bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Aspects of S.S.T. Operations in Non-optimum Conditions
Authors: Cole P. S.
Published: January 2010

Over the past few years, numerous papers have been written concerning various aspects of S.S.T. operations, the majority dealing with one or two facets. This short review considers those aspects which are of major importance when the S.S.T. is operated in non-optimum conditions and an attempt is made to indicate the relative cost penalty caused by the phenomena discussed, the performance in smooth standard conditions being taken as the datum. Little of the information presented is new and most of the points mentioned are considered in greater detail in the references. (Crown copyright, reproduced with the permission of H.M.S.O.)
Analysis of Long-Range Air Traffic Systems: Separation Standards—III
Authors: Reich P. G.
Published: January 2010

The earlier papers in this series described the principles, and some of the techniques, which determine the approach to separation standards made at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In this approach to the problems of estimating safe separation standards and specifying the quality of navigation needed, emphasis is laid on the observations of flying errors which occur in operational conditions. Dependence on theoretical assumptions is limited to the extent necessary to make usable ‘upper limit’ estimates of collision risk. Where critical assumptions are unavoidable, their nature and effects are shown.
Parallel-route Systems for Supersonic Traffic
Authors: Attwooll V. W.
Published: January 2010

This is the third article of a series of three describing the methods developed at the Royal Aircraft Establishment for costing the effect of air traffic control deviations in long range systems. The first two discussed the general principles of costing and their application to the current and future systems for subsonic aircraft over the North Atlantic. The present paper considers systems for the S.S.T.

The characteristics and mode of operation of the supersonic transport are untested, and it will operate at an altitude for which information is relatively scanty. This means that the results obtained for the cost penalties in a supersonic traffic system must be regarded as tentative. On the other hand, because we are considering traffic systems for aircraft at such an early stage of development, the situation can be analysed in a more fundamental way, with particular emphasis on the effect of the system on the aircraft design.
Principles and Applications of Prediction Display
Authors: Bernotat R. , Widlok H.
Published: January 2010

The input—output behaviour of a human operator in a control system is characterized by his ability to predict the course of a target based on past performance. With a stochastic signal or a more complicated system, however, prediction is necessarily imperfect and the operator's response lags behind the input. Mechanical prediction might therefore improve the human behaviour in a control system. The principles of the prediction display are described and two methods for mechanically calculated prediction are discussed: the model method and the extrapolation method.
Visual Indication of Direction for Ships
Authors: Parmiter G. V.
Published: January 2010

I was very interested in the recent correspondence regarding a direction indicator to be fitted to ships and while I note the experiments now being carried out by our Dutch friends there are several points which must be borne in mind.

In the first place, whilst sophisticated arrangements like illuminated arrows may be very satisfactory from the operational point of view, this sort of apparatus is just one more piece of expensive equipment that the shipowner must provide and I foresee reluctance on his part if it is intended that this should come into general use.
The Impact of Radar on the Rule of the Road
Authors: Wylie F. J.
Published: January 2010

Commander Clissold's article (Journal19, 109) like others before it seems to base the supposition that a new Rule is required on the idea that the collisions occur today because the present Rules are not good enough. I do not think that this contention is borne out by the evidence in cases of collision that come to Court; those are really the only ones on which conclusions should be based as very few people know what happened in the others. There is also a suggestion in his article that, before the days of radar, the Rules were adequate to prevent collisions happening. This is not so either; there were too many collisions in those days and they were caused by very much the same sort of behaviour as they are today. One should not, perhaps, think about the past success or failure of the Rules without remembering that it is not only the land which has become crowded in this century.
Collision Avoidance in Restricted Visibility
Authors: Wacher J. F.
Published: January 2010

In the January 1966 edition of this Journal Captain Wylie has given a lucid summary of the factors involved in the presentation on radar displays of true and relative motion. He also stated a conclusion on the combinations of display and ancillary equipment which he considers best satisfy the requirements for use when plotting to avoid collision at sea. Whilst acknowledging with respect all the work he has done to clarify the issues raised on this important but contentious subject over a number of years, a number of us has found it impossible to agree with his latest findings. As these may influence opinion in the shipping industry, the Board of Trade, the Courts of Law and the radar manufacturing industry, both at official and unofficial levels, they should not go unchallenged. Our disagreement concerns the priorities defined for display equipment and the method to be used for plotting. There can be no disagreement on academic principles.
Microwave Radiometry
Authors: Ditchfield C. R.
Published: January 2010

