Soviet Inheritance Cases in American Courts and the Soviet Property Regime

Many American states have statutes limiting transmission of monies from estates in this country to citizens of countries behind the Iron Curtain. American courts have come under heavy criticism for construing these statutes unfavorably to foreign heirs, especially where transmission to heirs in the Soviet Union is withheld. This article analyzes the relevant American and Soviet law and concludes that American courts, while they have not always been completely objective, nevertheless may be justified in withholding distribution from Soviet citizens

Substitutional doping of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite crystals for thermoelectrics

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites have generated considerable research interest in the field of optoelectronic devices. However, there have been significantly fewer reports of their thermoelectric properties despite some promising early results. In this article, we investigate the thermoelectric properties of bismuth-doped CH3NH3PbBr3 (MAPbBr3) single crystals. The high-quality Bi-doped crystals were synthesized by inverse temperature crystallization and it was found that Bi substitutes onto the B-site of the ABX3 perovskite lattice of MAPbBr3 crystals with very little distortion of the crystal structure. Bi doping does not significantly alter the thermal conductivity but dramatically enhances the electrical conductivity of MAPbBr3, increasing the charge carrier density by more than three orders of magnitude. We obtained a negative Seebeck coefficient of −378 μV K−1 for 15% (x = 0.15) Bi-doped MAPb(1−x)BixBr3 confirming n-type doping and also measured the figure of merit, ZT. This work highlights routes towards controlled substitutional doping of halide perovskites to optimise them for thermoelectric applications

Effects of mefloquine and artesunate mefloquine on the emergence, clearance and sex ratio of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes in malarious children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The gametocyte sex ratio of <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>, defined as the proportion of gametocytes that are male, may influence transmission but little is known of the effects of mefloquine or artesunate-mefloquine on gametocyte sex ratio and on the sex ratio of first appearing gametocytes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>350 children with uncomplicated <it>P. falciparum </it>malaria were enrolled in prospective treatment trial of mefloquine or artesunate-mefloquine between 2007 and 2008. Gametocytaemia was quantified, and gametocytes were sexed by morphological appearance, before and following treatment. The area under curve of gametocyte density <it>versus </it>time (AUC_gm) was calculated by linear trapezoidal method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>91% and 96% of all gametocytes appeared by day 7 and day 14, respectively following treatment. The overall rate of gametocytaemia with both treatments was 31%, and was significantly higher in mefloquine than in artesunate-mefloquine treated children if no gametocyte was present a day after treatment began (25.3% <it>v </it>12.8%, P = 0.01). Gametocyte clearance was significantly faster with artesunate-mefloquine (1.8 ± 0.22 [sem] <it>v </it>5.6 ± 0.95 d; P = 0.001). AUC_gmwas significantly lower in the artesunate mefloquine group (P = 0.008). The pre-treatment sex ratio was male-biased, but post-treatment sex ratio or the sex ratio of first appearing gametocytes, was significantly lower and female-biased two or three days after beginning of treatment in children given artesunate-mefloquine.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Addition of artesunate to mefloquine significantly modified the emergence, clearance, and densities of gametocytes and has short-lived, but significant, sex ratio modifying effects in children from this endemic area.</p

Model for initiation of quality factor degradation at high accelerating fields in superconducting radio-frequency cavities

A model for the onset of the reduction in SRF cavity quality factor, the so-called Q-drop, at high accelerating electric fields is presented. Breakdown of the surface barrier against magnetic flux penetration at the cavity equator is considered to be the critical event that determines the onset of Q-drop. The worst case of triangular grooves with low field of first flux penetration Hp, as analyzed previously by Buzdin and Daumens, [1998 Physica C 294: 257], was adapted. This approach incorporates both the geometry of the groove and local contamination via the Ginzburg-Landau parameter kappa, so the proposed model allows new comparisons of one effect in relation to the other. The model predicts equivalent reduction of Hp when either roughness or contamination were varied alone, so smooth but dirty surfaces limit cavity performance about as much as rough but clean surfaces do. When in combination, contamination exacerbates the negative effects of roughness and vice-versa. To test the model with actual data, coupons were prepared by buffered chemical polishing and electropolishing, and stylus profilometry was used to obtain distributions of angles. From these data, curves for surface resistance generated by simple flux flow as a function of magnetic field were generated by integrating over the distribution of angles for reasonable values of kappa. This showed that combined effects of roughness and contamination indeed reduce the Q-drop onset field by ~30%, and that that contamination contributes to Q-drop as much as roughness. The latter point may be overlooked by SRF cavity research, since access to the cavity interior by spectroscopy tools is very difficult, whereas optical images have become commonplace. The model was extended to fit cavity test data, which indicated that reduction of the superconducting gap by contaminants may also play a role in Q-drop.Comment: 15 pages with 7 figure

