The size and shape of organs is species specific, and even in species in which organ size is strongly influenced by environmental cues, such as nutrition or temperature, it follows defined rules. Therefore, mechanisms must exist to ensure a tight control of organ size within a given species, while being flexible enough to allow for the evolution of different organ sizes in different species. We...

When men and women are objectively ranked in a marriage problem, say by beauty, then pairing individuals of equal rank is the only stable matching. We generalize this observation by providing bounds on the size of the rank gap between mates in a stable matching in terms of the size of the ranking sets. Using a metric on the set of matchings, we provide bounds on the diameter of the core—the set...

In this paper, we extend the use of page rank algorithm for next page prediction with several navigational attributes, which are size of the page, duration time of the page and duration of transition (two page visits sequentially), frequency of page and transition. In our model, we define popularity of transitions and pages by using duration information and use it in relation to page size and v...

A real symmetric matrix M is completely positive semidefinite if it admits a Gram representation by positive semidefinite matrices (of any size d). The smallest such d is called the completely positive semidefinite rank of M , and it is an open question whether there exists an upper bound on this number as a function of the matrix size. We show that if such an upper bound exists, it has to be a...

PURPOSE To examine variations in neuromuscular and hormonal status and their relationship to performance throughout a season of elite Australian Rules Football (ARF). METHODS Fifteen elite ARF players performed a single jump (CMJ1) and 5 repeated countermovement jumps (CMJ5), and provided saliva samples for the analysis of cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) before the season commenced (Pre) an...

The usual method for establishing allowable daily intake (ADI) for a chemical involves determining a no-observed-effect level (NOEL) and applying a safety factor. Even though this method has been used for many years, there appear to be no general guidelines or rules for defining a NOEL. The determination of a NOEL is particularly uncertain for lesions which occur naturally in untreated animals....

OBJECTIVES To assess the relationship between the approval of trials by a research ethics committee (REC) and the fact that informed consent from participants (ICP) was obtained, with the quality of study design and methods. DESIGN Systematic review using a standardised checklist. MAIN MEASURES Methodological and ethical issues of all trials published between 1993 and 1995 in the New Englan...

When designing clinical trials, researchers often encounter the uncertainty in the treatment effect or variability assumptions. Hence the sample size calculation at the planning stage of a clinical trial may also be questionable. Adjustment of the sample size during the mid-course of a clinical trial has become a popular strategy lately. In this paper we propose a procedure for calculating addi...

The temperature-size rule is a common pattern of phenotypic plasticity in which higher temperature during development results in a smaller adult body size (i.e. a thermal reaction norm with negative slope). Examples and exceptions to the rule are known in multiple groups of organisms, but rapid population differentiation in the temperature-size rule has not been explored. Here we examine the ge...

PURPOSE This study had two goals: (a) to assess the validity of the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) staffing data by comparing them to staffing measures from audited Medicaid Cost Reports and (b) to identify systematic differences between facilities that over-report or underreport staffing in the OSCAR. DESIGN AND METHODS We merged the 2002 Texas Nursing Facility Cost Report...