753 research outputs found
Comparative analysis of decriminalisation and change in the commonwealth: understanding contexts and discerning strategies
Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity in the commonwealth: from history and law to developing activism and transnational dialogues
Emulating a flexible space structure: Modeling
Control Dynamics, in conjunction with Marshall Space Flight Center, has participated in the modeling and testing of Flexible Space Structures. Through the series of configurations tested and the many techniques used for collecting, analyzing, and modeling the data, many valuable insights have been gained and important lessons learned. This paper discusses the background of the Large Space Structure program, Control Dynamics' involvement in testing and modeling of the configurations (especially the Active Control Technique Evaluation for Spacecraft (ACES) configuration), the results from these two processes, and insights gained from this work
Comparative analysis of decriminalisation and change in the commonwealth: understanding contexts and discerning strategies
Gauge covariance and the fermion-photon vertex in three- and four- dimensional, massless quantum electrodynamics
In the quenched approximation, the gauge covariance properties of three
vertex Ans\"{a}tze in the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the fermion self energy
are analysed in three- and four- dimensional quantum electrodynamics. Based on
the Cornwall-Jackiw-Tomboulis effective action, it is inferred that the
spectral representation used for the vertex in the gauge technique cannot
support dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. A criterion for establishing
whether a given Ansatz can confer gauge covariance upon the Schwinger-Dyson
equation is presented and the Curtis and Pennington Ansatz is shown to satisfy
this constraint. We obtain an analytic solution of the Schwinger-Dyson equation
for quenched, massless three-dimensional quantum electrodynamics for arbitrary
values of the gauge parameter in the absence of dynamical chiral symmetry
breaking.Comment: 17 pages, PHY-7143-TH-93, REVTE
Mass singularity and confining property in
We discuss the properties of the position space fermion propagator in three
dimensional QED which has been found previouly based on Ward-Takahashi-identity
for soft-photon emission vertex and spectral representation.There is a new type
of mass singularity which governs the long distance behaviour.It leads the
propagator vanish at large distance.This term corresponds to dynamical mass in
position space.Our model shows confining property and dynamical mass generation
for arbitrary coupling constant.Since we used dispersion retation in deriving
spectral function there is a physical mass which sets a mass scale.For finite
cut off we obtain the full propagator in the dispersion integral as a
superposition of different massses.Low energy behaviour of the proagator is
modified to decrease by position dependent mass.In the limit of zero infrared
cut-off the propagator vanishes with a new kind of infrared behaviour.Comment: 22pages,4figures,revtex4,Notational sloppiness are crrected.Submitted
to JHE
Piccolo modulation of Synapsin1a dynamics regulates synaptic vesicle exocytosis
Active zones are specialized regions of the presynaptic plasma membrane designed for the efficient and repetitive release of neurotransmitter via synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis. Piccolo is a high molecular weight component of the active zone that is hypothesized to participate both in active zone formation and the scaffolding of key molecules involved in SV recycling. In this study, we use interference RNAs to eliminate Piccolo expression from cultured hippocampal neurons to assess its involvement in synapse formation and function. Our data show that Piccolo is not required for glutamatergic synapse formation but does influence presynaptic function by negatively regulating SV exocytosis. Mechanistically, this regulation appears to be calmodulin kinase IIβdependent and mediated through the modulation of Synapsin1a dynamics. This function is not shared by the highly homologous protein Bassoon, which indicates that Piccolo has a unique role in coupling the mobilization of SVs in the reserve pool to events within the active zone
Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in Simulated and True Clinical Throat Swab Specimens by Nanorod Array-Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
The prokaryote Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a major cause of respiratory disease in humans, accounting for 20% of all community-acquired pneumonia and the leading cause of pneumonia in older children and young adults. The limitations of existing options for mycoplasma diagnosis highlight a critical need for a new detection platform with high sensitivity, specificity, and expediency. Here we evaluated silver nanorod arrays (NA) as a biosensing platform for detection and differentiation of M. pneumoniae in culture and in spiked and true clinical throat swab samples by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Three M. pneumoniae strains were reproducibly differentiated by NA-SERS with 95%β100% specificity and 94β100% sensitivity, and with a lower detection limit exceeding standard PCR. Analysis of throat swab samples spiked with M. pneumoniae yielded detection in a complex, clinically relevant background with >90% accuracy and high sensitivity. In addition, NA-SERS correctly classified with >97% accuracy, ten true clinical throat swab samples previously established by real-time PCR and culture to be positive or negative for M. pneumoniae. Our findings suggest that the unique biochemical specificity of Raman spectroscopy, combined with reproducible spectral enhancement by silver NA, holds great promise as a superior platform for rapid and sensitive detection and identification of M. pneumoniae, with potential for point-of-care application
Characterization of particulate size distributions and water-soluble ions measured at a broiler farm
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