16,834 research outputs found
Detection of hidden mineral deposits by airborne spectral analysis of forest canopies
Data from field surveys and biogeochemical tests conducted in Maine, Montana, and Washington strongly correlate with results obtained using high resolution airborne spectroradiometer which detects an anomalous spectral waveform that appears definitely associated with sulfide mineralization. The spectral region most affected by mineral stress is between 550 nm and 750 nm. Spectral variations observed in the field occur on the wings of the red chlorophyll band centered at about 690 nm. The metal-stress-induced variations on the absorption band wing are most successfully resolved in the high spectral resolution field data using a waveform analysis technique. The development of chlorophyll pigments was retarded in greenhouse plants doped with copper and zinc in the laboratory. The lowered chlorophyll production resulted in changes on the wings of the chlorophyll bands of reflectance spectra of the plants. The airborne spectroradiometer system and waveform analysis remains the most sensitive technique for biogeochemical surveys
Bifurcation in electrostatic resistive drift wave turbulence
The Hasegawa-Wakatani equations, coupling plasma density and electrostatic
potential through an approximation to the physics of parallel electron motions,
are a simple model that describes resistive drift wave turbulence. We present
numerical analyses of bifurcation phenomena in the model that provide new
insights into the interactions between turbulence and zonal flows in the
tokamak plasma edge region. The simulation results show a regime where, after
an initial transient, drift wave turbulence is suppressed through zonal flow
generation. As a parameter controlling the strength of the turbulence is tuned,
this zonal flow dominated state is rapidly destroyed and a turbulence-dominated
state re-emerges. The transition is explained in terms of the Kelvin-Helmholtz
stability of zonal flows. This is the first observation of an upshift of
turbulence onset in the resistive drift wave system, which is analogous to the
well-known Dimits shift in turbulence driven by ion temperature gradients.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure
An econometric analysis of SARS and Avian flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia
This paper compares the impacts of SARS and human deaths arising from Avian Flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia. The effects of SARS and human deaths from Avian Flu will be compared directly according to human deaths. The nature of the short run and long run relationship is examined empirically by estimating a static line fixed effect model and a difference transformation dynamic model, respectively. Empirical results from the static fixed effect and difference transformation dynamic models are consistent, and indicate that both the short run and long run SARS effect have a more significant impact on international tourist arrivals than does Avian Flu. In addition, the effects of deaths arising from both SARS and Avian Flu suggest that SARS is more important to international tourist arrivals than is Avian Flu. Thus, while Avian Flu is here to stay, its effect is currently not as significant as that of SARS.Avian flu;international tourism;SARS;dynamic panel data model;static fixed effects model
Enhancing adaptive random testing for programs with high dimensional input domains or failure-unrelated parameters
Adaptive random testing (ART), an enhancement of random testing (RT), aims to both randomly select and evenly spread test cases. Recently, it has been observed that the effectiveness of some ART algorithms may deteriorate as the number of program input parameters (dimensionality) increases. In this article, we analyse various problems of one ART algorithm, namely fixed-sized-candidate-set ART (FSCS-ART), in the high dimensional input domain setting, and study how FSCS-ART can be further enhanced to address these problems. We propose to add a filtering process of inputs into FSCS-ART to achieve a more even-spread of test cases and better failure detection effectiveness in high dimensional space. Our study shows that this solution, termed as FSCS-ART-FE, can improve FSCS-ART not only in the case of high dimensional space, but also in the case of having failure-unrelated parameters. Both cases are common in real life programs. Therefore, we recommend using FSCS-ART-FE instead of FSCS-ART whenever possible. Other ART algorithms may face similar problems as FSCS-ART; hence our study also brings insight into the improvement of other ART algorithms in high dimensional space
Gravity waves over topographical bottoms: Comparison with the experiment
In this paper, the propagation of water surface waves over one-dimensional
periodic and random bottoms is investigated by the transfer matrix method. For
