Spectroscopy on a single trapped 137Ba+ ion for nuclear magnetic octupole moment determination

We present precision measurements of the hyperfine intervals in the 5D3/2 manifold of a single trapped Barium ion, 137 Ba+ . Measurements of the hyperfine intervals are made between mF = 0 sublevels over a range of magnetic fields allowing us to interpolate to the zero field values with an accuracy below a few Hz, an improvement on previous measurements by three orders of magnitude. Our results, in conjunction with theoretical calculations, provide a 30-fold reduction in the uncertainty of the magnetic dipole (A) and electric quadrupole (B) hyperfine constants. In addition, we obtain the magnetic octupole constant (C) with an accuracy below 0.1 Hz. This gives a subsequent determination of the nuclear magnetic octupole moment, {\Omega}, with an uncertainty of 1% limited almost completely by the accuracy of theoretical calculations. This constitutes the first observation of the octupole moment in 137 Ba+ and the most accurately determined octupole moment to date.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

The contribution of perceived firm marketing innovation initiatives to customer perceived value and loyalty: does switching experience really matter?

In recent years, perceived firm marketing innovation initiatives (PFMII) are increasingly considered as an important means to ensure customers' continued loyalty. Although customer perceived value is believed to be a potential mediator between PFMII and customer loyalty, much of the evidence to date remains anecdotal or speculative. Furthermore, there is a dearth of knowledge about how the effect of PFMII on customer value differs between switchers and non-switchers. To bridge this knowledge gap, we propose a conceptual framework linking PFMII to customer perceived value and loyalty, and develop hypotheses about the moderating role of switching experience in some of these linkages. Data were collected from Generation Y(18–34 years old) who subscribed to post-paid mobile internet plans. The results showed that both functional and monetary values mediated the relationship between PFMII and customer loyalty. However, there was no significant difference in the effect of PFMII on functional and monetary values between switchers and non-switchers. This research contributes to theory and practice by clarifying linkages between PFMII and customer loyalty by investigating the often widely neglected role of customer perceived value. In addition, this study successfully extended Sweeney and Soutar (2001) PERVAL model by incorporating PFMII as the key driver of customer perceived value

Modeling and kinetic determination in affinity precipitation of trypsin

A mathematical model was proposed to allow the analysis of kinetic enzyme in experimental of affinity precipitation system. The methodology was tested using a system composed of enzyme, ethylene glycol and conjugated PABA-poly (NIPAM). N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) is one of the monomers that have appealed to a great deal of investigation in the recent years. Its homopolymer NIPAM possesses temperature sensitivity and can act as a functional polymer with great potential. A water soluble ligand bound polymer has been synthesized by Electron Beam Irradiation for the purpose of affinity precipitation of trypsin. The affinity polymer was formed by ligand-PABA. The binding efficiency of trypsin to this polymer was dependent upon the ratio of (NIPAM), mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) as a chain transfer reagent and p-aminobenzamidine (PABA) as ligand that used in the polymer synthesis. The amount of precipitated of poly (NIPAM) present in the polymer solution also greatly affected the trypsin binding efficiency. The total binding capacity of trypsin molecules to ligand molecules approached the theoretical value which was considerably higher than that of insoluble gel matrices. Bound trypsin could be easily eluted by the ethylene glycol solution. At low molecular weight of poly (NIPAM), the conjugate polymer solution was very stable and retained its high capacity for trypsin recovery over a long period of time. The proposed analysis and simulation of kinetic parameters may be helpful in affinity precipitation technique for advanced application

The importance of replicating genomic analyses to verify phylogenetic signal for recently evolved lineages

