2,477 research outputs found
A Risk Management Model for Merger and Acquisitio
In this paper, a merger and acquisition risk
management model is proposed for considering risk
factors in the merger and acquisition activities. The
proposed model aims to maximize the probability of
success in merger and acquisition activities by managing
and reducing the associated risks. The modeling of the
proposed merger and acquisition risk management
model is described and illustrated in this paper. The
illustration result shows that the proposed model can
help to screen the best target company with minimum
associated risks in the merger and acquisition activity
Feedback cooling of a cantilever's fundamental mode below 5 mK
We cool the fundamental mechanical mode of an ultrasoft silicon cantilever
from a base temperature of 2.2 K to 2.9 +/- 0.3 mK using active optomechanical
feedback. The lowest observed mode temperature is consistent with limits
determined by the properties of the cantilever and by the measurement noise.
For high feedback gain, the driven cantilever motion is found to suppress or
"squash" the optical interferometer intensity noise below the shot noise level.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Nuclear spin relaxation induced by a mechanical resonator
We report on measurements of the spin lifetime of nuclear spins strongly
coupled to a micromechanical cantilever as used in magnetic resonance force
microscopy. We find that the rotating-frame correlation time of the statistical
nuclear polarization is set by the magneto-mechanical noise originating from
the thermal motion of the cantilever. Evidence is based on the effect of three
parameters: (1) the magnetic field gradient (the coupling strength), (2) the
Rabi frequency of the spins (the transition energy), and (3) the temperature of
the low-frequency mechanical modes. Experimental results are compared to
relaxation rates calculated from the spectral density of the magneto-mechanical
noise.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Transcriptional profiling of the pea shoot apical meristem reveals processes underlying its function and maintenance
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the importance of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) in plant development and organ formation, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling its function is limited. Genomic tools have the potential to unravel the molecular mysteries of the SAM, and legume systems are increasingly being used in plant-development studies owing to their unique characteristics such as nitrogen fixation, secondary metabolism, and pod development. Garden pea (<it>Pisum sativum</it>) is a well-established classic model species for genetics studies that has been used since the Mendel era. In addition, the availability of a plethora of developmental mutants makes pea an ideal crop legume for genomics studies. This study aims to utilise genomics tools in isolating genes that play potential roles in the regulation of SAM activity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to identify genes that are differentially expressed in the SAM, we generated 2735 ESTs from three cDNA libraries derived from freshly micro-dissected SAMs from 10-day-old garden peas (<it>Pisum sativum </it>cv Torsdag). Custom-designed oligonucleotide arrays were used to compare the transcriptional profiles of pea SAMs and non-meristematic tissues. A total of 184 and 175 transcripts were significantly up- or down-regulated in the pea SAM, respectively. As expected, close to 61% of the transcripts down-regulated in the SAM were found in the public database, whereas sequences from the same source only comprised 12% of the genes that were expressed at higher levels in the SAM. This highlights the under-representation of transcripts from the meristematic tissues in the current public pea protein database, and demonstrates the utility of our SAM EST collection as an essential genetic resource for revealing further information on the regulation of this developmental process. In addition to unknowns, many of the up-regulated transcripts are known to encode products associated with cell division and proliferation, epigenetic regulation, auxin-mediated responses and microRNA regulation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The presented data provide a picture of the transcriptional profile of the pea SAM, and reveal possible roles of differentially expressed transcripts in meristem function and maintenance.</p
Transcriptional profiling of the pea shoot apical meristem reveals processes underlying its function and maintenance
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the importance of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) in plant development and organ formation, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling its function is limited. Genomic tools have the potential to unravel the molecular mysteries of the SAM, and legume systems are increasingly being used in plant-development studies owing to their unique characteristics such as nitrogen fixation, secondary metabolism, and pod development. Garden pea (<it>Pisum sativum</it>) is a well-established classic model species for genetics studies that has been used since the Mendel era. In addition, the availability of a plethora of developmental mutants makes pea an ideal crop legume for genomics studies. This study aims to utilise genomics tools in isolating genes that play potential roles in the regulation of SAM activity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to identify genes that are differentially expressed in the SAM, we generated 2735 ESTs from three cDNA libraries derived from freshly micro-dissected SAMs from 10-day-old garden peas (<it>Pisum