Metastable Innershell Molecular State (MIMS)

We propose that the existence of Metastable Innershell Molecular State (MIMS) was experimentally discovered by Bae et al. in hypervelocity (v>100km/s) impact of nanoparticles. The decay of MIMS resulted in the observed intense soft x-rays in the range of 75 - 100 eV in agreement with Winterberg's recent prediction.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Independent Expert Scientific Panel – Report on Unconventional Oil and Gas

No abstract available

Sudden natural death in a suicide attempt

In this article, we report an unusual case of sudden death arising from a ruptured basilar artery aneurysm during a suicide attempt. A 72-year-old male was found dead in his home after sustaining superficial flesh gunshot wounds (entrance and exit) involving the forehead. The victim had been depressed for several months and had frank suicide intention. The pertinent autopsy findings revealed a superficial nonpenetrating bullet path of the scalp with no skull fractures or brain injuries. However, brain examination identified subarachnoid hemorrhage and subdural clot about the brainstem and within the posterior fossa linked to a basilar artery aneurysm rupture. The cause and manner of death and contributing factors of the "non-lethal" gunshot wounds are discussed

Predicting the dynamics and heterogeneity of genomic DNA content within bacterial populations across variable growth regimes

For many applications in microbial synthetic biology, optimizing a desired function requires careful tuning of the degree to which various genes are expressed. One challenge for predicting such effects or interpreting typical characterization experiments is that in bacteria such as E. coli, genome copy number varies widely across different phases and rates of growth, which also impacts how and when genes are expressed from different loci. While such phenomena are relatively well-understood at a mechanistic level, our quantitative understanding of such processes is essentially limited to ideal exponential growth. In contrast, common experimental phenomena such as growth on heterogeneous media, metabolic adaptation, and oxygen restriction all cause substantial deviations from ideal exponential growth, particularly as cultures approach the higher densities at which industrial biomanufacturing and even routine screening experiments are conducted. To meet the need for predicting and explaining how gene dosage impacts cellular functions outside of exponential growth, we here report a novel modeling strategy that leverages agent-based simulation and high performance computing to robustly predict the dynamics and heterogeneity of genomic DNA content within bacterial populations across variable growth regimes. We show that by feeding routine experimental data, such as optical density time series, into our heterogeneous multiphasic growth simulator, we can predict genomic DNA distributions over a range of nonexponential growth conditions. This modeling strategy provides an important advance in the ability of synthetic biologists to evaluate the role of genomic DNA content and heterogeneity in affecting the performance of existing or engineered microbial functions

Making Sense of a New Transport System: An Ethnographic Study of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

An increase in public transport use has the potential to contribute to improving population health, and there is growing interest in innovative public transport systems. Yet how new public transport infrastructure is experienced and integrated (or not) into daily practice is little understood. We investigated how the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, UK, was used and experienced in the weeks following its opening, using the method of participant observation (travelling on the busway and observing and talking to passengers) and drawing on Normalization Process Theory to interpret our data. Using excerpts of field notes to support our interpretations, we describe how the ease with which the new transport system could be integrated into existing daily routines was important in determining whether individuals would continue to use it. It emerged that there were two groups of passengers with different experiences and attitudes. Passengers who had previously travelled frequently on regular bus services did not perceive the new system to be an improvement; consequently, they were frustrated that it was differentiated from and not coherent with the regular system. In contrast, passengers who had previously travelled almost exclusively by car appraised the busway positively and perceived it to be a novel and superior form of travel. Our rich qualitative account highlights the varied and creative ways in which people learn to use new public transport and integrate it into their everyday lives. This has consequences for the introduction and promotion of future transport innovations. It is important to emphasise the novelty of new public transport, but also the ways in which its use can become ordinary and routine. Addressing these issues could help to promote uptake of other public transport interventions, which may contribute to increasing physical activity and improving population health. © 2013 Jones et al

Electron Impact Excitation Cross Sections for Hydrogen-Like Ions

We present cross sections for electron-impact-induced transitions n --> n' in hydrogen-like ions C 5+, Ne 9+, Al 12+, and Ar 17+. The cross sections are computed by Coulomb-Born with exchange and normalization (CBE) method for all transitions with n < n' < 7 and by convergent close-coupling (CCC) method for transitions with n 2s and 1s --> 2p are presented as well. The CCC and CBE cross sections agree to better than 10% with each other and with earlier close-coupling results (available for transition 1 --> 2 only). Analytical expression for n --> n' cross sections and semiempirical formulae are discussed.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 13 PostScript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Star Formation History at the Centers of Lenticular Galaxies with Bars and Purely Exponential Outer Disks from SAURON Data

We have investigated the stellar population properties in the central regions of a sample of lenticular galaxies with bars and single-exponential outer stellar disks using the data from the SAURON integral-field spectrograph retrieved from the open Isaac Newton Group Archive. We have detected chemically decoupled compact stellar nuclei with a metallicity twice that of the stellar population in the bulges in seven of the eight galaxies. A starburst is currently going on at the center of the eighth galaxy and we have failed to determine the stellar population properties from its spectrum. The mean stellar ages in the chemically decoupled nuclei found range from 1 to 11 Gyr. The scenarios for the origin of both decoupled nuclei and lenticular galaxies as a whole are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, a slightly edited version of the paper published by Astronomy Letters, v. 37, no.1, 201

Unveiling the Nature of Submillimeter Galaxy SXDF850.6

We present an 880 micron Submillimeter Array (SMA) detection of the submillimeter galaxy SXDF850.6. SXDF850.6 is a bright source (S(850 micron) = 8 mJy) detected in the SCUBA Half Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES), and has multiple possible radio counterparts in its deep radio image obtained at the VLA. Our new SMA detection finds that the submm emission coincides with the brightest radio emission that is found ~8" north of the coordinates determined from SCUBA. Despite the lack of detectable counterparts in deep UV/optical images, we find a source at the SMA position in near-infrared and longer wavelength images. We perform SED model fits to UV-optical-IR photometry (u, B, V, R, i', z', J, H, K, 3.6 micron, 4.5 micron, 5.8 micron, and 8.0 micron) and to submm-radio photometry (850 micron, 880 micron, 1100 micron, and 21 cm) independently, and we find both are well described by starburst templates at a redshift of z ~= 2.2 (+/- 0.3). The best-fit parameters from the UV-optical-IR SED fit are a redshift of z = 1.87 (+0.15/-0.07), a stellar mass of M_star = 2.5 +2.2/-0.3 x 10^11 M_sun, an extinction of A_V = 3.0 (+0.3/-1.0) mag, and an age of 720 (+1880/-210) Myr. The submm-radio SED fit provides a consistent redshift of z ~ 1.8-2.5, an IR luminosity of L_IR = (7-26) x 10^12 L_sun, and a star formation rate of 1300-4500 M_sun/yr. These results suggest that SXDF850.6 is a mature system already having a massive amount of old stellar population constructed before its submm bright phase and is experiencing a dusty starburst, possibly induced by major mergers.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa