Utilizing Skylab data in on-going resources management programs in the state of Ohio

The author has identified the following significant results. The use of Skylab imagery for total area woodland surveys was found to be more accurate and cheaper than conventional surveys using aerial photo-plot techniques. Machine-aided (primarily density slicing) analyses of Skylab 190A and 190B color and infrared color photography demonstrated the feasibility of using such data for differentiating major timber classes including pines, hardwoods, mixed, cut, and brushland providing such analyses are made at scales of 1:24,000 and larger. Manual and machine-assisted image analysis indicated that spectral and spatial capabilities of Skylab EREP photography are adequate to distinguish most parameters of current, coal surface mining concern associated with: (1) active mining, (2) orphan lands, (3) reclaimed lands, and (4) active reclamation. Excellent results were achieved when comparing Skylab and aerial photographic interpretations of detailed surface mining features. Skylab photographs when combined with other data bases (e.g., census, agricultural land productivity, and transportation networks), provide a comprehensive, meaningful, and integrated view of major elements involved in the urbanization/encroachment process

Impurity assisted nanoscale localization of plasmonic excitations in graphene

The plasmon modes of pristine and impurity doped graphene are calculated, using a real-space theory which determines the non-local dielectric response within the random phase approximation. A full diagonalization of the polarization operator is performed, allowing the extraction of all its poles. It is demonstrated how impurities induce the formation of localized modes which are absent in pristine graphene. The dependence of the spatial modulations over few lattice sites and frequencies of the localized plasmons on the electronic filling and impurity strength is discussed. Furthermore, it is shown that the chemical potential and impurity strength can be tuned to control target features of the localized modes. These predictions can be tested by scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The saturation assumption yields optimal convergence of two-level adaptive BEM

We consider the convergence of adaptive BEM for weakly-singular and hypersingular integral equations associated with the Laplacian and the Helmholtz operator in 2D and 3D. The local mesh-refinement is driven by some two-level error estimator. We show that the adaptive algorithm drives the underlying error estimates to zero. Moreover, we prove that the saturation assumption already implies linear convergence of the error with optimal algebraic rates

QCD Tests of the Puzzling Scalar Mesons

Motivated by several recent data, we test the QCD spectral sum rules (QSSR) predictions based on different proposals (\bar qq, \bar q\bar q qq, and gluonium) for the nature of scalar mesons. In the I=1 and 1/2 channels, the unusual (wrong) splitting between the a_0(980) and \kappa(900) and the a_0(980) width can be understood from QSSR within a \bar qq assignement. However, none of the \bar qq and \bar q\bar q qq results can explain the large \kappa width, which may suggest that it can result from a strong interference with non-resonant backgrounds. In the I=0 channel, QSSR and some low-energy theorems (LET) require the existence of a low mass gluonium \sigma_B(1 GeV) coupled strongly to Goldstone boson pairs which plays in the U(1)_V channel, a similar role than the \eta' for the value of the U(1)_A topological charge. The observed \sigma(600) and f_0(980) mesons result from a maximal mixing between the gluonium \sigma_B and \bar qq(1 GeV) mesons, a mixing scheme which passes several experimental tests. OZI violating J/\psi--> \phi\pi^+\pi^-, D_s--> 3\pi decays and J/\psi--> \gamma S glueball filter processes may indicate that most of the I=0 mesons above 1 GeV have important gluonium in their wave functions. We expect that the f_0(1500), f_0(1710) and f_0(1790) have significant gluonium component in their wave functions, while the f_0(1370) is mostly \bar qq. Tests of these results can be provided by the measurements of the pure gluonium \eta'\eta and 4\pi specific U(1)_A decay channels.Comment: Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D (one previous figure corrupted

Relativistic and retardation effects in the two--photon ionization of hydrogen--like ions

The non-resonant two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions is studied in second-order perturbation theory, based on the Dirac equation. To carry out the summation over the complete Coulomb spectrum, a Green function approach has been applied to the computation of the ionization cross sections. Exact second-order relativistic cross sections are compared with data as obtained from a relativistic long-wavelength approximation as well as from the scaling of non-relativistic results. For high-Z ions, the relativistic wavefunction contraction may lower the two-photon ionization cross sections by a factor of two or more, while retardation effects appear less pronounced but still give rise to non-negligible contributions.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Long range correlations in DNA : scaling properties and charge transfer efficiency

We address the relation between long range correlations and charge transfer efficiency in aperiodic artificial or genomic DNA sequences. Coherent charge transfer through the HOMO states of the guanine nucleotide is studied using the transmission approach, and focus is made on how the sequence-dependent backscattering profile can be inferred from correlations between base pairs.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

The Impact of MicroRNAs on Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration

The molecular instructions that govern gene expression regulation are encoded in the genome and ultimately determine the morphology and functional specifications of the human brain. As a consequence, changes in gene expression levels might be directly related to the functional decline associated with brain aging. Small noncoding RNAs, including miRNAs, comprise a group of regulatory molecules that modulate the expression of hundred of genes which play important roles in brain metabolism. Recent comparative studies in humans and nonhuman primates revealed that miRNAs regulate multiple pathways and interconnected signaling cascades that are the basis for the cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders during aging. Identifying the roles of miRNAs and their target genes in model organisms combined with system-level studies of the brain would provide more comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of brain deterioration during the aging process