Circuit Synthesis of Electrochemical Supercapacitor Models

This paper is concerned with the synthesis of RC electrical circuits from physics-based supercapacitor models describing conservation and diffusion relationships. The proposed synthesis procedure uses model discretisation, linearisation, balanced model order reduction and passive network synthesis to form the circuits. Circuits with different topologies are synthesized from several physical models. This work will give greater understanding to the physical interpretation of electrical circuits and will enable the development of more generalised circuits, since the synthesized impedance functions are generated by considering the physics, not from experimental fitting which may ignore certain dynamics

Vocalizations by Isolated Piglets: A Reliable Indicator of Piglet Need Directed Towards the Sow

When suckling piglets are isolated from the sow and litter-mates they vocalize a great deal. Sows also call when isolated from their piglets. In one experiment, we found that isolated piglets doubled their call rate in response to playback of sow calls, indicating that piglets are directing calls towards the sow. In a second experiment, we found that variation in the piglet isolation calls related to aspects of the piglet\u27s condition: piglets isolated for 13 min in an enclosure kept at approximately 14°C called more, used higher frequency calls and longer calls, than litter-mates isolated in an enclosure kept at 30°C. These differences in vocal behaviour were significant at 8 and 12 min of isolation, but not at 1, 2 or 4 min. These results for pigs correspond to those found with other species, indicating that characteristics of isolation calls can provide information about a young animal\u27s need for supplemental heat that can be supplied by the parent. The results also agree with a previous study on pigs, showing that features of these vocalizations vary with the piglet\u27s need for other resources such as milk

Truthmakers and modality

This paper attempts to locate, within an actualist ontology, truthmakers for modal truths: truths of the form or . In section 1 I motivate the demand for substantial truthmakers for modal truths. In section 2 I criticise Armstrong’s account of truthmakers for modal truths. In section 3 I examine essentialism and defend an account of what makes essentialist attributions true, but I argue that this does not solve the problem of modal truth in general. In section 4 I discuss, and dismiss, a theistic account of the source of modal truth proposed by Alexander Pruss. In section 5 I offer a means of (dis)solving the problem

Late Cenozoic geology of the Central Persian (Arabian) Gulf from industry well data and seismic profiles

Industry seismic reflection profiles shot in the 60's and early 70's in the central Persian (Arabian) Gulf are used to map two late Tertiary unconformities, and velocity data from a centrally located well is used to convert travel time to depth to the unconformities. The deeper horizon correlates with a regional unconformity at the end of the Eocene in most wells and dips monotonically to the northeast, whereas the shallower horizon is flatter and correlates with the mid-upper Miocene section in one well. Isopach maps based on wells indicate that sedimentation was relatively uniform across the region until the middle to late Miocene. Sediments deposited since the late Miocene thicken from 100-200 m on the Arabian side of the Gulf to >1000 m near Iran reflecting deposition of sediments eroded from the rapidly uplifting Zagros fold-belt. As a result of the rapid deposition, the velocity gradient in the upper 1 km decreases from ~4 km/sec per km near Arabia to about 2 km/sec per km on the Iranian side of the Gulf.This research was jointly supported by the Office of Naval Research, though grants N00014-96-1-0548 and 96PR04120-00, and by the Naval Oceanographic Offic

Sam68 exerts separable effects on cell cycle progression and apoptosis

BACKGROUND: The RNA-binding protein Sam68 has been implicated in a number of cellular processes, including transcription, RNA splicing and export, translation, signal transduction, cell cycle progression and replication of the human immunodeficiency virus and poliovirus. However, the precise impact it has on essential cellular functions remains largely obscure. RESULTS: In this report we show that conditional overexpression of Sam68 in fibroblasts results in both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Arrest in G1 phase of the cell cycle is associated with decreased levels of cyclins D1 and E RNA and protein, resulting in dramatically reduced Rb phosphorylation. Interestingly, cell cycle arrest does not require the specific RNA binding ability of Sam68. In marked contrast, induction of apoptosis by Sam68 absolutely requires a fully-functional RNA binding domain. Moreover, the anti-cancer agent trichostatin A potentiates Sam68-driven apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time we have shown that Sam68, an RNA binding protein with multiple apparent functions, exerts functionally separable effects on cell proliferation and survival, dependent on its ability to bind specifically to RNA. These findings shed new light on the ability of signal transducing RNA binding proteins to influence essential cell function. Moreover, the ability of a class of anti-cancer therapeutics to modulate its ability to promote apoptosis suggests that Sam68 status may impact some cancer treatments