35,722 research outputs found
Developing a new business model for enabling research - the case of the ACPFG in Australia
Publisher's postprint archived as permitted by publisher.The way in which companies, research centres and educational institutions are organised and structured may provide a competitive advantage for commercialisation, in particular if companies are dependent on the deployment of complementary assets and capabilities by third parties. This paper presents the case of the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG), a private agricultural biotechnology (agbiotech) company specialising in early stage Research and Development (R&D) to produce superior adapted cereal varieties, tolerant to abiotic stress conditions such as drought, frost, salt, or mineral toxicity, all of which have a direct and negative impact on plant growth and crop productivity. The organisational structure of the company has been influenced and shaped by Government policy, shareholders expectations and trends in the agbiotech industrial organisation. It has proved attractive to potential alliance partners for collaborative R&D and commercialisation. We present the ACPFG as a new business model to fund basic research and facilitate technology transfer.Stephanie C. Agius, David Corkindale, Antonio G. Dottore, Michael Gilber
Improved sparse approximation over quasi-incoherent dictionaries
This paper discusses a new greedy algorithm for solving the sparse approximation problem over quasi-incoherent dictionaries. These dictionaries consist of waveforms that are uncorrelated "on average," and they provide a natural generalization of incoherent dictionaries. The algorithm provides strong guarantees on the quality of the approximations it produces, unlike most other methods for sparse approximation. Moreover, very efficient implementations are possible via approximate nearest-neighbor data structure
Quantum Sensor Miniaturization
The classical bound on image resolution defined by the Rayleigh limit can be
beaten by exploiting the properties of quantum mechanical entanglement. If
entangled photons are used as signal states, the best possible resolution is
instead given by the Heisenberg limit, an improvement proportional to the
number of entangled photons in the signal. In this paper we present a novel
application of entanglement by showing that the resolution obtained by an
imaging system utilizing separable photons can be achieved by an imaging system
making use of entangled photons, but with the advantage of a smaller aperture,
thus resulting in a smaller and lighter system. This can be especially valuable
in satellite imaging where weight and size play a vital role.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in Photonics Technology
Letter
Trait mindfulness at baseline predicts increases in telomerase activity over time
Introduction
Preliminary investigations of cross-sectional samples have linked trait mindfulness with measures related to the hypothalamicâpituitaryâadrenal (HPA)-mediated stress response and to the inflammatory system, suggesting that this is one potential pathway linking mindfulness based interventions and health. However, no previous studies explored the association between the trait mindfulness construct and markers of cellular ageing.
Methods
In the current study we examined in a sample of healthy mothers (n = 92) of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (i.e. women showing high levels of chronic psychological stress) the prospective associations between a multidimensional scale of trait mindfulness, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and telomerase activity (TA), a marker of cellular ageing and telomere homeostasis. Participantsâ trait mindfulness and TA were assessed at baseline as well as 9 and 18 month follow-up.
Results
Analysis showed that higher levels of baseline mindfulness on FFMQ observation and describe subscales were related to increase in TA from baseline to 9 month (r = 0.27, P = 0.03 and r = 0.24, P = .04, respectively). Additionally, the FFMQ Describe subscale was related to increase in TA from baseline to 18 month (r = .30, P = .02). Results are reported following covariate adjustment of age, BMI, ethnicity, and education.
Discussion
Our results showed that higher levels of baseline mindfulness are associated with higher increases in TA after 9 months and 18 months, with increased TA reportedly being associated with decreased oxidative damage, increased telomere length and overall more functional cellular physiology. These findings support a role of mindfulness-related interventions to increase general and mental health
Measurement of the 6S-7S transition polarizablility in atomic cesium and an improved test of the standard model
The ratio of the off-diagonal hyperfine amplitude to the tensor transition
polarizability (Mhf/beta) for the 6S-7S transition in cesium has been measured.
The value of beta=27.024(43)(expt)(67)(theory)a_0^3 is then obtained using an
accurate semi-empirical value of Mhf. This is combined with a previous
measurement of parity nonconservation in atomic cesium and previous atomic
structure calculations to determine the value of the weak charge. The
uncertainties in the atomic structure calculations are updated (and reduced) in
light of new experimental tests. The result Q_W=-72.06(28)(expt) (34)(theory)
differs from the prediction of the standard model of elementary particle
physics by 2.5 sigma.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur
Motor starting techniques for the 2 to 15 kW Brayton space power system
Motor starting techniques for 2-15 kW Brayton space power syste
Encoding databases satisfying a given set of dependencies
Consider a relation schema with a set of dependency constraints. A fundamental question is what is the minimum space where the possible instances of the schema can be "stored". We study the following model. Encode the instances by giving a function which maps the set of possible instances into the set of words of a given length over the binary alphabet in a decodable way. The problem is to find the minimum length needed. This minimum is called the information content of the database. We investigate several cases where the set of dependency constraints consist of relatively simple sets of functional or multivalued dependencies. We also consider the following natural extension. Is it possible to encode the instances such a way that small changes in the instance cause a small change in the code. © 2012 Springer-Verlag
Theory and Simulation of the diffusion of kinks on dislocations in bcc metals
Isolated kinks on thermally fluctuating (1/2) screw, edge and
(1/2) edge dislocations in bcc iron are simulated under zero stress
conditions using molecular dynamics (MD). Kinks are seen to perform stochastic
motion in a potential landscape that depends on the dislocation character and
geometry, and their motion provides fresh insight into the coupling of
dislocations to a heat bath. The kink formation energy, migration barrier and
friction parameter are deduced from the simulations. A discrete
Frenkel-Kontorova-Langevin (FKL) model is able to reproduce the coarse grained
data from MD at a fraction of the computational cost, without assuming an a
priori temperature dependence beyond the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.
Analytic results reveal that discreteness effects play an essential r\^ole in
thermally activated dislocation glide, revealing the existence of a crucial
intermediate length scale between molecular and dislocation dynamics. The model
is used to investigate dislocation motion under the vanishingly small stress
levels found in the evolution of dislocation microstructures in irradiated
materials
Theoretical characterization of a model of aragonite crystal orientation in red abalone nacre
Nacre, commonly known as mother-of-pearl, is a remarkable biomineral that in
red abalone consists of layers of 400-nm thick aragonite crystalline tablets
confined by organic matrix sheets, with the crystal axes of the
aragonite tablets oriented to within 12 degrees from the normal to the
layer planes. Recent experiments demonstrate that this orientational order
develops over a distance of tens of layers from the prismatic boundary at which
nacre formation begins.
Our previous simulations of a model in which the order develops because of
differential tablet growth rates (oriented tablets growing faster than
misoriented ones) yield patterns of tablets that agree qualitatively and
quantitatively with the experimental measurements. This paper presents an
analytical treatment of this model, focusing on how the dynamical development
and eventual degree of order depend on model parameters. Dynamical equations
for the probability distributions governing tablet orientations are introduced
whose form can be determined from symmetry considerations and for which
substantial analytic progress can be made. Numerical simulations are performed
to relate the parameters used in the analytic theory to those in the
microscopic growth model. The analytic theory demonstrates that the dynamical
mechanism is able to achieve a much higher degree of order than naive estimates
would indicate.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure
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