Metal-insulator transition in Ca_{1-x}Li_xPd_3O_4

Metal-insulator transition in Ca_{1-x}Li_xPd_3O_4 has been studied through charge transport measurements. The resistivity, the Seebeck coefficient, and the Hall coefficient are consistently explained in terms of a simple one-band picture, where a hole with a moderately enhanced mass is itinerant three-dimensionally. Contrary to the theoretical prediction [Phys. Rev. B62, 13426 (2000)], CaPd_3O_4 is unlikely to be an excitonic insulator, and holds a finite carrier concentration down to 4.2 K. Thus the metal-insulator transition in this system is basically driven by localization effects.Comment: RevTeX4 format, 4 pages, 5 eps figure

The Unfulfilled Potential of Data-Driven Decision Making in Agile Software Development

With the general trend towards data-driven decision making (DDDM), organizations are looking for ways to use DDDM to improve their decisions. However, few studies have looked into the practitioners view of DDDM, in particular for agile organizations. In this paper we investigated the experiences of using DDDM, and how data can improve decision making. An emailed questionnaire was sent out to 124 industry practitioners in agile software developing companies, of which 84 answered. The results show that few practitioners indicated a widespread use of DDDM in their current decision making practices. The practitioners were more positive to its future use for higher-level and more general decision making, fairly positive to its use for requirements elicitation and prioritization decisions, while being less positive to its future use at the team level. The practitioners do see a lot of potential for DDDM in an agile context; however, currently unfulfilled

Optimization of broadband semiconductor chirped mirrors with genetic algorithm

Genetic algorithm was applied for optimization of dispersion properties in semiconductor Bragg reflectors for applications in femtosecond lasers. Broadband, large negative group-delay dispersion was achieved in the optimized design: The group-delay dispersion (GDD) as large as −3500 fs2 was theoretically obtained over a 10-nm bandwidth. The designed structure was manufactured and tested, providing GDD −3320 fs2 over a 7-nm bandwidth. The mirror performance was verified in semiconductor structures grown with molecular beam epitaxy. The mirror was tested in a passively mode-locked Yb:KYW laser

Gas-Phase Synthesis of Triphenylene (C18 H12 ).

For the last decades, the hydrogen-abstraction-acetylene-addition (HACA) mechanism has been widely invoked to rationalize the high-temperature synthesis of PAHs as detected in carbonaceous meteorites (CM) and proposed to exist in the interstellar medium (ISM). By unravelling the chemistry of the 9-phenanthrenyl radical ([C14 H9 ]. ) with vinylacetylene (C4 H4 ), we present the first compelling evidence of a barrier-less pathway leading to a prototype tetracyclic PAH - triphenylene (C18 H12 ) - via an unconventional hydrogen abstraction-vinylacetylene addition (HAVA) mechanism operational at temperatures as low as 10 K. The barrier-less, exoergic nature of the reaction reveals HAVA as a versatile reaction mechanism that may drive molecular mass growth processes to PAHs and even two-dimensional, graphene-type nanostructures in cold environments in deep space thus leading to a better understanding of the carbon chemistry in our universe through the untangling of elementary reactions on the most fundamental level

Strain Promoted Click Chemistry of 2- or 8-Azidopurine and 5-Azidopyrimidine Nucleosides and 8-Azidoadenosine Triphosphate with Cyclooctynes. Application to Living Cell Fluorescent Imaging

Strain-promoted click chemistry of nucleosides and nucleotides with an azido group directly attached to the purine and pyrimidine rings with various cyclooctynes in aqueous solution at ambient temperature resulted in efficient formation (3 min to 3 h) of fluorescent, light-up, triazole products. The 2- and 8-azidoadenine nucleosides reacted with fused cyclopropyl cyclooctyne, dibenzylcyclooctyne, or monofluorocyclooctyne to produce click products functionalized with hydroxyl, amino, N-hydroxysuccinimide, or biotin moieties. The 5-azidouridine and 5-azido-2\u27-deoxyuridine were similarly converted to the analogous triazole products in quantitative yields in less than 5 min. The 8-azido-ATP quantitatively afforded the triazole product with fused cyclopropyl cyclooctyne in aqueous acetonitrile (3 h). The novel triazole adducts at the 2- or 8-position of adenine or 5-position of uracil rings induce fluorescence properties which were used for direct imaging in MCF-7 cancer cells without the need for traditional fluorogenic reporters. FLIM of the triazole click adducts demonstrated their potential utility for dynamic measuring and tracking of signaling events inside single living cancer cells

