Archive for March, 2008

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC); qualification

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone (OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. The Oceanian zone was allocated 0.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There would be three rounds of play:

  • First Round: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti, the four best ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, namely the Melanesian Group and the Polynesian Group, based on geographical considerations. The teams would play against each other once. The winner of the Melanesian Group would advance to the Second Round. The runner-up of the Melanesian Group and the winner of the Polynesian Group would advance to the First Round Play-off. In the Play-off, they would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Second Round.
  • Second Round: The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. The teams would play against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The 2 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Contents


OFC First round


Melanesian Group (Melanesia Cup 1996)

September 16, 1996, Lae, Papua New Guinea - 1 - 1

September 18, 1996, Lae, Papua New Guinea - 1 - 1

September 20, 1996, Lae, Papua New Guinea - 2 - 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1 4 2 1 1 0 3 2 1
2 2 2 0 2 0 2 2 0
3 1 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1

Papua New Guinea advanced to the Second Round. Solomon Islands advanced to the First Round Play-off.


Polynesian Group

November 11, 1996, Nuku’alofa, Tonga - 2 - 0

November 13, 1996, Nuku’alofa, Tonga - 2 - 1

November 15, 1996, Nuku’alofa, Tonga - 1 - 0

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1 6 2 2 0 0 3 0 3
2 3 2 1 0 1 2 2 0
3 0 2 0 0 2 1 4 -3

Tonga advanced to the First Round Play-off.


Play-off

February 15, 1997, Nuku’alofa, Tonga - 0 - 4

March 1, 1997, Honiara, Solomon Islands - 9 - 0

Solomon Islands advanced to the Second Round by the aggregate score of 13-0.


OFC Second round


Group 1

June 11, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 13 - 0

June 13, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 5 - 0

June 15, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 4 - 1

June 17, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 2 - 6

June 19, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 0 - 2

June 21, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 1 - 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1 12 4 4 0 0 26 2 24
2 4 4 1 1 2 7 21 -14
3 1 4 0 1 3 2 12 -10

Australia advanced to the Final Round.


Group 2

May 31, 1997, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - 1 - 0

June 7, 1997, Ba, Fiji - 0 - 1

June 11, 1997, Auckland, New Zealand - 7 - 0

June 15, 1997, Suva, Fiji - 3 - 1

June 18, 1997, Auckland, New Zealand - 5 - 0

June 21, 1997, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - 0 - 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1 9 4 3 0 1 13 1 12
2 6 4 2 0 2 4 7 -3
3 3 4 1 0 3 2 11 -9

New Zealand advanced to the Final Round.


OFC Final Round

June 28, 1997, Auckland, New Zealand - 0 - 3

July 5, 1997, Sydney, Australia - 2 - 0

Australia advanced to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off by the aggregate score of 5-0.


See also

  • 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
  • 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
  • 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
  • 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
  • 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Biocentric individualism; consume

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Biocentric Individualism is a system of environmental ethics proposed by noted environmental ethicist Dr. Gary Varner. It is, in part, a revision of the mental state theory of individual welfare, asserting that there is a hierarchy of things of moral importance:

  • Ground project: Things that answer the question “Why is life worth living?” and consume a significant portion of an individual’s life.
  • Non-biological interests: Interests that aren’t as important as ground projects, but more important than mere biological needs.
  • Biological needs: The lowest classification of needs that are still worthy of moral consideration.


See also

  • Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Strings (Unix); Expectation utilities allow for

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

In computer software, strings is a program in Unix-like operating systems that prints the strings found in an executable.

It can be used on object files, and core dumps.

Strings are recognised by looking for sequences of at least 4 (by default) printable characters terminating in a NUL character (that is, C strings). Some implementations provide options for determining what is recognised as a printable character, which is useful for finding non-ASCII and wide character text.

Common usage includes piping it to grep and fold or redirecting the output to a file.

It is part of the GNU Binary Utilities (binutils), and has been ported to other operating systems including Microsoft Windows.


Example

$ strings foobar
Qåtd
/lib/ld-linux.so.2
_Jv_RegisterClasses
__gmon_start__
libc.so.6
puts
_IO_stdin_used
__libc_start_main
GLIBC_2.0
...


