The Triaxial Rotation Vibration Model in the Xe-Ba Region

The axial Rotation Vibration Model is here extended to describe also triaxial equilibrium shapes with beta and gamma vibrations allowing for the interaction between vibrations and rotations. This Triaxial Rotation Vibration Model (TRVM) is applied to Xe and Ba isotopes with mass numbers between 120 and 130. This area has recently been pointed out to be the O(6) limit of the Interacting Boson Approximation (IBA). The present work shows that the TRVM can equally well describe these nuclei concerning their excitation energies and E2 branching ratios.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Description of even-even triaxial Nuclei within the Coherent State and the Triaxial Rotation-Vibration Models

The coherent state model (CSM) and the triaxial rotation-vibration model (TRVM) are alternatively used to describe the ground, gamma and beta bands of 228Th. CSM is also applied to the nuclei 126Xe and 130Ba, which were recently considered in TRVM. The two models are compared with respect to both their underlying assumptions and to their predicted results for energy levels and E2 branching ratios. Both models describe energies and quadrupole transitions of 228Th equally well and in good agreement with experiment, if the 0$_3^+$ level at 1120 keV is interpreted as the head of the beta band. The other two 0$^+$ levels at 832 and 939 keV are most likely not of a pure quadrupole vibration nature as has already been pointed out in the literature.Comment: 31 pages, RevTeX, 6 figure

Transition Rates between Mixed Symmetry States: First Measurement in 94Mo

The nucleus 94Mo was investigated using a powerful combination of gamma-singles photon scattering experiments and gamma-gamma-coincidence studies following the beta-decay of 94mTc. The data survey short-lived J^pi=1+,2+ states and include branching ratios, E2/M1 mixing ratios, lifetimes, and transition strengths. The mixed-symmetry (MS) 1+ scissors mode and the 2+ MS state are identified from M1 strengths. A gamma transition between MS states was observed and its rate was measured. Nine M1 and E2 strengths involving MS states agree with the O(6) limit of the interacting boson model-2 using the proton boson E2 charge as the only free parameter.Comment: 9 pages, 3 PostScript figures included, ReVTeX, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters, tentatively scheduled for August 9, 199

Company ‘Emigration’ and EC Freedom of Establishment: Daily Mail Revisited

Following the ECJ’s recent case law on EC freedom of establishment (the Centros, Überseering and Inspire Art cases), regulatory competition for corporate law within the European Union takes place at an early stage of the incorporation of new companies. In contrast, as regards the ‘moving out’ of companies from the country of incorporation, the ECJ once considered a tax law restriction against the transfer abroad of a company’s administrative seat as compatible with EC freedom of establishment (the Daily Mail case). For years, this decision has been regarded as applicable to all restrictions imposed by countries of incorporation, even the forced liquidation of the ‘emigrating’ company. This paper addresses the question whether EC freedom of establishment really allows Member States to place any limit on the ‘emigration’ of nationally registered companies. It argues that EC freedom of establishment covers the transfer of the administrative seat as well as the transfer of the registered office and, therefore, that the country of incorporation cannot liquidate ‘emigrating’ companies. In addition, it addresses the question whether a new Directive is needed to allow the transfer of a com- pany’s registered office and the identity-preserving company law changes. It argues that such a Directive is necessary to avoid legal uncertainty and to protect the interests of employees, creditors and minority shareholders, among others, who could be detrimentally affected by the ‘emigration’ of national companies

Elastic interactions of active cells with soft materials

Anchorage-dependent cells collect information on the mechanical properties of the environment through their contractile machineries and use this information to position and orient themselves. Since the probing process is anisotropic, cellular force patterns during active mechanosensing can be modelled as anisotropic force contraction dipoles. Their build-up depends on the mechanical properties of the environment, including elastic rigidity and prestrain. In a finite sized sample, it also depends on sample geometry and boundary conditions through image strain fields. We discuss the interactions of active cells with an elastic environment and compare it to the case of physical force dipoles. Despite marked differences, both cases can be described in the same theoretical framework. We exactly solve the elastic equations for anisotropic force contraction dipoles in different geometries (full space, halfspace and sphere) and with different boundary conditions. These results are then used to predict optimal position and orientation of mechanosensing cells in soft material.Comment: Revtex, 38 pages, 8 Postscript files included; revised version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Analysis of bacterial profiles of AGBRESA participants – a study concerning terrestrial astronauts under simulated microgravity

Introduction: Long-term space missions are accompanied by harmful environmental conditions like microgravity. Due to the reduced gravity, astronauts adapt to their environment resulting in tissue fluidic shifts. Since the knowledge about microbiome data in space is sparse and conduction of experiments at the ISS is complex, suitable analogs are needed. Therefore, the first cooperative bed-rest study called Artificial Gravity Bed-Rest study with ESA (AGBRESA), by NASA, ESA and DLR offered optimal features to investigate possible correlations between microbial shifts and physiological microgravity by using -6° head-downtilt (HDT). The aim of this survey was to identify changes within the standardized conditions, such as diet and wrongly distributed tissue fluids to reveal causal connections among health state and microbial communities

Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Renal Patients and Healthy Subjects

The first goal of this study was to measure the oxidative stress (OS) and relate it to lipoprotein variables in 35 renal patients before dialysis (CKD), 37 on hemodialysis (HD) and 63 healthy subjects. The method for OS was based on the ratio of cholesteryl esters (CE) containing C18/C16 fatty acids (R2) measured by gas chromatography (GC) which is a simple, direct, rapid and reliable procedure. The second goal was to investigate and identify a triacylglycerol peak on GC, referred to as TG48 (48 represents the sum of the three fatty acids carbon chain lengths) which was markedly increased in renal patients compared to healthy controls. We measured TG48 in patients and controls. Mass spectrometry (MS) and MS twice in tandem were used to analyze the fatty acid composition of TG48. MS showed that TG48 was abundant in saturated fatty acids (SFAs) that were known for their pro-inflammatory property. TG48 was significantly and inversely correlated with OS. Renal patients were characterized by higher OS and inflammation than healthy subjects. Inflammation correlated strongly with TG, VLDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein (apo) C-III and apoC-III bound to apoB-containing lipoproteins, but not with either total cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol

Consumer–brand identification revisited: An integrative framework of brand identification, customer satisfaction, and price image and their role for brand loyalty and word of mouth

Consumer–brand identification has received considerable attraction among scholars and practitioners in recent years. We contribute to previous research by proposing an integrative model that includes consumer–brand identification, customer satisfaction, and price image to investigate the interrelationships among these constructs as well as their effects on brand loyalty and positive word of mouth. To provide general results, we empirically test the model using a sample of 1443 respondents from a representative consumer panel and 10 service/product brands. The results demonstrate that identification, satisfaction, and price image significantly influence both loyalty and word of mouth. Moreover, we find significant interrelationships among the constructs: Identification positively influences both satisfaction and price image, which also increases satisfaction. By disclosing the relative importance of three separate ways of gaining and retaining customers, this study helps managers more appropriately choose the right mix of branding, pricing, and relationship marketing. From an academic point of view, our research is the first to explicitly examine the effects of the concept of identification for price management and to integrate variables from the fields of branding, relationship marketing, and behavioral pricing, which have separately been identified as particularly important determinants of marketing outcomes