3,828 research outputs found
Impulse-induced localized nonlinear modes in an electrical lattice
Intrinsic localized modes, also called discrete breathers, can exist under
certain conditions in one-dimensional nonlinear electrical lattices driven by
external harmonic excitations. In this work, we have studied experimentally the
efectiveness of generic periodic excitations of variable waveform at generating
discrete breathers in such lattices. We have found that this generation
phenomenon is optimally controlled by the impulse transmitted by the external
excitation (time integral over two consecutive zerosComment: 5 pages, 8 figure
Recent changes to the Federal Reserve's survey of terms of business lending
The Federal Reserve's quarterly Survey of Terms of Business Lending, which has been conducted for more than twenty years, collects information on interest rates and other characteristics of commercial bank business loans. The survey has been changed from time to time to recognize innovations in bank lending practices and to improve the measurement of the desired information. The most recent changes took effect with the May 1997 survey. The major improvement was the addition of an item measuring loan risk. In addition, the reporting panel, which had been limited to domestically chartered commercial banks was expanded to include a sample of U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, which now account for a significant proportion of business lending to U.S. firms. This article discusses the most recent changes made to the survey and presents some information now available from the new items being reported. It also summarizes information about the use of loan risk ratings from consultations conducted with a sample of the survey respondents during the process of planning the revisions to the survey.Commercial loans
Nonlinear localized modes in two-dimensional electrical lattices
We report the observation of spontaneous localization of energy in two
spatial dimensions in the context of nonlinear electrical lattices. Both
stationary and traveling self-localized modes were generated experimentally and
theoretically in a family of two-dimensional square, as well as hon- eycomb
lattices composed of 6x6 elements. Specifically, we find regions in driver
voltage and frequency where stationary discrete breathers, also known as
intrinsic localized modes (ILM), exist and are stable due to the interplay of
damping and spatially homogeneous driving. By introduc- ing additional
capacitors into the unit cell, these lattices can controllably induce traveling
discrete breathers. When more than one such ILMs are experimentally generated
in the lattice, the interplay of nonlinearity, discreteness and wave
interactions generate a complex dynamics wherein the ILMs attempt to maintain a
minimum distance between one another. Numerical simulations show good agreement
with experimental results, and confirm that these phenomena qualitatively carry
over to larger lattice sizes.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Farmer Willingness to Supply Poultry Litter for Energy Conversion and to Invest in an Energy Conversion Cooperative
Conversion of poultry litter to energy can serve as a renewable energy source and provide an alternative to land application in areas where poultry production is intensive. Economies of size may limit a farmer’s ability to economically use on-farm conversion. Capital costs can be spread across several poultry farmers to convert poultry litter to energy in a centralized facility. This research determined influences on the amount of litter poultry producers will to sell to a centralized conversion facility, on their willingness to invest in a conversion cooperative, and on the prices for litter required to divert litter from current uses.poultry litter, supply, renewable energy, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q12, Q13,
Discrete breathers in a nonlinear electric line: Modeling, Computation and Experiment
We study experimentally and numerically the existence and stability
properties of discrete breathers in a periodic nonlinear electric line. The
electric line is composed of single cell nodes, containing a varactor diode and
an inductor, coupled together in a periodic ring configuration through
inductors and driven uniformly by a harmonic external voltage source. A simple
model for each cell is proposed by using a nonlinear form for the varactor
characteristics through the current and capacitance dependence on the voltage.
For an electrical line composed of 32 elements, we find the regions, in driver
voltage and frequency, where -peaked breather solutions exist and
characterize their stability. The results are compared to experimental
measurements with good quantitative agreement. We also examine the spontaneous
formation of -peaked breathers through modulational instability of the
homogeneous steady state. The competition between different discrete breathers
seeded by the modulational instability eventually leads to stationary
-peaked solutions whose precise locations is seen to sensitively depend on
the initial conditions
Multibreather and vortex breather stability in Klein--Gordon lattices: Equivalence between two different approaches
In this work, we revisit the question of stability of multibreather
configurations, i.e., discrete breathers with multiple excited sites at the
anti-continuum limit of uncoupled oscillators. We present two methods that
yield quantitative predictions about the Floquet multipliers of the linear
stability analysis around such exponentially localized in space, time-periodic
orbits, based on the Aubry band method and the MacKay effective Hamiltonian
method and prove that their conclusions are equivalent. Subsequently, we
showcase the usefulness of the methods by a series of case examples including
one-dimensional multi-breathers, and two-dimensional vortex breathers in the
case of a lattice of linearly coupled oscillators with the Morse potential and
in that of the discrete model
Equine atypical myopathy associated with sycamore seed ingestion in a Przewalski foal
