The meter had its origin in August of 1793 when the Republican Government of France decreed the unit of length to be 10 of the earth's quadrant passing through Paris and that the unit be called the meter. Five years later, the survey of the arc was completed and three platinum standards and several iron copies of the meter were made. Subsequent examination showed the length of the earth's quadr...

This document presents plans for development of open-source software to be tested during the 1 BioSecure Residential Workshop and to be integrated into the BioSecure Reference System for multimodal biometrics. Keyword List : Reference systems, biometrics, multimodality, open-source Project co-funded by the European Commission within the sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) Dissemination Level ...

The evolution and stability of helping behaviour has attracted great research efforts across disciplines. However, the field is also characterized by a great confusion over terminology and a number of disagreements, often between disciplines but also along taxonomic boundaries. In an attempt to clarify several issues, we identify four distinct research fields concerning the evolution of helping...

In this paper we address language engineering issues surrounding domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs). By definition, such languages track the domain, meaning that changes to the domain require changes to the DSML in order to provide an intuitive specification of domain-specific models. For this work, our primary focus is on fundamental limitations that affect the preservation of semantic...

where 0 < α≤ 1, Γ(α) is the gamma function, {A(t) : t ∈ [0,T]} is a family of linear closed operators defined on dense set D(A) in a Banach space E into E, u is the unknown Evalued function, u0 ∈ D(A), and f is a given E-valued function defined on [0,T]. It is assumed that D(A) is independent of t. Let B(E) denote the Banach space of all linear bounded operators in E endowed with the topology d...

We explore the morphological and dynamical evolution of galaxy clusters in simulations using scalar and vector-valued Minkowski valuations and the concept of fundamental plane relations. In this context, three questions are of fundamental interest: 1. How does the average cluster morphology depend on the cosmological background model? 2. Is it possible to discriminate between different cosmolog...

We have performed VLT spectroscopy of an almost complete sample of 18 early–type galaxies with 0.88 ≤ z ≤ 1.3 plus two at z = 0.67, selected from the K20 survey, and derived the velocity dispersion for 15+2 of them. By combining these data with HST and VLT images, we study the Fundamental Plane (FP), the Faber–Jackson and the Kormendy relations at z∼1, and compare them with the local ones. The ...

We study the Fundamental Plane (FP) of field early-type galaxies at intermediate redshift, using HST WFPC2 observations and deep Keck spectroscopy. Structural parameters and internal velocity dispersions are measured for eighteen galaxies at 0.15 < z < 0.55. Rest frame M⁄ LB ratios are determined from the Fundamental Plane and compared to those of cluster early-type galaxies at the same redshif...

The Sun is unique amongst stars in having a precisely determined age which does not depend on the modelling of stellar evolution. Furthermore, other global properties of the Sun are known to much higher accuracy than for any other star. Also, helioseismology has provided detailed determination of the solar internal structure and rotation. As a result, the Sun plays a central role in the develop...

Horizontal gene transfer increases genetic diversity in prokaryotes to a degree not allowed by the limitations of reproduction by binary fission. The integron/gene cassette system is one of the most recently characterized examples of a system that facilitates horizontal gene transfer. This system, discovered in the context of multidrug resistance, is recognized in a clinical context for its rol...