specific TH and NET cRNAs and a human NPY probe. The data suggest that several DBH-positive areas in the medulla expressed one or more messages, i.e. the lateral tegmentum (A1) and the nucleus of the solitary tract (A2) expressed all three mRNAs, the area postrema (AP) contained NET and TH mRNAs but not NPY cells. In the pons, the locus coeruleus (LC), subnucleus of coeruleus (LCs) and lateral tegmental nuclei (A5) expressed NET and TH mRNAs but contained little or no NPY message. The distribution patterns of TH and NET appeared to be similar in the LC, LCs, A2 and AP.

Certain brain peptides and catecholamines function in activating the hypothalamohypophysial-ovarian axis in both rabbits and rhesus monkeys. The natural stimulus for a surge release of GnRH is coitus in rabbits, whereas the initial excitatory signal is ovarian steroids in monkeys. Despite this contrast in initial signals, specific neurochemicals may serve as common stimuli for GnRH secretion in both species. Evidence is presented that one such substance is norepinephrine (NE), which is released from the mediobasal hypothalamus before, or simultaneously with, GnRH, although the latency in time between stimulus (coitus/estrogen) and response (GnRH/LH release) is very different. Moreover, both stimuli activate NE gene expression in cells located in the brainstem. We suggest that the brainstem is an extra-hypothalamic site where preovulatory signals for GnRH surges are developed in both rabbits and primates.

This paper focuses on botnet economics and design of defensive strategies. It takes the view that by combining scarce information on the attackers’ business models, with rational economic analysis of these business processes, one can identify design rules for economic defense mechanisms which the target can implement, often in a cheap way in addition to technical means. A short survey of game theory in the security area, is followed by a real case of an Internet casino. This leads to develop a model, applicable to this case and others, which is presented first qualitatively then quantitatively. This allows carrying out different analyses based on different equilibrium or termination principles; the ones studied are reward break-even analysis, and Max-Min analysis from game theory, for the target and the attackers. On that basis, a number of specific economic and information led defense strategies are identified which can be further studied using the model and specific adaptations to other data or cases.

The mammalian testis is innervated by extrinsic catecholaminergic nerves and responds to catecholamines with steroid secretion. Although the primate testis has also been shown to be innervated, potential differences in the density of this innervation between immature and sexually developed individuals have not been described. A recent study demonstrated that the primate ovary contains a network of neuron-like cells and that some of these cells are catecholaminergic. It is thus possible that the male gonad is also endowed with a similar intragonadal source of catecholamines. The present study addresses these two issues. Catecholaminergic nerves were identified as such by their content of immunoreactive tyrosine hydroxylase (TH; the rate-limiting step in catecholamine biosynthesis), and in some cases by glyoxylic acid histochemistry. Fibers containing TH were abundant in testes from juvenile animals (1-2 yr of postnatal life), but the density of this innervation was not maintained in adult animals, whose testis showed only a few TH-positive fibers scattered in the interstitial tissue. Testicular norepinephrine (NE) concentration was much lower in adult than in juvenile animals, suggesting that the marked increase in testicular weight that occurs with the attainment of sexual maturity is not accompanied by corresponding changes in NE content. At the ultrastructural level, testicular nerve fibers contained pleiomorphic, dense-core and clear vesicles, suggesting the presence of catecholamines and other neurotransmitters. In addition to this extrinsic catecholaminergic innervation, prepubertal testes, but not adult gonads, contained an intrinsic population of TH-immunopositive neuron-like elements, identified as cells by confocal scanning laser microscopy. To determine whether the prepubertal monkey testis indeed expresses the TH gene, testicular RNA was subjected to reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction to amplify the 5' end of TH mRNA, which encodes the regulatory domain of the enzyme. The cDNA that was obtained predicts an amino acid sequence similar, but not identical, to that encoded by the alternatively spliced type 1 TH mRNA form present in the adrenal gland. These results indicate

