anchor.diff:      %       comparison as a children's tree has in total!
       if MaxAffectedItems =:= 0 ->
              NextSigSizeL = NextSigSizeI = get_min_hash_bits(),
  +           _AffectedItemsI = _AffectedItemsL = 0,
              EffectiveFr_L = EffectiveFr_I = float(0 / util:pow(2, NextSigSizeI));
          MyMaxItemsCount =/= 0 andalso OtherMaxItemsCount =/= 0 ->
  -           AffectedItemsI = erlang:min(MyMaxItemsCount + OtherMaxItemsCount,
  -                                       MaxAffectedItems),
  +           _AffectedItemsI =
  +               AffectedItemsI = erlang:min(MyMaxItemsCount + OtherMaxItemsCount,
  +                                           MaxAffectedItems),
              NextSigSizeI = min_max(util:ceil(util:log2(AffectedItemsI / FR_I)),
                                     get_min_hash_bits(), 160),
              EffectiveFr_I = float(AffectedItemsI / util:pow(2, NextSigSizeI)),
  -           AffectedItemsL = lists:min([MyMaxItemsCount + OtherMaxItemsCount,
  -                                       2 * BucketSize, MaxAffectedItems]),
  +           _AffectedItemsL =
  +               AffectedItemsL = lists:min([MyMaxItemsCount + OtherMaxItemsCount,
  +                                           2 * BucketSize, MaxAffectedItems]),
              NextSigSizeL = min_max(util:ceil(util:log2(AffectedItemsL / FR_L)),
                                     get_min_hash_bits(), 160),
              EffectiveFr_L = float(AffectedItemsL / util:pow(2, NextSigSizeL));
          true ->
              % should only occur during the reconciliation initiation in begin_sync/1
              NextSigSizeL = NextSigSizeI = 0,
  +           _AffectedItemsI = _AffectedItemsL = 0,
              EffectiveFr_L = EffectiveFr_I = 0.0
       end,
   
  -    ?ALG_DEBUG("merkle - signatures~n  MyMI: ~B,\tOtMI: ~B,\tMaxAffected: ~B"
  -               "\tFR_I: ~g,\tFR_L: ~g,\tSigSizeI: ~B,\tSigSizeL: ~B~n"
  +    ?ALG_DEBUG("merkle - signatures~n  MyMI: ~B,\tOtMI: ~B,\tMaxAffected: ~B,\tMaxAffectedI: ~B,\tMaxAffectedL: ~B~n"
  +               "  FR_I: ~g,\tFR_L: ~g,\tSigSizeI: ~B,\tSigSizeL: ~B~n"
                  "  -> eff. FR_I: ~g,\teff. FR_L: ~g",
  -               [MyMaxItemsCount, OtherMaxItemsCount, MaxAffectedItems,
  +               [MyMaxItemsCount, OtherMaxItemsCount, MaxAffectedItems, _AffectedItemsI, _AffectedItemsL,
                   FR_I, FR_L, NextSigSizeI, NextSigSizeL,
                   EffectiveFr_I, EffectiveFr_L]),
       {FR_I, FR_L, NextSigSizeI, NextSigSizeL, EffectiveFr_I, EffectiveFr_L}.
  
positive.code:     MTSize = merkle_tree:size_detail(MySyncStruct),
      Stats1 = rr_recon_stats:set([{tree_size, MTSize}], Stats),
      #merkle_params{fail_rate = FRTotal, num_trees = NumTrees, exp_delta = ExpDelta,
                     ni_item_count = OtherItemsCount} = Params,
      MyItemCount =
          lists:max([0 | [merkle_tree:get_item_count(Node) || Node <- MySyncStruct]]),
      ?ALG_DEBUG("merkle (I) - CurrentNodes: ~B~n"
                 "  Inner/Leaf/Items: ~p, EmptyLeaves: ~B",
  
negative.code:          num_trees      = ?required(merkle_param, num_trees)      :: pos_integer(),
           bucket_size    = ?required(merkle_param, bucket_size)    :: pos_integer(),
           fail_rate      = ?required(merkle_param, fail_rate)      :: float(),
           ni_item_count  = ?required(merkle_param, ni_item_count)  :: non_neg_integer(),
           ni_max_ic      = ?required(merkle_param, ni_max_ic)      :: non_neg_integer()
          }).
  
  -record(art_recon_struct,
  