See also

  • cat
  • GNU Debugger
  • strip


External links

Pluriharmonic function; function

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Let

<math>f \colon G \subset {\mathbb{C}}^n \to {\mathbb{C}}</math>

be a <math>C^2</math> (twice continuously differentiable) function. <math>f</math> is called pluriharmonic if for every complex line

<math>\{ a + b z \mid z \in {\mathbb{C}} \}</math>

the function

<math>z \mapsto f(a + bz)</math>

is a harmonic function on the set

<math>\{ z \in {\mathbb{C}} \mid a + b z \in G \}</math>.


Notes

Every pluriharmonic function is a harmonic function, but not the other way around. Further, it can be shown that for holomorphic functions of several complex variables the real (and the imaginary) parts are locally pluriharmonic functions. However a function being harmonic in each variable separately does not imply that it is pluriharmonic.


Bibliography

  • Steven G. Krantz. Function Theory of Several Complex Variables, AMS Chelsea Publishing, Providence, Rhode Island, 1992.

Fixed sign; only pursue their immediate

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

In astrology, there are four fixed signs.

Fixed Signs are at the height of the four seasons. Fixed Signs are associated with stamina, perseverance and strength and said to be, by nature, inert. However, they are also associated with inflexibility. Individuals born under the four Fixed Signs of the Zodiac are thought to be determined, powerful, natural leaders, purposeful, reliable, loyal and self-confident but also occasionally stubborn and immovable, with a tendency to get stuck in ruts. They supposedly pursue their goals with dogged persistence and have a great powers of concentration. According to astrologers, Fixed Signs tend to direct their energies inward rather than outward.

The four Fixed Signs of the Zodiac are:

  • Taurus (): Being an Earth sign , Taurus is said to be the most stable, patient and determined of all the Fixed Quality Signs.
  • Leo (): As a Fixed Fire sign, Leo individuals are said to burn with a greater intensity than the other two Fire Signs. They are supposedly much less impulsive than Aries natives and not as prone to “wanderlust” as Sagittarius subjects.
  • Scorpio (): A Water sign of the Fixed Quality, Scorpio is thought to deeply internalize emotions and pursue goals with keen insights, perception and much willpower.
  • Aquarius (): An Air sign, while generally considered to be a spontaneous and erratic Sign, many astrologers also agree there is also a distinct lack of flexibility in Aquarius character due to their Fixed Quality.


See also

  • Cardinal sign
  • Bicorporeal sign
  • Mutable sign

Institute of Indirect Taxation; indirect utility function

Saturday, March 29th, 2008


The Institute of Indirect Taxation is a professional body in the United Kingdom. Its members specialise in the study and practice of indirect taxes. The body was formed in July 1991 and formally launched in October 1991. It gained permission to call itself an institute in December of the same year. It operates as a company limited by guarantee.

Entry to the Institute is normally gained by taking up to four professional examinations in indirect taxation. There are two routes through the exams, the Value Added Tax route and the customs route which reflect two of the most major areas that indirect taxation is applied to in the United Kingdom. It is possible to gain exemptions from some of the exams through possessing other suitable qualifications which include those from various British accountancy professional bodies, the Chartered Institute of Taxation and HM Revenue and Customs.

The four papers are:

  • I: Legal, Business and Professional Ethics
  • II: optional paper which is dependent on whether the VAT or customs route through the qualification is being taken
  • III: Other Indirect Taxes
  • IV: Stamp Taxes, Direct Taxes and Interaction of all Taxes

Those who have passed the examinations and been accepted into membership are entitled to use the designatory letters AIIT (Associate of the Institute of Indirect Taxation). Upon submission of a thesis to the institute it is possible to become a Fellow of the Institute of Indirect Taxation which allows for the use of the designatory letters FIIT. Other categories of member, which are without designatory letters, are student members and affiliate members. It is also possible to be made an honorary member or fellow.


External links

  • Institute website

Utility Storage; sources of utility

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Utility Storage is a highly virtualized high-end and midrange disk array. It is designed as the building block for utility computing. Utility Computing is the third generation of IT architecture that has emerged over the last few years to challenge traditional mainframe and Distributed Computing (client-server) IT architectures. Utility Computing uses fine-grain virtualization and automation technologies built into server, storage and networking systems to allow organizations to achieve more with less. This in turn lets them improve service responsiveness while driving up utilization efficiency and driving down costs.