Before considering in detail the instrumentation involved, it is necessary to establish first of all what is meant by microwave radiometry and mention briefly its possible applications. A radiometer is a device for measuring heat radiation and the title ‘Microwave Radiometry’ is a little surprising in that it implies heat radiation at microwave frequencies. In fact a consideration of the underlying physics shows that heat radiation and electrical thermal noise are indeed the same phenomenon, although their properties were investigated independently by physicists and electrical engineers. This concept is particularly valuable in microwave radiometry, where the electronic techniques are appropriate to ultrasensitive noise measurements, but the system applications are most easily visualized in terms of heat, or, more particularly, temperature.
A Question of Notation
Authors: Sadler D. H.
Published: January 2010

There does not appear to be a standard British notation for the parts of the spherical triangle formed by the pole (P), the zenith (Z) and the observed body (S or X) that is such a familiar feature of astronomical navigation. The main value of such a standard (or generally accepted) notation would be academic and theoretical rather than practical, since most navigators are concerned only with the one system that they use. However, it can be most confusing when comparing different methods to find that (for example) both h and H are used for both hour angle and altitude.
Navigation, Traffic and the Community
Authors: Stratton Andrew
Published: January 2010

In many critical areas today navigation is more concerned with maintaining the flow of traffic than with finding the way. In his Presidential Address, which was presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Institute in London on 14 October 1970, Mr. Stratton discusses some of the characteristics of sea and air traffic systems and how they interact with the costs and benefits to the community as a whole.

In my previous address I concentrated on the way in which new scientific principles have been applied to determining the basic quantities of position, course and speed as inputs to the navigation process and with some of the technological problems encountered. The science and technology of navigation, however, are but the means by which navigation fulfils an operational task which itself is directed at the safe and expeditious movement of passengers and goods or to some military ends. In this address I will concentrate on some of the current and future operational tasks for navigation on the sea and in the air in fulfilment of the commercial need to transport goods and passengers and of the personal use of the vehicle for transport and leisure.
A Fully Automatic Marine Radar Data Plotter
Authors: Herther J. C. , Coolbaugh J. S.
Published: January 2010

Digiplot is a marine radar aid for automatic anti-collision navigation which processes signals from conventional radar and presents computed information on a separate screen to give at-a-glance situation appreciation. The company's origin is touched on and conception and design are described as they evolved to meet operational requirements.

The majority of sophisticated radar equipments and devices available today have evolved from successive shipborne radar developments over a considerable period of years. With Digiplot it is otherwise. The Iotron Corporation was established in 1969 by a few men whose background had been information technology in the realms of fire control and navigational systems for submarines, aircraft, missiles and spacecraft, and reconnaissance systems using electronic and optical techniques; in all these systems digital electronics played a key role. The choice of the navigational functions of marine radar as the most appropriate subject for attention by the group was made after a general study of the commercial field, because of the revolution apparent in ships, their equipment and their operations.
The Measurement of Range and Velocity of Approach during the Berthing of Tankers
Authors: Gatehouse R. N. B.
Published: January 2010

A requirement was stated to Brookes & Gatehouse Ltd. by B.P. Ltd. in 1962 for the measurement of velocity of approach, at the instant of impact against the fenders, of large tankers when berthing at a jetty. This information was required for operational research into the design of jetties for the new super-tankers and for ‘post-mortems’ after heavy impact. Experiments were carried out by us at the Fawley terminal of the Esso Company and the first installation was made by B.P. at their Finnart terminal in January 1963. There has been a continuing demand up to the present time by several oil companies, and a dozen jetties in different parts of the world have now been fitted with this equipment.
Application of Omega to Aircraft Navigation and Traffic Control
Authors: Swanson E. R.
Published: January 2010

The many references to Omega in your excellent discussions on Navigation and traffic control published in the January issue were particularly gratifying to one who has worked on Omega for the past decade. Especially memorable was Mr. Stringer's statement that ‘[Omega] satisfies the three R's—reliability, redundancy and range’ and Mr. Jones' observation ‘' [Omega] is already the most widely deployed ground-based navigation aid in the world by a very substantial margin’. However, many contributors used words such as ‘somewhat unreliable’ and ‘subject to real problems’ when discussing ambiguity resolution. Perhaps some further remarks on ambiguity resolution are in order.
Severe Wave Conditions at Sea
Authors: Draper Laurence
Published: January 2010

Perhaps the most surprising thing about sea waves is that they come in a vast range of shapes and sizes. The casual observer on a ship in waters not exposed to an ocean, for example the southern North Sea, may rightly think that the waves he can see have all been generated by the same wind blowing over some particular stretch of water for a fixed length of time. It then seems almost logical to deduce that all the waves ought to be of the same height, length and shape. Unfortunately this is not the case, the energy of sea waves is locked in wave components spread over a wide range of wave periods, each of which travels at a speed dictated by its period. Considering the very simple case of a sea with only wave components, when a crest of one component overtakes the other, a higher wave will ensue. As a result of this process, high waves come in groups; during the time in which the components gradually get into phase the wave height builds up giving a train of waves of increasing, which then decreases as the faster component travels away, until when they are out of phase the sea is temporarily fairly calm. This is the reason why it is commonly said that every seventh wave is the highest, although whether it is every fourth or every fourteenth depends on the relative speeds of the components.
Small Craft in Gales
Authors: Coles K. Adlard
Published: January 2010

Before turning attention to the problems of heavy weather sailing in yachts it is useful to attempt to define what a yachtsman considers to be a gale.