One of the 172 UK cases of equine atypical myopathy (EAM) reported to the Atypical Myopathy Alert Group (AMAG) in 2014 was that of a five-month old male Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), resident at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, UK. The foal presented initially with sudden-onset and repeated stretching of the neck as if dysphagic, with progressive weakness (including lying down), sweating and an unresponsive demeanour. General anaesthesia, induced with a combination of etorphine, midazolam and hyaluronidase, was required for each examination and subsequent treatment of the foal. Initial biochemical analysis showed a markedly increased plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity of 105,001 U/L, an increased aspartate amino transferase (AST) activity of 4194 U/L and a mildly increased inorganic phosphorus concentration of 2.35 mmol/L. The foal was unresponsive to treatment and had to be euthanased. Skeletal musculature and the myocardium showed the most significant pathological changes, with histological evidence of rhabdomyolysis, whilst urine organic acid analysis and an abnormal organic acid serum profile were supportive of multiple acyl Co-A dehydrogenase deficiency typical of EAM. This is the first description of EAM in a non-domestic equid
Radio Polarimetry of the ELAIS N1 Field: Polarized Compact Sources
We present deep polarimetric observations at 1420 MHz of the European Large
Area ISO Survey North 1 region (ELAIS N1) as part of the Dominion Radio
Astrophysical Observatory Planck Deep Fields project. By combining closely
spaced aperture synthesis fields, we image a region of 7.43 square degrees to a
maximum sensitivity in Stokes Q and U of 78 microJy/beam, and detect 786
compact sources in Stokes I. Of these, 83 exhibit polarized emission. We find
that the differential source counts (log N - log p) for polarized sources are
nearly constant down to p > 500 microJy, and that these faint polarized radio
sources are more highly polarized than the strong source population. The median
fractional polarization is (4.8 +/- 0.7)% for polarized sources with Stokes I
flux density between 1 and 30 mJy; approximately three times larger than
sources with I > 100 mJy. The majority of the polarized sources have been
identified with galaxies in the Spitzer Wide Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey
(SWIRE) image of ELAIS N1. Most of the galaxies occupy regions in the IRAC
5.8/3.6 micron vs. 8.0/4.5 micron color-color diagram associated with dusty
AGNs, or with ellipticals with an aging stellar population. A few host galaxies
have colors that suggests significant PAH emission in the near-infrared. A
small fraction, 12%, of the polarized sources are not detected in the SWIRE
data. None of the polarized sources in our sample appears to be associated with
an actively star-forming galaxy.Comment: 28 pages, 8 Figures. Figures 2 and 3 as separate gif images. Accepted
for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Driving a Fishery along the Bumpy Ride of Today's Globalisation: The Case of the Australian Southern Rock Lobster Association
The case of the Australian Southern Rock Lobster Association describes real issues faced by the Market Development Manager of a collective agri-food organization (SRL) representing all the southern rock lobster fishermen in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. The case deals with recent globalization issues faced by the Australian rock lobster industry: the rise of China as a vital and risky market of high-end food products; the financial crisis that affected the US starting from 2006 and the rise of sustainability issues that constrained the rock lobster supply. This case is designed for advanced BSc and MSc in agribusiness and international business. It is relevant for both for strategic management and supply chain management courses. In this case, managers, policy-makers and academics find challenging questions that are still open and can be similarly posed to other agribusiness industries worldwide attempting to compete collectively in international markets
Brucella abortus Infection of Placental Trophoblasts Triggers Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Cell Death and Fetal Loss via Type IV Secretion System-Dependent Activation of CHOP.
Subversion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function is a feature shared by multiple intracellular bacteria and viruses, and in many cases this disruption of cellular function activates pathways of the unfolded protein response (UPR). In the case of infection with Brucella abortus, the etiologic agent of brucellosis, the unfolded protein response in the infected placenta contributes to placentitis and abortion, leading to pathogen transmission. Here we show that B. abortus infection of pregnant mice led to death of infected placental trophoblasts in a manner that depended on the VirB type IV secretion system (T4SS) and its effector VceC. The trophoblast death program required the ER stress-induced transcription factor CHOP. While NOD1/NOD2 expression in macrophages contributed to ER stress-induced inflammation, these receptors did not play a role in trophoblast death. Both placentitis and abortion were independent of apoptosis-associated Speck-like protein containing a caspase activation and recruitment domain (ASC). These studies show that B. abortus uses its T4SS to induce cell-type-specific responses to ER stress in trophoblasts that trigger placental inflammation and abortion. Our results suggest further that in B. abortus the T4SS and its effectors are under selection as bacterial transmission factors.IMPORTANCE Brucella abortus infects the placenta of pregnant cows, where it replicates to high levels and triggers abortion of the calf. The aborted material is highly infectious and transmits infection to both cows and humans, but very little is known about how B. abortus causes abortion. By studying this infection in pregnant mice, we discovered that B. abortus kills trophoblasts, which are important cells for maintaining pregnancy. This killing required an injected bacterial protein (VceC) that triggered an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response in the trophoblast. By inhibiting ER stress or infecting mice that lack CHOP, a protein induced by ER stress, we could prevent death of trophoblasts, reduce inflammation, and increase the viability of the pups. Our results suggest that B. abortus injects VceC into placental trophoblasts to promote its transmission by abortion
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