How to Strike the Wealth Balance

The underlying attitude towards wealth within a country can have a big impact on a company\u27s decision to invest there. Shaomin Li and Seung Ho Park look at ways in which \u27wealth tolerance\u27 can be measured

General interaction mode of CIDE:CIDE complex revealed by a mutation study of the Drep2 CIDE domain

AbstractThe CIDE domain is a well known protein–protein interaction module that is initially detected at the apoptotic DNA fragmentation factor (DFF40/45). The interaction mechanism via the CIDE domain is not well understood. To elucidate CIDE domain mediated interactions in the apoptotic DNA fragmentation system, we conducted biochemical and mutational studies and found that the surface of CIDE domains can be divided into an acidic side and a basic side. In addition, a mutagenesis study revealed that the basic surface side of Drep2 CIDE is involved in the interaction with the acidic surface side of Drep1 CIDE and Drep3 CIDE. Our research supports the idea that a charge–charge interaction might be the general interaction mode of the CIDE:CIDE interaction.Structured summary of protein interactionsDrep2andDrep2bindbymolecular sieving(View Interaction:1,2)Drep1andDrep2bindbymolecular sieving(View interaction)Drep3andDrep2bindbymolecular sieving(View interaction)Drep2andDrep3bindbyblue native page(View interaction)Drep2andDrep1bindbyblue native page(View interaction

Electrical Investigation of the Oblique Hanle Effect in Ferromagnet/Oxide/Semiconductor Contacts

We have investigated the electrical Hanle effect with magnetic fields applied at an oblique angle ({\theta}) to the spin direction (the oblique Hanle effect, OHE) in CoFe/MgO/semiconductor (SC) contacts by employing a three-terminal measurement scheme. The electrical oblique Hanle signals obtained in CoFe/MgO/Si and CoFe/MgO/Ge contacts show clearly different line shapes depending on the spin lifetime of the host SC. Notably, at moderate magnetic fields, the asymptotic values of the oblique Hanle signals (in both contacts) are consistently reduced by a factor of cos^2({\theta}) irrespective of the bias current and temperature. These results are in good agreement with predictions of the spin precession and relaxation model for the electrical oblique Hanle effect. At high magnetic fields where the magnetization of CoFe is significantly tilted from the film plane to the magnetic field direction, we find that the observed angular dependence of voltage signals in the CoFe/MgO/Si and CoFe/MgO/Ge contacts are well explained by the OHE, considering the misalignment angle between the external magnetic field and the magnetization of CoFe.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

The Light and Period Variations of the Eclipsing Binary AA Ursae Majoris

We present new multiband CCD photometry for AA UMa made on 8 nights between January and March 2009; the $R$ light curves are the first ever compiled. Historical light curves, as well as ours, display partial eclipses and inverse O'Connell effects with Max I fainter than Max II. Among possible spot models, a cool spot on either of the component stars and its variability with time permit good light-curve representations for the system. A total of 194 eclipse timings over 81 yrs, including our five timings, were used for ephemeris computations. We found that the orbital period of the system has varied due to a periodic oscillation overlaid on an upward parabolic variation. The continuous period increase at a fractional rate of $+$1.3$\times$10$^{-10}$ is consistent with that calculated from the W-D code and can be interpreted as a thermal mass transfer from the less to the more massive secondary star at a rate of 6.6$\times$10$^{-8}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. The periodic component is in satisfactory accord with a light-time effect due to an unseen companion with a period of 28.2 yrs, a semi-amplitude of 0.007 d, and a minimum mass of $M_3 \sin i_3$=0.25 $M_\odot$ but this period variation could also arise from magnetic activity.Comment: 23 pages, including 5 figures and 8 tables, accepted for publication in PAS

Interactive media server with media synchronized raid storage system

We propose an efficient placement algorithm and per-disk prefetching method to effectively support interactive operations in the media server. Our placement policy is incorporated with an encoder having a special bitcount control scheme that repeatedly tunes quantization parameters to adjust the bitcounts of video frames. This encoder can generate coded frames whose sizes are synchronized with the RAID stripe size, so that when various fast-forward levels are accessed we can reduce the seek and rotational latency and enhance the disk throughput of each disk in the RAID system. In the experimental results, the proposed placement policy and bitrate control scheme can significantly improve the average service time, which can enlarge the capacity of the interactive media server

Automatic Volume Control Based on Background Noise Characteristics

In this study, we propose a novel technique for automatic volume control (AVC). Contemporary AVC systems operate according to background noise level. This paper presentsan AVC system that adaptively updates the audio volumeconsidering the frequency characteristics of the background noise. From the experiments, we conclude that the developed techniques can be successfully used for various acoustic environments

The Light and Period Variations of the Eclipsing Binary BX Draconis

New CCD photometric observations of BX Dra were obtained for 26 nights from 2009 April to 2010 June. The long-term photometric behaviors of the system are presented from detailed studies of the period and light variations, based on the historical data and our new observations. All available light curves display total eclipses at secondary minima and inverse O'Connell effects with Max I fainter than Max II, which are satisfactorily modeled by adding the slightly time-varying hot spot on the primary star. A total of 87 times of minimum light spanning over about 74 yrs, including our 22 timing measurements, were used for ephemeris computations. Detailed analysis of the O-C diagram showed that the orbital period has changed in combinations with an upward parabola and a sinusoidal variation. The continuous period increase with a rate of +5.65 \times 10^-7 d yr^-1 is consistent with that calculated from the Wilson-Devinney synthesis code. It can be interpreted as a mass transfer from the secondary to the primary star at a rate of 2.74 \times 10^-7 M\odot yr^-1, which is one of the largest rates for contact systems. The most likely explanation of the sinusoidal variation with a period of 30.2 yrs and a semi-amplitude of 0.0062 d is a light-traveltime effect due to the existence of a circumbinary object. We suggest that BX Dra is probably a triple system, consisting of a primary star with a spectral type of F0, its secondary component of spectral type F1-2, and an unseen circumbinary object with a minimum mass of M3 = 0.23 M\odot.Comment: 24 pages, including 5 figures and 9 tables, accepted for publication in PAS