Applications of wearable and implanted wireless sensor devices are hot research area. A specialized field called the body area networks (BAN) has emerged to support this area. Managing and controlling such a network is a challenging task. An efficient media access control (MAC) protocol to handle proper management of media access can considerably improve the performance of such a network. Power...

In this article we study the minimum number κ of additional automata that a Boolean automata network (BAN) associated with a given blocksequential update schedule needs in order to simulate a given BAN with a parallel update schedule. We introduce a graph that we call NECC graph built from the BAN and the update schedule. We show the relation between κ and the chromatic number of the NECC graph...

This exploratory, qualitative study examined the perspectives of 22 lesbian and gay parents (15 female and seven male) who were residents of Florida while the state’s gay adoption ban was in effect and who had adopted or were in the process of adopting a child. Participants were interviewed about their experiences before and after the lifting of the gay adoption ban, which occurred in 2010. Par...

BACKGROUND Following Cambodia's implementation of the 100% condom use program with enforcement of condom use and STI treatment services for sex workers in 2001, sexually transmitted infection and HIV declined markedly. In 2008, Cambodia implemented a law to ban brothel-based sex work. We reported trends in unprotected vaginal intercourse with sex workers among heterosexual men buying sex before...

BACKGROUND The Europe Against Cancer programme was initiated in the late 1980s, recognising, among other risk factors, the problematic relationship between tobacco use and cancer. In an attempt to reduce the number of smokers in the European Community, the European Commission proposed a ban on tobacco advertising. The question of why it took over ten years of negotiating before the EU adopted a...

This paper elucidates the impacts of the September 2005 foot and mouth disease outbreak on the Brazilian meat market for different levels of the industry (export, wholesale, and farm). The associated import ban by Russia on Brazilian meat exports is also analyzed. Results suggest that the increase in domestic supply due to the import ban generated downward pressure on prices at all levels for p...

We demonstrate an infrastructure for experimenting with Body Area Network (BAN) communication protocols and applications without the involvement of human test-person. The core of our infrastructure consists of a mobile robot, on which a simplistic human structure equipped with BAN nodes is located. This set-up can emulate human movements within a controlled RF interference in-door environment. ...

ABSTRACT While the empirical literature on smoking bans is extensive, little theory has been developed. This paper examines the welfare impact of smoking bans in an economy where smokers’ utility is reduced by a workplace/public place ban. The government has two instruments increasing the price through taxation, or limiting when the product can be consumed through a ban. Its ability to reduce s...

AIMS We used the hospital discharge records of Piedmont region (northern Italy) to evaluate whether a national law banning smoking in public resulted in a short-term reduction in hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS AND RESULTS Rates of admission for AMI before the ban (October-December 2004) and during the ban (February-June 2005) were analysed. Each period was ...

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has criticised Australia (and many other countries) in State Reports released in 1997, 2005 and, most recently, 2011, for not introducing a ban on corporal punishment by parents of their children in line with Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘CROC’). In light of this criticism, and the clear recommendation to ban parental co...