Improved plasmids for gene targeting at the his-3 locus of Neurospora crassa by electroporation: Correction

Two mistakes in our article on gene replacement by gene targeting at the his-3 locus (Margolin, B.S. et al., 1997, FGN 44:34-36) have come to our attention

Improved plasmids for gene targeting at the his-3 locus of Neurospora crassa by electroporation

We report two new plasmids, pBM60 and pBM61, and procedures to efficiently generate single- copy transformants targeted to the his-3 locus in Neurospora crassa

On Convergence of the Inexact Rayleigh Quotient Iteration with the Lanczos Method Used for Solving Linear Systems

For the Hermitian inexact Rayleigh quotient iteration (RQI), the author has established new local general convergence results, independent of iterative solvers for inner linear systems. The theory shows that the method locally converges quadratically under a new condition, called the uniform positiveness condition. In this paper we first consider the local convergence of the inexact RQI with the unpreconditioned Lanczos method for the linear systems. Some attractive properties are derived for the residuals, whose norms are $\xi_{k+1}$'s, of the linear systems obtained by the Lanczos method. Based on them and the new general convergence results, we make a refined analysis and establish new local convergence results. It is proved that the inexact RQI with Lanczos converges quadratically provided that $\xi_{k+1}\leq\xi$ with a constant $\xi\geq 1$. The method is guaranteed to converge linearly provided that $\xi_{k+1}$ is bounded by a small multiple of the reciprocal of the residual norm $\|r_k\|$ of the current approximate eigenpair. The results are fundamentally different from the existing convergence results that always require $\xi_{k+1}<1$, and they have a strong impact on effective implementations of the method. We extend the new theory to the inexact RQI with a tuned preconditioned Lanczos for the linear systems. Based on the new theory, we can design practical criteria to control $\xi_{k+1}$ to achieve quadratic convergence and implement the method more effectively than ever before. Numerical experiments confirm our theory.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0906.223

The MODEST questions: challenges and future directions in stellar cluster research

We present a review of some of the current major challenges in stellar cluster research, including young clusters, globular clusters, and galactic nuclei. Topics considered include: primordial mass segregation and runaway mergers, expulsion of gas from clusters, the production of stellar exotica seen in some clusters (eg blue stragglers and extreme horizontal--branch stars), binary populations within clusters, the black--hole population within stellar clusters, the final parsec problem, stellar dynamics around a massive black hole, and stellar collisions. The Modest Questions posed here are the outcome of discussions which took place at the Modest-6A workshop held in Lund, Sweden, in December, 2005. Modest-6A was organised as part of the activities of the Modest Collaboration (see www.manybody.org for further details)Comment: 24 pages, no figures, accepted for publication in New Astronom

Intensity and frequency noise reduction of a Nd:YAG NPRO via pump light stabilisation

We have shown that pump light intensity stabilisation of a single-mode laser diode pumped Nd:YAG non-planar ring oscillator (NPRO) results in significant intensity noise reduction of the NPRO, as well as frequency noise suppression in the same order of magnitude. This effect does not occur in conventional laser diode array pumped NPROs due to mode beating effects originating in the multi-mode pump. As opposed to individual intensity and frequency stabilisation, pump light stabilisation contributes a simplified stabilisation scheme for single-mode laser diode pumped NPROs for high precision applications

Ocean acoustical ray-tracing : Software Ray

A new computer program for accurate calculation of acoustic ray paths through a range-varing ocean sound channel has been written. It is based on creating a model of the speed of sound in the ocean, consistent with input data, that produces the smoothest possible wavefronts. This scheme eliminates "false caustics" from the wavefront. It may be useful in calculating an approximate solution to the full wave equation at megameter ranges.Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research under contract N00014-86-C-0358 and the Office of Naval Technology under contract N00014-90-C-0098

Extreme mass ratio inspiral rates: dependence on the massive black hole mass

We study the rate at which stars spiral into a massive black hole (MBH) due to the emission of gravitational waves (GWs), as a function of the mass M of the MBH. In the context of our model, it is shown analytically that the rate approximately depends on the MBH mass as M^{-1/4}. Numerical simulations confirm this result, and show that for all MBH masses, the event rate is highest for stellar black holes, followed by white dwarfs, and lowest for neutron stars. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is expected to see hundreds of these extreme mass ratio inspirals per year. Since the event rate derived here formally diverges as M->0, the model presented here cannot hold for MBHs of masses that are too low, and we discuss what the limitations of the model are.Comment: Accepted to CQG, special LISA issu