Coherent, multi-heterodyne spectroscopy using stabilized optical frequency combs

The broadband, coherent nature of narrow-linewidth fiber frequency combs is exploited to measure the full complex spectrum of a molecular gas through multi-heterodyne spectroscopy. We measure the absorption and phase shift experienced by each of 155,000 individual frequency comb lines, spaced by 100 MHz and spanning from 1495 nm to 1620 nm, after passing through a hydrogen cyanide gas. The measured phase spectrum agrees with Kramers-Kronig transformation of the absorption spectrum. This technique can provide a full complex spectrum rapidly, over wide bandwidths, and with hertz-level accuracy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

LIMS Instrument Package (LIP) balloon experiment: Nimbus 7 satellite correlative temperature, ozone, water vapor, and nitric acid measurements

The Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) LIP balloon experiment was used to obtain correlative temperature, ozone, water vapor, and nitric acid data at altitudes between 10 and 36 kilometers. The performance of the LIMS sensor flown on the Nimbus 7 Satellite was assessed. The LIP consists of the modified electrochemical concentration cell ozonesonde, the ultraviolet absorption photometric of ozone, the water vapor infrared radiometer sonde, the chemical absorption filter instrument for nitric acid vapor, and the infrared radiometer for nitric acid vapor. The limb instrument package (LIP), its correlative sensors, and the resulting data obtained from an engineering and four correlative flights are described

Coherent resonant interactions and slow light with molecules confined in photonic band-gap fibers

We investigate resonant nonlinear optical interactions and demonstrate induced transparency in acetylene molecules in a hollow-core photonic band-gap fiber at 1.5$\mu$m. The induced spectral transmission window is used to demonstrate slow-light effects, and we show that the observed broadening of the spectral features is due to collisions of the molecules with the inner walls of the fiber core. Our results illustrate that such fibers can be used to facilitate strong coherent light-matter interactions even when the optical response of the individual molecules is weak.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

cDNA nucleotide sequence encoding the ZPC protein of Australian hydromyine rodents: a novel sequence of the putative sperm-combining site within the family Muridae

This comparative study of the cDNA sequence of the zona pellucida C (ZPC) glycoprotein in murid rodents focuses on the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the putative sperm-combining site. We ask the question: Has divergence evolved in the nucleotide sequence of ZPC in the murid rodents of Australia? Using RT-PCR and (RACE) PCR, the complete cDNA coding region of ZPC in the Australian hydromyine rodents Notomys alexis and Pseudomys australis, and a partial cDNA sequence from a third hydromyine rodent, Hydromys chrysogaster, has been determined. Comparison between the cDNA sequences of the hydromyine rodents reveals that the level of amino acid sequence identity between N. alexis and P. australis is 96%, whereas that between the two species of hydromyine rodents and M. musculus and R. norvegicus is 88% and 87% respectively. Despite being reproductively isolated from each other, the three species of hydromyine rodents have a 100% level of amino acid sequence identity at the putative sperm-combining site. This finding does not support the view that this site is under positive selective pressure. The sequence data obtained in this study may have important conservation implications for the dissemination of immunocontraception directed against M. musculus using ZPC antibodies.Christine A. Swann, Rory M. Hope and William G. Bree

Bad bosses and self-verification: the moderating role of core self-evaluations with trust in workplace management

Who responds most strongly to supervisor social undermining? Building on self-verification theory (Swann, 1983, 1987), we theorize that employees with positive views of the self (i.e., higher core self-evaluations [CSEs]) who also maintain higher trust in workplace management are more likely to experience heightened stress and turnover intentions when undermined. We argue that this subset of employees (high CSE, high trust) are more likely to feel misunderstood when undermined by their supervisor and that this lack of self-verification partially explains their stronger responses to supervisor undermining. We find initial support for the first part of our model in a study of 259 healthcare workers in the United States and replicate and extend our findings in the second study of 330 employees in the United Kingdom. Our results suggest that the employees Human Resources often wishes to attract and retain—employees with high CSE and high trust in workplace management—react most strongly to supervisor social undermining