Genomewide SNP data generated by nontargeted methods such as RAD and GBS are increasingly being used in phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses. When these methods are used in the absence of a reference genome, however, little is known about the locations and evolution of the SNPs. In using such data to address phylogenetic questions, researchers risk drawing false conclusions, particularly if a representative number of SNPs is not obtained. Here, we empirically test the robustness of phylogenetic inference based on SNP data for closely related lineages. We conducted a genomewide analysis of 75 712 SNPs, generated via GBS, of southern bull-kelp (Durvillaea). Durvillaea chathamensis co-occurs with D. antarctica on Chatham Island, but the two species have previously been found to be so genetically similar that the status of the former has been questioned. Our results show that D. chathamensis, which differs from D. antarctica ecologically as well as morphologically, is indeed a reproductively isolated species. Furthermore, our replicated analyses show that D. chathamensis cannot be reliably distinguished phylogenetically from closely related D. antarctica using subsets (ranging in size from 400 to 10 000 sites) of the 40 912 parsimony-informative SNPs in our data set and that bootstrap values alone can give misleading impressions of the strength of phylogenetic inferences. These results highlight the importance of independently replicating SNP analyses to verify that phylogenetic inferences based on nontargeted SNP data are robust. Our study also demonstrates that modern genomic approaches can be used to identify cases of recent or incipient speciation that traditional approaches (e.g. Sanger sequencing of a few loci) may be unable to detect or resolve.This research was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE140101715 to CIF) and University of Otago Performance Based Research Funding (to JMW)

Investigations of nickel (II) removal from aqueous effluents using electric arc furnace slag

The tendency of electric arc furnace (EAF) slag to the adsorb nickel(II) from aqueous solution has been investigated through batch experiments. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) Analysis. Analysis was characterized in order to give inside to the properties of electric arc furnace slag (EAFS). The adsorption result revealed that the maximum up take by the EAFS was 160.92mg/g at an equilibrium time of 216hr. The pseudo-second order kinetic fitted well with the kinetic data, showing a high determination coefficient (R2) of over 0.996. The adsorption isotherms of nickel(II) on this adsorbent for both linear and non linear isotherms were well described by Langmuir model, this is because it shown a good fitting to the experimental data when compared to other isotherm models. Moreover the nickel(II) adsorption was found to be dependent on the adsorbent dosage, contact time and initial metal ion concentration. From the result it can be deduced that EAFS could be used to effectively adsorb nickel(II) from aqueous solution

Effect of Cd and Pb pollutions on physiological growth: Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) as a new approach on age determination of Coenobita scaevola

Environmental pollution of aquatic ecosystems leads to an interference in several fundamental biochemical and physiological functions. In this study the interference of Cd and Pb pollutions on the physiological growth and subsequently on the age determination was investigated. The hermit crab, Coenobita scaevola (C.s) was selected as a bioaccumulator in this study. The direct and indirect age determination methods were carried out using annual band counts and carapace length, respectively. The results showed that, there was very low correlation (R2  0.95). In addition, it was concluded that the environmental pollution had interaction with the growth physiology such as weight and length

Short-term field decomposition of pineapple stump biochar in tropical peat soil.

The transformation of biochar on tropical peat is yet to be studied as all previous studies have been conducted on mineral or forest soils. The objectives of this study were to investigate the physical and chemical changes experienced by pineapple stump biochar (PSB) in tropical peat and to determine the short-term decomposition model of PSB in a C-rich environment. Elemental composition was determined using CHNS-O analyzer and surface area with Brunauer-Emmett Teller (BET) method. Surface chemistry and structural study were conducted with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and 13C solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, respectively. The PSB short-term decomposition was conducted with a litter bag study and best fitted into the hyperbolic decay model compared to exponential decay model because no significant mass loss was detected after 4 months. The stagnant phase was probably due to interaction with metals from peat. Redox reaction was prominent on the surface and structural chemistry. Surface oxidation of PSB produced more O-functionalities (hydroxyl, carboxylic and phenolic) and achieved chemical recalcitrance after 12 months. The carbon structure was reduced or saturated causing a decrease in electronegativity. Further PSB decomposition probably depends on biotic decomposition

Dirac operators and the Very Strange Formula for Lie superalgebras

Using a super-affine version of Kostant's cubic Dirac operator, we prove a very strange formula for quadratic finite-dimensional Lie superalgebras with a reductive even subalgebra.Comment: Latex file, 25 pages. A few misprints corrected. To appear in the forthcoming volume "Advances in Lie Superalgebras", Springer INdAM Serie