Sub-dekahertz ultraviolet spectroscopy of 199Hg+

Using a laser that is frequency-locked to a Fabry-Perot etalon of high finesse and stability, we probe the 5d10 6s 2S_1/2 (F=0) - 5d9 6s 2D_5/2 (F=2) Delta-m_F = 0 electric-quadrupole transition of a single laser-cooled 199Hg+ ion stored in a cryogenic radio-frequency ion trap. We observe Fourier-transform limited linewidths as narrow as 6.7 Hz at 282 nm (1.06 X 10^15 Hz), yielding a line Q = 1.6 X 10^14. We perform a preliminary measurement of the 5d9 6s2 2D_5/2 electric-quadrupole shift due to interaction with the static fields of the trap, and discuss the implications for future trapped-ion optical frequency standards.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publicatio

Keeping Steady as She Goes: A Negotiated Order Perspective on Technological Evolution

A central idea in the theory of technology cycles is that social and political mechanisms are most important during the selection of a dominant design, and that eras of incremental change are socially uninteresting periods in which innovation is driven by technological momentum and elaboration of the dominant design. In this essay, we overturn the ontological assumption that social order is inherently stable, drawing on Anselm Strauss's concept of negotiated order to analyze the persistence of a dominant design as a social accomplishment: an outcome of ongoing processes that reinforce or challenge a socially negotiated order. Thus, we shift focus from battles over standards to periods of normal innovation. We extend the technology cycles model to explain social dynamics in periods of incremental change, and to make predictions specifying how contextual conditions in standards-setting organizations affect social interaction, leading to reinforcement or challenge to a socio-technical order

Liquid Biopsies: The Future of Cancer Early Detection

Cancer is a worldwide pandemic. The burden it imposes grows steadily on a global scale causing emotional, physical, and financial strains on individuals, families, and health care systems. Despite being the second leading cause of death worldwide, many cancers do not have screening programs and many people with a high risk of developing cancer fail to follow the advised medical screening regime due to the nature of the available screening tests and other challenges with compliance. Moreover, many liquid biopsy strategies being developed for early detection of cancer lack the sensitivity required to detect early-stage cancers. Early detection is key for improved quality of life, survival, and to reduce the financial burden of cancer treatments which are greater at later stage detection. This review examines the current liquid biopsy market, focusing in particular on the strengths and drawbacks of techniques in achieving early cancer detection. We explore the clinical utility of liquid biopsy technologies for the earlier detection of solid cancers, with a focus on how a combination of various spectroscopic and -omic methodologies may pave the way for more efficient cancer diagnostics

Liquid biopsies : the future of cancer early detection

Cancer is a worldwide pandemic. The burden it imposes grows steadily on a global scale causing emotional, physical, and financial strains on individuals, families, and health care systems. Despite being the second leading cause of death worldwide, many cancers do not have screening programs and many people with a high risk of developing cancer fail to follow the advised medical screening regime due to the nature of the available screening tests and other challenges with compliance. Moreover, many liquid biopsy strategies being developed for early detection of cancer lack the sensitivity required to detect early-stage cancers. Early detection is key for improved quality of life, survival, and to reduce the financial burden of cancer treatments which are greater at later stage detection. This review examines the current liquid biopsy market, focusing in particular on the strengths and drawbacks of techniques in achieving early cancer detection. We explore the clinical utility of liquid biopsy technologies for the earlier detection of solid cancers, with a focus on how a combination of various spectroscopic and -omic methodologies may pave the way for more efficient cancer diagnostics

Structure of the uncomplexed DNA repair enzyme endonuclease VIII indicates significant interdomain flexibility

Escherichia coli endonuclease VIII (Nei) excises oxidized pyrimidines from DNA. It shares significant sequence homology and similar mechanism with Fpg, a bacterial 8-oxoguanine glycosylase. The structure of a covalent Nei–DNA complex has been recently determined, revealing critical amino acid residues which are important for DNA binding and catalysis. Several Fpg structures have also been reported; however, analysis of structural dynamics of Fpg/Nei family proteins has been hindered by the lack of structures of uncomplexed and DNA-bound enzymes from the same source. We report a 2.8 Å resolution structure of free wild-type Nei and two structures of its inactive mutants, Nei-E2A (2.3 Å) and Nei-R252A (2.05 Å). All three structures are virtually identical, demonstrating that the mutations did not affect the overall conformation of the protein in its free state. The structures show a significant conformational change compared with the Nei structure in its complex with DNA, reflecting a ∼50° rotation of the two main domains of the enzyme. Such interdomain flexibility has not been reported previously for any DNA glycosylase and may present the first evidence for a global DNA-induced conformational change in this class of enzymes. Several local but functionally relevant structural changes are also evident in other parts of the enzyme

An exploratory study of the determinants of the quality of strategic decision implementation in Turkish industrial firms

This paper investigates the determinants of quality of decision implementation. By drawing on a sample of 116 firms located in Turkey, the authors test whether the features of important team processes (i.e. trust and participation), of the organisation (i.e. past performance) and of implementation (i.e. its speed and uncertainty) exert an influence on the quality with which decisions are implemented. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the validity of the measures, while path analysis was used in hypotheses testing. The results suggest that quality of decision implementation is positively related to trust, participation and past performance, and negatively to implementation speed and uncertainty. The implications of these findings for theory, practice and general management are discussed

Academic Arrhythmia: Disruption, Dissonance and Conflict in the Early-Career Rhythms of CMS Academics

Starting a career on the margins of the neoliberal business school is becoming increasingly challenging. We contribute to the understanding of the problems involved and to potential solutions by developing a theoretically-informed approach to the rhythms of academic life and drawing on interviews with 32 Critical Management Studies (CMS) early-career academics (ECAs) in 14 countries. Bringing together Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis (and his concepts of polyrhythmia, eurhythmia and arrhythmia), Zerubavel’s sociology of time, and identity construction literature, we examine the rhythm-identity implications of the recent HE changes. We show how the dynamics between the broader pressures, institutional strategies, and our interviewees’ attempts to reassert themselves are creating a vicious circle of arrhythmia – a debilitating condition characterized by rhythmic disruption, dissonance and conflict. Within the circle, identity insecurity and regulation, CMS ECAs’ identity work, and arrhythmia are mutually co-constructive, so that it is hard for individuals to break out. We consider the possibilities and limitations of individual coping strategies and, drawing out lessons for business schools, advocate for more collective and structural solutions. In so doing, we contribute to the reimagining of business schools as more eurhythmically polyrhythmic places where ECAs of all intellectual orientations have the time to learn and develop