Range convexity,continuity, and strategy-proofness of voting schemes

A voting scheme assigns to each profile of alternatives reported byn individuals a compromise alternative. A voting scheme is strategy-proof if no individual is better off by lying, i.e., not reporting a best alternative. In this paper the main results concern the case where the set of alternatives is the Euclidean plane and the preferences are Euclidean. It is shown that for strategy-proof voting schemes continuity is equivalent to convexity of the range of the voting scheme. Using a result by Kim and Roush (1984), this leads to characterizations of surjective or unanimous, anonymous, strategy-proof voting schemes.Furthermore, the paper contains an extensive discussion of related results in the area.     

Recognition of ring pairs in the data analysis of Cherenkov detectors

We present a new algorithm for the identification of ring pairs in Cherenkov detectors. The approach combines linear regression methods for the construction of an appropriate reference quantity, methods from statistics for the evaluation of hypotheses and Monte Carlo simulation runs for the tuning of threshold levels.     

Preservation mechanisms of trehalose in food and biosystems

The stability or shelf-life of food and biomaterials has always been a critical issue in the food and pharmaceutical industry. Trehalose (alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside), a non-reducing diglucose sugar found in nature, confers to certain plant and animal cells the ability to survive dehydration for decades and to restore activity soon after rehydration. The interaction between trehalose and cell membranes or proteins, however, remains a debated subject, and a significant amount of work has been done to elucidate the mechanisms resulting in this unique behavior of preservation. This study shows how an interfacial phenomena approach has led to the use of trehalose as an excipient during freeze drying of a variety of products in the pharmaceutical industry. It also suggests opportunities as an ingredient for dried and processed food, as well as a non-toxic cryoprotectant of vaccines and organs for surgical transplants.     

Primitive lattice points in rational ellipses and related arithmetic functions

Assuming the Riemann Hypothesis to be true, an asymptotic with a sharp error term is established for the number of primitive lattice points inside a rational ellipseau ²+buv+cv ²x (a, b, c integers,b ²–4ac<0). A generalization of the result is given applying (as an example) to counting functions of Pythagorean triangles.     

Low-lying levels in103Rh from Coulomb excitation

Five low-lying negative parity states of¹⁰³Rh up to 1277 keV excitation energy were observed to be Coulomb excited with 2·5–4·5 MeV protons. The de-excitation gamma rays from these levels were identified in the singles spectra recorded with a 57 cc Ge(Li) detector. The level energies, branching ratios, reduced transition probabilitiesB(E2) and the multipole mixing ratios () were obtained. The 880, 1106 and 1277 keV levels have been Coulomb excited with protons for the first time. The ambiguity in theJ values for 803 and 1106 keV levels have been resolved using ²-fits, the assigned spin values are 1/2^– and 5/2^–, respectively. The-values for 474·1 and 811·2 keV transitions were obtained for the first time. The results have been discussed in the light of previously reported results.The authors wish to thank Professor I. M. Govil for his active interest at various stages of this work. One of us (DCT) acknowledges the financial support from U.G.C., New Delhi, under Faculty Improvement Programme.