These notes contain the written version of lectures given at the 2009 Les Houches Summer School “Modern perspectives in lattice QCD: Quantum field theory and high performance computing.” The goal is to provide a pedagogical introduction to the subject, and not a comprehensive review. Topics covered include a general introduction, the inclusion of scaling violations in chiral perturbation theory...

The first implementation of biometric documents, called biometric passports, based on a regulation is running, the second implementation since end of CY 2008 is coming to Europe. The focus is on persons staying for business, study or leisure for more than 3 months in Europe and coming from a state outside Europe and not being a member of the Visa-Waiver-Program of the EU. This second wave incre...

We use the more abstract term "relational morphology" in place of tile usual "two-level morphology" in order to emphasize an aspect of Koskenniemi's work which has been overlooked in favor of implementation issues using the finite state paradigm, namely, that a mathematical relation can be specified between the lexical and surface levels of a language. Relations, whether finite state or not, ca...

The molecular chaperone ClpC/Hsp93 is essential for chloroplast function in vascular plants. ClpC has long been held to act both independently and as the regulatory partner for the ATP-dependent Clp protease, and yet this and many other important characteristics remain unclear. In this study, we reveal that of the two near-identical ClpC paralogs (ClpC1 and ClpC2) in Arabidopsis chloroplasts, a...

Virginia’s diverse environments support 84 amphibian species (anurans and caudates), making it the third highest state in terms of species richness. However, the Commonwealth matches the global trend in declining amphibian populations with over one-third of its amphibian species in conservation need. The Species of Greatest Conservation Need included in the most recent Virginia Wildlife Action ...