Ion impact induced Interatomic Coulombic Decay in neon and argon dimers

We investigate the contribution of Interatomic Coulombic Decay induced by ion impact in neon and argon dimers (Ne$_2$ and Ar$_2$) to the production of low energy electrons. Our experiments cover a broad range of perturbation strengths and reaction channels. We use 11.37 MeV/u S$^{14+}$, 0.125 MeV/u He$^{1+}$, 0.1625 MeV/u He$^{1+}$ and 0.150 MeV/u He$^{2+}$ as projectiles and study ionization, single and double electron transfer to the projectile as well as projectile electron loss processes. The application of a COLTRIMS reaction microscope enables us to retrieve the three-dimensional momentum vectors of the ion pairs of the fragmenting dimer into Ne$^{q+}$/Ne$^{1+}$ and Ar$^{q+}$/Ar$^{1+}$ (q = 1, 2, 3) in coincidence with at least one emitted electron

Palladium nano-clusters grown on prestructured HOPG substrates

The growth of Palladium nano-clusters prepared by atomic beam deposition on prestructured highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces has been investigated by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). Preformed nanosized pits created on the HOPG surfaces are used as localized pinning sites for Pd cluster nucleation and growth at room temperature. We succeeded in obtaining Pd clusters of nanometric size and with rather sharp size distributions. A systematic morphological study conducted by STM reveals a linear dependence between the height and the diameter of the Pd nanostructures. Finally, Pd nano-clusters stabilized on prestructured HOPG surfaces were found to be active catalysts in the Heck cross-coupling reaction

Practical implications of GPR investigation using 3D data reconstruction and transmission tomography

Non-destructive investigation using ground penetrating radar is becoming more popular in the inspection of civil structures. Currently, traditional 2D imaging is used as a preliminary tool to fi nd possible areas of interest for more detailed inspection, which can be accomplished by more advanced techniques like 3D image reconstruction or tomography. In this paper, a general overview of the work done at University of Minho regarding these techniques is presented, together with their limitations and advantages over typical radargrams, with implications for civil engineering applications. For this purpose, data acquisition on two large masonry walls and one large concrete specimen have been carried out, using refl ection mode, 3D reconstruction and transmission tomography. The specimens have been specially built for non-destructive inspection techniques testing, incorporating different materials and internal voids. Radar tomography and 3D image reconstruction techniques provided much more detailed information about structural integrity and shapes and location of the voids, when compared to 2D imaging originally used for potential target identification.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - POCTI SFRH/BD/6409/2001"Sustainable Bridges" European project - FP6-PLT-0165

Do the type and number of blockholders influence R&D investments? : new evidence from Spain

Using data from 3,638 Spanish firms between 1996 and 2000, this article studies the relationship between the presence of large shareholders in the ownership structure of firms and R&D investment. Consistent with our theoretical contention, our results indicate that the impact of large shareholders on the R&D investment is (1) negative when blockholders are banks, (2) positive when blockholders are non-financial corporations and (3) null when blockholders are individuals. In addition, we find a systematic negative relationship between the number of blockholders and R&D investment. Finally, we extend our study by analysing the influence that the combined effect between blockholder type and R&D investment has on the firm’s economic performance. Results of this work provide relevant implications for policy makers and academic research.Publicad

Taxes and the Valuation of Dividends: A Study of Dividend Announcements in Germany

This paper investigates the impact of the 2001 tax reform in Germany on dividend announcement returns. With this major tax reform, the full imputation system was replaced by the half-income system, which had a significant impact on the relative taxation of dividends and capital gains for most investor classes. In an event study framework, we separate the tax effect of dividends from their positive signaling and agency cost effects to offer a more comprehensive picture of the valuation implications of dividends in Germany. Controlling for signaling and agency cost effects of dividends we find that the market response to positive dividend surprises is more pronounced under the full imputation system, where dividends are generally more favorable to investors from a tax perspective, than under the half-income system. Our results suggest that the observed decline in the dividend response coefficient is synchronized with the 2001 tax reform and hence attributable to the 2001 tax reform

Structural and Atropisomeric Factors Governing the Selectivity of Pyrimido-benzodiazipinones as Inhibitors of Kinases and Bromodomains

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Chemical Society via the DOI in this recordBromodomains have been pursued intensively over the past several years as emerging targets for the devel-opment of anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory agents. It has recently been shown that some kinase inhibitors are able to potently inhibit the bromodomains of BRD4. The clinical activities of PLK inhibitor BI-2536 and JAK2-FLT3 inhibitor TG101348 have been attributed to this unexpected poly-pharmacology, indicating that dual-kinase/bromodomain activity may be advantageous in a therapeutic context. However, for target validation and biological investigation, a more selec-tive target profile is desired. Here we report that benzo[e]pyrimido-[5,4-b]diazepine-6(11H)-ones, versatile ATP-site di-rected kinase pharmacophores utilized in the development of inhibitors of multiple kinases including a number of previ-ously reported kinase chemical probes, are also capable of exhibiting potent BRD4-dependent pharmacology. Using a dual kinase-bromodomain inhibitor of the kinase domains of ERK5 and LRRK2, and the bromodomain of BRD4 as a case study, we define the structure-activity relationships required to achieve dual kinase/BRD4 activity as well as how to di-rect selectivity towards inhibition of either ERK5 or BRD4. This effort resulted in identification of one of the first report-ed kinase-selective chemical probes for ERK5 (JWG-071), a BET selective inhibitor with 1 μM BRD4 IC50 (JWG-115), and additional inhibitors with rationally designed polypharmacology (JWG-047, JWG-069). Co-crystallography of seven representative inhibitors with the first bromodomain of BRD4 demonstrate that distinct atropisomeric conformers rec-ognize the kinase ATP-site and the BRD4 acetyl lysine binding site, conformational preferences supported by rigid dock-ing studies.This work was supported by NIH (Grant No. U54HL127365, to N.S.G. and J.W.; No. NIH P50 GM107618, to X.X. and S.C.B.; Nos. NIH U54 HD093540 and P01 CA066996, to J.Q.), the Medical Research Council (No. MC_UU_12016/2, to D.R.A.), the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) (Grant No. SAF2015-60268R, to J.M.L.), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds (to J.M.L.). D.L.B. was supported as a Merck Fellow of Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (No. DRG-2196-14)

Parental Age in Relation to Offspring's Neurodevelopment

Objective: Advanced parenthood increases the risk of severe neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia. Does advanced parenthood also negatively impact offspring’s general neurodevelopment? Method: We analyzed child-, father-, mother- and teacher-rated attention-problems (N = 38,024), and standardized measures of intelligence (N = 10,273) and educational achievement (N = 17,522) of children from four Dutch population-based cohorts. The mean age over cohorts varied from 9.73–13.03. Most participants were of Dutch origin, ranging from 58.7%-96.7% over cohorts. We analyzed 50% of the data to generate hypotheses and the other 50% to evaluate support for these hypotheses. We aggregated the results over cohorts with Bayesian research synthesis. Results: We mostly found negative linear relations between parental age and attention-problems, meaning that offspring of younger parents tended to have more attention problems. Maternal age was positively and linearly related to offspring’s IQ and educational achievement. Paternal age showed an attenuating positive relation with educational achievement and an inverted U-shape relation with IQ, with offspring of younger and older fathers at a disadvantage. Only the associations with maternal age remained after including SES. The inclusion of child gender in the model did not affect the relation between parental age and the study outcomes. Conclusions: Effects were small but significant, with better outcomes for children born to older parents. Older parents tended to be of higher SES. Indeed, the positive relation between parenta