Impurity effects in few-electron quantum dots: Incipient Wigner molecule regime

Numerically exact path-integral Monte Carlo data are presented for $N\leq 10$ strongly interacting electrons confined in a 2D parabolic quantum dot, including a defect to break rotational symmetry. Low densities are studied, where an incipient Wigner molecule forms. A single impurity is found to cause drastic effects: (1) The standard shell-filling sequence with magic numbers $N=4,6,9$, corresponding to peaks in the addition energy $\Delta(N)$, is destroyed, with a new peak at N=8, (2) spin gaps decrease, (3) for N=8, sub-Hund's rule spin S=0 is induced, and (4) spatial ordering of the electrons becomes rather sensitive to spin. We also comment on the recently observed bunching phenomenon.Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter

Повышение рационального использования человеческого потенциала

Реферат Выпускная квалификационная работа содержит 131 страницу, 20 рисунков, 39 таблиц, 50 использованных источников, 6 приложений. Ключевые слова: персонал, человеческий потенциал, рациональное использование, адаптация, компетенции, ПАО «ТРК», социальная ответственность компании. . Объектом исследования в работе является: рациональное использование человеческого потенциала компании. . Цель работы - рассмотрение методов повышения рационального использования человеческого потенциала современной компании . В процессе исследования проводились: 1) рассмотрение деятельности компании за 2011 – 2015 гг.; оценка действующей в компании системы управления персоналом и человеческого потенциала компании; 3) внесение предложений по совершенствованию действующей системы управления человеческим потенциалом компании (с расчетом экономической эффективности от внесенных предложений). . В результате исследования: внесены предложения по внедрению в кадровую работу системы периодической сверки компетенций и улучшению работы с кадровым резервом; проведен расчет экономии от внедрения предлагаемых мероприятий . Степень внедрения: запланировано применение внесенных по результатам проведенного исследования предложений в деятельность компании в 2016 г. . Область применения: управление персоналом и человеческим потенциалом в ПАО «ТРК». . Экономическая эффективность/ значимость работы: сумма полученной экономии составит 4 165 тыс. руб. в год. . В будущем планируется: применение внесенных по результатам проведенного исследования предложений в деятельность компании.abstract Final qualifying work includes 131 page, 20 figures, 39 tables, 50 sources used, 6 applications. Keywords: personnel, human potential, rational use, adaptation, competence, PJSC "TRK" social responsibility of the company. . The object of research is in: the rational use of human resources. . Purpose - to examine the methods of enhancing the rational use of the human potential of the modern company. The study carried out: 1) review of the activities of the company for 2011 - 2015 .; assessment of the current in the company personnel management and human resources of the company; 3) make proposals to improve the existing control system of the human potential of the company (with the calculation of the cost-effectiveness of the proposals). . As a result of the study: made suggestions for the implementation of the personnel working in the periodic verification of competency of the system and improvement of work with the personnel reserve; calculated the savings from the implementation of the proposed activities. Degree of implementation: planned application made by the results of the research proposals in the company's activity in 2016. Field of application: personnel management and human potential in PJSC "TRK". . Cost-effectiveness / value of the work: the sum of the savings will amount to 4165 thousand rubles.. in year. . In the future: an application made on the results of the research proposals in the company's activities

Effect of grazing and mowing on the clonal structure of Elytrigia atherica: a long-term study of abandoned and managed sites

Physical disturbance by large herbivores can affect species diversity at the community level and concurrently genetic diversity at the species level. As seedling establishment is rarely observed in clonal plants, short-term experiments and demographic studies are unlikely to reveal the response of clonal plants to disturbances. A long-term (30-year) field experiment and the availability of molecularmarkers allowed us to investigate the clonal structure of populations of Elytrigia atherica subjected to different management regimes. The long-term field study provided us with five replicated blocks that had been subjected to three different management regimes, grazing by cattle, mowing and abandonment. In this study we examined the effects of herbivore grazing andmowing on clonal richness and genetic diversity of populations in salt marshes using multilocus microsatellite genotypes. In addition, phenotypic traits and spatial positions of E. atherica ramets were determined for 20 samples in a 5 × 10m plot in each of the blocks. Abundance and phenotypic traits were affected by the management regimes, resulting in a higher abundance in abandoned fields and plants having shorter and narrower leaves in managed fields. Biomass removal did affect the clonal structure of populations and increased the genetic diversity compared to that in abandoned fields. However, no distinct difference was found between the two management regimes, mowing and grazing. Although seedling recruitment has rarely been observed, the present study shows that such rare events have occurred within the populations studied. Thus, molecular tools can greatly increase our understanding of vegetation dynamics and processes within populations growing under different conditions

Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies define two different functional sites in human interleukin-4

Human interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a small four-helix-bundle protein which is essential for organizing defense reactions against macroparasites, in particular helminths. Human IL-4 also appears to exert a pathophysiological role during various IgE-mediated allergic diseases. Seven different monoclonal antibodies neutralizing the activity of human IL-4 were studied in order to identify functionally important epitopes. A collection of 41 purified IL-4 variants was used to analyse how defined amino acid replacements affect binding affinity for each individual mAb. Specific amino acid positions could be assigned to four different epitopes. mAbs recognizing epitopes on helix A and/or C interfered with IL-4 receptor binding and thus inhibited IL-4 function. However, other mAbs also inhibiting IL-4 function recognized an epitope on helix D of IL-4 and did not inhibit IL-4 binding to the receptor protein. One mAb, recognizing N-terminal and C-terminal residues, partially competed for binding to the receptor. The results of these mAb epitope analyses confirm and extend previous data on the functional consequences of the amino acid replacements which showed that amino acid residues in helices A and C of IL-4 provide a binding site for the cloned IL-4 receptor and that a signalling site in helix D interacts with a further receptor protein

Long-term dynamics of adaptive evolution in a globally important phytoplankton species to ocean acidification

Marine phytoplankton may adapt to ocean change, such as acidification or warming, because of their large population sizes and short generation times. Long-term adaptation to novel environments is a dynamic process, and phenotypic change can take place thousands of generations after exposure to novel conditions. We conducted a long-term evolution experiment (4 years = 2100 generations), starting with a single clone of the abundant and widespread coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi exposed to three different CO2 levels simulating ocean acidification (OA). Growth rates as a proxy for Darwinian fitness increased only moderately under both levels of OA [+3.4% and +4.8%, respectively, at 1100 and 2200 μatm partial pressure of CO2 (Pco2)] relative to control treatments (ambient CO2, 400 μatm). Long-term adaptation to OA was complex, and initial phenotypic responses of ecologically important traits were later reverted. The biogeochemically important trait of calcification, in particular, that had initially been restored within the first year of evolution was later reduced to levels lower than the performance of nonadapted populations under OA. Calcification was not constitutively lost but returned to control treatment levels when high CO2–adapted isolates were transferred back to present-day control CO2 conditions. Selection under elevated CO2 exacerbated a general decrease of cell sizes under long-term laboratory evolution. Our results show that phytoplankton may evolve complex phenotypic plasticity that can affect biogeochemically important traits, such as calcification. Adaptive evolution may play out over longer time scales (>1 year) in an unforeseen way under future ocean conditions that cannot be predicted from initial adaptation responses

Transport properties of quantum dots in the Wigner molecule regime

The transport properties of quantum dots with up to N=7 electrons ranging from the weak to the strong interacting regime are investigated via the projected Hartree-Fock technique. As interactions increase radial order develops in the dot, with the formation of ring and centered-ring structures. Subsequently, angular correlations appear, signalling the formation of a Wigner molecule state. We show striking signatures of the emergence of Wigner molecules, detected in transport. In the linear regime, conductance is exponentially suppressed as the interaction strength grows. A further suppression is observed when centered-ring structures develop, or peculiar spin textures appear. In the nonlinear regime, the formation of molecular states may even lead to a conductance enhancement.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication on New Journal of Physic

Light-chain-induced renal tubular acidosis: effect of sodium bicarbonate on sodium-proton exchange

We measured sodium-proton (Na+/H+) exchange in lymphocytes and platelets of a 46-year-old woman with the adult Fanconi syndrome before, during, and after treatment with NaHCO3. Kappa light chains in her urine and unique but rarely observed crystalline structures confirmed the presence of light-chain nephropathy. Her glomerular filtration rate was only moderately impaired at 72 ml/min. NaHCO3 at 1, 3, and 5 mmol/kg/day for 5 days increased her serum HCO3 and pH from 17 to 21 mmol/l and 7.28 to 7.39 respectively. Plasma renin and aldosterone values were decreased by NaHCO3. Na+/H+ exchange (δHi/min) was measured with the fluorescent marker BCECF after acidification of lymphocytes and platelets with sodium propionate at five (10-50mM) doses. Na+/H+ exchange was accelerated in this patient compared to normal controls. NaHCO3 treatment significantly decreased Na+/H+ exchange in lymphocytes, but not in platelets. These findings suggest that Na+/H+ exchange can be influenced by NaHCO3 ingestion at doses that only modestly affect systemic pH. Since Na+/H+ exchange is involved in stimulus response coupling, cell growth regulation, cell differentiation, and perhaps the progression of nephrosclerosis, these observations may have clinical relevanc

Two different epigenetic information channels in wild three-spined sticklebacks are involved in salinity adaptation

Epigenetic inheritance has been proposed to contribute to adaptation and acclimation via two information channels: (i) inducible epigenetic marks that enable transgenerational plasticity and (ii) noninducible epigenetic marks resulting from random epimutations shaped by selection. We studied both postulated channels by sequencing methylomes and genomes of Baltic three-spined sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) along a salinity cline. Wild populations differing in salinity tolerance revealed differential methylation (pop-DMS) at genes enriched for osmoregulatory processes. A two-generation experiment demonstrated that 62% of these pop-DMS were noninducible by salinity manipulation, suggesting that they are the result of either direct selection or associated genomic divergence at cis- or trans-regulatory sites. Two-thirds of the remaining inducible pop-DMS increased in similarity to patterns detected in wild populations from corresponding salinities. The level of similarity accentuated over consecutive generations, indicating a mechanism of transgenerational plasticity. While we can attribute natural DNA methylation patterns to the two information channels, their interplay with genomic variation in salinity adaptation is still unresolved

Spatial structure of an individual Mn acceptor in GaAs

The wave function of a hole bound to an individual Mn acceptor in GaAs is spatially mapped by scanning tunneling microscopy at room temperature and an anisotropic, cross-like shape is observed. The spatial structure is compared with that from an envelope-function, effective mass model, and from a tight-binding model. This demonstrates that anisotropy arising from the cubic symmetry of the GaAs crystal produces the cross-like shape for the hole wave-function. Thus the coupling between Mn dopants in GaMnAs mediated by such holes will be highly anisotropic.Comment: 3 figures, submitted to PR