Substituted Lactam and Cyclic Azahemiacetals Modulate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing

Quorum sensing (QS) is a population-dependent signaling process bacteria use to control multiple processes including virulence that is critical for establishing infection. The most common QS signaling molecule used by Gram-negative bacteria are acylhomoserine lactones. The development of non-native acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) ligands has emerged as a promising new strategy to inhibit QS in Gram-negative bacteria. In this work, we have synthesized a set of optically pure γ-lactams and their reduced cyclic azahemiacetal analogues, bearing the additional alkylthiomethyl substituent, and evaluated their effect on the AHL-dependent Pseudomonas aeruginosa las and rhl QS pathways. The concentration of these ligands and the simple structural modification such as the length of the alkylthio substituent has notable effect on activity. The γ-lactam derivatives with nonylthio or dodecylthio chains acted as inhibitors of las signaling with moderate potency. The cyclic azahemiacetal with shorter propylthio or hexylthio substituent was found to strongly inhibit both las and rhl signaling at higher concentrations while the propylthio analogue strongly stimulated the las QS system at lower concentrations

Ultrashort-pulse laser with an intracavity phase shaping element

A novel ultrashort-pulse laser cavity configuration that incorporates an intracavity deformable mirror as a phase control element is reported. A user-defined spectral phase relation of 0.7 radians relative shift could be produced at around 1035 nm. Phase shaping as well as pulse duration optimization was achieved via a computer-controlled feedback loop

Multifractal organization of EEG signals in Multiple Sclerosis

Quantifying the complex/multifractal organization of the brain signals is crucial to fully understanding the brain processes and structure. In this contribution, we performed the multifractal analysis of the electroencephalographic (EEG) data obtained from a controlled multiple sclerosis (MS) study, focusing on the correlation between the degree of multifractality, disease duration, and disability level. Our results reveal a significant correspondence between the complexity of the time series and multiple sclerosis development, quantified respectively by scaling exponents and the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Namely, for some brain regions, a well-developed multifractality and little persistence of the time series were identified in patients with a high level of disability, whereas the control group and patients with low EDSS were characterised by persistence and monofractality of the signals. The analysis of the cross-correlations between EEG signals supported these results, with the most significant differences identified for patients with EDSS $> 1$ and the combined group of patients with EDSS $\leq 1$ and controls. No association between the multifractality and disease duration was observed, indicating that the multifractal organisation of the data is a hallmark of developing the disease. The observed complexity/multifractality of EEG signals is hypothetically a result of neuronal compensation -- i.e., of optimizing neural processes in the presence of structural brain degeneration. The presented study is highly relevant due to the multifractal formalism used to quantify complexity and due to scarce resting-state EEG evidence for cortical reorganization associated with compensation.Comment: 39 pages, including supplementary materials (11 figures, 4 tables

The unfulfilled potential of data-driven decision making in agile software development

With the general trend towards data-driven decision making (DDDM), organizations are looking for ways to use DDDM to improve their decisions. However, few studies have looked into the practitioners view of DDDM, in particular for agile organizations. In this paper we investigated the experiences of using DDDM, and how data can improve decision making. An emailed questionnaire was sent out to 124 industry practitioners in agile software developing companies, of which 84 answered. The results show that few practitioners indicated a wide-spread use of DDDM in their current decision making practices. The practitioners were more positive to its future use for higher-level and more general decision making, fairly positive to its use for requirements elicitation and prioritization decisions, while being less positive to its future use at the team level. The practitioners do see a lot of potential for DDDM in an agile context; however, currently unfulfilled