Instrumentation of the variable-angle magneto-optic ellipsometer and its application to M-O media and other non-magnetic films

A new and comprehensive dielectric tensor characterization instrument is presented for characterization of magneto-optical recording media and non-magnetic thin films. Random and systematic errors of the system are studied. A series of TbFe, TbFeCo, and Co/Pt samples with different composition and thicknesses are characterized for their optical and magneto-optical properties. The optical properties of several non-magnetic films are also measured

Shortest Path and Distance Queries on Road Networks: An Experimental Evaluation

Computing the shortest path between two given locations in a road network is an important problem that finds applications in various map services and commercial navigation products. The state-of-the-art solutions for the problem can be divided into two categories: spatial-coherence-based methods and vertex-importance-based approaches. The two categories of techniques, however, have not been compared systematically under the same experimental framework, as they were developed from two independent lines of research that do not refer to each other. This renders it difficult for a practitioner to decide which technique should be adopted for a specific application. Furthermore, the experimental evaluation of the existing techniques, as presented in previous work, falls short in several aspects. Some methods were tested only on small road networks with up to one hundred thousand vertices; some approaches were evaluated using distance queries (instead of shortest path queries), namely, queries that ask only for the length of the shortest path; a state-of-the-art technique was examined based on a faulty implementation that led to incorrect query results. To address the above issues, this paper presents a comprehensive comparison of the most advanced spatial-coherence-based and vertex-importance-based approaches. Using a variety of real road networks with up to twenty million vertices, we evaluated each technique in terms of its preprocessing time, space consumption, and query efficiency (for both shortest path and distance queries). Our experimental results reveal the characteristics of different techniques, based on which we provide guidelines on selecting appropriate methods for various scenarios.Comment: VLDB201

Review of LFTs, LMIs, and μ

The purpose of this paper is to present a tutorial overview of Linear Fractional Transformations (LFT) and the role of the Structured Singular Value, μ, and Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI) in solving LFT problems

Employee Motivation and It’s Influence on Performance

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relationship or the impact motivation of employees have on their overall performance in organizations and how their performance as well boost the overall output of their organizations.The objective of this paper is to educate readers on some theories of motivation mainly the content/need theories which talks about what motivates employees with various authors and their findings, and he process theories which explains employee’s levels of motivation and need satisfaction.The study also focuses on the types of motivation and the forms they take with further literature talking about the importance of motivation and how it influences employees’ performance and how this performance can be measured.Finally, with all the findings and that of various authors the paper has concluded that the success and achievements of organizations depends on how well they motivate their employees and in every organization employees would like managers who motivate them in the workforce

An Adjustable Self Equalizing Photo Detector

An optically-wideband adjustable self-equalizing photo-detector (ASEPD), capable of reviving eye closure due to limited bandwidth of electro-optical components in an optical link, is presented. The ASEPD enables use of various slower electro-optical components in faster data links

Investigations of DNA-Mediated Redox Signaling Between E.coli DNA Repair Pathways