sativum </it>cv Torsdag). Custom-designed oligonucleotide arrays were used to compare the transcriptional profiles of pea SAMs and non-meristematic tissues. A total of 184 and 175 transcripts were significantly up- or down-regulated in the pea SAM, respectively. As expected, close to 61% of the transcripts down-regulated in the SAM were found in the public database, whereas sequences from the same source only comprised 12% of the genes that were expressed at higher levels in the SAM. This highlights the under-representation of transcripts from the meristematic tissues in the current public pea protein database, and demonstrates the utility of our SAM EST collection as an essential genetic resource for revealing further information on the regulation of this developmental process. In addition to unknowns, many of the up-regulated transcripts are known to encode products associated with cell division and proliferation, epigenetic regulation, auxin-mediated responses and microRNA regulation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The presented data provide a picture of the transcriptional profile of the pea SAM, and reveal possible roles of differentially expressed transcripts in meristem function and maintenance.</p
Reorientation transition of ultrathin ferromagnetic films
We demonstrate that the reorientation transition from out-of-plane to
in-plane magnetization with decreasing temperature as observed experimentally
in Ni-films on Cu(001) can be explained on a microscopic basis. Using a
combination of mean field theory and perturbation theory, we derive an analytic
expression for the temperature dependent anisotropy. The reduced magnetization
in the film surface at finite temperatures plays a crucial role for this
transition as with increasing temperature the influence of the uniaxial
anisotropies is reduced at the surface and is enhanced inside the film.Comment: 4 pages(RevTeX), 3 figures (EPS
How does an initial expectation bias influence auditors\u27 application and performance of analytical procedures?
Prior research demonstrates that knowledge of unaudited balances biases auditors\u27 expectations during analytical procedures. What is less understood is how these biases affect auditors\u27 subsequent investigations and their conclusions about the reasonableness of a particular balance. We employ the selective accessibility model to examine the differences in analytical procedure performance when auditor expectations are formed with versus without knowledge of the client\u27s unaudited financial statement balances. In an experimental setting, we found that auditors with knowledge of unaudited balances favored hypotheses and supporting information indicating that the client\u27s balance was reasonably stated. Auditors who formed expectations without current-year figures were more willing to evaluate competing alternatives, could better identify the most pertinent information, and were significantly more likely to identify a material misstatement using an analytical procedur
Generation of GHZ entangled states of photons in multiple cavities via a superconducting qutrit or an atom through resonant interaction
We propose an efficient method to generate a GHZ entangled state of n photons
in n microwave cavities (or resonators) via resonant interaction to a single
superconducting qutrit. The deployment of a qutrit, instead of a qubit, as the
coupler enables us to use resonant interactions exclusively for all
qutrit-cavity and qutrit-pulse operations. This unique approach significantly
shortens the time of operation which is advantageous to reducing the adverse
effects of qutrit decoherence and cavity decay on fidelity of the protocol.
Furthermore, the protocol involves no measurement on either the state of qutrit
or cavity photons. We also show that the protocol can be generalized to other
systems by replacing the superconducting qutrit coupler with different types of
physical qutrit, such as an atom in the case of cavity QED, to accomplish the
same task.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
Microwave Syntheses and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis of trans-Hydrogen bis(dimethylsulfoxide)tetrachlororuthenate(III)
Interactions between organic friction modifier additives
The interactions of different additives in engine oils can create synergistic or antagonistic effects. This paper studies how mixing different organic friction modifier additives affects friction reducing properties of lubricants in the boundary lubrication regime. Amines of different degree of saturation were mixed with either glycerol monooleate (GMO) or oleic acid in hexadecane. The model lubricants thus formed were characterised with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Friction tests in reciprocating motion using ball-on-disc steel-steel contacts were conducted to examine the tribological performance of these lubricants. Worn surfaces were examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Oleic acid and oleylamine, a primary amine. Were found to form a partial ionic liquid, providing synergistic friction reduction. This positive interaction reduces with increasing degree of saturation of the amine. No synergistic effect was observed between GMO and oleylamine,suggesting that GMO does not hydrolyse into a carboxylic acid within a rubbing contact in the presence of amine. Keywords: Boundary Lubrication, Additives, Friction Abbreviations: organic friction modifier (OFM); glycerol monooleate (GMO); ionic liquid (IL); oleylamine (OA); diocylamine (DA); trihexylamine (TA); dimethylhexadecaylamine (DM16); high frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR); X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
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