Utility Storage is a new type of disk storage platform that offers improved:

  • simplicity through ease-of-use
  • utilization efficiency
  • massive scalability to hundreds of terabytes in a single system
  • multiple tiers of storage Quality of Service in a single system

Locally integrable function; function

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

In mathematics, a locally integrable function is a function which is integrable on any compact set.

Formally, let U be an open set in the Euclidean space Rn and

<math>f\colon U\to\mathbb{C}</math>

be a Lebesgue measurable function. If the Lebesgue integral

<math> \int_K | f| dx \,</math>

is finite for all compact subsets K in U, then f is called locally integrable. The set of all such functions is denoted by

<math>L^1_{loc}(U).</math>


Examples

  • Every (globally) integrable function on U is locally integrable, that is,
<math>L^1(U)\subset L^1_{loc}(U)</math> (see Lp space).
  • More generally, every p-power integrable function (1 ≤ p ≤ ∞) on U is locally integrable:
<math>L^p(U)\subset L^1_{loc}(U)</math>.
  • The constant function 1 defined on the real line is locally integrable but not globally integrable. More generally, continuous functions are locally integrable.
  • The function <math>f(x)=1/x</math> for <math>x\neq 0</math> and <math>f(0)=0</math> is not locally integrable.


Uses

Locally integrable functions play a prominent role in distribution theory.


References

  • Robert S Strichartz, A Guide to Distribution Theory and Fourier Transforms, World Scientific, 2003. ISBN 981-238-430-8.

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; and beliefs; natural utilities

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is a public agency of the City and County of San Francisco that provides water, sewage, and power services to a variety of customers in Northern California.


See also

  • Hetch Hetchy Valley
  • Sunol Water Temple - an unusual structure owned by the SFPUC
  • Pulgas Water Temple - an inoperative structure similar to the Sunol Water Temple


External links

  • SFPUC homepage
  • San Francisco Telecommunications Commission (most Cable and some Telecom oversight) (code)

Deoxyribonuclease; between two different types

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

A

deoxyribonuclease (DNase, for short) is any enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of phosphodiester linkages in the DNA backbone. Deoxyribonucleases are thus one type of nuclease. A wide variety of deoxyribonucleases are known, which differ in their substrate specificities, chemical mechanisms, and biological functions.


Modes of action

Some DNases cleave only residues at the ends of DNA molecules (exodeoxyribonucleases, a type of exonuclease). Others cleave anywhere along the chain (endodeoxyribonucleases, a subset of endonucleases).

Some are fairly indiscriminate about the DNA sequence at which they cut, while others, including restriction enzymes, are very sequence-specific.

Some cleave only double-stranded DNA, others are specific for single-stranded molecules, and still others are active toward both.


Types of deoxyribonucleases

The two main types of DNase found in metazoans are known as deoxyribonuclease I and deoxyribonuclease II.

Other types of DNase include Micrococcal nuclease.


References

Melinda Page Hamilton; pursue their immediate

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Melinda Page Hamilton is an American actress. She played a supporting role in the 2004 film, Promised Land, and the leading role in the 2006 film Sleeping Dogs Lie. She is a frequent guest star on several present-day television programs which include: Star Trek: Enterprise, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, Everwood, Nip/Tuck and NUMB3RS. Hamilton had a recurring role on the ABC dramatic television series Desperate Housewives as Sister Mary Bernard, a nun trying to pursue married man Carlos Solis.


External links

Constant Chevillon; given constant

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Constant Chevillon (1880–1944) was Grand Master of the Freemasonry Rite of Memphis-Misraïm and head of FUDOFSI and other occult societies.

In 1944, he was shot and killed by the Gestapo. He was opposed to Harvey Spencer Lewis, AMORC and FUDOSI. He was enthroned as Patriarch of the Eglise Gnostique Universelle after Jean Bricaud and succeeded by one of his students, René Chambellant, who maintained the compendium of esoteric societies in cooperation with the Gnostic church.

Left bundle branch block; bundle

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Left bundle branch block (LBBB) is a cardiac conduction abnormality seen on the electrocardiogram (ECG). In this condition, activation of the left ventricle is delayed, which results in the left ventricle contracting later than the right ventricle.

Contents


ECG diagnosis

The criteria to diagnose a left bundle branch block on the electrocardiogram:

  • The heart rhythm must be supraventricular in origin
  • The QRS duration must be = or > 120 ms
  • There should be a QS or rS complex in lead V1
  • There should be a monophasic R wave in leads I and V6.