Concomitant fluctuations in median eminence perfusate GnRH and plasma LH occur in rhesus macaques during the periovulatory period and after ovariectomy. The association between GnRH and LH pulses during the follicular and luteal phases of the monkey menstrual cycle is less clearly defined. However, observed LH patterns suggest higher amplitude and slower pulses of GnRH in the luteal than in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. The present studies were planned to compare the GnRH/LH patterns in individual monkeys by simultaneous push-pull perfusion (PPP) and blood sampling during different ovarian steroid milieus. In the initial trial, placement of two push-pull cannulae (PPCs) in the median eminence and a jugular vein catheter caused immediate loss of regular menstrual cycles in 3 monkeys, although cycles resumed over 3-6 mo postoperatively. After the return of normal reproductive cycles, PPP was performed for 12 h on either Day 7, 8, or 9 of the luteal phase. The results showed an unexpected and profound decline in LH and progesterone (P 4 ) concentrations during the initial 4 h. No pulses of LH or P 4 were observed in the remaining 8 h. All 3 monkeys exhibited menstrual bleeding 2-3 days after PPP. In subsequent trials, we continuously infused the opioid receptor antagonist nalmefene (Nmf, 1 mg/h, i.v.), starting the fourth day after PPC implantation into 11 monkeys. Menstrual cycles with accompanying fluctuations of circulating estradiol-17β (E 2 ) and P 4 returned in less than 40 days in these macaques and continued without further Nmf treatment. Trials of 12-h PPP/blood sampling were performed during the follicular phase with (n = 4) or without (n = 4) Nmf, and during the luteal phase with (n = 6) or without (n = 3) Nmf. Endocrine data from the 3 animals without Nmf during the luteal phase were combined with the hormonal values that were obtained in the initial trial because all 6 animals exhibited similar GnRH, LH, and P 4 profiles, i.e., low levels and infrequent or absent pulses. Treatment with Nmf during luteal sampling enhanced hypothalamic GnRH secretion (> 10-fold increase in mean GnRH levels over those without Nmf) and reinitiated distinctive serum LH and P 4 pulses. In contrast, patterns of hypothalamic GnRH and serum LH during the follicular phase were similar with or without Nmf treatment. These GnRH/LH profiles consisted of low-amplitude hourly pulses. Collectively, the observations suggest that stress-induced activation of opiatergic neurons can inhibit the GnRH pulse generator and that these neuronal systems are more sensitive to such inhibition in the presence of elevated levels of circulating P 4 . However, our observation that Nmf accelerated the reinstatement of ovarian cycles after surgery, when circulating E 2 and P 4 were very low, suggests that GnRH secretions are influenced by activation of different opioid receptor subtypes in response to different stresses. Some of these GnRH/opioid interactions are independent of P 4 .

Coital activation of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal ovarian axis (HOA) is well documented in rabbits, but coital excitation of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal testicular axis (HTA) is less well described. We and others have postulated that the response of the HOA to coitus, as characterized by a dramatic release of hypothalamic GnRH, may be mediated by an increase in norepinephrine (NE) neuronal activity. Herein, we studied selective HOA and HTA responses in New Zealand White rabbits before, during, and after coitus. Firstly, we determined the effects of microdialysis (mu D) and blood-sampling methods on plasma LH and testosterone (T) patterns in male rabbits during sexual performance. Subsequently, we compared the patterns of release in GnRH and norepinephrine (NE) from the arcuate nucleus-median eminence (AME) at 10-min intervals with changes in plasma LH levels in copulating male and female rabbits. Lastly, in 2.5-min AME mu D samples from females immediately after coitus, we measured NE and GnRH concentrations to determine whether NE release precedes that of GnRH. Tethered, freely moving rabbits were exposed to their partners for 10 min at the end of the third (10-min sampling for 5-7 h) or second (2.5-min sampling for 4 h) hour. Data from individuals that did not mate during the 10-min of pairing in the 3- to 7-h sampling trials were included as a control group (sham-mated). The results showed no changes (P > 0.05) in plasma LH and T in either mated (LH: pre, 0.13 +/- 0.08 ng/ml; post, 0.15 +/- 0.03 ng/ml; T: pre, 2.39 +/- 1.20 ng/ml; post, 0.85 +/- 0.26 ng/ml) or sham-mated males (LH: pre, 0.21 +/- 0.08; post, 0.25 +/- 0.10 ng/ml; T: pre, 1.46 +/- 0.51 ng/ml; post, 1.40 +/- 0.38 ng/ml). Likewise, coitus did not alter patterns of AME-NE (pre, 0.47 +/- 0.25; post, 0.56 +/- 0.25 ng/ml) and GnRH (pre, 0.61 +/- 0.45; post, 0.74 +/- 0.32 pg/ml) in mated or sham-mated males. The constant HTA activity during coitus in males appears to be independent of experimental manipulation per se because LH and T levels between mu D (0.18 +/- 0.05 and 1.72 +/- 0.85 ng/ml, respectively) and non-mu D (0.16 +/- 0.05 and 1.52 +/- 0.36 ng/ml, respectively) rabbits were not different (P > 0.05). In contrast to males, females displayed unambiguous and simultaneous increases in NE (P < 0.05) and GnRH (P < 0.01) release from the AME within 10-20 min after coitus; these elevated concentrations in mu D samples lasted for 3-4 h. Microdialysis NE levels averaged 0.02 +/- 0.01 ng/ml before mating, whereas postcoital values averaged 0.09 +/- 0.01 ng/ml. GnRH levels were 1.04 +/- 0.56 and 11.78 +/- 5.06 pg/ml before and after coitus, respectively. Concomitant increases in plasma LH levels were also observed after coitus in these female rabbits. Moreover, measurements of NE and GnRH in 2.5-min mu D samples revealed that the postcoital increase in NE preceded that in GnRH by 2.5-7.5 min (P < 0.05). The results suggest that neuroendocrine circuits in the two sexes of the New Zealand White rabbit respond differently to genital stimulation. In male rabbits, coitus does not alter patterns of AME NE or GnRH secretion, nor does it change the circulating levels of plasma LH or T. Conversely, in females, coitus induces the rapid release of hypothalamic NE, GnRH, and pituitary LH. The increase in coitally induced NE occurs before the rise in GnRH, which supports the hypothesis that NE is a critical neurochemical in coital activation of GnRH neurons.

