2010 M&A Update

Most of 2009 was slow for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), due to financial turmoil and economic uncertainty that carried over from late 2008. But the deal market rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2010 appears to be much better for M&A than 2009. Yet while the global economy shows signs of recovery, and many buyers and sellers are flush with cash, M&A activity may begin slowly in the United States in 2011 due to uncertainty about the business outlook and potential tax changes. In this article, we briefly review M&A activity in the first half of 2010, and look back on 2009. We comment on current deal making, suggest factors that may influence future deals, and conclude with expectations for the future

New insights on the interaction between thiophene derivatives and Au surfaces: the case of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene and the relevant polymer.

The nature of the interface between electrogenerated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and the Au substrate is studied in detail. In particular, the adsorption of the relevant monomer, namely, 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, is investigated and compared with that of other thiophene derivatives. Different deposition procedures have been adopted: very thin films of the thiophene derivatives have been obtained through chemisorption processes from vapor and liquid phases, on Au polycrystalline substrates, Au nano particles possessing different size, and a Au(111) single crystal. Different techniques, operating both in situ and ex situ, have been employed for the characterization of these deposits, that is, X-ray photoemission and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/metal interface is far from being simply constituted by unreacted molecules in contact with the substrate; rather, the formation of oligothiophene species and sulfur atoms at the interface has been ascertained

Surface ruptures on cross-faults in the 24 November 1987 Superstition Hills, California, earthquake sequence

Left-lateral slip occurred on individual surface breaks along northeast-trending faults associated with the 24 November 1987 earthquake sequence in the Superstition Hills, Imperial Valley, California. This sequence included the M_s = 6.2 event on a left-lateral, northeast-trending “cross-fault” between the Superstition Hills fault (SHF) and Brawley seismic zone, which was spatially associated with the left-lateral surface breaks. Six distinct subparallel cross-faults broke at the surface, with rupture lengths ranging from about Formula to 10 km and maximum displacements ranging from 30 to 130 mm. About half a day after the M_s = 6.2 event, an M_s = 6.6 earthquake nucleated near the intersection of the cross-faults with the SHF, and rupture propagated southeast along the SHF. Whereas right-lateral slip on the SHF occurred dominantly on a single trace in a narrow zone, the cross-fault surface slip was distributed over several stands across a 10-km-wide zone. Also, whereas afterslip accounted for a large proportion of total slip on the SHF, there is no evidence for afterslip on the cross-faults. We present documentation of these surface ruptures. A simple mechanical model of faulting illustrates how the foreshock sequence may have triggered the main rupture. Displacement on other cross-faults could trigger an event on the southern San Andreas fault by a similar mechanism in the future

In situ atomic force microscopy in the study of electrogeneration of polybithiophene on Pt electrode

Electrochemical AFM technique has been used for the in situ study of the electrogeneration-deposition process of polybithiophene at varying the polymerisation conditions, such as supporting electrolyte, i.e., LiClO4 or tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate, and polymerisation procedure, i.e., either potentiostatic or potentiodynamic method. In order to better follow the evolution of the morphology of the deposit, particularly during the early stages of the polymer film growth, a suitable home-made electrochemical cell has been used

Relational arenas in a regional Higher Education system: Insights from an empirical analysis

Extant indicators on research and higher education do not consider the complex relational structure in which universities are embedded and that influences their performance on one side, and the impact of policies on the other. This article investigates the overall pattern of universities' relational arenas in a Regional environment by considering their two main domains of activity, namely research and teaching. We study their structure, determinants, and existing interactions, in order to understand the possible consequences for policy making and management, and to identify synthetic indicators to represent the

170 Nanometer Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging using Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy

We demonstrate one-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the semiconductor GaAs with 170 nanometer slice separation and resolve two regions of reduced nuclear spin polarization density separated by only 500 nanometers. This is achieved by force detection of the magnetic resonance, Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM), in combination with optical pumping to increase the nuclear spin polarization. Optical pumping of the GaAs creates spin polarization up to 12 times larger than the thermal nuclear spin polarization at 5 K and 4 T. The experiment is sensitive to sample volumes containing $\sim 4 \times 10^{11}$ $^{71}$Ga$/\sqrt{Hz}$. These results demonstrate the ability of force-detected magnetic resonance to apply magnetic resonance imaging to semiconductor devices and other nanostructures.Comment: Submitted to J of Magnetic Resonanc

Back-arc extension in the Andaman Sea: Tectonic and magmatic processes imaged by high-precision teleseismic double-difference earthquake relocation

The geometry, kinematics, and mode of back-arc extension along the Andaman Sea plate boundary are refined using a new set of significantly improved hypocenters, global centroid moment tensor (CMT) solutions, and high-resolution bathymetry. By applying cross-correlation and double-difference (DD) algorithms to regional and teleseismic waveforms and arrival times from International Seismological Centre and National Earthquake Information Center bulletins (1964–2009), we resolve the fine-scale structure and spatiotemporal behavior of active faults in the Andaman Sea. The new data reveal that back-arc extension is primarily accommodated at the Andaman Back-Arc Spreading Center (ABSC) at ~10°, which hosted three major earthquake swarms in 1984, 2006, and 2009. Short-term spreading rates estimated from extensional moment tensors account for less than 10% of the long-term 3.0–3.8 cm/yr spreading rate, indicating that spreading by intrusion and the formation of new crust make up for the difference. A spatiotemporal analysis of the swarms and Coulomb-stress modeling show that dike intrusions are the primary driver for brittle failure in the ABSC. While spreading direction is close to ridge normal, it is oblique to the adjacent transforms. The resulting component of E-W extension across the transforms is expressed by deep basins on either side of the rift and a change to extensional faulting along the West Andaman fault system after the Mw = 9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 2004. A possible skew in slip vectors of earthquakes in the eastern part of the ABSC indicates an en-echelon arrangement of extensional structures, suggesting that the present segment geometry is not in equilibrium with current plate-motion demands, and thus the ridge experiences ongoing re-adjustment

Water-soluble full-length single-wall carbon nanotube polyelectrolytes: Preparation and characterization

HiPco single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been noncovalently modified with ionic pyrene and naphthalene derivatives to prepare water-soluble SWNT polyelectrolytes (SWNT-PEs), which are analogous to polyanions and polycations. The modified nanotubes have been characterized with UV-vis-NIR, fluorescence, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nanotube-adsorbate interactions consist of π-π stacking interactions between the aromatic core of the adsorbate and the nanotube surface and specific contributions because of the substituents. The interaction between nanotubes and adsorbates also involves charge transfer from adsorbates to SWNTs, and with naphthalene sulfonates the role of a free amino group was important. The ionic surface charge density of the modified SWNTs is constant and probably controlled by electrostatic repulsion between like charges. The linear ionic charge density of the modified SWNTs is similar to that of common highly charged polyelectrolytes