Switched Capacitor Voltage Converter

This project supports IoT development by reducing the power con- sumption and physical footprint of voltage converters. Our switched- capacitor IC design steps down an input of 1:0 - 1:4 V to 0:6 V for a decade of load current from 5 - 50A

Justice Expectations and Applicant Perceptions

Expectations, which are beliefs about a future state of affairs, constitute a basic psychological mechanism that underlies virtually all human behavior. Although expectations serve as a central component in many theories of organizational behavior, they have received limited attention in the organizational justice literature. The goal of this paper is to introduce the concept of justice expectations and explore its implications for understanding applicant perceptions. To conceptualize justice expectations, we draw on research on expectations conducted in multiple disciplines. We discuss the three sources of expectations – direct experience, indirect influences, and other beliefs - and use this typology to identify the likely antecedents of justice expectations in selection contexts. We also discuss the impact of expectations on attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors, focusing specifically on outcomes tied to selection environments. Finally, we explore the theoretical implications of incorporating expectations into research on applicant perceptions and discuss the practical significance of justice expectations in selection contexts

Sex differences in empathic processing as related to moral reasoning patterns in hypothetical and real-life moral dilemmas

Some sex and empathy differences have been found in moral reasoning patterns in adults (e.g., Pratt, Golding, and Kerig, in press; Walker and DeVries, 1985). However, until recently the area of moral judgment was severely restricted by an exclusive focus on the measures of a few researchers such as Kohlberg (1969, 1976, 1981, 1984). Gilligan (1977, 1982) has been primarily responsible for the upsurge of interest and resultant diversification of measures in this area of individual differences. The present paper examined in detail how sex differences and level of empathy affect moral reasoning patterns in individuals between 18 and 25 years of age. Hypothetical dilemmas were rewritten to make them either more or less vivid, within three conditions: 1) Subjective, in which the original dilemma was rewritten to include engaging personal information about the dilemma characters; 2) Objective, in which the original dilemma was rewritten to include non-engaging statistical information; and, 3) Neutral, in which the original dilemma was not altered. Each dilemma was followed by bipolar adjective scales for each character in the dilemma, which assessed the empathy level of the subject for that character. Overall patterns of personel empathy were assessed using the Mehrabian-Epstein scale. Moral reasoning patterns were assessed through Pratt’s Information-Seeking Questionnaire (Pratt, Golding, Hunter, and Norris, in press), as well as by Pratt’s Judgment Questionnaire (Pratt, Golding, Hunter, and Sampson, 1986), and the Gilligan Personal Moral Dilemma Task (Gilligan, 1982). In addition, the type of hypothetical dilemmas was varied to assess whether there was a difference in response due to the structure of the dilemma. Four hypothetical dilemmas were used in the present study, two Kohlberg dilemmas (based on a justice framework) and two Eisenberg dilemmas (based on a pro-social framework). Empathy for the characters in the dilemmas was found to be the highest in the subjective condition, and lowest in the objective condition, as hypothesized. However, this effect of dilemma vividness was only true for individuals high in personal empathy; low empathy individuals demonstrated no difference in responding, regardless of condition. In terms of moral reasoning, the results of this study indicate that patterns of moral reasoning are related to individual differences in empathy. Personal empathy was the strongest predictor variable, and was mediated in part by character empathy. Sex differences were largely overshadowed by these individual differences in reported personal empathy for both dilemma types. Women did, however, request significantly more information overall than did men on the Information-Seeking questionnaire. Dilemma type also had an effect on moral reasoning patterns. Individuals, regardless of sex, requested more information and endorsed more judgment considerations for the Kohlberg dilemmas than for the Eisenberg dilemmas. Also, more rights information was sought and more normative/fairness considerations were endorsed for the Kohlberg dilemmas than for the Eisenberg dilemmas. It is suggested that future research focus on individual differences in personal empathy as a motivating factor in relation to the vividness effect, and also in relation to the Kohlberg stage levels of moral reasoning. Furthermore, hypothetical dilemma type should be taken into account in future studies involving the moral reasoning process

High-Resolution Analysis of the Efficiency, Heritability, and Editing Outcomes of CRISPR/Cas9-Induced Modifications of NCED4 in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa).

