396 research outputs found
He Scattering from Compact Clusters and from Diffusion-Limited Aggregates on Surfaces: Observable Signatures of Structure
The angular intensity distribution of He beams scattered from compact
clusters and from diffusion limited aggregates, epitaxially grown on metal
surfaces, is investigated theoretically. The purpose is twofold: to distinguish
compact cluster structures from diffusion limited aggregates, and to find
observable {\em signatures} that can characterize the compact clusters at the
atomic level of detail. To simplify the collision dynamics, the study is
carried out in the framework of the sudden approximation, which assumes that
momentum changes perpendicular to the surface are large compared with momentum
transfer due to surface corrugation. The diffusion limited aggregates on which
the scattering calculations were done, were generated by kinetic Monte Carlo
simulations. It is demonstrated, by focusing on the example of compact Pt
Heptamers, that signatures of structure of compact clusters may indeed be
extracted from the scattering distribution. These signatures enable both an
experimental distinction between diffusion limited aggregates and compact
clusters, and a determination of the cluster structure. The characteristics
comprising the signatures are, to varying degrees, the Rainbow, Fraunhofer,
specular and constructive interference peaks, all seen in the intensity
distribution. It is also shown, how the distribution of adsorbate heights above
the metal surface can be obtained by an analysis of the specular peak
attenuation. The results contribute to establishing He scattering as a powerful
tool in the investigation of surface disorder and epitaxial growth on surfaces,
alongside with STM.Comment: 41 pages, 16 postscript figures. For more details see
http://www.fh.huji.ac.il/~dan
Sharpening the Molecular Scissors: Advances in Gene-Editing Technology
The ability to precisely modify human genes has been made possible by the development of tools such as meganucleases, zinc finger nucleases, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas. These now make it possible to generate targeted deletions, insertions, gene knock outs, and point variants; to modulate g
Pattern selection in a lattice of pulse-coupled oscillators
We study spatio-temporal pattern formation in a ring of N oscillators with
inhibitory unidirectional pulselike interactions. The attractors of the
dynamics are limit cycles where each oscillator fires once and only once. Since
some of these limit cycles lead to the same pattern, we introduce the concept
of pattern degeneracy to take it into account. Moreover, we give a qualitative
estimation of the volume of the basin of attraction of each pattern by means of
some probabilistic arguments and pattern degeneracy, and show how are they
modified as we change the value of the coupling strength. In the limit of small
coupling, our estimative formula gives a perfect agreement with numerical
simulations.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures. To be published in Physical Review
In vitro and in vivo chemosensitizing effect of cyclosporin A on an intrinsic multidrug-resistant rat colon tumour
Colon tumours are intrinsically resistant to chemotherapy and most of them express the multidrug transporter P glycoprotein (Pgp). Whether this Pgp expression determines their resistance to anticancer agents in patients is not known. We report here on the reversibility of intrinsic multidrug resistance in a syngeneic, solid tumour model. CC531 is a rat colon carcinoma that expresses Pgp, as was shown with the monoclonal antibody C-219. In vitro the sensitivity to doxorubicin, daunorubicin and colchicine was enhanced by the addition of the chemosensitizers verapamil and cyclosporin A (CsA), while the sensitivity to cisplatin was not enhanced. In a daunorubicin accumulation assay verapamil and CsA enhanced the daunorbicin content of CC531 cells. In vivo CsA was injected intramuscularly for 3 consecutive days at a dose of 20 mg kg-1 day-1. This resulted in whole-blood CsA levels above 2 μmol/l, while intratumoral CsA levels amounted to 3.6 μmol/kg. In a subrenal capsule assay the maximal tolerable dose of doxorubicin (4 mg/kg) significantly reduced tumour growth. Doxorubicin at 3 mg/kg was not effective, but in combination with CsA this dose was as effective as 4 mg/kg doxorubicin. These experiments show that adequate doses of the chemosensitizing drug CsA can be obtained in vivo, resulting in increased antitumoral activity of doxorubicin in vivo. The in vitro and in vivo data together suggest that the chemosensitization by CsA is mediated by Pgp. This finding may have implications for the application of CsA and CsA-like chemosensitizers in the clinical setting
The trade off between diversity and quality for multi-objective workforce scheduling
In this paper we investigate and compare multi-objective and
weighted single objective approaches to a real world workforce scheduling
problem. For this difficult problem we consider the trade off in solution quality
versus population diversity, for different sets of fixed objective weights. Our