When I first took up ‘going foreign’ in my own boats cones were hoisted at signal stations when winds of Force 7 or above were anticipated. Thus it may be said that gales started at Force 7, but skippers of commercial craft such as Brixham trawlers (in which I occasionally sailed), barges and other coasters did their own forecasting and used their own judgment of what constituted a gale without bothering too much about the Beaufort notation. Amateurs followed suit in this matter and when wind or sea rose too high for their own particular yachts they would describe the conditions as a gale. It was not until the radio became a commonplace in yachts that a more scientific approach came to be made. Of recent years few yachtsmen will make even a cross-Channel passage without first receiving a weather forecast and the tendency is to rely entirely on forecasts. In passing, I would comment that the vagaries of the weather are such that some of the severest gales have occurred with only very short warning.
The Efficacy of Weather Routing in Reducing Damage
Authors: Burger W. , Evans S. H.
Published: January 2010

M.V. Geestport of the Geestline left the island of Dominica on 1 February 1970. She arrived at Barry on 10 February 1970. Between these dates the ship underwent a considerable ordeal, seldom experiencing a wind-force less than 7, while all the time she was pitching heavily, thereby shipping great amounts of water owing to the heavy swell and rough seas. From the 2 February the barometer pressure dropped about 1 millibar per hour and then, from 04.00 G.M.T. on the 3rd until 12.00 G.M.T. on 5 February, a slow rise was observed, finally steadying at 1034.6 mb. From the latter date the pressure began to fall at a slow rate and on arrival at Barry the barometer reading was 1002.8 mb. During these ten difficult days the speed of the vessel was varied continuously between 120 r.p.m. (about 20 knots) and 50 r.p.m. depending on the circumstances.
Experience with a Computer in Oceanographic Research at Sea
Authors: Crease J.
Published: January 2010

This paper describes the application of an IBM 1800 computer installed in R.R.S. Discovery to the processing of oceanographical data, and in particular the navigational aspects of the system.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the development of computer applications in oceanographical research, for which a number of quite advanced systems have been projected or are already in operation. Factors affecting the choice of the computer system adopted for use by the National Institute of Oceanography may be listed as follows:

(i) Data logging, typically to punched tape, was becoming more complex with every cruise of the R.R.S. Discovery
Manœuvring Large Tankers in the Approach Channels to Europoort
Authors: Koelé L. A. , Don C.
Published: January 2010

In discussing certain aspects of the manœuvring of large tankers it is necessary to consider the navigational circumstances, and especially the hydrographic and meteorological conditions that obtain in the Europoort-area which can be divided into three zones (Fig. 1):

(i) the approach route through the English Channel and the southern part of the North Sea to the outer approach channel;

(ii) the approach channels—the outer channel (bearing 82° 30′) and inner channel (bearing 112°)—to the harbour mouth near the Hook of Holland;

(iii) from the harbour moles through the temporary mouth to the Europoort basin, ending in the berthing manœuvres alongside the jetty.
Wheelhouse and Bridge Design
Authors: Wilkinson G. R.
Published: January 2010

Mr. Wilkinson's paper, which was presented at a joint meeting of the Institute and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in London on 7 January 1971, with the President, Rear-Admiral G. S. Ritchie, C.B., D.S.C. in the chair, will be published in full in the Journal of the Institution, illustrated with diagrams and inventories tracing the evolution of the ship's bridge and wheelhouse in relation to advances in technology, ergonomic factors and manning policy. A comparison is made with the design of aircraft flight decks and the cabs of diesel-electric locomotives. The value to the naval architect of manœuvring and handling simulators is emphasized. The paper and the ensuing discussion are summarized below.
Air Traffic Control and the Needs of the Customer
Authors: Dickie E. J.
Published: January 2010

The air traffic controller provides a service and can do so effectively only with the cooperation of his customers, namely the pilots of many different types of aircraft. For the purpose of this paper it is assumed that pilots do not wittingly take avoidable risks and are fully capable of finding their way from one place to another by the shortest available route. According to I.C.A.O., A.T.C. exists to provide ‘safety and expedition’, but, left to his own devices, the pilot can take care of his own ‘expedition’ so that the main function of A.T.C. is to provide a safety service. When A.T.C. has to regulate flights for safety reasons, however, it may have to ask a pilot to deviate from his chosen flight path. It then has to assume a measure of responsibility for expedition, but safety is still the prime consideration.
Development in Airborne Navigation Systems
Authors: Broughton W. O. , McIvor J. W.
Published: January 2010