CRISPR/Cas9 is a transformative tool for making targeted genetic alterations. In plants, high mutation efficiencies have been reported in primary transformants. However, many of the mutations analyzed were somatic and therefore not heritable. To provide more insights into the efficiency of creating stable homozygous mutants using CRISPR/Cas9, we targeted LsNCED4 (9-cis-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE4), a gene conditioning thermoinhibition of seed germination in lettuce. Three constructs, each capable of expressing Cas9 and a single gRNA targeting different sites in LsNCED4, were stably transformed into lettuce (Lactuca sativa) cvs. Salinas and Cobham Green. Analysis of 47 primary transformants (T1) and 368 T2 plants by deep amplicon sequencing revealed that 57% of T1 plants contained events at the target site: 28% of plants had germline mutations in one allele indicative of an early editing event (mono-allelic), 8% of plants had germline mutations in both alleles indicative of two early editing events (bi-allelic), and the remaining 21% of plants had multiple low frequency mutations indicative of late events (chimeric plants). Editing efficiency was similar in both genotypes, while the different gRNAs varied in efficiency. Amplicon sequencing of 20 T1 and more than 100 T2 plants for each of the three gRNAs showed that repair outcomes were not random, but reproducible and characteristic for each gRNA. Knockouts of NCED4 resulted in large increases in the maximum temperature for seed germination, with seeds of both cultivars capable of germinating >70% at 37°. Knockouts of NCED4 provide a whole-plant selectable phenotype that has minimal pleiotropic consequences. Targeting NCED4 in a co-editing strategy could therefore be used to enrich for germline-edited events simply by germinating seeds at high temperature

Stellar and Gaseous Nuclear Disks Observed in Nearby (U)LIRGs

We present near-infrared integral field spectroscopy of the central kiloparsec of 17 nearby luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies undergoing major mergers. These observations were taken with OSIRIS assisted by the Keck I and II Adaptive Optics systems, providing spatial resolutions of a few tens of parsecs. The resulting kinematic maps reveal gas disks in at least 16 out of 19 nuclei and stellar disks in 11 out of 11 nuclei observed in these galaxy merger systems. In our late-stages mergers, these disks are young (stellar ages $<30$ Myr) and likely formed as gas disks which became unstable to star formation during the merger. On average, these disks have effective radii of a few hundred parsecs, masses between $10^{8}$ and $10^{10} M_{Sun}$, and $v/\sigma$ between 1 and 5. These disks are similar to those created in high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of gas-rich galaxy mergers, and favor short coalescence times for binary black holes. The few galaxies in our sample in earlier stages of mergers have disks which are larger ($r_{eff}\sim200-1800$ pc) and likely are remnants of the galactic disks that have not yet been completely disrupted by the merger.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap

Following Black Hole Scaling Relations Through Gas-Rich Mergers

We present black hole mass measurements from kinematic modeling of high-spatial resolution integral field spectroscopy of the inner regions of 9 nearby (ultra-)luminous infrared galaxies in a variety of merger stages. These observations were taken with OSIRIS and laser guide star adaptive optics on the Keck I and Keck II telescopes, and reveal gas and stellar kinematics inside the spheres of influence of these supermassive black holes. We find that this sample of black holes are overmassive ($\sim10^{7-9}$ M$_{Sun}$) compared to the expected values based on black hole scaling relations, and suggest that the major epoch of black hole growth occurs in early stages of a merger, as opposed to during a final episode of quasar-mode feedback. The black hole masses presented are the dynamical masses enclosed in $\sim$25pc, and could include gas which is gravitationally bound to the black hole but has not yet lost sufficient angular momentum to be accreted. If present, this gas could in principle eventually fuel AGN feedback or be itself blown out from the system.Comment: accepted to Ap

Transferable Output ASCII Data (TOAD) editor version 1.0 user's guide

The Transferable Output ASCII Data (TOAD) editor is an interactive software tool for manipulating the contents of TOAD files. The TOAD editor is specifically designed to work with tabular data. Selected subsets of data may be displayed to the user's screen, sorted, exchanged, duplicated, removed, replaced, inserted, or transferred to and from external files. It also offers a number of useful features including on-line help, macros, a command history, an 'undo' option, variables, and a full compliment of mathematical functions and conversion factors. Written in ANSI FORTRAN 77 and completely self-contained, the TOAD editor is very portable and has already been installed on SUN, SGI/IRIS, and CONVEX hosts