Direct picosecond time resolution of unimolecular reactions initiated by local mode excitation

The concept of local mode (LM) states [1] in large molecules raises the possibilty of inducing chemical reactions from a well-defined initial state (bond-selective chemistry). The results of linewidth and energy measurements in gases, [2(a)] and low temperature solids, [2(b)] however, indicate that the relaxation times for such high energy (> 15000 cm^-1) states can be extremely short, < 1ps. Because of the lack of direct time-resolved measurements, the following fundamental questions have not been unequivocally answered: What are the homogeneous linewidths of LM states and what are the rates of energy relaxation or reaction out of these states? Over the past five years we have made several attempts to observe the picosecond dynamics of LM states. Due to the inherent difficulties associated with making these measurements, such as the very small oscillator strength (σ < 10^-23 cm^2), an extremely sensitive probing technique becomes imperative

Comparing Two Sources of Retail Meat Price Data

The livestock industry uses information on meat prices at different stages in the marketing system to make production decisions. When grocery stores began using electronic scanners to capture prices paid for meat, it was assumed that the livestock industry could capitalize on having these point-of-sale data available as a measure of the value of its products. This report compares scanner price data with publicly available data collected by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Of the two data types, scanner data provide more information about retail meat markets, including a wider variety of meat-cut prices, multiple measures of an average price, the volume of sales, and the relative importance of discounted prices. The scanner data sample, however, is not statistically drawn, and complicated processing requirements delay its release, which makes scanner data less useful than BLS data for analyzing current market conditions.price spreads, meat, meat pricing, scanner data, retail prices, retail meat prices, farm-to-retail, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Initial bound state studies in light-front QCD

We present the first numerical QCD bound state calculation based on a renormalization group-improved light-front Hamiltonian formalism. The QCD Hamiltonian is determined to second order in the coupling, and it includes two-body confining interactions. We make a momentum expansion, obtaining an equal-time-like Schrodinger equation. This is solved for quark-antiquark constituent states, and we obtain a set of self-consistent parameters by fitting B meson spectra.Comment: 38 pages, latex, 5 latex figures include

Similarity Renormalization Group for Nucleon-Nucleon Interactions

The similarity renormalization group (SRG) is based on unitary transformations that suppress off-diagonal matrix elements, forcing the hamiltonian towards a band-diagonal form. A simple SRG transformation applied to nucleon-nucleon interactions leads to greatly improved convergence properties while preserving observables, and provides a method to consistently evolve many-body potentials and other operators.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures (8 figure files); references updated and acknowledgment adde

Stability of Gravitational and Electromagnetic Geons

Recent work on gravitational geons is extended to examine the stability properties of gravitational and electromagnetic geon constructs. All types of geons must possess the property of regularity, self-consistency and quasi-stability on a time-scale much longer than the period of the comprising waves. Standard perturbation theory, modified to accommodate time-averaged fields, is used to test the requirement of quasi-stability. It is found that the modified perturbation theory results in an internal inconsistency. The time-scale of evolution is found to be of the same order in magnitude as the period of the comprising waves. This contradicts the requirement of slow evolution. Thus not all of the requirements for the existence of electromagnetic or gravitational geons are met though perturbation theory. From this result it cannot be concluded that an electromagnetic or a gravitational geon is a viable entity. The broader implications of the result are discussed with particular reference to the problem of gravitational energy.Comment: 40 pages, 5 EPS figures, uses overcite.st

Embedding generic employability skills in an accounting degree: development and impediments

This paper explores and analyses the views of, and effects on, students of a project that integrated the development of employability skills within the small group classes of two compulsory courses in the first year of an accounting degree at a UK university. The project aimed to build, deliver and evaluate course materials designed to encourage the development of a broad range of employability skills: skills needed for life-long learning and a successful business career. By analysing students' opinions gathered from a series of focus groups spread throughout the year, three prominent skill areas of interest were identified: time management, modelling, and learning to learn. Further analysis highlighted the complex nature of skills development, and brought to light a range of impediments and barriers to both students' development of employability skills and their subject learning. The analysis suggests the need for accounting educators to see skills development as being an essential element of the path to providing a successful accounting education experience

Science-based restoration monitoring of coastal habitats, Volume Two: Tools for monitoring coastal habitats

Healthy coastal habitats are not only important ecologically; they also support healthy coastal communities and improve the quality of people’s lives. Despite their many benefits and values, coastal habitats have been systematically modified, degraded, and destroyed throughout the United States and its protectorates beginning with European colonization in the 1600’s (Dahl 1990). As a result, many coastal habitats around the United States are in desperate need of restoration. The monitoring of restoration projects, the focus of this document, is necessary to ensure that restoration efforts are successful, to further the science, and to increase the efficiency of future restoration efforts

Context Dependence, MOPs,WHIMs and procedures Recanati and Kaplan on Cognitive Aspects in Semantics

After presenting Kripke’s criticism to Frege’s ideas on context dependence of thoughts, I present two recent attempts of considering cognitive aspects of context dependent expressions inside a truth conditional pragmatics or semantics: Recanati’s non-descriptive modes of presentation (MOPs) and Kaplan’s ways of having in mind (WHIMs). After analysing the two attempts and verifying which answers they should give to the problem discussed by Kripke, I suggest a possible interpretation of these attempts: to insert a procedural or algorithmic level in semantic representations of indexicals. That a function may be computed by different procedures might suggest new possibilities of integrating contextual cognitive aspects in model theoretic semanti

Synthesis and evaluation of halogenated nitrophenoxazinones as nitroreductase substrates for the detection of pathogenic bacteria

The synthesis and microbiological evaluation of 7-, 8- and 9-nitro-1,2,4-trihalogenophenoxazin-3-one substrates with potential in the detection of nitroreductase-expressing pathogenic microorganisms are described. The 7- and 9-nitrotrihalogenophenoxazinone substrates were reduced by most Gram negative microorganisms and were inhibitory to the growth of certain Gram positive bacteria; however, the majority of Gram positive strains that were not inhibited by these agents, along with the two yeast strains evaluated, did not reduce the substrates. These observations suggest there are differences in the active site structures and substrate requirements of the nitroreductase enzymes from different strains; such differences may be exploited in the future for differentiation between pathogenic microorganisms. The absence of reduction of the 8-nitrotrihalogenophenoxazinone substrates is rationalized according to their electronic properties and correlates well with previous findings