This paper covers aircraft navigation with emphasis upon self-contained systems, although a survey of the scene cannot avoid reference to external aids. It traces briefly the evolution of self-contained systems since World War II to the present time and then attempts to forecast the way development appears likely to go in the future. The paper deals with both military and civil aviation because, in spite of the increasing importance of the latter, military navigation, as ever, leads the way to improvements for the future.
Collision Avoidance by Manœuvre
Authors: Calvert E. S.
Published: January 2010

In the Interim Report of the Institute's Collision Regulations Working Party (Journal, 23, 448), it was stated in the preliminary that Dr. Calvert was not able to subscribe entirely to propositions (1)to (19). Dr. Calvert here states his views.

My disagreement with the interim report is concerned only with the propositions and principles at the end. The body of the report I regard as masterly in the circumstances.
A System of Rules for Preventing Collisions at Sea
Authors: García-Frías J.
Published: January 2010

The following proposed system of rules was presented to the Collision Regulations Working Party of the Institute by Admiral García-Frías and is referred to in the January issue of the Journal (24, 56–9).

IT is evident that the revision of the Collision Regulations would only be effective with a system of Rules able to cope with all situations that may arise at sea. The system must include all that it is necessary and sufficient to solve the collision problem in the easiest and most effective way and consequently it must apply both in clear weather and in restricted visibility using radar; differences between these situations being defined, if necessary, in every Rule.
A Control System for Ships' Bridges
Authors: Bentkowsky J. , Kurz C. G. , Quinn R. H. M.
Published: January 2010

In this paper, which was presented in a fuller version at an Ordinary Meeting of the Institute held in London on 20 December 1963, Mr. Kurz of the United States Maritime Administration and Mr. Bentkowsky and Captain Quinn, both of the Sperry-Piedmont Company, describe a control console for ships which was developed by the Sperry-Piedmont Company under contract from the Maritime Administration. The console, which has its sea trials early this year, comprises five sub-consoles which cater for navigation aids, communications-radar, steering, position plot, and ship condition. The paper enumerates the advantages that might be expected from such an arrangement.
Errors and Time
Authors: Anderson E. W.
Published: January 2010

The word ‘statistics’ implies populations. The practical navigator uses the methods of statistics to reduce errors. However, he is concerned not with a number of craft but with one particular craft. He may therefore use statistical terms in a somewhat inexact fashion. For example, the navigator generally assumes that the distribution of errors is Guassian because he has no way of telling what it really is. In navigating a craft, the blunder rate tends to add large skirts to the Guassian distribution. In equipments, these skirts may be suppressed by limits in manufacturing tolerances.
Marine Radar Development and the User
Authors: Wylie F. J.
Published: January 2010

This paper, which will be presented for discussion at the Eastbourne tripartite conference, 12–14 May, examines the efforts made in recent years to improve marine radar in three respects, namely greater expressiveness of the display, simplification of measurement and computation, and increased reliability. Particular developments in each of these directions are discussed, their effectiveness and shortcomings mentioned and the conclusion reached that there is still a long way to go.
The Binnacle at the Conn
Authors: May W. E.
Published: January 2010

It may be unexpected to some to find that among all the unsolved problems in the history of the magnetic compass there is a shortage of information on the form and arrangement of binnacles during the eighteenth and first part of the nineteenth centuries. The cupboard type of binnacle designed to take one or two steering compasses, according to the size of the ship, is pretty well documented for it is described in most of the books on navigation published in the French and English languages from the middle of the seventeenth century. There are also drawings in some books and there is a watercolour in the National Maritime Museum which shows the steering binnacle on the deck of His Majesty's Ship Deal Castle about 1775. This is however the only deck scene of the period known to me which does show a binnacle and very few binnacles appear in contemporary ship models.
Navigating in the Offshore Powerboat Race
Authors: Coote J. O.
Published: January 2010

When the Offshore Powerboat Race was first held in 1961, navigators made the painful discovery that conventional methods of coastal pilotage were useless in a comparatively light, high-performance powerboat being driven to its limit.

