What's on your mind? Recent advances in memory detection using the concealed information test

Lie detectors can be applied in a wide variety of settings. But this advantage comes with a considerable cost: False positives. The applicability of the Concealed Information Test (CIT) is More limited, yet when it can be applied, the risk of false accusations can be set a priori at a very low level. The CIT assesses the recognition of; critical information that is known only by the examiners and the culprit, for example, the face a an accomplice. Large effects are Obtained with the CIT, whether combined with peripheral, brain, or Motor responses. We see three important challenges for the CIT. First, the false negative rate Of the CIT can be substantial, particularly under :realistic circumstantes. A possible solution Seems to restrict the CIT to highly Salient details. Second, there exist effective faking strategies. Future research will tell whether faking can be detected or even prevented (e.g., Using Overt measures). Third, recognition of critical crime detail's does not necessarily result from criminal activity. It is therefore important to properly embed the CIT in the investigative process, While taking care when drawing conclusions from the test outcome (recognition, not guilt)

Investigating correlation of faecal indicator bacteria and potential pathogenic fungi on Dublin beaches in the interest of public health

Sandy beaches are usually the preferred location for leisure activities but may pose a risk to public health in particular to children, the elderly and immuno compromised individuals Beach sand and marine water may be a reservoir of opportunistic and pathogenic microbes, as well as faecal indicator bacteria (that influence the bathing water quality status. The growth and the proliferation of microbes in beach sand and water are not restricted to bacteria but include also different groups of fungi such as potentially pathogenic and allergenic moulds, yeasts and dermatophytes Currently, no clear guidance about pathogenic fungi levels in relation to public health is available for these environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tunneling calculations for GaAs-Al(x)Ga(1-x) as graded band-gap sawtooth superlattices

Quantum mechanical tunneling calculations for sawtooth (linearly graded band-gap) and step-barrier AlGaAs superlattices were performed by means of a transfer matrix method, within the effective mass approximation. The transmission coefficient and tunneling current versus applied voltage were computed for several representative structures. Particular consideration was given to effective mass variations. The tunneling properties of step and sawtooth superlattices show some qualitative similarities. Both structures exhibit resonant tunneling, however, because they deform differently under applied fields, the J-V curves differ

Unraveling the senses of Phytophthora; leads to novel control strategies?

Oomycetes cause devastating diseases on plants and animals. They cause major yield losses in many crop plants and their control heavily depends on agrochemicals. This is certainly true for the potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Strong concerns about adverse effects of agrochemicals on food safety and environment are incentives for the development of novel, environmental friendly control strategies preferably based on natural products. Cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) were recently discovered as a new class of natural compounds with strong activities against oomycetes including Phytophthora. CLPs lyse zoospores, inhibit mycelial growth and effectively reduce late blight disease. In order to unravel how Phytophthora senses CLPs and other environmental signals we follow two approaches. On the one hand, we monitor genome wide changes in gene expression induced by CLPs with the aim to identify the cellular pathways targeted by CLPs. On the other hand, we analyse components of ubiquitous signal transduction pathways with the aim to identify features that are unique for Phytophthora or oomycetes and, hence, could be suitable targets for novel anti-oomycete agents. Mining and comparing whole genome sequences have revealed that Phytophthora harbours many novel phospholipid modifying enzymes, unique for oomycetes. They have aberrant combinations of catalytic and regulatory domains occasionally combined with transmembrane domains. The latter resemble receptors that might be activated by extracellular ligands. Phospholipids, the substrates of these enzymes, are structural membrane components that also function in signalling. Together these findings open new avenues of research aimed at target-discovery in oomycetes

Collision-induced conformational changes in glycine

We present quantum dynamical calculations on the conformational changes of glycine in collisions with the He, Ne, and Ar rare-gas atoms. For two conformer interconversion processes (III-->I and IV-->I), we find that the probability of interconversion is dependent on several factors, including the energy of the collision, the angle at which the colliding atom approaches the glycine molecule, and the strength of the glycine-atom interaction. Furthermore, we show that attractive interactions between the colliding atom and the glycine molecule catalyze conformer interconversion at low collision energies. In previous infrared spectroscopy studies of glycine trapped in rare-gas matrices and helium clusters, conformer III has been consistently observed, but conformer IV has yet to be conclusively detected. Because of the calculated thermodynamic stability of conformer IV, its elusiveness has been attributed to the IV-->I conformer interconversion process. However, our calculations present little indication that IV-->I interconversion occurs more readily than III-->I interconversion. Although we cannot determine whether conformer IV interconverts during experimental Ne- and Ar-matrix depositions, our evidence suggests that the conformer should be present in helium droplets. Anharmonic vibrational frequency calculations illustrate that previous efforts to detect conformer IV may have been hindered by the overlap of its IR-absorption bands with those of other conformers. We propose that the redshifted symmetric –CH2 stretch of conformer IV provides a means for its conclusive experimental detection