The design of efficient indexing structures is central to the performances of very large databases such as the web collections. Within the SPIRIT framework the challenge is to adapt ideas from the well-researched topics of text based information retrieval and geographical information systems for a spatially aware search engine. This document reports on the existing methods for both these areas ...

Traditional tools of welfare economics identify the envy-related welfare loss from conspicuous consumption only under very strong assumptions. Measured income and life satisfaction offers an alternative for estimating such consumption externalities. The approach is developed in the context of luxury car consumption (Ferraris and Porsches) in Switzerland. Results from household panel data and fi...

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was investigated for the differentiation of Corynebacterium diphtheriae isolates. Analysis using Taxotron revealed 10 distinct AFLP profiles among 57 isolates. Strains with ribotype patterns D1, D4, and D12 could not be distinguished; however, the technique discriminated isolates of ribotype patterns D3, D6, and D7 further. AFLP was rapid, fairly in...

In wireless environments, many mobile users may raise queries for accessing multiple data items, e.g., stock information or traffic condition, simultaneously. Most queries are identical. That is, many users may have an interest in some popular data items. Because data broadcast can offer unlimited users shareable information at the same time, a broadcast server is usually employed to disseminat...

Received 22 January 2004 Revised 26 February 2004 Accepted 27 February 2004 Fungi, like plants, are capable of producing the 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid. These fatty acids are synthesized by catalytic reactions of D12 and v3 fatty acid desaturases. This paper describes the first cloning and functional characterization of a yeast v3 fatty acid desatur...

Macronuclei and micronuclei of ciliates have related genomes, with macronuclei developing from zygotic micronuclei through programmed DNA rearrangements. While Paramecium tetraurelia wild-type strain 51 and mutant strain d48 have the same micronuclear genome, qualitative differences between their macronuclear genomes have been described, demonstrating that programmed DNA rearrangements could be...

Introduction Dispersion is a phenomenon that determines the resolution of several types of liquid phase chromatography, and is an important component of overall transport through electrokinetic flow systems. The severe dispersion of solute as it travels through a U-turn, for example, has attracted recent attention for this reason [1]. In “ideal” electroosmotic flow through uniform, straight cha...

It is shown how one can effectively use microdata in modelling the change over time in an aggregate (e.g. mean consumption expenditure) of a large and heterogeneous population. The starting point of our aggregation analysis is a specification of explanatory variables on the micro-level. Typically, some of these explanatory variables are observable and others are unobservable. Based on certain h...

CLC chloride channels form a large and conserved gene family unrelated to other channel proteins. Knowledge of the transmembrane topology of these channels is important for understanding the effects of mutations found in human myotonia and inherited hypercalciuric kidney stone diseases and for the interpretation of structure-function studies. We now systematically study the topology of human Cl...

A ten -month-old infant with Diastematomyelia, as a very rare variety of spinal dysraphism is presented in this article Routine USG in a 36 weeks pregnant woman revealed a spinal abnormality of the fetus in thoracolumbar [D12-L1] regions. At birth, examination of the newborn showed a small midline swelling and bluish discoloration of skin and scoliosis in the lumbar region. There was associated...