An easy option? OAI static repositories as a method of exposing publishers' metadata to the information environment

This paper introduces OAI static repository technology as a method by which publishers can expose their article-level metadata and thereby participate more fully in the wider information environment. It begins by discussing the value of exposing metadata via OAI and the potential role that static repositories might play in lowering the barriers to achieving this, and reports on the progress of a study which is evaluating the applicability and effectiveness of the static repositories approach

Supergiant Shells and Molecular Cloud Formation in the LMC

We investigate the influence of large-scale stellar feedback on the formation of molecular clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Examining the relationship between HI and 12CO(J=1-0) in supergiant shells (SGSs), we find that the molecular fraction in the total volume occupied by SGSs is not enhanced with respect to the rest of the LMC disk. However, the majority of objects (~70% by mass) are more molecular than their local surroundings, implying that the presence of a supergiant shell does on average have a positive effect on the molecular gas fraction. Averaged over the full SGS sample, our results suggest that ~12-25% of the molecular mass in supergiant shell systems was formed as a direct result of the stellar feedback that created the shells. This corresponds to ~4-11% of the total molecular mass of the galaxy. These figures are an approximate lower limit to the total contribution of stellar feedback to molecular cloud formation in the LMC, and constitute one of the first quantitative measurements of feedback-triggered molecular cloud formation in a galactic system.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Utilization of parallel processing in solving the inviscid form of the average-passage equation system for multistage turbomachinery

A procedure is outlined which utilizes parallel processing to solve the inviscid form of the average-passage equation system for multistage turbomachinery along with a description of its implementation in a FORTRAN computer code, MSTAGE. A scheme to reduce the central memory requirements of the program is also detailed. Both the multitasking and I/O routines referred to are specific to the Cray X-MP line of computers and its associated SSD (Solid-State Disk). Results are presented for a simulation of a two-stage rocket engine fuel pump turbine

Drug-induced stress granule formation protects sensory hair cells in mouse cochlear explants during ototoxicity

Stress granules regulate RNA translation during cellular stress, a mechanism that is generally presumed to be protective, since stress granule dysregulation caused by mutation or ageing is associated with neurodegenerative disease. Here, we investigate whether pharmacological manipulation of the stress granule pathway in the auditory organ, the cochlea, affects the survival of sensory hair cells during aminoglycoside ototoxicity, a common cause of acquired hearing loss. We show that hydroxamate (-)-9, a silvestrol analogue that inhibits eIF4A, induces stress granule formation in both an auditory cell line and ex-vivo cochlear cultures and that it prevents ototoxin-induced hair-cell death. In contrast, preventing stress granule formation using the small molecule inhibitor ISRIB increases hair-cell death. Furthermore, we provide the first evidence of stress granule formation in mammalian hair cells in-vivo triggered by aminoglycoside treatment. Our results demonstrate that pharmacological induction of stress granules enhances cell survival in native-tissue, in a clinically-relevant context. This establishes stress granules as a viable therapeutic target not only for hearing loss but also other neurodegenerative diseases.EI:595 - Action on Hearing Loss; 091092/Z/09/Z - Wellcome Trust (Wellcome); MR/N004329/1 - RCUK | Medical Research Council (MRC)Published versio

The Photoeccentric Effect and Proto-hot Jupiters. III. A Paucity of Proto-hot Jupiters on Super-eccentric Orbits

Gas giant planets orbiting within 0.1 AU of their host stars are unlikely to have formed in situ and are evidence for planetary migration. It is debated whether the typical hot Jupiter smoothly migrated inward from its formation location through the proto-planetary disk, or was perturbed by another body onto a highly eccentric orbit, which tidal dissipation subsequently shrank and circularized during close stellar passages. Socrates and collaborators predicted that the latter model should produce a population of super-eccentric proto-hot Jupiters readily observable by Kepler. We find a paucity of such planets in the Kepler sample, which is inconsistent with the theoretical prediction with 96.9% confidence. Observational effects are unlikely to explain this discrepancy. We find that the fraction of hot Jupiters with an orbital period P > 3 days produced by the star-planet Kozai mechanism does not exceed (at two-sigma) 44%. Our results may indicate that disk migration is the dominant channel for producing hot Jupiters with P > 3 days. Alternatively, the typical hot Jupiter may have been perturbed to a high eccentricity by interactions with a planetary rather than stellar companion, and began tidal circularization much interior to 1 AU after multiple scatterings. A final alternative is that early in the tidal circularization process at high eccentricities tidal circularization occurs much more rapidly than later in the process at low eccentricities, although this is contrary to current tidal theories

A method for genotype validation and primer assessment in heterozygote-deficient species, as demonstrated in the prosobranch mollusc Hydrobia ulvae

