We argue that there is a tension between two types of design arguments-the fine-tuning argument (FTA) and the biological design argument (BDA). The tension arises because the strength of each argument is inversely proportional to the value of a certain currently unknown probability. Since the value of that probability is currently unknown, we investigate the properties of the FTA and BDA on dif...

BACKGROUND Step kinematic variability has been characterized during gait using spatial and temporal kinematic characteristics. However, people can adopt different trajectory paths both between individuals and even within individuals at different speeds. Single point measures such as minimum toe clearance (MTC) and step length (SL) do not necessarily account for the multiple paths that the foot ...

This note is devoted to two classical theorems: the open mapping theorem for analytic functions (OMT) and the fundamental theorem of algebra (FTA). We present a new proof of the first theorem, and then derive the second one by a simple topological argument. The proof is elementary in nature and does not use any kind of integration (neither complex nor real). In addition, it is also independent ...

Serological tests for syphilis are of fundamental importance in studying treponemal infections in experimental animals. Non-human primate species have been increasingly employed in treponematology in the past few years. However, Fribourg-Blanc, Niel, and Mollaret (1963, 1966) found an endemic treponeme in cynocephalus monkeys from Guinea. Sepetjian, Guerraz, Salussola, Thivolet, and Monier (196...

This article examines the effectiveness of using different kinds of written reminders to reduce misdemeanor defendants’ failure-to-appear (FTA) rates. A subset of defendants was surveyed after their scheduled court date to assess their perceptions of procedural justice and trust and confidence in the courts. Reminders reduced FTA overall, and more substantive reminders (e.g., with information o...

The indicating FTA elute micro card™ has been developed to collect and stabilize the nucleic acid in biological samples and is widely used in human and veterinary medicine and other disciplines. This card is not recommended for protein analyses, since surface treatment may denature proteins. We studied the ability to analyse proteins in human plasma and vaginal fluid as applied to the indicatin...

The proliferation of regional economic integration has resulted in a complex and continually expanding network of free trade agreements (FTAs). In explaining the formation of these agreements, the literature has generally focused on the e¤ect of country-pair characteristics and ignored the role of existing FTA network. In this paper we investigate, both theoretically and empirically, how third ...

AIM To generate complete DNA profiles from blood and saliva samples deposited on FTA® and non-FTA® paper substrates following a direct amplification protocol. METHODS Saliva samples from living donors and blood samples from deceased individuals were deposited on ten different FTA® and non-FTA® substrates. These ten paper substrates containing body fluids were kept at room temperature for vary...

Sera from 3028 patients attending a dermatological clinic were examined by the fluorescent treponemal antibody (FTA) test, the fluorescent antibody-absorbed (FTA-ABS) test, the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test, and Kolmer's test. Eleven cases of late syphilis were found. Sera from 63 (2.08%) of the remaining 3017 patients showed non-specific results; these were found more freque...

This paper presents the FTA-MAC (Fast Traffic Adaptive MAC) protocol, a novel energy-efficient MAC protocol based on asynchronous duty cycling for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In FTA-MAC protocol, the communication between the sensor nodes is initiated by sending a wake-up beacon from the receiving node. The latter fast adapts its wake-up interval according to the traffic rate in order to r...