Taking part in the race is like driving a Mini-Cooper over a frozen ploughed field in intermittent fog from London to York, the same distance as the course from Cowes to Torquay. Chart-work is out of the question. It is physically impossible to lay off a bearing or read a course. Furthermore, the figures and symbols are too small to be read, and, as often as not, the chart gets blown overboard. Radio bearings are unobtainable over the engine interference. A hand-bearing compass cannot be held steadily enough. Parallel rulers, dividers, pencils and the navigator's notebook end up in the bilges.
Collision Avoidance by Discussion
Authors: Wylie F. J.
Published: January 2010

‘Collision Avoidance by Discussion’ (see this Journal, p. 159) has been part of the radar controversy since it began. If it is assumed, as I think it must be, that no solution is acceptable which does not apply to multilateral situations, the complications inherent in such a proposal become apparent. A bilateral agreement, for example, on alterations of course will be based on the situation as seen at a given moment; this may change drastically within minutes as other ships' bilateral or monolateral decisions are put into effect. These may necessitate changes in intention and further confabulation, possibly now with others than the ship originally contacted, and so on.
Navigation and the Aircraft Industry
Authors: Watson-Watt Robert
Published: January 2010

I remember that on V-J Day in 1945 a heroic band of Common-wealth delegates, greatly reinforced by the cooperative presence of colleagues from the United States, decided that they would not rise in celebration of victory but would continue their work, which included an estimate of the probable air-traffic density at the world's great airports in or about this year 1950. We made the best estimate we could of the numbers in which aircraft would in this present year be likely to be moving in and out of Heathrow (as it was then called), of Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Looking back through the mist of five years I detect a band of enthusiastic and starry-eyed optimists.

In this year of 1950 the British aircraft industry has an absolute and undisputed lead in the design and manufacture of civil turbo-jet and turbo-propeller aircraft. This time again I look forward, but I warn myself that we are another group of starry-eyed optimists if we think that another five years hence Britain will hold that undisputed lead, or will be comfortably established in a position of monopoly in the sale of jet-propelled civil aircraft.
Diagrammatic Solutions for Astronomical Navigation
Authors: Freiesleben H. C.
Published: January 2010

This paper discusses the possibilities of using diagrammatic solutions for accurate astronomical navigation and gives a detailed description of two methods of doing so that have been put into effect in Germany. These methods, the ARG1 and the Astronomischer Rechenatlas, have previously been described in German publications and referred to in numerous reports and memoranda written in this country and the United States. So far as is known no authoritative description of these two aids to navigation has yet been published in English, and it is appropriate that this, the first, should have been written by Dr. Freiesleben, who played a prominent part in their development.—Ed.

The development of radio aids to navigation has not made astronomical navigation redundant, but it has given more force to earlier demands for the simplification of methods of reduction. No longer is it acceptable to have a large variety of alternative methods, and it is probable that attempts will be made to select a single method that is both simple and universally applicable.
Astro-fix by Ranges
Authors: Collins Oliver C.
Published: January 2010

This paper describes two methods by which lines of position may be obtained by observation of stars (in pairs) without the use of instrumental scale readings either for altitude or for azimuth. These lines of position represent arcs of great circles of the Earth. An instantaneous observation is proposed.

Great circles determined by star positions form, on the celestial sphere, a lattice which is not deformed by precession. Whether or not he be at rest relative to the rotating Earth, the observer's zenith traverses this lattice, which thus may serve in celestial navigation precisely as does a well-marked terrain in contact flying over land, or as do ranges and markers in coastal and harbour navigation. Observation of the zenith-transit of an element of this lattice is akin to the process of noting the moment when an aircraft crosses a coastal line or other visible terrestrial mark or to the recognition of when a vessel near shore is on a certain range. Observation of this type is as rapid as the navigator may be able to make it since it is the observation of the occurrence of an instantaneous situation.
An Investigation into Air Traffic Control by a Simulation Method
Authors: Coulson R. B. , Burgmann V. D.
Published: January 2010

It is now generally recognized that, under instrument conditions, traffic congestion at busy airports is already bad and any further increase in traffic density would be unmanageable without improvements in methods of air traffic control. A study of the problems of air traffic control by full-scale tests is prohibitively expensive and a practical alternative is required. This paper describes a series of investigations into air traffic control problems by simulation methods.

Laboratory equipment suitable for such experiments is described briefly and has been shown to give a reliable quantitative assessment of the effect of changes in a control system. A number of possible control systems were studied in detail.
Proposals for a New Air Navigation Chart
Authors: Freer B. , Irwin K. J.
Published: January 2010

Because of the greater speed of modern aircraft and the increasing complexity of air-traffic systems, air navigation is changing and breaking away more surely from its marine counterpart. This divergence means that navigational equipment designed for marine navigation is becoming less and less suitable for use in the air, and the special needs of air navigation are slowly gaining recognition. This paper concerns air navigation charts; its aim is to show the shortcomings of the charts at present in use, and to suggest a specification for a new style of chart that will meet modern requirements.