Agreement on the perception of moral character

This study tested for inter-judge agreement on moral character. A sample of students and community members rated their own moral character using a measure that tapped six moral character traits. Friends, family members, and/or acquaintances rated these targets on the same traits. Self/other and inter-informant agreement was found at the trait level for both a general character factor and for residual variance explained by individual moral character traits, as well as at the individual level (judges agreed on targets’ “moral character profiles”). Observed inter-judge agreement constitutes evidence for the existence of moral character, and raises questions about the nature of moral character traits

Mammalian ANP32A and ANP32B proteins drive differential polymerase adaptations in avian influenza virus

ANP32 proteins, which act as influenza polymerase cofactors, vary between birds and mammals. In mammals, ANP32A and ANP32B have been reported to serve essential but redundant roles to support influenza polymerase activity. The well-known mammalian adaptation PB2-E627K enables influenza polymerase to use mammalian ANP32 proteins. However, some mammalian-adapted influenza viruses do not harbor this substitution. Here, we show that alternative PB2 adaptations, Q591R and D701N, also allow influenza polymerase to use mammalian ANP32 proteins, whereas other PB2 mutations, G158E, T271A, and D740N, increase polymerase activity in the presence of avian ANP32 proteins as well. Furthermore, PB2-E627K strongly favors use of mammalian ANP32B proteins, whereas D701N shows no such bias. Accordingly, PB2-E627K adaptation emerges in species with strong pro-viral ANP32B proteins, such as humans and mice, while D701N is more commonly seen in isolates from swine, dogs, and horses, where ANP32A proteins are the preferred cofactor. Using an experimental evolution approach, we show that the passage of viruses containing avian polymerases in human cells drove acquisition of PB2-E627K, but not in the absence of ANP32B. Finally, we show that the strong pro-viral support of ANP32B for PB2-E627K maps to the low-complexity acidic region (LCAR) tail of ANP32B. IMPORTANCE Influenza viruses naturally reside in wild aquatic birds. However, the high mutation rate of influenza viruses allows them to rapidly and frequently adapt to new hosts, including mammals. Viruses that succeed in these zoonotic jumps pose a pandemic threat whereby the virus adapts sufficiently to efficiently transmit human-to-human. The influenza virus polymerase is central to viral replication and restriction of polymerase activity is a major barrier to species jumps. ANP32 proteins are essential for influenza polymerase activity. In this study, we describe how avian influenza viruses can adapt in several different ways to use mammalian ANP32 proteins. We further show that differences between mammalian ANP32 proteins can select different adaptive changes and are responsible for some of the typical mutations that arise in mammalian-adapted influenza polymerases. These different adaptive mutations may determine the relative zoonotic potential of influenza viruses and thus help assess their pandemic risk

Children’s Feedback Preferences in Response to an Experimentally Manipulated Peer Evaluation Outcome: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

The present study examined the linkage between pre-adolescent children’s depressive symptoms and their preferences for receiving positive vs. negative feedback subsequent to being faced with an experimentally manipulated peer evaluation outcome in real time. Participants (n = 142) ages 10 to 13, played a computer contest based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either a peer rejection (i.e., receiving the lowest total ‘likeability’ score from a group of peer-judges), a peer success (i.e., receiving the highest score), or a control peer evaluation condition. Children’s self-reported feedback preferences were then assessed. Results revealed that participants assigned to the negative evaluation outcome, relative to either the success or the control outcome, showed a significantly higher subsequent preference for negatively tuned feedback. Contrary to previous work and predictions derived from self-verification theory, children higher in depressive symptoms were only more likely to prefer negative feedback in response to the negative peer evaluation outcome. These effects for depression were not accounted for by either state mood at baseline or mood change in response to the feedback manipulation

Spectroscopy of the Methane {\nu}3 Band with an Accurate Mid-Infrared Coherent Dual- Comb Spectrometer

We demonstrate a high-accuracy dual-comb spectrometer centered at 3.4 \mu m. The amplitude and phase spectra of the P, Q, and partial R-branch of the methane {\nu}3 band are measured at 25 MHz to 100 MHz point spacing with ~kHz resolution and a signal-to-noise ratio of up to 3500. A fit of the absorbance and phase spectra yield the center frequency of 132 rovibrational lines. The systematic uncertainty is estimated to be 300 kHz, which is 10-3 of the Doppler width and a tenfold improvement over Fourier transform spectroscopy. These data are the first high- accuracy molecular spectra obtained with a direct comb spectrometer.Comment: journal articl