The T wave should be deflected opposite the terminal deflection of the QRS complex. This is known as appropriate T wave discordance with bundle branch block. A concordant T wave may suggest ischemia or myocardial infarction.


Causes

Among the causes of LBBB are:

  • Hypertension
  • Acute myocardial infarction
  • Extensive cases of coronary artery disease
  • Primary disease of the cardiac electrical conduction system


Treatment

  • Medical Care: Patients with LBBB require complete cardiac evaluation, and those with LBBB and near-syncope or syncope may require a pacemaker.
  • Surgical Care: Some patients with LBBB, a markedly prolonged QRS, and congestive heart failure may benefit from a pacemaker, which provides rapid left ventricular contractions.


Classification

Some sources distinguish between a “left anterior fascicular block” (LAFB) and a “left posterior fascicular block” (LAPB). This refers to the bifurcation of the left bundle branch.


See also

  • Bundle branch block
  • Right bundle branch block


References


External links

  • http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/ecg/mml/ecg_lbbb.html

Associated bundle; bundle that would

Friday, March 28th, 2008

In mathematics, the theory of fiber bundles with a structure group <math>G</math> (a topological group) allows an operation of creating an associated bundle, in which the typical fiber of a bundle changes from <math>F_1</math> to <math>F_2</math>, which are both topological spaces with a group action of <math>G</math>. For a fibre bundle F with structure group G, the transition functions of the fibre (i.e., the cocycle) in an overlap of two coordinate systems Uα and Uβ are given as a G-valued function gαβ on UαUβ. One may then construct a fibre bundle F′ as a new fibre bundle having the same transition functions, but possibly a different fibre.

Contents


An example

A simple case comes with the Möbius strip, for which <math>G</math> is the cyclic group of order 2, <math>\mathbb{Z}/2</math>. We can take as <math>F</math> any of: the real number line <math>\mathbb{R}</math>, the interval <math>[-1,\ 1]</math>, the real number line less the point 0, or the two-point set <math>\{-1,\ 1\}</math>. The action of <math>G</math> on these (the non-identity element acting as <math>x\ \rightarrow\ -x</math> in each case) is comparable, in an intuitive sense. We could say that more formally in terms of gluing two rectangles <math>[-1,\ 1] \times I</math> and <math>[-1,\ 1] \times J</math> together: what we really need is the data to identify <math>[-1,\ 1]</math> to itself directly at one end, and with the twist over at the other end. This data can be written down as a patching function, with values in G. The associated bundle construction is just the observation that this data does just as well for <math>\{-1,\ 1\}</math> as for <math>[-1,\ 1]</math>.


Construction

In general it is enough to explain the transition from a bundle with fiber <math>F</math>, on which <math>G</math> acts, to the associated principal bundle (namely the bundle where the fiber is <math>G</math>, considered to act by translation on itself). For then we can go from <math>F_1</math> to <math>F_2</math>, via the principal bundle. Details in terms of data for an open covering are given as a case of descent.

This section is organized as follows. We first introduce the general procedure for producing an associated bundle, with specified fibre, from a given fibre bundle. This then specializes to the case when the specified fibre is a principal homogeneous space for the left action of the group on itself, yielding the associated principal bundle. If, in addition, a right action is given on the fibre of the principal bundle, we describe how to construct any associated bundle by means of a fibre product construction.All of these constructions are due to Ehresmann (1941-3). Attributed by Steenrod (1951) p. 36.


Associated bundles in general

Let π : EX be a fibre bundle over a topological space X with structure group G and typical fibre F. By definition, there is a left action of G (as a transformation group) on the fibre F. Suppose furthermore that this action is effective.Effectiveness is a common requirement for fibre bundles; see Steenrod (1951). In particular, this condition is necessary to ensure the existence and uniqueness of the principal bundle associated to E.
There is a local trivialization of the bundle E consisting of an open cover Ui of X, and a collection of fibre maps

φi : π-1(Ui) → Ui × F

such that the transition maps are given by elements of G. More precisely, there are continuous functions gij : (UiUj) → G such that

ψij(u,f) := φi o φj-1(u,f) = (u,gij(u)f) for each (u,f) ∈ (UiUj) × F.