At the beginning it is well to define exactly what is meant by the word ‘Chart’. In I.C.A.O. terminology it is widely defined and includes amongst other things maps; but maps are a special case and their use is limited to visual flight. In this paper, therefore, the word is used in its older sense of a sheet upon which the actual navigation is performed.
The Oldest Mediterranean Pilot
Authors: Taylor E. G. R.
Published: January 2010

Language holds many pitfalls for the unwary. A housewife picks up her iron, and so does the golfer: a butcher uses the steel and so does the soldier: a government nationalizes iron and steel. No wonder the foreigner makes ludicrous mistakes. And we in our turn, coming across an Italian book entitled Il Compasso da Navigare might be pardoned for supposing its subject-matter to be the navigating compass. This is not so. It is a learned and comprehensive treatise under the title belonging to the oldest surviving Sailing Directions for the Mediterranean Sea, and as the author, Bacchisio R. Motzo, clearly proves, such Directions were called a Compasso, and by a natural transference the same name was given to the sailing chart which was drawn to accompany the Directions. What we call a mariner's compass, or simply a compass, the Italians term Compasso-bussola or more usually just bussola. When English sailors began to use written Directions or ‘Pilots’ they called them Rutters (from the French Routier), while an alternative Italian name for a Compasso was Portolano, which also meant the accompanying chart.
On the 95 per cent Probability Circle of a Vessel's Position
Authors: Hiraiwa T.
Published: January 2010

If the position of a vessel be determined from two or more position lines of known accuracy, it is possible to construct an error zone about the plotted fix, such that there is some given probability (for example 95 per cent) that the true position lies inside this zone. It is convenient for many purposes, such as ease of plotting, and preparation of accuracy diagrams, that this zone should be a circle, since in this case the figure of merit attaching to a fix is defined uniquely in terms of just one parameter, the radius of the circle. The object of this paper is the theoretical study, followed by practical example, of the circular zone round a vessel's plotted position inside which it may be asserted, with 95 per cent confidence, that the true position really lies.
Assisting Two Children with Multiple Disabilities and Minimal Motor Skills Control Environmental Stimuli with Thumb Poke Through a Trackball
Authors: Shih Ching-Hsiang , Shih Ching-Tien
Published: January 2010

Background: Microswitches are the most commonly used input device for people with multiple disabilities to control environmental stimulation. However, little is known about adopting the commercial trackball with a revised trackball driver as a more feasible input device. Aims: To assess whether two children with profound multiple disabilities and minimal motor skills would be able to control environmental stimulation using thumb poke ability through cordless trackballs installed with a newly developed mouse driver (i.e. a new mouse driver replacing a standard mouse driver, turning a trackball mouse into a precise thumb poke detector). Method: An ABAB design and a 2-month post-intervention check were adopted to perform the study. Results: Data showed that the two children improved significantly in their target response (thumb poke) to activate the control system to produce environmental stimuli during the B (intervention) phases. This performance was maintained at the post-intervention check. Conclusions: The use of thumb poke in connection with a trackball allowed the children with multiple disabilities and minimal motor skills to increase their level of response and stimulation control.
Assessing the potential of labelling schemes forin situlandrace conservation: an example from India
Authors: KRISHNA VIJESH V. , PASCUAL UNAI , ZILBERMAN DAVID
Published: January 2010

This paper addresses the potential ofin situcrop landrace conservation, employing market-based instruments, which pre-requires that (1) consumers hold positive use-value for the landrace attribute and (2) their willingness to pay covers both the transaction cost of implementing these instruments and the opportunity cost of landrace cultivation. The empirical examination is based on two closely related analyses of eggplant production and consumption sectors of India. At present, the vegetable markets of south India provide the landrace cultivators with a price premium adequate enough to cover the opportunity cost of not opting for high-yielding modern varieties. However, we detect an underutilized consumer demand for landrace products. The wide margin that exists between the price premium farmers currently obtain for the landrace attribute and what consumers are willing to pay for it is indicative of the unexploited potential of labelling and certification schemes as an emerging agrobiodiversity conservation strategy.
Visualization of Localization Microscopy Data
Authors: Baddeley David , Cannell Mark B. , Soeller Christian
Published: January 2010

Localization microscopy techniques based on localizing single fluorophore molecules now routinely achieve accuracies better than 30 nm. Unlike conventional optical microscopies, localization microscopy experiments do not generate an image but a list of discrete coordinates of estimated fluorophore positions. Data display and analysis therefore generally require visualization methods that translate the position data into conventional images. Here we investigate the properties of several widely used visualization techniques and show that a commonly used algorithm based on rendering Gaussians may lead to a 1.44-fold loss of resolution. Existing methods typically do not explicitly take sampling considerations into account and thus may produce spurious structures. We present two additional visualization algorithms, an adaptive histogram method based on quad-trees and a Delaunay triangulation based visualization of point data that address some of these deficiencies. The new visualization methods are designed to suppress erroneous detail in poorly sampled image areas but avoid loss of resolution in well-sampled regions. A number of criteria for scoring visualization methods are developed as a guide for choosing among visualization methods and are used to qualitatively compare various algorithms.
Spatial Resolution in Atom Probe Tomography
Authors: Gault Baptiste , Moody Michael P. , De Geuser Frederic , La Fontaine Alex , Stephenson Leigh T. , Haley Daniel , Ringer Simon P.
Published: January 2010