The use of hypermedia techniques in agriculture is analyzed in view of its possibilities to make access to knowledge and information more comprehensible, and to accelerate and disseminate their transfer. A survey of hypermedia applications in agriculture is provided and the characteristics of such systems are reviewed in terms of information structure, contents, system architecture, user information browsing and support. Requirements, future possibilities, and limitations are finally discussed.

The case “Integral” is about how a multinational company specializing in machinery goods uses high technology in its field support and mandated safety solutions to migrate its customer relationships into partnerships of growing scope and with new revenue streams. The key technologies are in-situ equipment monitoring and wireless communications. The key management ingredients are top management’s understanding and respect for operational issues. The history of the case also illustrates the importance of the strategic choice of the in-house vs. in-sourced nature of the needed technical expertise, and of a gradual deployment compatible with the fast technology evolution.

This paper describes a novel shape classification technique in computer vision called PDL-HM, which combines the selection of morphological structuring elements from contour description languages, the extraction of shape characteristics by the hit- and-miss transform, and shape classification by a neural network. This real-time method is orientation independent and tolerates limited object overlap. It is illustrated by an application to fish species classification in an industrial enviromnent and performs excellently

This paper studies in theory, and gives a solution to, the following concerns which may eventually be simultaneous: 1) obtain alternative classification decisions, ranked by some decreasing order of class membership probabilities; 2) imperfect teacher at the learning stage, or effects of labeling errors due to unsupervised learning by clustering; 3) noncooperative teacher, manipulating the a priori class probabilities; 4) unknown a priori class probabilities. These requirements are taken into account by considering a game between the recognition system and the teacher, in a game theoretical framework. Both players will ultimately select ``mixed strategies,'' which are probability distributions over the set of N alternative pattern classes, determined for each feature vector to be classified. This solution concept is interpreted in terms of the requirements 1)-4); numerical algorithms, as well as numerical examples are given with their solutions.

Warnings to the broad population in an emergency situation, irrespective of location and condition, are a public policy responsibility. Public wireless networks offer now the opportunity to deliver emergency warnings in this way with explanations, because in many countries, the mobile penetration rates and coverage are higher than any other access form. This chapter summarizes the analysis of the selection process between short messaging services (SMS) and Cell Broadcast (CB) messaging in the context of Denmark based on end user requirements, stakeholder roles and case-based analysis. It demonstrates the many technical, cost-benefit, and other trade-offs needed in supporting the population now with a dependable and wide-spread technology. This research is the basis for a national policy.

The occurrence and profile of the preovulatory hypothalamic GnRH surge in relation to plasma profiles of LH and ovarian steroids, i.e. 17 beta-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4), were examined in ovarian intact, freely moving rhesus macaques. Nine monkeys with active ovarian cycles were each fitted with a jugular venous catheter and two push-pull cannulae directed to separate sites within the median eminence (ME). Each female was connected continuously to a tether/swivel device through which daily blood samples or frequent blood samples and ME perfusates (simultaneously at 10- to 20-min intervals for 18-24 h) were obtained without disturbing the animals. An increment in the plasma E2 level (150 pg/ml) during the follicular phase (FP) was selected as the preovulatory ovarian signal and served as the index for initiating the ME push-pull perfusion (PPP). Daily increased P4 concentrations of more than 1 ng P4/ml plasma for several consecutive days were consistent with the assumption of ovulation and subsequent formation of a corpus luteum after PPP. A total of 18 PPP trials were completed; each in a fresh ME site. Five of these PPPs were performed during the mid- and late FP (3 were between 6-8 days before and 2 were 4 days before the E2 peak). The remaining 13 PPPs, each of 18- to 24-h duration, were performed between 24 h before and 48 h after the highest daily plasma E2 level, i.e. time zero. Of these 13 PPPs, 2 started within 12 h before (-12 to 0 h), 8 began within 12 h after (0-12 h), and 3 started between 12-24 h after this peak E2 value. During the FP, mean levels of GnRH and LH were less than 2 pg/ml and 20 ng/ml, respectively. During the periovulatory interval (-24 to 48 h around time zero), the release of hypothalamic GnRH (expressed in picograms per ml) increased to 6.63 +/- 2.35 between -12 to 0 h (n = 2), peaked at 20.70 +/- 6.09 between 0-12 h (n = 10), declined to 3.25 +/- 1.39 between 12-24 h (n = 11), and further declined to 0.89 +/- 0.18 between 24-36 h (n = 3). The mean GnRH value from 0-12 h was higher (P0.05) than other means (including those during the FP), except for the value between -12 to 0 h. Changes in mean plasma LH values during the same periods paralleled those in GnRH.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