Now let F′ be a specified topological space, equipped with a continuous left action of G. Then the bundle associated to E with fibre F′ is a bundle E′ with a local trivialization subordinate to the cover Ui whose transition functions are given by

ψ′ij(u,f′) = (u, gij(u) f′) for (u,f′) ∈(UiUj) × F

where the G-valued functions gij(u) are the same as those obtained from the local trivialization of the original bundle E.

This definition clearly respects the cocycle condition on the transition functions, since in each case they are given by the same system of G-valued functions. (Using another local trivialization, and passing to a common refinement if necessary, the gij transform via the same coboundary.) Hence, by the fiber bundle construction theorem, this produces a fibre bundle E′ with fibre F′ as claimed.


Principal bundle associated to a fibre bundle

As before, suppose that E is a fibre bundle with structure group G. In the special case when G left-acts freely and transitively on F′, so that F′ is a principal homogeneous space for the left action of G on itself, then the associated bundle E′ is called the principal G-bundle associated to the fibre bundle E. If, moreover, the new fibre F′ is identified with G (so that F′ inherits a right action of G as well as a left action), then the right action of G on F′ induces a right action of G on E′. With this choice of identification, E′ becomes a principal bundle in the usual sense. Note that, although there is no canonical way to specify a right action on a principal homogeneous space for G, any two such actions will yield principal bundles which have the same underlying fibre bundle with structure group G (since this comes from the left action of G), and isomorphic as G-spaces in the sense that there is a globally defined G-valued function relating the two.

In this way, a principal G-bundle equipped with a right action is often thought of as part of the data specifying a fibre bundle with structure group G, since to a fibre bundle one may construct the principal bundle via the associated bundle construction. One may then, as in the next section, go the other way around and derive any fibre bundle by using a fibre product.


Fiber bundle associated to a principal bundle

Let π : PX be a principal G-bundle and let ρ : G → Homeo(F) be a continuous left action of G on a space F (in the smooth category, we should have a smooth action on a smooth manifold). Without loss of generality, we can take this action to be effective (ker(ρ) = 1).

Define a right action of G on P × F via

<math>(p,f)\cdot g = (p\cdot g, \rho(g^{-1})f)</math>

We then identify by this action to obtain the space E = P ×ρ F = (P × F) /G. Denote the equivalence class of (p,f) by [p,f]. Note that

<math>[p\cdot g,f] = [p,\rho(g)f] \mbox{ for all } g\in G.</math>

Define a projection map πρ : EX by πρ([p,f]) = π(p). Note that this is well-defined.

Then πρ : EX is a fiber bundle with fiber F and structure group G. The transition functions are given by ρ(tij) where tij are the transition functions of the principal bundle P.


Reduction of structure group

The companion concept to associated bundles is the reduction of the structure group of a <math>G</math>-bundle <math>B</math>. We ask whether there is an <math>H</math>-bundle <math>C</math>, such that the associated <math>G</math>-bundle is <math>B</math>, up to isomorphism. More concretely, this asks whether the transition data for <math>B</math> can consistently be written with values in <math>H</math>. In other words, we ask to identify the image of the associated bundle mapping (which is actually a functor).


Examples of reduction

Examples for vector bundles include: the introduction of a metric resulting in reduction of the structure group from a general linear group GL(n) to an orthogonal group O(n); and the existence of complex structure on a real bundle resulting in reduction of the structure group from real general linear group GL(2n,R) to complex general linear group GL(n,C).

Another important case is finding a decomposition of a vector bundle V of rank n as a Whitney sum (direct sum) of sub-bundles of rank k and n-k, resulting in reduction of the structure group from GL(n,R) to GL(k,R) × GL(n-k,R).

One can also express the condition for a foliation to be defined as a reduction of the tangent bundle to a block matrix subgroup - but here the reduction is only a necessary condition, there being an integrability condition so that the Frobenius theorem applies.


See also

  • Spinor bundle


References

Shell integration; multiplied by

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Shell integration (the shell method in integral calculus) is a means of calculating the volume of a solid of revolution, when integrating along an axis perpendicular to the axis of revolution.

It makes use of the so-called “representative cylinder”. Intuitively speaking, part of the graph of a function is rotated around an axis, and is modelled by an infinite number of hollow pipes, all infinitely thin.

The idea is that a “representative rectangle” (used in the most basic forms of integration – such as ∫ x dx) can be rotated about the axis of revolution; thus generating a hollow cylinder. Integration, as an accumulative process, can then calculate the integrated volume of a “family” of shells (a shell being the outer edge of a hollow cylinder) – as volume is the antiderivative of area, if one can calculate the lateral surface area of a shell, one can then calculate its volume.

