bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The schedule of attitudes toward hastened death: Validation analysis
in terminally ill cancer patients
Authors: MYSTAKIDOU KYRIAKI , ROSENFELD BARRY , PARPA EFI , TSILIKA ELENI , KATSOUDA EMMANUELA , GALANOS ANTONIS , VLAHOS LAMBROS
Published: July 2005

Objective: The faithful translation of the English version of
the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death (SAHD) into Greek and its
validation as an assessment tool in terminally ill cancer patients
receiving palliative treatment.

Methods: 120 terminally ill cancer patients attending a
Palliative Care Unit, at the University of Athens, Greece, between June
2003 and November 2003 for palliative treatment.

Results: SAHD would be a useful instrument for measuring
desire for hastened death with valid psychometric properties in a Greek
cancer population. The SAHD demonstrated high reliability. Desire for
hastened death was significantly associated with Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale (HAD) depression (r = 0.607, p <
0.0005) and substantially correlated with HAD anxiety (r = 0.502,
p < 0.0005). “Pain intensity” had a moderate
correlation with SAHD scores (r = 0.28, p = 0.01) and
SAHD scores correlated significantly with “pain interference in
mood” (r = 0.38, p = 0.01) and in “enjoyment
of life” (r = 0.34, p = 0.03). SAHD correlation
with quality of life was statistically significant (r =
−0.38, p < 0.01) as was health status (r =
−0.36, p < 0.01). Patients with a Poor Performance
Status (from Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale) correlated
significantly with high scores in SAHD (p = 0.038). Factor
analysis supported the unidimentionality of the measurement.

Significance of results: SAHD could be a useful and valid
instrument for measuring desire for hastened death in Greek terminally ill
cancer patients.
Zur Validierung eines interpersonalen Zirkumplexmodells mittels “directional statistics“
Authors: Pokorny Dan , Kurth Regina A.
Published: July 2005

Zusammenfassung. Interpersonale Zirkumplexmodelle werden zunehmend als Grundlage verschiedener Selbstbeurteilungsinstrumente genutzt. Kann die Zweidimensionalität dieser Verfahren faktorenanalytisch nachgewiesen werden, wird die kreisförmige Anordnung mittels “directional statistics“ untersucht. Da es widersprüchliche Ansätze zur Kennzeichnung der Zirkumplex-Skalen gibt, soll diese Studie mittels “directional statistics“ einen Beitrag zur Validierung eines interpersonalen Zirkumplexmodells aus der Selbsteinschätzungsperspektive leisten. Dazu wurde die Einordnung unterschiedlicher Verben, die interpersonales Verhalten beschreiben, ins Zirkumplexmodell durch verschiedene Stichproben (Experten, psychologische Laien, Patienten) untersucht. Experten nahmen die Einordnung im Vergleich zu den anderen Stichproben sowohl differenzierter als auch theoriekonformer vor. Es gab auch Verben, über deren Positionierung sich alle Stichproben einig waren, die jedoch nicht-theoriekonform vorgenommen wurden. Demzufolge ist das interpersonale Zirkumplexmodell zwar für die Selbsteinschätzung geeignet, jedoch muss sich die Entwicklung von Items und Skalen für zirkumplexbasierte Fragebögen empirisch an der jeweiligen Zielpopulation orientieren. Darüber hinaus stellt die zyklische Betrachtungsweise einen fruchtbaren Ansatz auch für andere psychodiagnostische Fragestellungen dar.
Interpersonale Adjektivliste (IAL)
Authors: Jacobs Ingo , Scholl Wolfgang
Published: July 2005

Zusammenfassung. Der interpersonale Circumplex (IPC) ist eines der am besten erforschten und ausgearbeiteten Modelle zur Beschreibung und Messung von Persönlichkeit. Die hier vorgestellte Interpersonale Adjektivliste (IAL) bildet eine empirische Umsetzung des theoretischen IPC-Konzeptes zur Messung individueller Unterschiede im interpersonalen Stil. In vier Studien (N1 = 216, N2 = 202, N3 = 353, N41 = 334 & N42 = 314) wurden acht Skalen mit jeweils acht Adjektivmarkern konstruiert, mit exploratorischen und konfirmatorischen Analysen auf ihre Circumplex-Struktur geprüft sowie an den revidierten deutschen und englischen Interpersonalen Adjektiv Skalen (IAS-R[dt.]; Ostendorf, 2001 ; IAS-R; Wiggins, Trapnell & Phillips, 1988 ) validiert. Ihre strukturelle und psychometrische Güte und bedeutsame konvergente und divergente Beziehungen weisen die IAL als verbessertes Parallelinstrument der IAS-R(dt.) aus.
Paleosecular variation and time‐averaged field recorded in late Pliocene–Holocene lava flows from Mexico
Authors: Mejia V. , Böhnel H. , Opdyke N. D. , Ortega‐Rivera M. A. , Lee J. K. W. , Aranda‐Gomez J. J.
Published: July 2005