This article addresses gaps in definitions and a lack of standard measurement techniques to assess the spatial resolution in atom probe tomography. This resolution is known to be anisotropic, being better in-depth than laterally. Generally the presence of atomic planes in the tomographic reconstruction is considered as being a sufficient proof of the quality of the spatial resolution of the instrument. Based on advanced spatial distribution maps, an analysis methodology that interrogates the local neighborhood of the atoms within the tomographic reconstruction, it is shown how both the in-depth and the lateral resolution can be quantified. The influences of the crystallography and the temperature are investigated, and models are proposed to explain the observed results. We demonstrate that the absolute value of resolution is specimen specific.
Neural Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells at the Ultrastructural Level
Authors: Mumaw Jennifer L. , Machacek Dave , Shields John P. , Dodla Mahesh C. , Dhara Sujoy K. , Stice Steve L.
Published: January 2010

Neurodegerative disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Neural cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have the potential for cell therapies and/or compound screening for treating affected individuals. While both protein and gene expression indicative of a neural phenotype has been exhibited in these differentiated cells, ultrastuctural studies thus far have been lacking. The objective of this study was to correlate hESC to neural differentiation culture conditions with ultrastructural changes observed in the treated cells. We demonstrate here that in basic culture conditions without growth factors or serum we obtain neural morphology. The addition of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and serum to cultures resulted in more robust neural differentiation. In addition to providing cues such as cell survival or lineage specification, additional factors also altered the intracellular structures and cell morphologies. Even though the addition of BDNF and serum did not increase synaptic formation, altered cellular structures such as abundant polyribosomes and more developed endoplasmic reticulum indicate a potential increase in protein production.
Laminin-binding integrins and their tetraspanin partners as potential antimetastatic targets
Authors: Stipp Christopher S.
Published: January 2010

Within the integrin family of cell adhesion receptors, integrins α3β1, α6β1, α6β4 and α7β1 make up a laminin-binding subfamily. The literature is divided on the role of these laminin-binding integrins in metastasis, with different studies indicating either pro- or antimetastatic functions. The opposing roles of the laminin-binding integrins in different settings might derive in part from their unusually robust associations with tetraspanin proteins. Tetraspanins organise integrins into multiprotein complexes within discrete plasma membrane domains termed tetraspanin-enriched microdomains (TEMs). TEM association is crucial to the strikingly rapid cell migration mediated by some of the laminin-binding integrins. However, emerging data suggest that laminin-binding integrins also promote the stability of E-cadherin-based cell–cell junctions, and that tetraspanins are essential for this function as well. Thus, TEM association endows the laminin-binding integrins with both pro-invasive functions (rapid migration) and anti-invasive functions (stable cell junctions), and the composition of TEMs in different cell types might help determine the balance between these opposing activities. Unravelling the tetraspanin control mechanisms that regulate laminin-binding integrins will help to define the settings where inhibiting the function of these integrins would be helpful rather than harmful, and may create opportunities to modulate integrin activity in more sophisticated ways than simple functional blockade.
atalog: A logic language for expressing search and optimization problems
Authors: GRECO SERGIO , MOLINARO CRISTIAN , TRUBITSYNA IRINA , ZUMPANO ESTER
Published: January 2010

This paper presents a logic language for expressing search and optimization problems. Specifically, first a language obtained by extending (positive) DATALOG with intuitive and efficient constructs (namely, stratified negation, constraints, and exclusive disjunction) is introduced. Next, a further restricted language only using a restricted form of disjunction to define (nondeterministically) subsets (or partitions) of relations is investigated. This language, called atalog, captures the power of DATALOG¬ in expressing search and optimization problems. A system prototype implementing atalog is presented. The system translates atalog queries into Optimization Programming Language (OPL) programs which are executed by the ILOG OPL Development Studio. Our proposal combines easy formulation of problems, expressed by means of a declarative logic language, with the efficiency of the ILOG System. Several experiments show the effectiveness of this approach.
On the Lissabon-Urteil: Democracy and a Democratic Paradox
Authors: JHR  , LB
Published: January 2010

The Bundesverfassungsgericht was castigated for the Maastricht-Urteil by most European lawyers, especially the Germans among them. But that judgment has placed its stamp on much of the constitutional development of the Union and has allowed theories of constitutional pluralism, polycentrism, multilevel constitutionalism, Verfassungsverbund and the constitution composée to flourish. The German constitutional court is likewise being castigated for its Lissabon-Urteil. Certainly, it has put the questions of democracy, the level at which democracy is to be aggregated and articulated, and the pertaining institutional arrangements in the member states and in the Union higher on the agenda of intellectual and political engagement than they have been over the last decades. Perhaps it will be just as fruitful for European constitutional theory as the Maastricht-Urteil was.
The Czech Constitutional Court's Second Decision on the Lisbon Treaty of 3 November 2009
Authors: The Editors  , Komarek Jan
Published: January 2010

