True Colors

Assess your strengths while gaining an appreciation for others around you. A true colors assessment will help you develop leadership and effective team-building skills among your coworkers

Reconstruction and actual trends of landslide activities in Bruust–Haltiwald, Horw, canton of Lucerne, Switzerland

A spatiotemporal reconstruction of slope movements on the edge of Lake Lucerne near the municipality of Horw, canton of Lucerne, is presented. The reconstruction was realized by analyzing growth reactions of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and fir (Abies alba Mill.) trees growing on this slope. Before dendrochronological sampling, a detailed geomorphological mapping of the landslide was conducted with the aim to determine the spatial extent of the sliding area. For tree-ring analyses, 124 increment cores from 62 trees were analyzed following standard techniques of dendrogeomorphology. In addition, long micro-sections were prepared from the entire cores to extend the common eccentricity analyses by microscopic determination of the onset of reaction wood in fir and beech. Results clearly show that the area is moving at least since 1948. A significant concentration of events was observed between the years 1990 and 2000 as well as after 2006. The definition of a threshold to define events using an eccentricity index alone is problematic and needs to be adapted to specific site conditions. For this reason, we recommend always combining the application of an eccentricity index with a detailed visual (anatomical) inspection to check for the occurrence of reaction wood.</p

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor stimulates energy metabolism in developing cortical neurons.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promotes the biochemical and morphological differentiation of selective populations of neurons during development. In this study we examined the energy requirements associated with the effects of BDNF on neuronal differentiation. Because glucose is the preferred energy substrate in the brain, the effect of BDNF on glucose utilization was investigated in developing cortical neurons via biochemical and imaging studies. Results revealed that BDNF increases glucose utilization and the expression of the neuronal glucose transporter GLUT3. Stimulation of glucose utilization by BDNF was shown to result from the activation of Na+/K+-ATPase via an increase in Na+ influx that is mediated, at least in part, by the stimulation of Na+-dependent amino acid transport. The increased Na+-dependent amino acid uptake by BDNF is followed by an enhancement of overall protein synthesis associated with the differentiation of cortical neurons. Together, these data demonstrate the ability of BDNF to stimulate glucose utilization in response to an enhanced energy demand resulting from increases in amino acid uptake and protein synthesis associated with the promotion of neuronal differentiation by BDNF

Boundary Limitation of Wavenumbers in Taylor-Vortex Flow

We report experimental results for a boundary-mediated wavenumber-adjustment mechanism and for a boundary-limited wavenumber-band of Taylor-vortex flow (TVF). The system consists of fluid contained between two concentric cylinders with the inner one rotating at an angular frequency $\Omega$. As observed previously, the Eckhaus instability (a bulk instability) is observed and limits the stable wavenumber band when the system is terminated axially by two rigid, non-rotating plates. The band width is then of order $\epsilon^{1/2}$ at small $\epsilon$ ($\epsilon \equiv \Omega/\Omega_c - 1$) and agrees well with calculations based on the equations of motion over a wide $\epsilon$-range. When the cylinder axis is vertical and the upper liquid surface is free (i.e. an air-liquid interface), vortices can be generated or expelled at the free surface because there the phase of the structure is only weakly pinned. The band of wavenumbers over which Taylor-vortex flow exists is then more narrow than the stable band limited by the Eckhaus instability. At small $\epsilon$ the boundary-mediated band-width is linear in $\epsilon$. These results are qualitatively consistent with theoretical predictions, but to our knowledge a quantitative calculation for TVF with a free surface does not exist.Comment: 8 pages incl. 9 eps figures bitmap version of Fig

Full QCD light hadron spectrum from the CP-PACS

We report on an on-going two-flavor full QCD study on CP-PACS using an RG-improved gauge action and a tadpole-improved SW quark action. Runs are made for three lattice spacings $a^{-1}\approx 0.9$, 1.3, and 2.5 GeV on $12^3\times24$, $16^3\times32$, and $24^3\times48$ lattices. Four sea quark masses having $m_{\rm PS}/m_{\rm V} \approx 0.8$--0.6 are simulated, for each of which hadron masses are evaluated for valence quark masses corresponding to $m_{\rm PS}/m_{\rm V} \approx 0.8$--0.5. Results for hadron and light quark masses are presented and compared with those obtained in quenched QCD.Comment: LATTICE98(spectrum), 3 pages, 3 figure

The static quark potential in full QCD

We report results on the static quark potential in two-flavor full QCD. The calculation is performed for three values of lattice spacing $a^{-1}\approx 0.9, 1.3$ and 2.5 GeV on $12^3{\times}24, 16^3{\times}32$ and $24^3{\times}48$ lattices respectively, at sea quark masses corresponding to $m_\pi/m_\rho \approx 0.8-0.6$. An RG-improved gauge action and a tadpole-improved SW clover quark action are employed. We discuss scaling of $m_{\rho}/\sqrt{\sigma}$ and effects of dynamical quarks on the potential.Comment: LATTICE98(spectrum), 3 pages, 4 figure

Heavy-light spectrum and decay constant from NRQCD with two flavors of dynamical quarks

We report on a study of B mesons on N_f = 2 full QCD configurations using an RG-improved gauge action, NRQCD heavy quark action and tadpole-improved clover light quark action. Results on the heavy-light spectrum and the decay constants from 16^3x32 lattices at a^{-1} ~ 1.5 GeV are presented, and compared with quenched results obtained with the same action combination at matching lattice spacings.Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, 2 PS figures, talk presented at LATTICE`99 (heavy quarks

Quenched divergences in the deconfined phase of SU(2) gauge theory

The spectrum of the overlap Dirac operator in the deconfined phase of quenched gauge theory is known to have three parts: exact zeros arising from topology, small nonzero eigenvalues that result in a non-zero chiral condensate, and the dense bulk of the spectrum, which is separated from the small eigenvalues by a gap. In this paper, we focus on the small nonzero eigenvalues in an SU(2) gauge field background at $\beta=2.4$ and $N_T=4$. This low-lying spectrum is computed on four different spatial lattices ($12^3$, $14^3$, $16^3$, and $18^3$). As the volume increases, the small eigenvalues become increasingly concentrated near zero in such a way as to strongly suggest that the infinite volume condensate diverges.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, version to appear in Physical Review

Eigenvalues of the hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator and chiral properties of the domain-wall fermion

Chiral properties of QCD formulated with the domain-wall fermion (DWQCD) are studied using the anomalous quark mass m_{5q} and the spectrum of the 4-dimensional Wilson-Dirac operator. Numerical simulations are made with the standard plaquette gauge action and a renormalization-group improved gauge action. Results are reported on the density of zero eigenvalue obtained with the accumulation method, and a comparison is made with the results for m_{5q}.Comment: Lattice 2000(Chiral Fermions), 4 pages, 6 eps figures, LaTeX(espcrc2.sty