646 research outputs found
The abundance of an invasive freshwater snail Tarebia granifera (Lamarck, 1822) in the Nseleni River, South Africa
The invasive freshwater snail Tarebia granifera (Lamarck, 1822) was first reported in South Africa in 1999 and it has become widespread across the country, with some evidence to suggest that it reduces benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity. The current study aimed to identify the primary abiotic drivers behind abundance patterns of T. granifera, by comparing the current abundance of the snail in three different regions, and at three depths, of the highly modified Nseleni River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Tarebia granifera was well established throughout the Nseleni River system, with an overall preference for shallow waters and seasonal temporal patterns of abundance. Although it is uncertain what the ecological impacts of the snail in this system are, its high abundances suggest that it should be controlled where possible and prevented from invading other systems in the region
Superradiation from Crystals of High-Spin Molecular Nanomagnets
Phenomenological theory of superradiation from crystals of high-spin
molecules is suggested. We show that radiation friction can cause a
superradiation pulse and investigate the role of magnetic anisotropy, external
magnetic field and dipole-dipole interactions. Depending on the contribution of
all these factors at low temperature, several regimes of magnetization of
crystal sample are described. Very fast switch of magnetization's direction for
some sets of parameters is predicted.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Organic Pollutants, Heavy Metals and Toxicity in Oil Spill impacted Salt Marsh Sediment Cores, Staten Island, New York City, USA
Sediment cores from Staten Island's salt marsh contain multiple historical oil spill events that impact ecological health. Microtox solid phase bioassay indicated moderate to high toxicity. Multiple spikes of TPH (6524 to 9586 mg/kg) and Σ16 PAH (15.5 to 18.9 mg/kg) were co-incident with known oil spills. A high TPH background of 400–700 mg/kg was attributed to diffuse sources. Depth-profiled metals Cu (1243 mg/kg), Zn (1814 mg/kg), Pb (1140 mg/kg), Ni (109 mg/kg), Hg (7 mg/kg), Cd 15 (mg/kg) exceeded sediment quality guidelines confirming adverse biological effects. Changes in Pb206/207 suggested three metal contaminant sources and diatom assemblages responded to two contamination events. Organic and metal contamination in Saw Mill Creek Marsh may harm sensitive biota, we recommend caution in the management of the 20–50 cm sediment interval because disturbance could lead to remobilisation of pre-existing legacy contamination into the waterway
The role of manufacturing and market managers in strategy development:lessons from three companies
According to researchers and managers, there is a lack of agreement between marketing and manufacturing managers on critical strategic issues. However, most of the literature on the subject is anecdotal and little formal empirical research has been done. Three companies are investigated to study the extent of agreement/disagreement between manufacturing and marketing managers on strategy content and process. A novel method permits the study of agreement between the two different functional managers on the process of developing strategy. The findings consistently show that manufacturing managers operate under a wider range of strategic priorities than marketing managers, and that manufacturing managers participate less than marketing managers in the strategy development process. Further, both marketing and manufacturing managers show higher involvement in the strategy development process in the latter stages of the Hayes and Wheelwright four-stage model of manufacturing’s strategic role
Sudden switch of generalized Lieb-Robinson velocity in a transverse field Ising spin chain
The Lieb-Robinson theorem states that the speed at which the correlations
between two distant nodes in a spin network can be built through local
interactions has an upper bound, which is called the Lieb-Robinson velocity.
