Infrared spectra of van de Waals complexes of importance in planetary atmospheres

It has been suggested that (CO2)2 and Ar-CO2 are important constituents of the planetary atmospheres of Venus and Mars. Recent results on the laboratory spectroscopy of CO2 containing van der Waals complexes which may be of use in the modeling of the spectra of planetary atmospheres are presented. Sub-Doppler infrared spectra were obtained for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and rare-gas-CO2 complexes in the vicinity of the CO2 Fermi diad at 2.7 micrometers using a color-center-laser optothermal spectrometer. From the spectroscopic constants the geometries of the complexes have been determined and van der Waals vibrational frequencies have been estimated. The equilibrium configurations are C2h, C3h, and C2v, for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and the rare-gas-CO2 complexes, respectively. Most of the homogeneous linewidths for the revibrational transitions range from 0.5 to 22 MHz, indicating that predissociation is as much as four orders of magnitude faster than radiative processes for vibrational relaxation in these complexes

Encoding of Marginal Utility across Time in the Human Brain

Marginal utility theory prescribes the relationship between the objective property of the magnitude of rewards and their subjective value. Despite its pervasive influence, however, there is remarkably little direct empirical evidence for such a theory of value, let alone of its neurobiological basis. We show that human preferences in an intertemporal choice task are best described by a model that integrates marginally diminishing utility with temporal discounting. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that activity in the dorsal striatum encodes both the marginal utility of rewards, over and above that which can be described by their magnitude alone, and the discounting associated with increasing time. In addition, our data show that dorsal striatum may be involved in integrating subjective valuation systems inherent to time and magnitude, thereby providing an overall metric of value used to guide choice behavior. Furthermore, during choice, we show that anterior cingulate activity correlates with the degree of difficulty associated with dissonance between value and time. Our data support an integrative architecture for decision making, revealing the neural representation of distinct subcomponents of value that may contribute to impulsivity and decisiveness

Sustainable product development strategies: Business planning and performance implications

Copyright © 2012 by Institution of Mechanical Engineers. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Manufacturing firms are under many financial and competitive pressures which focus attention on the performance of their manufacturing processes. In this paper the opportunities for improving the environmental impact of products within the constraints of existing manufacturing infrastructure are examined. Approaches which support sustainability in two aspects are proposed, firstly, the provision of products to the users in ways which extend the product life and secondly, manufacturing approaches which reduce resource usage. This paper outlines three different sustainable development strategies for different product types and describes the cost implications for manufacturers across the life-cycle. The performance measures affected by these strategies are examined drawing on product development case studies from a number of high technology sectors to highlight the different approaches taken. The results are intended to aid manufacturers during the earliest stages of business planning to consider alternative product development approaches which are more sustainable

Potensi Krim Ekstrak Daun Johar (Cassia Siame) Menghambat Pertumbuhan Candida Albicans

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui potensi krim ekstrak daun johar untuk menghambat pertumbuhan Candida albicans. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian ekperimental. Daun johar (Cassia siamea Lamk.) diekstraksi dengan metode maserasi mengunakan pelarut etanol 96% kemudian diformulasi dalam bentuk sediaan krim dengan konsentrasi ekstrak 5%b/b dan 10%b/b. Sediaan krim tersebut kemudian diuji kemampuan daya hambatnya terhadap pertumbuhan Candida albicans dengan metode sumuran. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan krim ekstrak daun johar (Cassia siamea Lamk.) konsentrasi 10%b/b memiliki diameter zona hambat terhadap pertumbuhan Candida albicans sebesar 22,5 mm. Daya hambat dari krim ekstrak daun johar konsentrasi 10%b/b termasuk kategori sangat kuat

Green function Retrieval and Time-reversal in a Disordered World

We apply the theory of multiple wave scattering to two contemporary, related topics: imaging with diffuse correlations and stability of time-reversal of diffuse waves, using equipartition, coherent backscattering and frequency speckles as fundamental concepts.Comment: 1 figur

First-Summer Survival of Largemouth Bass Cohorts: Is Early Spawning Really Best?

Previous work has demonstrated that survival of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides through the first year of life can be size dependent, favoring larger individuals. Because size, diet biomass, lipid accumulation, and ultimately overwinter survival of juveniles are typically positively related to age, early spawning is clearly advantageous. However, a true understanding of which largemouth bass cohorts contribute to the new year-class remains somewhat unclear because these conclusions have largely been based upon fish collected during summer rather than fish collected during spring. Conceivably, even earlier hatched cohorts of largemouth bass could have existed in many of these studies, and these fish may simply not have survived to the summer collection period. In order to assess this possibility, we quantified first-summer survival of largemouth bass cohorts collected during 1992 and 1993 in Auburn, Alabama, ponds (which were 2–5 ha each). Our results indicate that it is early-hatched cohorts that likely contribute to the new year-class. Although we found that early-hatched cohorts were lost between May and July, these losses were not attributable to age-dependent mortality; instead, sampling biases associated with avoidance of seines by older, larger young-of-year largemouth bass appear to have driven these shifts. In addition, because we found that size-dependent cannibalism during summer acted to remove smaller, later-hatched largemouth bass, early hatching may enhance survival during larval and early juvenile stages in southern systems (and not just during the winter period). Given this information, fishery managers may potentially be able to implement harvest regulations that are designed to protect large, early-spawning adults, thereby increasing the probability of producing a strong year-class by enhancing first-summer growth and, ultimately, recruitment to adult stages.This research was supported in part by National Science Foundation grants DEB-9108986 and DEB-9410323 and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration project F40-R (administered by the Alabama Game and Fish Division to D. R. DeVries)

Making space for experiences

Leisure and retail providers need to understand the elements of the visitor experience and the way in which they evaluate their satisfaction. This article suggests a holistic prism model of the interaction between the management and the visitor in a leisure space. This is applied to a netnographic study of visitors to a folk festival to illustrate the interconnectiveness of the different attributes causing dissatisfaction. It found that the physical and operational attributes were evaluated not through a checklist of individual features but as hindrances to the visitor's desire to make best use of the time. Visitors also evaluated the experience in the light of their own values and concerns, passing judgement on the values communicated by the management. At the heart of the experience was the enjoyment of choosing from an abundant offer and discovering something new. The main attraction is often only the pretext for enjoying the company of friends so places to meet before and chill-out afterwards are vital to the experience. The distinctiveness of the setting, the food and drink can become the sensory cues which give the event or location its uniqueness. The challenge to retail and leisure organisations is to design these elements of a memorable experience into their offerings

Characterization of anisotropic nano-particles by using depolarized dynamic light scattering in the near field

Light scattering techniques are widely used in many fields of condensed and sof t matter physics. Usually these methods are based on the study of the scattered light in the far field. Recently, a new family of near field detection schemes has been developed, mainly for the study of small angle light scattering. These techniques are based on the detection of the light intensity near to the sample, where light scattered at different directions overlaps but can be distinguished by Fourier transform analysis. Here we report for the first time data obtained with a dynamic near field scattering instrument, measuring both polarized and depolarized scattered light. Advantages of this procedure over the traditional far field detection include the immunity to stray light problems and the possibility to obtain a large number of statistical samples for many different wave vectors in a single instantaneous measurement. By using the proposed technique we have measured the translational and rotational diffusion coefficients of rod-like colloidal particles. The obtained data are in very good agreement with the data acquired with a traditional light scattering apparatus.Comment: Published in Optics Express. This version has changes in bibliograph