Examples of noncompact nonpositively curved manifolds

We give a simple construction of new, complete, finite volume manifolds $M$ of bounded, nonpositive curvature. These manifolds have ends that look like a mixture of locally symmetric ends of different ranks and their fundamental groups are not duality groups

Passive Tracking System and Method

System and methods are disclosed for passively determining the location of a moveable transmitter utilizing a pair of phase shifts at a receiver for extracting a direction vector from a receiver to the transmitter. In a preferred embodiment, a phase difference between the transmitter and receiver is extracted utilizing a noncoherent demodulator in the receiver. The receiver includes antenna array with three antenna elements, which preferably are patch antenna elements placed apart by one-half wavelength. Three receiver channels are preferably utilized for simultaneously processing the received signal from each of the three antenna elements. Multipath transmission paths for each of the three receiver channels are indexed so that comparisons of the same multipath component are made for each of the three receiver channels. The phase difference for each received signal is determined by comparing only the magnitudes of received and stored modulation signals to determine a winning modulation symbol

Half dimensional collapse of ends of manifolds of nonpositive curvature

This paper accomplishes two things. First, we construct a geometric analog of the rational Tits building for general noncompact, complete, finite volume $n$-manifolds $M$ of bounded nonpositive curvature. Second, we prove that this analog has dimension less than $\lfloor n/2\rfloor$

Fluid and particle signatures of dayside reconnection

International audienceUsing measurements of the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft, we study reconnection signatures at the dayside magnetopause. If the magnetopause is open, it should have the properties of a rotational discontinuity. Applying the fluid concept of a rotational discontinuity, we check for the existence of a de Hoffmann-Teller frame and the tangential stress balance (Walén relation). For 13 out of 40 magnetopause crossings in a statistical survey we find a reasonable agreement between observed plasma flows and those predicted by the Walén relation. In addition, we check if the measured distribution functions show single particle signatures which are expected on open field lines. We find the following types of signatures: field-aligned streaming of ring current particles, "D-shaped" distributions of solar wind particles, counterstreaming of solar wind and cold ionospheric ions, two-beam distributions of solar wind ions, and distributions of solar wind particles associated with field-aligned heat flux. While a particular type of particle signature is observed only for the minority of magnetopause crossings, 24 of the 40 crossings show at least one type of signature. Both the particle signatures and the fit to the Walén relation can be used to infer the sign of the normal magnetic field, Bn. We find that the two ways of inferring the sign of Bn lead primarily to the same result. Thus, both the particle signatures and a reasonable agreement with the Walén relation can, in a statistical sense, be considered as a useful indicator of open field lines. On the other hand, many crossings do not show any reconnection signatures. We discuss the possible reasons for their absence

Als3 is a Candida albicans invasin that binds to cadherins and induces endocytosis by host cells.

Candida albicans is the most common cause of hematogenously disseminated and oropharyngeal candidiasis. Both of these diseases are characterized by fungal invasion of host cells. Previously, we have found that C. albicans hyphae invade endothelial cells and oral epithelial cells in vitro by inducing their own endocytosis. Therefore, we set out to identify the fungal surface protein and host cell receptors that mediate this process. We found that the C. albicans Als3 is required for the organism to be endocytosed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells and two different human oral epithelial lines. Affinity purification experiments with wild-type and an als3delta/als3delta mutant strain of C. albicans demonstrated that Als3 was required for C. albicans to bind to multiple host cell surface proteins, including N-cadherin on endothelial cells and E-cadherin on oral epithelial cells. Furthermore, latex beads coated with the recombinant N-terminal portion of Als3 were endocytosed by Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing human N-cadherin or E-cadherin, whereas control beads coated with bovine serum albumin were not. Molecular modeling of the interactions of the N-terminal region of Als3 with the ectodomains of N-cadherin and E-cadherin indicated that the binding parameters of Als3 to either cadherin are similar to those of cadherin-cadherin binding. Therefore, Als3 is a fungal invasin that mimics host cell cadherins and induces endocytosis by binding to N-cadherin on endothelial cells and E-cadherin on oral epithelial cells. These results uncover the first known fungal invasin and provide evidence that C. albicans Als3 is a molecular mimic of human cadherins

Probing potential priming: Defining, quantifying, and testing the causal priming effect using the potential outcomes framework

Having previously seen an item helps uncover the item another time, given a perceptual or cognitive cue. Oftentimes, however, it may be difficult to quantify or test the existence and size of a perceptual or cognitive effect, in general, and a priming effect, in particular. This is because to examine the existence of and quantify the effect, one needs to compare two outcomes: the outcome had one previously seen the item vs. the outcome had one not seen the item. But only one of the two outcomes is observable. Here, we argue that the potential outcomes framework is useful to define, quantify, and test the causal priming effect. To demonstrate its efficacy, we apply the framework to study the priming effect using data from a between-subjects study involving English word identification. In addition, we show that what has been used intuitively by experimentalists to assess the priming effect in the past has a sound mathematical foundation. Finally, we examine the links between the proposed method in studying priming and the multinomial processing tree (MPT) model, and how to extend the method to study experimental paradigms involving exclusion and inclusion instructional conditions