CP Phases in Supersymmetric Tri-lepton Signals at the Tevatron

We have analyzed the supersymmetric tri-lepton signals for sparticle searches at the Tevatron in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with general CP phases without generational mixing. The CP phases may affect very strongly the chargino and neutralino mass spectrums and $\sigma(p\bar{p}\to\tilde{\chi}^-_1\tilde{\chi}^0_2)$ as well as ${\cal B}(\tilde{\chi}^-_1\to\tilde{\chi}^0_1\ell^-\nu)$ and ${\cal B}(\tilde{\chi}^0_2\to\tilde{\chi}^0_1\ell^+\ell^-)$. Even under the stringent constraints from the electron electric dipole moment the CP phases can lead to a minimum of the tri-lepton event rate for their non-trivial values.Comment: 10 pages, 3 eps figures, largely revised by including the electron EDM constraint

Expression of Haemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Envelope Protein of Newcastle Disease Virus Strain Af2240 in Centella Asiatica (Pegaga) Embryogenic Calli Through Optimized Particle Bombardment Method

Centella asiatica is a locally important medicinal plant. It is non-toxic, high in medicinal values, and can serve as a good candidate for genetic manipulation. However, to date no transformation protocol has been developed to fully utilize the potential of this plant. Therefore, this research is to establish an efficient particle bombardment transformation protocol for C. asiatica embryogenic calli. In addition, an attempt to express the haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein from Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strain AF2240 in C. asiatica embryogenic calli were carried out using the developed transformation system. The HN protein can serve as a potential vaccine candidate for Newcastle disease (ND) in poultry. The induced embryogenic calli revealed the presence of extracellular matrix layer (ECM) during the microscopy studies. Particle bombardment transformation protocol was developed using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as reporter. A total of eight parameters mainly different target distance, helium pressure, gold particles size, chamber vacuum pressure, number of bombardment, precipitation agents, post-bombardment incubation time, and plasmid DNA concentration were identified and successfully optimized. Based on the established protocol, transformations of C. asiatica embryogenic calli were performed using the constructed recombinant pMDC32’HN and HBT95:sGFP(S65T)-NOS’HN plasmids. Genomic PCR analysis revealed the presence of HN transgene in the transformed lines. Unfortunately no protein bands were detected during SDS-PAGE and western blotting, indicating low or no HN protein expression. Transformation using recombinant HBT95:sGFP(S65T)-NOS’HN plasmid resulted in very low GFP expression as compared to the positive control. Nonetheless, the mRNA transcripts were detected in the RT-PCR analysis. Positive signal from the dot blot assay further confirmed the presence of the HN protein expression in the transformed lines

Production of tENDO1 in stably transformed tobacco cell cultures for mismatch detection.

Scanning DNA sequences for polymorphisms and mutations often involve the mismatch specific cleavage by endonucleases at the mismatch sites and subsequent analysis of the digested product for mutation discovery. One of the limitations of using enzymatic mutation detection methods are the cost and availability of a mismatch specific endonuclease. We report the establishment of Nicotiana tabacum L. Cv. Bright Yellow 2 cells stably expressing the truncated ENDO1 (tENDO1) mismatch specific endonuclease. The 5′-Untranslated region of N. tabacum alcohol dehydrogenase gene (NtADH 5′-UTR) under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV 35S) promoter was employed to improve the tENDO1 protein yield. To ease the purification process, tENDO1 was secreted into the culture medium and isolated using nickel affinity chromatography. The tENDO1 was estimated to be stably produced in an average of 0.7–0.9 % total soluble protein. Functional test on tENDO1 for mismatch detection demonstrated that tENDO1 retained mismatch specific endonuclease activity resembles its native protein. Further biochemical analysis showed that tENDO1 exhibited mismatch detection specificity and efficiency comparable to other commonly used endonucleases

Nonlinear robust controller design for multi-robot systems with unknown payloads

This work is concerned with the control problem of a multi-robot system handling a payload with unknown mass properties. Force constraints at the grasp points are considered. Robust control schemes are proposed that cope with the model uncertainty and achieve asymptotic path tracking. To deal with the force constraints, a strategy for optimally sharing the task is suggested. This strategy basically consists of two steps. The first detects the robots that need help and the second arranges that help. It is shown that the overall system is not only robust to uncertain payload parameters, but also satisfies the force constraints

Controls and guidance research

The objectives of the control group are concentrated on research and education. The control problem of the hypersonic space vehicle represents an important and challenging issue in aerospace engineering. The work described in this report is part of our effort in developing advanced control strategies for such a system. In order to achieve the objectives stated in the NASA-CORE proposal, the tasks were divided among the group based upon their educational expertise. Within the educational component we are offering a Linear Systems and Control course for students in electrical and mechanical engineering. Also, we are proposing a new course in Digital Control Systems with a corresponding laboratory

Effects of thermal annealing on La2O3 gate dielectric of InGaZnO thin-film transistor

The effects of thermal annealing on La2O3 gate dielectric of InGaZnO thin-film transistor (TFT) are investigated by varying annealing temperature. Due to densification and enhanced moisture resistance of the La2O3 film, its surface roughness and interface with InGaZnO are improved by the thermal annealing, thus leading to significant improvement in the TFT electrical performance. However, higher-temperature (450 oC) annealing deteriorates the dielectric roughness and induces more traps associated with grain boundaries in the La2O3 film. The TFT with an appropriate annealing (350 oC) shows the best performance with smallest sub-threshold swing (0.276 V/dec), lowest threshold voltage (3.01 V), highest field-effect mobility (23.2 cm2/V.s) and largest on-off current ratio (3.52×108). © 2015 The Electrochemical Society.postprin

Effects of Ta incorporation in Y2O3 gate dielectric of InGaZnO thin-film transistor

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