New secondary batteries utilizing electronically conductive polymer cathodes

The objectives are to optimize the transport rates in electronically conductive polypyrrole films by controlling the morphology of the film and to assess the utility of these films as cathodes in a lithium/polypyrrole secondary battery. During this research period, a better understanding was gained of the fundamental electrochemical switching processes within the polypyrrole film. Three publications were submitted based on the work completed

Stochastic superspace phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider

We analyse restrictions on the stochastic superspace parameter space arising from 1 fb$^{-1}$ of LHC data, and bounds on sparticle masses, cold dark matter relic density and the branching ratio of the process $B_s \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$. A region of parameter space consistent with these limits is found where the stochasticity parameter, \xi, takes values in the range -2200 GeV < \xi < -900 GeV, provided the cutoff scale is $\mathcal{O}(10^{18})$ GeV.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure

Cold dark matter models with high baryon content

Recent results have suggested that the density of baryons in the Universe, OmegaB, is much more uncertain than previously thought, and may be significantly higher. We demonstrate that a higher OmegaB increases the viability of critical-density cold dark matter (CDM) models. High baryon fraction offers the twin benefits of boosting the first peak in the microwave anisotropy power spectrum and of suppressing short-scale power in the matter power spectrum. These enable viable CDM models to have a larger Hubble constant than otherwise possible. We carry out a general exploration of high OmegaB CDM models, varying the Hubble constant h and the spectral index n. We confront a variety of observational constraints and discuss specific predictions. Although some observational evidence may favour baryon fractions as high as 20 per cent, we find that values around 10 to 15 per cent provide a reasonable fit to a wide range of data. We suggest that models with OmegaB in this range, with h about 0.5 and n about 0.8, are currently the best critical-density CDM models.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, with 9 included figures, to appear in MNRAS. Revised version includes updated references, some changes to section 4. Conclusions unchange

Mannan oligosaccharide prepartum supplementation: effects on dairy cow colostrum quality and quantity

Providing the neonatal calf with a sufficient quantity and quality of colostrum may optimise future health, performance and reduce the risk of morbidity. A 6-month double blind trial with 80 prepartum dairy cows was conducted to determine if supplementation with mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) influences colostrum quality, quantity and subsequent calf performance. The Holstein cross Friesian 80 cows (no heifers) were allocated into a control and treatment group at the point of drying off by previous lactation number and yield. The control and treatment group were fed the same commercial standard dry cow diet throughout the trial supplemented with a mineral concentrate without or with 1.33% MOS, respectively. Cows were milked out of colostrum within 40 min of calving prior to calf suckling, weight was recorded. Mannan oligosaccharide fed cows produced significantly more colostrum on first milking (7.5 kg, SEM±0.69) compared with cows fed without MOS (5.6 kg, SEM±0.43). The immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations (control 53.7 IgG g/l, SEM±5.8 and MOS of 42.7 IgG g/l, SEM±4.9) and total mass of IgG did not differ between treatments. No significant observable MOS-derived effect on calf health or weight gain occurred during the study

Extraordinarily high leaf selenium to sulfur ratios define ‘se-accumulator’ plants

Background and Aims: Selenium (Se) and sulfur (S) exhibit similar chemical properties. In flowering plants (angiosperms) selenate and sulfate are acquired and assimilated by common transport and metabolic pathways. It is hypothesized that most angiosperm species show little or no discrimination in the accumulation of Se and S in leaves when their roots are supplied a mixture of selenate and sulfate, but some, termed Se-accumulator plants, selectively accumulate Se in preference to S under these conditions. Methods: This paper surveys Se and S accumulation in leaves of 39 angiosperm species, chosen to represent the range of plant Se accumulation phenotypes, grown hydroponically under identical conditions. Results: The data show that, when supplied a mixture of selenate and sulfate: (1) plant species differ in both their leaf Se ([Se]leaf) and leaf S ([S]leaf) concentrations; (2) most angiosperms show little discrimination for the accumulation of Se and S in their leaves and, in non-accumulator plants, [Se]leaf and [S]leaf are highly correlated; (3) [Se]leaf in Se-accumulator plants is significantly greater than in other angiosperms, but [S]leaf, although high, is within the range expected for angiosperms in general; and (4) the Se/S quotient in leaves of Se-accumulator plants is significantly higher than in leaves of other angiosperms. Conclusion: The traits of extraordinarily high [Se]leaf and leaf Se/S quotients define the distinct elemental composition of Se-accumulator plants

A New Algorithm for Computing Statistics of Weak Lensing by Large-Scale Structure

We describe an efficient algorithm for calculating the statistics of weak lensing by large-scale structure based on a tiled set of independent particle-mesh N-body simulations which telescope in resolution along the line of sight. This efficiency allows us to predict not only the mean properties of lensing observables such as the power spectrum, skewness and kurtosis of the convergence, but also their sampling errors for finite fields of view, which are themselves crucial for assessing the cosmological significance of observations. We find that the nongaussianity of the distribution substantially increases the sampling errors for the skewness and kurtosis in the several to tens of arcminutes regime, whereas those for the power spectrum are only fractionally increased even out to wavenumbers where shot noise from the intrinsic ellipticities of the galaxies will likely dominate the errors.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures; minor changes reflect accepted versio

Optimising the analysis of transcript data using high density oligonucleotide arrays and genomic DNA-based probe selection

Background: Affymetrix GeneChip arrays are widely used for transcriptomic studies in a diverse range of species. Each gene is represented on a GeneChip array by a probe-set, consisting of up to 16 probe-pairs. Signal intensities across probe-pairs within a probe-set vary in part due to different physical hybridisation characteristics of individual probes with their target labelled transcripts. We have previously developed a technique to study the transcriptomes of heterologous species based on hybridising genomic DNA (gDNA) to a GeneChip array designed for a different species, and subsequently using only those probes with good homology. Results: Here we have investigated the effects of hybridising homologous species gDNA to study the transcriptomes of species for which the arrays have been designed. Genomic DNA from Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa) were hybridised to the Affymetrix Arabidopsis ATH1 and Rice Genome GeneChip arrays respectively. Probe selection based on gDNA hybridisation intensity increased the number of genes identified as significantly differentially expressed in two published studies of Arabidopsis development, and optimised the analysis of technical replicates obtained from pooled samples of RNA from rice. Conclusion: This mixed physical and bioinformatics approach can be used to optimise estimates of gene expression when using GeneChip arrays