Scientific publications of the Bioscience Program Division. Volume II - Environmental biology

Environmental biology bibliography, including citations on biochemistry, radiobiology, and bioinstrumentatio

NASA contract listings of publications under the behavioral biology program

Behavioral biology - bibliograph

Cross-language Wikipedia Editing of Okinawa, Japan

This article analyzes users who edit Wikipedia articles about Okinawa, Japan, in English and Japanese. It finds these users are among the most active and dedicated users in their primary languages, where they make many large, high-quality edits. However, when these users edit in their non-primary languages, they tend to make edits of a different type that are overall smaller in size and more often restricted to the narrow set of articles that exist in both languages. Design changes to motivate wider contributions from users in their non-primary languages and to encourage multilingual users to transfer more information across language divides are presented.Comment: In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2015. AC

Non-destructive measurement of the transition probability in a Sr optical lattice clock

We present the experimental demonstration of non-destructive probing of the 1S0-3P0 clock transition probability in an optical lattice clock with 87Sr atoms. It is based on the phase shift induced by the atoms on a weak off-resonant laser beam. The method we propose is a differential measurement of this phase shift on two modulation sidebands with opposite detuning with respect to the 1S0-1P1 transition, allowing a detection limited by the photon shot noise. We have measured an atomic population of 10^4 atoms with a signal to noise ratio of 100 per cycle, while keeping more than 95% of the atoms in the optical lattice with a depth of 0.1 mK. The method proves simple and robust enough to be operated as part of the whole clock setup. This detection scheme enables us to reuse atoms for subsequent clock state interrogations, dramatically reducing the loading time and thereby improving the clock frequency stability.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

A cluster theory for a Janus fluid

Recent Monte Carlo simulations on the Kern and Frenkel model of a Janus fluid have revealed that in the vapour phase there is the formation of preferred clusters made up of a well-defined number of particles: the micelles and the vesicles. A cluster theory is developed to approximate the exact clustering properties stemming from the simulations. It is shown that the theory is able to reproduce the micellisation phenomenon.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

Higgs Boson Search Sensitivity in the H→WWH \to WW Dilepton Decay Mode at s=7\sqrt s = 7 and 10 TeV

Prospects for discovery of the standard model Higgs boson are examined at center of mass energies of $7$ and $10$ TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We perform a simulation of the signal and principal backgrounds for Higgs boson production and decay in the $W^+ W^-$ dilepton mode, finding good agreement with the ATLAS and CMS collaboration estimates of signal significance at 14 TeV for Higgs boson masses near $m_H = 160$~GeV. At the lower energy of $7$~TeV, using the same analysis cuts as these collaborations, we compute expected signal sensitivities of about $2$ standard deviations ($\sigma$'s) at $m_H = 160$~GeV in the ATLAS case, and about 3.6~$\sigma$ in the CMS case for $1$~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. Integrated luminosities of 8~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ and 3~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ are needed in the ATLAS case at $7$ and $10$~TeV, respectively, for $5~\sigma$ level discovery. In the CMS case, the numbers are 2~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ and 1~$\rm{fb}^{-1}$ at $7$ and $10$~TeV. Our different stated expectations for the two experiments arise from the more restrictive analysis cuts in the CMS case. Recast as exclusion limits, our results show that with $1~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at 7~TeV, the LHC may be able to exclude $m_H$ values in the range 160 to 180~GeV provided no signal is seen.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. New results on estimated discovery reach for both CMS and ATLAS, as well as exclusion limits, along with comparisons with Tevatron possibilities. References added

Enhanced dielectric response by disordered nanoscale/mesoscopic insulators

Enhancement of the dielectric response of insulators by disorder is theoretically proposed, where the quantum interference of electronic waves through the nanoscale/mesoscopic system and its change due to external perturbations control the polarization. In the disordered case with all the states being localized, the resonant tunneling, which is topologically protected, plays a crucial role, and enhances the dielectric response by a factor 30~40 compared with the pure case. Realization of this idea with accessible materials/structures is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figures; minor revision; a high-resolution figure available at http://appi.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~sonoda/papers.htm

Preparation and in vitro characterization of scaffolds of poly(L-lactic acid) containing bioactive glass ceramic nanoparticles

Porous nanocomposite scaffolds of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) containing different quantities of bioactive glass ceramic (BGC) nanoparticles (SiO2:CaO:P2O5 ! 55:40:5 (mol)) were prepared by a thermally induced phase-separation method. Dioxane was used as the solvent for PLLA. Introduction of less than 20 wt.% of BGC nanoparticles did not remarkably affect the porosity of PLLA foam. However, as the BGC content increased to 30 wt.%, the porosity of the composite was observed to decrease rapidly. The compressive modulus of the scaffolds increased from 5.5 to 8.0 MPa, while the compressive strength increased from 0.28 to 0.35 MPa as the BGC content increased from 0 to 30 wt.%. The in vitro bioactivity and biodegradability of nanocomposites were investigated by incubation in simulated body fluid (SBF) and phosphate-buffered saline, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were employed to monitor the surface variation of neat PLLA and PLLA/ BGC porous scaffolds during incubation. PLLA/(20 wt.%)BGC composite exhibited the best mineralization property in SBF, while the PLLA/(10 wt.%)BGC composite showed the highest water absorption ability.This work was financially supported by FCT Grant for postdoctoral research (SFRH/BPD/25828/2005), and by the Projects POCTI/FIS/61621/2004 and PTDC/QUI/69263/2006. The authors also would like to acknowledge Dr. Aixue Liu, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, for his help in characterization of composite material

Individual Tariffs for Mobile Communication Services

This paper introduces a conceptual framework and a computational model for individual tariffs for mobile communication services. The purpose is to provide guidance for implementation by communication service suppliers or user groups alike. The paper first examines the sociological and economic incentives for personalized services and individual tariffs. Then it introduces a framework for individual tariffs which is centered on user and supplier behaviours. The user, instead of being fully rational, has "bounded rationality" and his behaviours are subject to economic constraints and influenced by social needs. The supplier can belong to different types of entities such as firms and communities; each has his own goals which lead to different behaviors. Individual tariffs are decided through interactions between the user and the supplier and can be analyzed in a structured way using game theory. A numerical case in mobile music training is developed to illustrate the concepts