real-world workforce scheduling problem consists of assigning resources with
the appropriate skills to geographically dispersed task locations while satisfying
time window constraints. The problem is NP-Hard and contains the Resource
Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP) as a sub problem. We investigate
a genetic algorithm and serial schedule generation scheme together with
various multi-objective approaches. We show that multi-objective genetic algorithms
can create solutions whose fitness is within 2% of genetic algorithms using
weighted sum objectives even though the multi-objective approaches know
nothing of the weights. The result is highly significant for complex real-world
problems where objective weights are seldom known in advance since it suggests
that a multi-objective approach can generate a solution close to the user
preferred one without having knowledge of user preferences
On Synchronization in a Lattice Model of Pulse-Coupled Oscillators
We analyze the collective behavior of a lattice model of pulse-coupled
oscillators. By means of computer simulations we find the relation between the
intrinsic dynamics of each member of the population and their mutual
interaction that ensures, in a general context, the existence of a fully
synchronized regime. This condition turns out to be the same than the obtained
for the globally coupled population. When the condition is not completely
satisfied we find different spatial structures. This also gives some hints
about self-organized criticality.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 1 PostScript available upon request, To appear in
Phys. Rev. Let
Drug resistance in rat colon cancer cell lines is associated with minor changes in susceptibility to cytotoxic cells
The development of resistance to anticancer drugs urges the search for different treatment modalities. Several investigators have reported the concomitant development of drug resistance and resistance to natural killer (NK), lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) or monocyte/macrophage cell lysis, while others described unchanged or even increased susceptibility. We investigated this subject in the rat colon carcinoma cell line, CC531-PAR, which is intrinsically multidrug-resistant (MDR), and in three sublines derived from this parental cell line: a cell line with an increased MDR phenotype (CC531-COL), a revertant line from CC531-COL (CC531-REV), which demonstrates enhanced sensitivity to anticancer drugs of the MDR phenotype, and an independently developed cisplatin-resistant line (CC531-CIS). In a 4-h51Cr-release assay we found no difference in susceptibility to NK cell lysis. No significant differences in lysability by adherent LAK (aLAK) cells were observed in a 4-h assay. In a prolonged 20-h51Cr-release assay an enhanced sensitivity to aLAK-cell-mediated lysis was observed in the revertant, P-glycoprotein-negative cell line and in the cisplatin-resistant cell line (CC531-CIS). None of the cell lines was completely resistant to lysis by aLAK cells. Therefore, a role for immunotherapy in the treatment of drug-resistant tumors remains a realistic option
Collective behavior of "electronic fireflies"
A simple system composed of electronic oscillators capable of emitting and
detecting light-pulses is studied. The oscillators are biologically inspired,
their behavior is designed for keeping a desired light intensity, W, in the
system. From another perspective, the system behaves like modified integrate
and fire type neurons that are pulse-coupled with inhibitory type interactions:
the firing of one oscillator delays the firing of all the others. Experimental
and computational studies reveal that although no driving force favoring
synchronization is considered, for a given interval of W phase-locking appears.
This weak synchronization is sometimes accompanied by complex dynamical
patterns in the flashing sequence of the oscillators.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures include
Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainability Reporting: Evidence of Reputation Risk Management in Large Australian Companies
The objective of this research is to examine whether stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting constitutes the process of managing reputation risks. This research utilises Shrives and Brennan’s (2017) framework of rhetorical strategies of non-compliance to obtain empirical evidence of reputation risk management in the context of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting. Quantitative and qualitative methods of content analysis were undertaken on 154 sustainability disclosures in both annual reports and sustainability reports of large Australian companies. This research finds that large Australian companies engage with their stakeholders to manage reputation risks: to increase market share and pre-empt social issues. It is evident that large Australian companies use several forms of rhetorical statements in their sustainability disclosures with respect to reputation risk management efforts. However, there is no evidence that they shirk responsibilities
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