Sharp thresholds of blow-up and global existence for the coupled nonlinear Schrodinger system

In this paper, we establish two new types of invariant sets for the coupled nonlinear Schrodinger system on $\mathbb{R}^n$, and derive two sharp thresholds of blow-up and global existence for its solution. Some analogous results for the nonlinear Schrodinger system posed on the hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^n$ and on the standard 2-sphere $\mathbb{S}^2$ are also presented. Our arguments and constructions are improvements of some previous works on this direction. At the end, we give some heuristic analysis about the strong instability of the solitary waves.Comment: 21 page

Analyzing redshift surveys to measure the power spectrum on large scales

Upcoming large redshift surveys potentially allow precision measurements of the galaxy power spectrum. To accurately measure P(k) on the largest scales, comparable to the depth of the survey, it is crucial that finite volume effects are accurately corrected for in the data analysis. Here we derive analytic expressions for the one such effect that has not previously been worked out exactly: that of the so-called integral constraint. We also show that for data analysis methods based on counts in cells, multiple constraints can be included via simple matrix operations, thereby rendering the results less sensitive to galactic extinction and misestimates of the shape of the radial selection function.Comment: Mostly superseded by astro-ph/9708020; from 5/5-97. 10 pages, with 1 figure included. More detailed treatment at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~max/galpower.html (faster from the US), from http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~max/galpower.html (faster from Europe) or from [email protected]

Off-label use in germany - a current appraisal of gynaecologic university departments

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The off-label use, referring to the applicability of pharmaceutical drugs beyond the submitted and from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM, Bundesamt für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte) certified and approved administration, is the subject of controversial discussions. the application can be considered in case of severe illness - if no therapeutic alternatives are available - or it exists as a founded perspective for achieving therapeutic success.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A latitudinal study for evaluating the application of off-label use supplements was performed at 43 German university and academic teaching hospitals. Five doctors at each hospital applied off-label pharmaceutical drugs and were called upon to share their personal experience to the application of those medications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>75 (35%) questionnaires were returned out of 22 (51%) medical centres with 215 contacted physicians. Off-label use was common for 65 (91%) of the physicians. Only 9% of them obviate the application of off-label drugs. About a half of the medication is related to application in obstetrics (54%) and in most cases on an every day basis. Uterotonics were the most commonly used off-label medications (34%). The main part of information about off-label use is obtained from personal information of colleagues (66%) and personal experience (58%). 34% of physicians think that off label use is risky. Interestingly, the view about off label use of medication varies considerably among physicians from various hospitals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The application of off-label pharmaceutical drugs in Germany seems to be a well established practice. More than 90% of participators of our trial use at least one medication outside the administration. This includes particularly prostaglandins, anti-hyper-tonic therapeutics and chemotherapeutics.</p

Development and Validation of Sterility Systems for Trees

The overall goal of this project was to develop and validate sterility systems in poplar with the ultimate goal of fulfilling the basic requirements for commercial use. For this, sterility must be complete and stable over multiple growing seasons, cause no detrimental effects on vegetative growth, and successful transformation events must be identifiable via molecular tests when trees are still juvenile. Because of the inherent difficulties in achieving and demonstrating complete sterility in trees, our approach was to study alternate sterility systems in Arabidopsis and/or early-flowering tree systems. The public benefit from this work is the capacity for containment of genes or exotic forms of trees so they can be of benefit for industry for production of wood, energy, and renewable products, while having minimal impact on wild populations of trees. We tested three methods for engineering sterility: dominant negative mutant (DNM) proteins, floral tissue ablation, and RNA interference (RNAi) to suppress the expression of several floral regulatory genes. The ultimate goal of this work was to produce a number of transgenic poplars that could be outplanted to enable future assessments of the effectiveness of these transgenic sterility methods. Our attempts to produce ablation constructs that did not interfere with tree health were partially successful. Using the poplar LEAFY gene promoter and the barnase/barstar system, we were able to regenerate plants that grew well in the greenhouse, but they showed poor health in the field. Four of seven DNM genes tested were considered promising enough, based on results in Arabidopsis, to produce transgenic poplars. Single, double, and triple RNAi genes were produced and transformed into poplar. Over all, we produced 1,964 PCR-confirmed transgenic events with 19 different kinds of sterility genes and several kinds of control genes. We propagated 5,640, 6,820, and 7,055 trees for each of three test poplar genotypes, and field plantings were begun in Spring of 2003 and will be finished in Spring 2007. Continued field studies and monitoring will be required to establish if any of the approaches we have taken will prove to be safe for tree health, stable, and provide reliable containment

Design-of-experiments-guided optimization of slurry-cast cathodes for solid-state batteries

Laboratory research into bulk-type solid-state batteries (SSBs) has been focused predominantly on powder-based, pelletized cells and has been sufficient to evaluate fundamental limitations and tailor the constituents to some degree. However, to improve experimental reliability and for commercial implementation of this technology, competitive slurry-cast electrodes are required. Here, we report on the application of an approach guided by design of experiments (DoE) to evaluate the influence of the type/content of polymer binder and conductive carbon additive on the cyclability and processability of Li$_{1+x}$(Ni$_{0.6}$Co$_{0.2}$Mn$_{0.2}$)$_{1}$−xO$_{2}$ (NCM622) cathodes in SSB cells using lithium thiophosphate solid electrolytes. The predictions are verified by charge-discharge and impedance spectroscopy measurements. Furthermore, structural changes and gas evolution are monitored via X-ray diffraction and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry, respectively, in an attempt to rationalize and support the DoE results. In summary, the optimized combination of polymer binder and conductive carbon additive leads to high electrochemical performance and good processability

A comparison of the galaxy peculiar velocity field with the PSCz gravity field-- A Bayesian hyper-parameter method

We constructed a Bayesian hyper-parameter statistical method to quantify the difference between predicted velocities derived from the observed galaxy distribution in the \textit{IRAS}-PSC$z$ redshift survey and peculiar velocities measured using different distance indicators. In our analysis we find that the model--data comparison becomes unreliable beyond 70 \hmpc because of the inadequate sampling by \textit{IRAS} survey of prominent, distant superclusters, like the Shapley Concentration. On the other hand, the analysis of the velocity residuals show that the PSC$z$ gravity field provides an adequate model to the local, \le 70 \hmpc, peculiar velocity field. The hyper-parameter combination of ENEAR, SN, A1SN and SFI++ catalogues in the Bayesian framework constrains the amplitude of the linear flow to be $\beta=0.53 \pm 0.014$. For an rms density fluctuations in the PSC$z$ galaxy number density $\sigma_8^{\rm gal}=0.42\pm0.03$, we obtain an estimate of the growth rate of density fluctuations $f\sigma_{8}(z\sim0) = 0.42 \pm 0.033$, which is in excellent agreement with independent estimates based on different techniques.Comment: 14 pages, 32 figures, MNRAS in press, matched the MNRAS published versio

Genome Enabled Discovery of Carbon Sequestration Genes in Poplar

The goals of the S.H. Strauss laboratory portion of 'Genome-enabled discovery of carbon sequestration genes in poplar' are (1) to explore the functions of candidate genes using Populus transformation by inserting genes provided by Oakridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Florida (UF) into poplar; (2) to expand the poplar transformation toolkit by developing transformation methods for important genotypes; and (3) to allow induced expression, and efficient gene suppression, in roots and other tissues. As part of the transformation improvement effort, OSU developed transformation protocols for Populus trichocarpa 'Nisqually-1' clone and an early flowering P. alba clone, 6K10. Complete descriptions of the transformation systems were published (Ma et. al. 2004, Meilan et. al 2004). Twenty-one 'Nisqually-1' and 622 6K10 transgenic plants were generated. To identify root predominant promoters, a set of three promoters were tested for their tissue-specific expression patterns in poplar and in Arabidopsis as a model system. A novel gene, ET304, was identified by analyzing a collection of poplar enhancer trap lines generated at OSU (Filichkin et. al 2006a, 2006b). Other promoters include the pGgMT1 root-predominant promoter from Casuarina glauca and the pAtPIN2 promoter from Arabidopsis root specific PIN2 gene. OSU tested two induction systems, alcohol- and estrogen-inducible, in multiple poplar transgenics. Ethanol proved to be the more efficient when tested in tissue culture and greenhouse conditions. Two estrogen-inducible systems were evaluated in transgenic Populus, neither of which functioned reliably in tissue culture conditions. GATEWAY-compatible plant binary vectors were designed to compare the silencing efficiency of homologous (direct) RNAi vs. heterologous (transitive) RNAi inverted repeats. A set of genes was targeted for post transcriptional silencing in the model Arabidopsis system; these include the floral meristem identity gene (APETALA1 or AP1), auxin response factor gene (ETTIN), the gene encoding transcriptional factor of WD40 family (TRANSPARENTTESTAGLABRA1 or TTG1), and the auxin efflux carrier (PIN-FORMED2 or PIN2) gene. More than 220 transgenic lines of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generations were analyzed for RNAi suppression phenotypes (Filichkin et. al., manuscript submitted). A total of 108 constructs were supplied by ORNL, UF and OSU and used to generate over 1,881 PCR verified transgenic Populus and over 300 PCR verified transgenic Arabidopsis events. The Populus transgenics alone required Agrobacterium co-cultivations of 124.406 explants