The necessary equation, for calculating such a volume, V, is slightly different depending on which axis is serving as the axis of revolution. These equations note that the lateral surface area of a shell equals: 2 pi (π) multiplied by the cylinder’s average radius, p(y), multiplied by the length of the cylinder, h(y). One can calculate the volume of a representative shell by: 2π * p(y) * h(y) * dy, where dy is the thickness of the shell – that being some number approaching zero.

Shell integration can be considered a special case of evaluating a double integral in polar coordinates.


Calculation

Mathematically, this method is represented by:

<math>2\pi \int_{a}^{b} p(y) h(y)\,dy</math>

if the rotation is around the x-axis (horizontal axis of revolution), or

<math>2\pi \int_{a}^{b} p(x) h(x)\,dx</math>

if the rotation is around the y-axis (vertical axis of revolution).

So here the function p(x) is the distance from the axis and h(x) is the length of the shell, generally the function being rotated. The values for a and b are the limits of integration, the starting and stopping points of the rotated shape (note the limits are units of the Axis of Revolution).


See also

  • Solid of revolution
  • Disk integration

Acidifier; Non-decreasing

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Acidifiers are inorganic chemicals that either produce or become acid.

These chemicals increase the level of gastric acid in the stomach when ingested, thus decreasing the stomach pH level.

These are many types of acidifiers but the main four types are:

  • Gastric Acidifiers
  • Urinary Acidifiers
  • Systemic Acidifiers
  • Acid

Indianisation; introduced

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Indianisation was a process introduced in India under the later years of the British Raj whereby Indian officers were promoted to more senior positions in government services, formerly reserved for Europeans.

In the Indian police, the rank of Deputy Superintendent was introduced to prepare Indian officers for promotion to higher rank.

In the Indian Army, certain battalions were selected to be Indianised. They were reorganised on the British Army model, with King’s Commissioned Indian Officers at every officer level and Indian Warrant Officers replacing Viceroy’s Commissioned Officers.

Indianisation was introduced in the 1920s, but was suspended at the outbreak of the Second World War, at which point only a handful of military units had been Indianised. The process was never reintroduced, as in 1947 India became independent and Indian officers immediately started to fill senior appointments.

Animal Kingdom; be mistaken for that

Thursday, March 27th, 2008
  • Animal Kingdom is a Disney theme park at Walt Disney World, which opened on 22 April, 1998.
  • Also Animal. Historically in taxonomy the Animal Kingdom (Animalia) referred to animals, as different from Plants (and Minerals). Using the most recent system (1990); plants, animals, and some other lifeforms are classed in Eukarya.
  • Can also be a mistaken reference to Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

Transmission level point; level

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

In a telecommunications system, a transmission level point (TLP) (or Zero dBm transmission level point) is a test point, i.e. a physical point in an electronic circuit where a signal may be inserted or measured, and for which the nominal power of a test signal is specified.

In practice, the abbreviation TLP is usually used, and it is modified by the nominal level for the point in question. For example, where the nominal level is 0 dBm, the expression 0 dBm TLP, or simply, 0TLP, is used. Where the nominal level is −16 dBm, the expression −16 dBm TLP, or −16TLP, is used.

The nominal transmission level at a specified TLP is a function of system design and is an expression of the design gain or loss.

Voice-channel transmission levels, i.e TLPs, are usually specified for a frequency of approximately 1,000 Hz.

The TLP at a point at which an end instrument, e.g. a telephone set, is connected is usually specified as 0 dBm.


References


See also

  • Alignment level

Extrastriate cortex; Expectation

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

The extrastriate cortex is the region of the occipital cortex of the mammalian brain located next to the striate cortex (which is also known as the primary visual cortex). In terms of Brodmann areas, the extrastriate cortex comprises Brodmann area 18 and Brodmann area 19, while the striate cortex comprises Brodmann area 17.

In primates, the extrastriate cortex includes visual area V2, visual area V3, Visual area V4, visual area MT (sometimes called V5), and visual area DP.

The extrastriate cortex is the locus of mid-level vision. Neurons in the extrastriate cortex generally respond to visual stimuli within their receptive fields. These responses are modulated by extraretinal effects, like attention, working memory, and reward expectation.


See also

  • List of regions in the human brain