The AdS/QCD Correspondence: Still Undelivered

We consider the particle spectrum and event shapes in large N gauge theories in different regimes of the short-distance 't Hooft coupling, lambda. The mesons in the small lambda limit should have a Regge spectrum in order to agree with perturbation theory, while generically the large lambda theories with gravity duals produce spectra reminiscent of KK modes. We argue that these KK-like states are qualitatively different from QCD modes: they are deeply bound states which are sensitive to short distance interactions rather than the flux tube-like states expected in asymptotically free, confining gauge theories. In addition, we also find that the characteristic event shapes for the large lambda theories with gravity duals are close to spherical, very different from QCD-like (small lambda, small N) and Nambu-Goto-like (small lambda, large N) theories which have jets. This observation is in agreement with the conjecture of Strassler on event shapes in large 't Hooft coupling theories, which was recently proved by Hofman and Maldacena for the conformal case. This conclusion does not change even when considering soft-wall backgrounds in the gravity dual. The picture that emerges is the following: theories with small and large lambda are qualitatively different, while theories with small and large N are qualitatively similar. Thus it seems that it is the relative smallness of the 't Hooft coupling in QCD that prevents a reliable AdS/QCD correspondence from emerging, and that reproducing characteristic QCD-like behavior will require genuine stringy dynamics to be incorporated into any putative dual theory.Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures; references added, minor changes, history clarifie

Low-Energy Signals from Kinetic Mixing with a Warped Abelian Hidden Sector

We investigate the detailed phenomenology of a light Abelian hidden sector in the Randall-Sundrum framework. Relative to other works with light hidden sectors, the main new feature is a tower of hidden Kaluza-Klein vectors that kinetically mix with the Standard Model photon and Z. We investigate the decay properties of the hidden sector fields in some detail, and develop an approach for calculating processes initiated on the ultraviolet brane of a warped space with large injection momentum relative to the infrared scale. Using these results, we determine the detailed bounds on the light warped hidden sector from precision electroweak measurements and low-energy experiments. We find viable regions of parameter space that lead to significant production rates for several of the hidden Kaluza-Klein vectors in meson factories and fixed-target experiments. This offers the possibility of exploring the structure of an extra spacetime dimension with lower-energy probes.Comment: (1+32) Pages, 13 Figures. v2: JHEP version (minor modifications, results unchanged

Ecological influences on the behaviour and fertility of malaria parasites

BACKGROUND: Sexual reproduction in the mosquito is essential for the transmission of malaria parasites and a major target for transmission-blocking interventions. Male gametes need to locate and fertilize females in the challenging environment of the mosquito blood meal, but remarkably little is known about the ecology and behaviour of male gametes. METHODS: Here, a series of experiments explores how some aspects of the chemical and physical environment experienced during mating impacts upon the production, motility, and fertility of male gametes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Specifically, the data confirm that: (a) rates of male gametogenesis vary when induced by the family of compounds (tryptophan metabolites) thought to trigger gamete differentiation in nature; and (b) complex relationships between gametogenesis and mating success exist across parasite species. In addition, the data reveal that (c) microparticles of the same size as red blood cells negatively affect mating success; and (d) instead of swimming in random directions, male gametes may be attracted by female gametes. Understanding the mating ecology of malaria parasites, may offer novel approaches for blocking transmission and explain adaptation to different species of mosquito vectors

Decaying into the Hidden Sector

The existence of light hidden sectors is an exciting possibility that may be tested in the near future. If DM is allowed to decay into such a hidden sector through GUT suppressed operators, it can accommodate the recent cosmic ray observations without over-producing antiprotons or interfering with the attractive features of the thermal WIMP. Models of this kind are simple to construct, generic and evade all astrophysical bounds. We provide tools for constructing such models and present several distinct examples. The light hidden spectrum and DM couplings can be probed in the near future, by measuring astrophysical photon and neutrino fluxes. These indirect signatures are complimentary to the direct production signals, such as lepton jets, predicted by these models.Comment: 40 pages, 5 figure

Anti-HIV Activity Mediated by Natural Killer and CD8+ Cells after Toll-Like Receptor 7/8 Triggering

We previously found that triggering TLR7/8 either by single stranded HIV RNA or synthetic compounds induced changes in the lymphoid microenvironment unfavorable to HIV. In this study, we used selective TLR7 and 8 agonists to dissect their contribution to the anti-HIV effects. While triggering TLR7 inhibited efficiently HIV replication in lymphoid suspension cells from tonsillar origin, its effect was inconsistent in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). In contrast, triggering TLR8 showed a very prominent and overall very consistent effect in PBMC and tonsillar lymphoid suspension cells. Depletion of dendritic cells (DC), Natural killer cells (NK) and CD8+ T-cells from PBMC resulted in the reversal of TLR8 induced anti-HIV effects. Especially noteworthy, depletion of either NK or CD8+ T-cells alone was only partially effective. We interpret these findings that DC are the initiator of complex changes in the microenvironment that culminates in the anti-HIV active NK and CD8+ effector cells. The near lack of NK and the low number of CD8+ T-cells in tonsillar lymphoid suspension cells may explain the lower TLR8 agonist's anti-HIV effects in that tissue. However, additional cell-type specific differences must exist since the TLR7 agonists had a very strong inhibitory effect in tonsillar lymphoid suspension cells. Separation of effector from the CD4+ target cells did not abolish the anti-HIV effects pointing to the critical role of soluble factors. Triggering TLR7 or 8 were accompanied by major changes in the cytokine milieu; however, it appeared that not a single soluble factor could be assigned for the potent effects