On 3 November 2009 the Czech Constitutional Court gave its second ruling within a year on the Treaty of Lisbon. The Court squarely rejected the complaints against the Treaty. For scholarship the most interesting characteristic of the ruling is the way the Court distanced itself from the Lissabon-Urteil of the Bundesverfassungsgericht in such unequivocal terms that the judgment's central passages deserve a place in this issue, even though we only dispose of a provisional translation by Jan Komárek and cannot make comments available yet. As it did in the previous judgment on the Lisbon Treaty of 28 November 2008, the Czech Court again belies the established idea that eastern European constitutional courts take the Bundesverfassungsgericht as their guide.
‘An Association of Sovereign States’
Authors: Bieber Roland
Published: January 2010

German Constitutional Court decision of 30 June 2009 on the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the German Constitution – Continuing sovereignty of member states under the EU Treaty – Extended constitutional limits to European integration (‘eternity clause’) under German Constitution, but these are not violated by Lisbon Treaty – Composition of European Parliament does not satisfy fundamental requirement of democracy but does not violate German Constitution since EU is not a state – Critical assessment of conceptual foundations of decision
Why the European Union is not a State
Authors: Lock Tobias
Published: January 2010

German Constitutional Court decision of 30 June 2009 on the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the German Constitution – Analysis of inconsistencies – Differences between the EU and a state – Sovereignty of the member states and Kompetenz-Kompetenz – Argument for a relative concept of sovereignty – Sovereignty and the right to withdraw – Critical analysis of BVerfG's assessment of the EU's democratic deficit and denial of the importance of the European Parliament
The Precedence of EU Law from the Perspective of Constitutional Pluralism
Authors: Barents René
Published: January 2010

The position of EU law in the national legal order – Precedence of EU law – Relationship between legal orders – Foundation of precedence – Autonomous precedence v. precedence based on national constitutional law – The concept of an integrated or composed legal order as a false paradigm – The value of constitutional pluralism to explain the relationship between EU law and national law
The European Court of Human Rights and Political Rights: The Need for more Guidance
Authors: ten Napel Hans-Martien
Published: January 2010

The European Court of Human Rights' conception of democracy rather thick, inclusive – Increasing number of complaints of violations of Article 3 of the First Protocol – Requirements of this provision that have to be complied with still thin – Limitation clauses of Article 11 to be interpreted strictly – Court's response to Islamic political parties and movements – Requirements with respect to the governance and politics of the States Parties should become stricter – Level of tolerance of religion in the public domain ought to increase – Need for more guidance from the Court not just an academic discussion
The nature and nurture of star clusters
Authors: Elmegreen Bruce G.
Published: January 2010

Star clusters have hierarchical patterns in space and time, suggesting formation processes in the densest regions of a turbulent interstellar medium. Clusters also have hierarchical substructure when they are young, which makes them all look like the inner mixed parts of a pervasive stellar hierarchy. Young field stars share this distribution, presumably because some of them came from dissolved clusters and others formed in a dispersed fashion in the same gas. The fraction of star formation that ends up in clusters is apparently not constant, but may increase with interstellar pressure. Hierarchical structure explains why stars form in clusters and why many of these clusters are self-bound. It also explains the cluster mass function. Halo globular clusters share many properties of disk clusters, including what appears to be an upper cluster cutoff mass. However, halo globulars are self-enriched and often connected with dwarf galaxy streams. The mass function of halo globulars could have initially been like the power-law mass function of disk clusters, but the halo globulars have lost their low-mass members. The reasons for this loss are not understood. It could have happened slowly over time as a result of cluster evaporation, or it could have happened early after cluster formation as a result of gas loss. The latter model explains best the observation that the globular cluster mass function has no radial gradient in galaxies.
Young massive star clusters: achievements and challenges
Authors: de Grijs Richard
Published: January 2010

In spite of significant recent and ongoing research efforts, most of the early evolution and long-term fate of young massive star clusters remain clouded in uncertainties. Here, I discuss our understanding of the initial conditions of star cluster formation and the importance of initial substructure for the subsequent dynamical-evolution and mass-segregation timescales. I also assess our current understanding of the (initial) binary fraction in star clusters and the shape of the stellar initial mass function at the low-mass end in the low-metallicity environment of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Finally, I question the validity of our assumptions leading to dynamical cluster mass estimates. I conclude that it seems imperative that observers, modellers and theorists combine efforts and exchange ideas and data freely for the field to make a major leap forward.