This paper gives an analytical method to determine the economic and indirect implications of denial of service and distributed denial of service attacks. It is based on time preference dynamics applied to the monetary mass for the restoration of capabilities, on long term investments to rebuild capabilities, and of the usability level of the capabilities after an attack. A simple illustrative example is provided for a denial of service on a corporate data centre. The needed data collection methodologies are categorized by classes of targets. The use of the method is explained in the context of legal or policy driven dissuasive, retaliation or compensation/ restoration actions. A concrete set of deployment cases in mobile communications services is discussed. The conclusion includes policy recommendations as well as information exchange requirements.

This paper presents an object-oriented environment VPP, which generates and validates Prolog code from a visual representation of labelled directed graphs. Conversely, Prolog code can be represented graphically and edited visually, The main applications are for knowledge acquisition/reverse engineering, and target system code generation and configuration.

Recognizing the importance of privacy management as a business process and a business support process, this paper proposes the use of service level agreements (SLA's) around privacy features, including qualitative and quantitative ones. Privacy metrics are defined by both parties with boundary values on each feature. Their distribution is relying on stress distributions used in this field .The use of service level agreements also casts privacy management into a business perspective with benefits and costs to either party in a process. This approach is especially relevant for communications operators as brokers and communication channels between content owners (individuals, businesses) and enterprise applications ; in this context, the privacy SLA management would be carried out by the operator, while the terms and conditions of the SLA negotiation reside with the individual and information gatherers .This work was carried out as part of the large EU project PRIME www.prime.project.eu.org on privacy enhancing technologies.

This paper describes a software maintenance knowledge-based system called SOFTM, which serves the three following purposes: (1) assisting a software programmer or analyst in application code maintenance tasks and reverse engineering, (2) generating and updating automatically software correction documentation, (3) helping the end user register, and possibly interpret, observed errors on the successive application code versions. The knowledge-based system SOFTM is written in Prolog II, and is largely applicable to application codes written in different programming languages, provided that a description of the application code can be retrieved. SOFTM does not address any of the syntactic, input-output, or procedural errors normally detected by the syntactic analyser, the compiler, or the operating system environment, although some of these extensions are possible. SOFTM is relying on a unique augmented transition network-based code description, on diagnostic inference procedures based on context-based pattern classification, on maintenance log report generators, and on interfacing capabilities of Prolog II to a variety of other languages. It also incorporates features whereby application code specific facts can be retrieved by the operating system (VMS) using a command procedure and asserted directly in the SOFTM knowledge bases. An application case is given for FORTRAN code.

This paper describes EKSPRO, a knowledge-based system integrating a 3-D computer-aided design system for materials, heating, ventilation, lighting equipment, building codes and occupational health regulations, and design guidelines user-defined by architects and engineers. The system features an object-oriented predicate logic knowledge representation, and interfaces with calculation packages (CAD, thermal balance, illumination, daylight).

The added functionality such as contour tracking and corner detection which logic programming lends to standard image operators is described. An environment for implementing low-level imaging operations with Prolog predicates is considered. Within this environment, higher-level image predicates (contour tracking and corner detection) are constructed. The emphasis is not on building better corner detectors, but on presenting ways of using the unification and backtracking features of logic programming for these tasks. The performance of this implementation of contour tracking and corner detection has been very good in many more complex images, as it allows for feedback both ways between sensor input and symbolic models. More important is the parameter selection capability in a dynamic version where background properties change. The authors present examples of Prolog predicates for performing the contour and corner detection operations. >

This paper surveys reasoning and inference strategies as especially relevant for knowledge based systems in economics and management. This requires elements of object oriented features, numerical and text constraints, search over time, game power conflict resolution. Specific functionalities are discussed.

This paper aims to develop a bargaining model for calculation of individual tariffs for mobile service bundles. The paper first looks shortly at the intrinsic drivers of individual tariffs both from sociological and economic perspectives. It proceeds with a bargaining model for individual tariffs which is centered on user and supplier behaviours. The user, instead of being fully rational, has "bounded rationality" and his behaviours are not only subject to economic constraints but also influenced by social needs. Individual tariffs are decided through interactions between the user and the supplier. Game theory is employed to provide structured analyses of the interactions and tariff design. Preliminary results, which are based on a music training service, show that individual tariffs can be beneficial to both the user and the supplier.