the periodic bottoms, the band structure is calculated, and the results are
compared to the transmission results. When the bottoms are randomized, the
Anderson localization phenomenon is observed. The theory has been applied to an
existing experiment (Belzons, et al., J. Fluid Mech. {\bf 186}, 530 (1988)). In
general, the results are compared favorably with the experimental observation.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
Role of Glutathione in the Regulation of Cisplatin Resistance in Cancer Chemotherapy
Three mechanisms have been proposed for the role of glutathione (GSH) in regulating cisplatin (CDDP) sensitivities that affects its ultimate cell-killing ability: (i) GSH may serve as a cofactor in facilitating multidrug resistance protein 2- (MRP2-) mediated CDDP efflux in mammalian cells, since MRP2-transfected cells were shown to confer CDDP resistance; (ii) GSH may serve as a redox-regulating cytoprotector based on the observations that many CDDP-resistant cells overexpress GSH and γ-glutamylcysteine synthesis (γ-GCS), the rate-limiting enzyme for GSH biosynthesis; (iii) GSH may function as a copper (Cu) chelator. Elevated GSH expression depletes the cellular bioavailable Cu pool, resulting in upregulation of the high-affinity Cu transporter (hCtr1) which is also a CDDP transporter. This has been demonstrated that overexpression of GSH by transfection with γ-GCS conferred sensitization to CDDP toxicity. This review describes how these three models were developed and critically reviews their importance to overall CDDP cytotoxicity in cancer cell treatments
Nonstoichiometric doping and Bi antisite defect in single crystal Bi2Se3
We studied the defects of Bi2Se3 generated from Bridgman growth of
stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric self-fluxes. Growth habit, lattice size,
and transport properties are strongly affected by the types of defect
generated. Major defect types of Bi_Se antisite and partial Bi_2-layer
intercalation are identified through combined studies of direct atomic-scale
imaging with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in conjunction
with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction, and
Hall effect measurements. We propose a consistent explanation to the origin of
defect type, growth morphology, and transport property.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Incommensurate spin correlations in highly oxidized cobaltates LaSrCoO
We observe quasi-static incommensurate magnetic peaks in neutron scattering
experiments on layered cobalt oxides La2-xSrxCoO4 with high Co oxidation states
that have been reported to be paramagnetic. This enables us to measure the
magnetic excitations in this highly hole-doped incommensurate regime and
compare our results with those found in the low-doped incommensurate regime
that exhibit hourglass magnetic spectra. The hourglass shape of magnetic
excitations completely disappears given a high Sr doping. Moreover, broad
low-energy excitations are found, which are not centered at the incommensurate
magnetic peak positions but around the quarter-integer values that are
typically exhibited by excitations in the checkerboard charge ordered phase.
Our findings suggest that the strong inter-site exchange interactions in the
undoped islands are critical for the emergence of hourglass spectra in the
incommensurate magnetic phases of La2-xSrxCoO4.Comment: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25117
Identification of T-cell receptor a-chain genes in the chicken
T-cell receptor (TCR) -chain (TCR) and ß-chain (TCRß) genes are well characterized in mammals, while only TCRß genes have been identified in other vertebrates. To identify avian TCR genes, we used monoclonal anti-CD3 antibodies to isolate chicken TCR for peptide sequence analysis. Degenerate oligonucleotide probes were then used to isolate a candidate TCR cDNA clone that hybridized with a 1.7-kb mRNA species present only in ß T cells and in tissues populated by these cells. Southern blot analysis revealed gene rearrangement in thymocytes and ß T-cell lines. The TCR cDNA candidate encoded an openreading frame of 275 amino acids, the predicted variable (V)-, joining (J)-, and constant (C)-region amino acid sequences of which shared 40%, 60%, and 25% homology with corresponding mammalian sequences. A single C gene and 25 V genes were identified by using region-specific probes. The V cDNA probe isolated from a Vß1+ cell line reacted with transcripts from one of five Vß2+ cell lines, suggesting shared use of V genes by Vß1+ and Vß2+ T cells and the existence of other V gene families. A genomic V sequence was flanked by classical recombination signal sequences but, unlike previously defined V genes, the leader and V region were encoded by a single exon. The data indicate evolutionary conservation of the basic TCR gene structure in birds and mammal
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