Our central aim is to demonstrate how to observe the Lieb-Robinson velocity in
an Ising spin chain with a strong transverse field. We adopt and compare four
correlation measures for characterizing different types of correlations, which
include correlation function, mutual information, quantum discord, and
entanglement of formation. We prove that one of correlation functions shows a
special behavior depending on the parity of the spin number. All the
information-theoretical correlation measures demonstrate the existence of the
Lieb-Robinson velocity. In particular, we find that there is a sudden switch of
the Lieb-Robinson speed with the increasing of the number of spin
Selenium status and its determinants in very old adults: insights from the Newcastle 85+ Study
There is a dearth of data on Se status in very old adults. The aims of this study were to assess Se status and its determinants in 85-year-olds living in the Northeast of England by measuring serum Se and selenoprotein P (SELENOP) concentrations and glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) activity. A secondary aim was to examine the interrelationships between each of the biomarkers. In total, 757 participants (463 women, 293 men) from the Newcastle 85+ Study were included. Biomarker concentrations were compared with selected cut-offs (serum Se: suboptimal 70 µg/l and deficient 45 µg/l; SELENOP: suboptimal 4·5 mg/l and deficient 2·6 mg/l). Determinants were assessed using linear regressions, and interrelationships were assessed using restricted cubic splines. Median (inter-quartile range) concentrations of serum Se, SELENOP and of GPx3 activity were 53·6 (23·6) µg/l, 2·9 (1·9) mg/l and 142·1 (50·7) U/l, respectively. Eighty-two percentage and 83 % of participants had suboptimal serum Se (< 70 µg/l) and SELENOP (< 4·5 mg/l), and 31 % and 40 % of participants had deficient serum Se (< 45 µg/l) and SELENOP (< 2·6 mg/l), respectively. Protein intake was a significant determinant of Se status. Additional determinants of serum Se were sex, waist:hip ratio, self-rated health and disease, while sex, BMI and physical activity were determinants of GPx3 activity. There was a linear association between serum Se and SELENOP, and nonlinear associations between serum Se and GPx3 activity and between SELENOP and GPx3 activity. These findings indicate that most participants had suboptimal Se status to saturate circulating SELENOP
Lifetime Differences, direct CP Violation and Partial Widths in D0 Meson Decays to K+K- and pi+pi-
We describe several measurements using the decays D0->K+K- and pi+pi-. We
find the ratio of partial widths, Gamma(D0->K+K-)/Gamma(D0->pi+pi-), to be
2.96+/-0.16+/-0.15, where the first error is statistical and the second is
systematic. We observe no evidence for direct CP violation, obtaining A_CP(KK)
= (0.0+/-2.2+/-0.8)% and A_CP(pipi = (1.9+/-3.2+/-0.8)%. In the limit of no CP
violation we measure the mixing parameter y_CP = -0.012+/-0.025+/-0.014 by
measuring the lifetime difference between D0->K+ K- or pi+pi- and the CP
neutral state, D0->K-pi+. We see no evidence for mixing.Comment: 14 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD, Rapid Communicatio
Measurement of the B0 and B+ meson masses from B0 -> psi(') K_S and B+ -> psi(') K+ decays
Using 9.6 million B meson pairs collected with the CLEO detector, we have
fully reconstructed 135 B0 -> psi(') K_S and 526 B+ -> psi(') K+ candidates
with very low background.
We fitted the psi(')K invariant mass distributions of these B meson
candidates and measured the masses of the neutral and charged B mesons to be
M(B0)=5279.1+-0.7[stat]+-0.3[syst] MeV/c^2 and
M(B+)=5279.1+-0.4[stat]+-0.4[syst] MeV/c^2. The precision is a significant
improvement over previous measurements.Comment: 2 typographic errors corrected; 11 pages, 2 figures; also available
through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/CLEO.htm
Update of the Search for the Neutrinoless Decay
We present an update of the search for the lepton family number violating
decay using a complete CLEO II data sample of 12.6 million
pairs. No evidence of a signal has been found and the
corresponding upper limit is \BR(\tau \to \mu\gamma) < 1.0 \times 10^{-6}
at 90% CL, significantly smaller than previous limits. All quoted results are
preliminary.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Measurements of the Branching Fractions and Helicity Amplitudes in B --> D* rho Decays
Using 9.1 fb-1 of e+ e- data collected at the Upsilon(4S) with the CLEO
detector using the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, measurements are reported for
both the branching fractions and the helicity amplitudes for the decays B- ->
D*0 rho- and B0bar -> D*+ rho-. The fraction of longitudinal polarization in
B0bar -> D*+ rho- is found to be consistent with that in B0bar -> D*+ l- nubar
at q^2 = M^2_rho, indicating that the factorization approximation works well.
The longitudinal polarization in the B- mode is similar. The measurements also
show evidence of non-trivial final-state interaction phases for the helicity
amplitudes.Comment: 11 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR
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