Separation of lymphocytes by electrophoresis under terrestrial conditions and at zero gravity, phase 3

Electrophoretic mobilities (EPM) of peripheral lymphocytes were studied from normal subjects, chronic hemodialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients. A technique to separate B lymphocytes and null cells from non-T lymphocyte preparation was developed. The experiments were designed to determine which subpopulation of the non-T lymphocytes is primarily affected and shows a decreased EPM in chronic hemodialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients

An inquiry into the adoption of the best practices of Sarbanes-Oxley in institutions of higher education

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is legislation enacted as a result of the financial criminal wrongdoings of companies such as Enron and WorldCom. As a result of such wrongdoings, the government intervened and legislation was passed in 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002).Although the act only applies to publicly traded companies, many institutions, including institutions of higher education, have adopted the “best practices” of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The concept underpinning the “best practices” is that transparency, accountability and ethical conduct in financial policies and practices are prevalent in every organization, and institutions of higher education are not exempt.The research findings from our inquiry into institutions of Higher Education indicated that many of the institutions of higher education that implemented the best practices did so because they thought it was the “correct thing to do”- implying that best practices of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - transparency, accountability and ethical conduct in financial polices and practices should be adopted.As a second step, this study attempts to qualitatively determine why institutions of higher education decided to implement any of the best practices. What, if any perceived benefits were gained, and if the institutions believed that they have achieved those benefits as of the time of the interviews.The findings made it clear that there is a general sense that implementing the best practices of Sarbanes-Oxley is important and the right thing to do. The implications of implementing the best practices of Sarbanes-Oxley will show employees and others outside the institution that the institution wants to do the right thing, that accountability and transparency are important. Also, it will likely help establish an ethical culture within the institutions of higher education through the institution’s code of conduct that improper behavior will not be tolerated.Based on current findings, we postulate that institutions of higher education that have implemented the best practices of Sarbanes-Oxley will be better poised should future regulation be enacted. Also, we expect that funding agencies will consider positively the fact that there are organizations that are exercising their fiduciary responsibilities by implementing the best practices of Sarbanes-Oxley.Ph.D., Educational Leadership and Learning Technology -- Drexel University, 200

Finite-well potential in the 3D nonlinear Schroedinger equation: Application to Bose-Einstein condensation

Using variational and numerical solutions we show that stationary negative-energy localized (normalizable) bound states can appear in the three-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with a finite square-well potential for a range of nonlinearity parameters. Below a critical attractive nonlinearity, the system becomes unstable and experiences collapse. Above a limiting repulsive nonlinearity, the system becomes highly repulsive and cannot be bound. The system also allows nonnormalizable states of infinite norm at positive energies in the continuum. The normalizable negative-energy bound states could be created in BECs and studied in the laboratory with present knowhow.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure

Control of atomic currents using a quantum stirring device

We propose a BEC stirring device which can be regarded as the incorporation of a quantum pump into a closed circuit: it produces a DC circulating current in response to a cyclic adiabatic change of two control parameters of an optical trap. We demonstrate the feasibility of this concept and point out that such device can be utilized in order to probe the interatomic interactions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, uses epl2.cls, revised versio

Computational Prediction of Broadly Neutralizing HIV-1 Antibody Epitopes from Neutralization Activity Data

Broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies effective against the majority of circulating isolates of HIV-1 have been isolated from a small number of infected individuals. Definition of the conformational epitopes on the HIV spike to which these antibodies bind is of great value in defining targets for vaccine and drug design. Drawing on techniques from compressed sensing and information theory, we developed a computational methodology to predict key residues constituting the conformational epitopes on the viral spike from cross-clade neutralization activity data. Our approach does not require the availability of structural information for either the antibody or antigen. Predictions of the conformational epitopes of ten broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies are shown to be in good agreement with new and existing experimental data. Our findings suggest that our approach offers a means to accelerate epitope identification for diverse pathogenic antigens