University of California

About: University of California is a education organization based out in Oakland, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Layer (electronics). The organization has 55175 authors who have published 52933 publications receiving 1491169 citations. The organization is also known as: UC & University of California System.

How to derive ‘ought’ from ‘is’

Abstract: It is often said that one cannot derive an ‘ought’ from an ‘is’. This thesis, which comes from a famous passage in Hume’s Treatise, while not as clear as it might be, is at least clear in broad outline: there is a class of statements of fact which is logically distinct from a class of statements of value. No set of statements of fact by themselves entails any statement of value. Put in more contemporary terminology, no set of descriptive statements can entail an evaluative statement without the addition of at least one evaluative premise. To believe otherwise is to commit what has been called the naturalistic fallacy.

Plant Physiology and Development

Abstract: Publisher by Sinauer Associates, an imprint of Oxford University Press. Throughout its twenty-two year history, the authors of Plant Physiology have continually updated the book to incorporate the latest advances in plant biology and implement pedagogical improvements requested by adopters. This has made Plant Physiology the most authoritative, comprehensive, and widely used upper-division plant biology textbook. In the Sixth Edition, the Growth and Development section (Unit III) has been reorganized and expanded to present the complete life cycle of seed plants from germination to senescence. In recognition of this enhancement, the text has been renamed Plant Physiology and Development. As before, Unit III begins with updated chapters on Cell Walls and Signals and Signal Transduction. The latter chapter has been expanded to include a discussion of major signaling molecules, such as calcium ions and plant hormones. A new, unified chapter entitled Signals from Sunlight has replaced the two Fifth-Edition chapters on Phytochrome and Blue Light Responses. This chapter includes phytochrome, as well as the blue and UV light receptors and their signaling pathways, including phototropins, cryptochromes, and UVR8. The subsequent chapters in Unit III are devoted to describing the stages of development from embryogenesis to senescence and the many physiological and environmental factors that regulate them. The result provides students with an improved understanding of the integration of hormones and other signaling agents in developmental regulation. The new organization of Unit III has the added benefit that it minimizes redundancy, making it possible to reduce the number of chapters in the Unit from 13 to 11. Angus Murphy of the University of Maryland has headed up a team of authors and editors to implement the revision. Ian Max Moller has subsequently edited all the book chapters to ensure an even high quality and consistency level. The Sixth Edition of Plant Physiology and Development also includes updated and improved versions of the physiological chapters in Units I and II. A new chapter on Stomatal Biology has been added to Unit II. The goal, as always, is to provide the best educational foundation possible for the next generation of plant biologists.

Efficient Distributed Skylining for Web Information Systems

Abstract: Though skyline queries already have claimed their place in retrieval over central databases, their application in Web information systems up to now was impossible due to the distributed aspect of retrieval over Web sources. But due to the amount, variety and volatile nature of information accessible over the Internet extended query capabilities are crucial. We show how to efficiently perform distributed skyline queries and thus essentially extend the expressiveness of querying today’s Web information systems. Together with our innovative retrieval algorithm we also present useful heuristics to further speed up the retrieval in most practical cases paving the road towards meeting even the real-time challenges of on-line information services. We discuss performance evaluations and point to open problems in the concept and application of skylining in modern information systems. For the curse of dimensionality, an intrinsic problem in skyline queries, we propose a novel sampling scheme that allows to get an early impression of the skyline for subsequent query refinement.

XOR MACs: New Methods for Message Authentication Using Finite Pseudorandom Functions

Abstract: We describe a new approach for authenticating a message using a finite pseudorandom function (PRF). Our "XOR MACs" have several nice features, including parallelisability, incrementality, and provable security. The finite PRF can be "instantiated" via DES (yielding an alternative to the CBC MAC), via the compression function of MD5 (yielding an alternative to various "keyed MD5" constructions), or in a variety of other ways. The proven security is quantitative, expressing the adversary's inability to forge in terms of her (presumed) inability to break the underlying finite PRF. This is backed by attacks showing the analysis is tight. Our proofs exploit linear algebraic techniques.

Phoenix Risen: The Resurrection of Global Finance

Abstract: Of all the many changes of the world economy since World War II, few have been nearly so dramatic as the resurrection of global finance. A review of five recent books suggests considerable diversity of opinion concerning both the causes and the consequences of financial globalization, leaving much room for further research. Competing historical interpretations, stressing the contrasting roles of market forces and government policies, need to be reexamined for dynamic linkages among the variables they identify. Likewise, impacts on state policy at both the macro and micro levels should be explored more systematically to understand not just whether constraints may be imposed on governments but also how and under what conditions, and what policymakers can do about them. Finally, questions are also raised about implications for the underlying paradigm conventionally used for the study of international political economy and international relations more generally.