Encrypted search — performing queries on protected data — is a well researched problem. However, existing solutions have inherent inefficiency that raises questions of practicality. Here, we step back from the goal of achieving maximal privacy guarantees in an encrypted search scenario to consider efficiency as a priority. We propose a privacy framework for search that allows tuning and optimiz...

Phenotypic plasticity is nearly universal among organisms, and evidence indicates that plasticity can exhibit additive genetic variation and respond to selection. These findings have important implications for our understanding of how plasticity may be constrained and how its mechanistic structure may affect its evolution. Many life history trade-offs may be conceptualized as plastic traits, wi...

Life-history theory predicts evolutionary changes in reproductive traits and intrinsic mortality rates in response to differences in extrinsic mortality rates. Trade-offs between life- history traits play a pivotal role in these predictions, and such trade-offs are mediated, at least in part, by physiological allocations. To gain insight into these trade-offs, we have been performing a long-ter...

Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With rapidly increasing populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans have been enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. Although the need for certain trade-offs between conservation and development is urgent, having only a small number of efficient methods to assess such trade-...

How an animal performs in its natural environment ultimately plays a key role in its reproductive success. While a number of studies have investigated how selection acts on performance-related traits, far fewer studies have examined the mechanisms responsible for variation in performance. Among mechanisms, variable morphology has received the most attention. Although physiological traits have r...

In designing software systems, security is typically only one design objective among many. It may compete with other objectives such as functionality, usability, and performance. Too often, security mechanisms such as firewalls, access control, or encryption are adopted without explicit recognition of competing design objectives and their origins in stakeholders’ interests. Recently, there is i...

Architectural creations occur throughout the animal kingdom, with invertebrates and vertebrates building structures such as homes to maximize their Darwinian fitness. Animal architects face many trade-offs in building optimally designed structures. But what about animals that do not build, and those that only remodel the original creations of others: do such secondary architects face similar tr...

OBJECTIVE To compare the sensitivity and specificity of body mass index (BMI)-based classification systems and to determine the optimal cut-offs for predicting excess body fatness in schoolchildren. METHODS 2795 schoolchildren aged 7 - 10 years were examined. Excess body fatness was defined as the standardized residuals of the sum of three skinfold thickness ranking at or above the 90th perce...

OBJECTIVE To assess feasibility and recall rates for newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism, galactosemia and biotinidase deficiency in a predominantly rural and inner city population in and around the City of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Two tertiary-care and 5 district hospitals in and around Lucknow. PARTICIPANTS All babies b...

Most of the search literature considers univariate alternatives even though real-world alternatives are typically characterized by multiple attributes. We address this gap by developing a model of search for multiattribute alternatives, focusing on the case of parallel search. The univariate model of parallel search has been applied to vendor selection, new product development, and innovation t...