BACKGROUND: In studies where microsatellite markers are employed, it is essential that the primers designed will reliably and consistently amplify target loci. In populations conforming to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), screening for unreliable markers often relies on the identification of heterozygote deficiencies and subsequent departures from HWE. However, since many populations naturally deviate from HWE, such as many marine invertebrates, it can be difficult to distinguish heterozygote deficiencies resulting from unreliable markers from natural processes. Thus, studies of populations that are suspected to deviate from HWE naturally would benefit from a method to validate genotype data-sets and test the reliability of the designed primers. Levels of heterozygosity are reported for the prosobranch mollusc Hydrobia ulvae (Pennant) together with a method of genotype validation and primer assessment that utilises two primer sets for each locus. Microsatellite loci presented are the first described for the species Hydrobia ulvae; the five loci presented will be of value in further study of populations of H. ulvae. RESULTS: We have developed a novel method of testing primer reliability in naturally heterozygote deficient populations. After the design of an initial primer set, genotyping in 48 Hydrobia ulvae specimens using a single primer set (Primer set_A) revealed heterozygote deficiency in six of the seven loci examined. Redesign of six of the primer pairs (Primer set_B), re-genotyping of the successful individuals from Primer set_A using Primer set_B, and comparison of genotypes between the two primer sets, enabled the identification of two loci (Hulv-06 & Hulv-07) that showed a high degree of discrepancy between primer sets A and B (0% & only 25% alleles matching, respectively), suggesting unreliability in these primers. The discrepancies included changes from heterozygotes to homozygotes or vice versa, and some individuals who also displayed new alleles of unexpected sizes. Of the other four loci examined (Hulv-01, Hulv-03, Hulv-04, & Hulv-05), all showed more than 95% agreement between primer sets. Hulv-01, Hulv-03, & Hulv-05 displayed similar levels of heterozygosity with both primer sets suggesting that these loci are indeed heterozygote deficient, while Hulv-08 showed no deficiency in either primer set. CONCLUSION: The simple method described to identify unreliable markers will prove a useful technique for many population studies, and also emphasises the dangers in using a single primer set and assuming marker reliability in populations shown to naturally deviate from HWE

Auxiliary field formalism for dilute fermionic atom gases with tunable interactions

We develop the auxiliary field formalism corresponding to a dilute system of spin-1/2 fermions. This theory represents the Fermi counterpart of the BEC theory developed recently by F. Cooper et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 240402 (2010)] to describe a dilute gas of Bose particles. Assuming tunable interactions, this formalism is appropriate for the study of the crossover from the regime of Bardeen-Cooper-Schriffer (BCS) pairing to the regime of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in ultracold fermionic atom gases. We show that when applied to the Fermi case at zero temperature, the leading-order auxiliary field (LOAF) approximation gives the same equations as those obtained in the standard BCS variational picture. At finite temperature, LOAF leads to the theory discussed by by Sa de Melo, Randeria, and Engelbrecht [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 3202(1993); Phys. Rev. B 55, 15153(1997)]. As such, LOAF provides a unified framework to study the interacting Fermi gas. The mean-field results discussed here can be systematically improved upon by calculating the one-particle irreducible (1-PI) action corrections, order by order.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Causal correlation of foliar biochemical concentrations with AVIRIS spectra using forced entry linear regression

A major goal of airborne imaging spectrometry is to estimate the biochemical composition of vegetation canopies from reflectance spectra. Remotely-sensed estimates of foliar biochemical concentrations of forests would provide valuable indicators of ecosystem function at regional and eventually global scales. Empirical research has shown a relationship exists between the amount of radiation reflected from absorption features and the concentration of given biochemicals in leaves and canopies (Matson et al., 1994, Johnson et al., 1994). A technique commonly used to determine which wavelengths have the strongest correlation with the biochemical of interest is unguided (stepwise) multiple regression. Wavelengths are entered into a multivariate regression equation, in their order of importance, each contributing to the reduction of the variance in the measured biochemical concentration. A significant problem with the use of stepwise regression for determining the correlation between biochemical concentration and spectra is that of 'overfitting' as there are significantly more wavebands than biochemical measurements. This could result in the selection of wavebands which may be more accurately attributable to noise or canopy effects. In addition, there is a real problem of collinearity in that the individual biochemical concentrations may covary. A strong correlation between the reflectance at a given wavelength and the concentration of a biochemical of interest, therefore, may be due to the effect of another biochemical which is closely related. Furthermore, it is not always possible to account for potentially suitable waveband omissions in the stepwise selection procedure. This concern about the suitability of stepwise regression has been identified and acknowledged in a number of recent studies (Wessman et al., 1988, Curran, 1989, Curran et al., 1992, Peterson and Hubbard, 1992, Martine and Aber, 1994, Kupiec, 1994). These studies have pointed to the lack of a physical link between wavelengths chosen by stepwise regression and the biochemical of interest, and this in turn has cast doubts on the use of imaging spectrometry for the estimation of foliar biochemical concentrations at sites distant from the training sites. To investigate this problem, an analysis was conducted on the variation in canopy biochemical concentrations and reflectance spectra using forced entry linear regression