The 4Fe4S cluster has been identified in various DNA-processing proteins spanning a variety of biological functions and all domains of life. Recently, a novel functional role for the cluster has been identified for proteins in DNA repair and replication as a redox switch for DNA binding. Human DNA primase utilizes this redox switch to coordinate primer handoff in replication. The enzymatic activity of DNA polymerase δ is tuned by the redox-switch, allowing for a fast and reversible regulation of replication in response to oxidative stress. In all cases, the redox of the 4Fe4S cluster is achieved through DNA-mediated charge transport (CT), the ability for DNA to carry charge through its π-stack. Due to the reliance of this phenomena on the π-stacking of the nitrogenous bases, DNA CT is sensitive to DNA lesions and mismatches and can proceed over long molecular distances if the DNA is well-stacked. Given this powerful biological phenomena, new inter-protein signaling interactions have been identified with important downstream consequences for genome fidelity. Here, we investigate the ways DNA-mediated charge transport between DNA processing enzymes results in efficient DNA repair or prevention of DNA-damage. First, we investigated Dps, a bacterial ferritin that protects DNA from oxidative stress and implicated in bacterial survival and virulence. Dps iron sites can scavenge diffusing oxidants directly but additionally electrons and electron holes can be rapidly transported through the base-pair π-stack though DNA CT, thus providing an additional mechanism of genome protection by Dps. Using X-band EPR, we monitored formation of mononuclear high-spin Fe(III) sites of low symmetry as a gauge of effective Dps protection via oxidation of its iron sites. Using poly(dGdC)2 or poly(dAdT)2 DNA, we uncovered the dependence of DNA protection by Dps to the formation of guanine radical intermediates. Oxidation of Dps iron sites depended on the presence of the W52 residue. Point mutations of W52 revealed its involvement in an electron transfer (ET) pathway for the oxidation of the Dps iron sites. Finally, we investigated the in vivo consequences of the Dps W52 residue by complementing knockout Dps E.coli with plasmids expressing WT, W52A, or W52Y Dps and applying oxidative stress to the cells through hydrogen peroxide treatment. These assays further demonstrated the ability of Dps to protect the E.coli genome from harmful oxidants DNA-mediated electron transfer processes. Second, we assessed the redox properties of EndoIII and MutY, two base excision repair glycosylases containing 4Fe4S clusters, in the presence and absence of DNA. Previous work has shown these proteins to have a midpoint redox potential around 80mV vs. NHE when bound to DNA with a positive shift in potential in the absence of DNA. However, electrochemical details that define this midpoint potential have not been uncovered. Using a pyrolytic graphite edge electrode, we measured the midopoint potential of point mutations of EndoIII where point charges are flipped near the cluster (K208E, Y205H, and E200K) in the absence of DNA. Our measurements suggest that a change in a single point charge is not enough to shift the 4Fe4S cluster midpoint potential dramatically. Addition of a poly-L-glutamate polyanion introduced a slight negative shift (~20mV), but with the introduction of DNA a large negative shift was observed (70mV). Overall, binding to the DNA polyanion is the dominant effect in tuning the redox potential of the 4Fe4S cluster, helping to explain why all DNA binding proteins with 4Fe4S clusters studied to date have similar DNA-bound potentials. With these similar DNA-bound potentials, inter-protein redox signaling should occur. Previous works have demonstrated DNA-mediated redox signaling such as EndoIII signaling to DinG helicase, involved in R-loop maturation, increasing cellular survival by resolving deleterious R-loops. Additionally, different cluster- containing repair proteins of different functions and domains of life have been shown using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to localize to DNA mismatches through a redox switch for DNA-binding affinity. Given a DNA-mediated redox signaling system to scan the genome for lesions, the expression levels of these proteins may play a role in defining the scanning efficiency. We identified that the EndoIII E.coli knockout strain was sensitive to UV irradiation. This implies that EndoIII assists the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway via DNA-mediated redox signaling. However, knockout of MutY, another 4Fe4S glycosylase, does not impart the same UV sensitivity, and thus suggests key differences between MutY and EndoIII that define effective DNA-mediated redox signaling. Thus, the effect of protein expression level on the efficiency of DNA-mediated redox signaling was investigated using inducible protein expression of EndoIII to rescue UV-sensitivity. Using both plasmid-based and genome integrated constructs, we uncovered that low amounts of EndoIII expression were enough to rescue the growth defect, and overexpression of WT EndoIII leads to a greater defect caused by excess non-specific enzyme activity. These findings further informed investigation of this unique protein signaling interaction between EndoIII and NER protein UvrC. With proper EndoIII rescue plasmids, we further characterized the DNA- mediated redox signaling interaction between EndoIII and UvrC. Using UV-irradiation of genetic knockout strains and growth curve analysis, we demonstrate that EndoIII expression is essential for efficient repair of UV-induced DNA lesions, as measured through quantitative changes in growth lag-time when wild-type or mutant EndoIII is present in the cell. Electrochemical analysis of EndoIII point mutants quantify the DNA-CT inefficiencies that lead to the observed phenotypes. EndoIII, a BER repair protein, assists the NER pathway in the repair of UV-induced DNA lesions via DNA-mediated redox signaling. These results give evidence of a new signaling crosstalk between two distinct DNA repair pathways.</p