This paper presents results from 13 paleomagnetic sites from an area west of Mexico City and 7 sites from an area of dispersed monogenetic volcanism in the state of San Luis Potosi, accompanied by seven40Ar/39Ar radiometric dates. An analysis of secular variation and time‐averaged paleomagnetic field in the Trans‐Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB), using compiled data both newly obtained and from the literature, is presented. Interpretation can best be constrained after excluding from the data set sites that appear to be tectonically affected. The selected data include 187 sites of late Pliocene‐Holocene age. The mean direction among these sites is Dec = 358.8°, Inc = 31.6°, α95= 2.0°, k = 29. This direction does not overlap the expected geocentric axial dipole (GAD) but is consistent with a GAD plus a 5% quadrupole. The virtual geomagnetic pole scatter of this group of sites (12.7°, with lower and upper 95% confidence limits of 11.9° and 14.1°) is consistent with the value expected from Model G (13.6°).
A transferable method for the automated grain sizing of river gravels
Authors: Graham David J. , Rice Stephen P. , Reid Ian
Published: July 2005

The spatial and temporal resolution of surface grain‐size characterization is constrained by the limitations of traditional measurement techniques. In this paper we present an extremely rapid image‐processing‐based procedure for the measurement of exposed fluvial gravels and other coarse‐grained sediments, defining the steps required to minimize the errors in the derived grain‐size distribution. This procedure differs significantly from those used previously. It is based around a robust object‐detection algorithm that produces excellent results on images exhibiting a wide range of sedimentary conditions, crucially, without any user intervention or site‐specific parameterization. The procedure is tested using a data set comprising 39 images from three rivers with contrasting grain lithology, shape, roundness, and packing configuration and representing a very wide range of textures. It is shown to perform more consistently than the best existing automated method, achieving a precision equivalent to that obtainable by Wolman sampling, but taking between one sixth and one twentieth of the time. The error in area‐by‐number grain‐size distribution percentiles is typically less than 0.05 ?.
Creep and quakes on the northern transition zone of the San Andreas fault from GPS and InSAR data
Authors: Johanson I. A. , Bürgmann R.
Published: July 2005

The San Juan Bautista (SJB) segment forms the northern transition zone of the creeping section of the San Andreas fault. It is an area of moderate seismicity; the largest instrumentally‐recorded earthquakes have been M5.5. However, historic records suggest six M ≥ 6 earthquakes occurred near the SJB segment between 1840 and 1899. It is also an area that has experienced several slow earthquakes. We perform a joint inversion of GPS and InSAR data to determine the current rate and distribution of interseismic creep. We find two low‐slip/locked segments at mid‐seismogenic depths that may represent source regions for the 19th century earthquakes. We find that the SJB segment is currently accumulating strain energy at the rate of one M6.3–6.7 earthquake per century. At this rate, the 1840–1899 sequence released 135–510 years of accumulated moment deficit.
Formation of anomalous slow shocks in anisotropic plasmas
Authors: Hau L.‐N. , Hung C.‐C.
Published: July 2005

Pressure anisotropy is a characteristic of space plasmas. Linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theories have shown that the properties of hydromagnetic waves may greatly be modified by the pressure anisotropy. In particular, slow waves may exhibit the anomalous behaviors of positive density‐magnetic field correlation, faster propagation speed relative to the intermediate wave and right‐handed polarization. This paper examines the formation of anomalous slow shocks by solving the gyrotropic MHD and Hall‐MHD equations numerically for the evolution of an initial current sheet that separates two regions of plasma and magnetic field. It is shown that it is possible to have slow shock move ahead the intermediate shock with upstream flow being super‐Alfvénic and the downstream being firehose unstable as well as anomalous slow shocks with δBδρ > 0 and right‐handed polarization.
Heat flux variations in the eastern Norwegian Atlantic Current toward the Arctic from moored instruments, 1995–2005
Authors: Orvik Kjell Arild , Skagseth Øystein
Published: July 2005

An extraordinary warming of the Atlantic inflow to the Norwegian Sea toward the Arctic is observed over the last decade. In light of that we investigate the seasonal and interannual variations of the heat flux in the eastern Norwegian Atlantic Current (NwASC) using moored temperature (T)‐ and current (v) measurements in the Svinøy section (62°N); 1995–2005. By splitting the heat flux anomaly (vT)′ into v′ and T′ (, : 10‐year means; v′T′ negligible), we examine the relative contributions from variations in v and T. The dominating seasonal signal coincides almost completely with v′, whilst T′ has a minor modulating effect. On the interannual timescale the heat‐flux anomaly also coincides with v′, while T′ contributes significantly to the long term trend. There is a downward 10‐year trend in the velocity field of 3.9 cm s−1 (12%), combined with a 1°C increase in temperature, resulting in a constant heat flux.
Ratio of the Greenland to global temperature change: Comparison of observations and climate modeling results
Authors: Chylek Petr , Lohmann Ulrike
Published: July 2005

Temperature changes over Greenland are of special interest due to a possible melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and resulting sea level rise. General Circulation Models (GCMs) predict that the temperature changes in Greenland should proceed at a faster rate than the global temperature change. Until now there has been no confirmation that Greenland's long‐term temperature changes are related to the global warming and that they proceed faster than the global temperature change. Using double correlations between the Greenland temperature records, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and global temperature change we find a region of Greenland that is not affected by the NAO. Using this region as an indicator of Greenland's temperature change that is related to global warming, we find that the ratio of the Greenland to global temperature change due to global warming is 2.2 in broad agreement with GCM predictions.
Full correlation from picoseconds to seconds by time-resolved and time-correlated single photon detection
Authors: Felekyan S. , Kühnemuth R. , Kudryavtsev V. , Sandhagen C. , Becker W. , Seidel C. A. M.
Published: July 2005

We present an advanced time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) technique that delivers traditional fluorescence correlation (FCS) or cross correlation (FCCS) and fluorescence lifetime data simultaneously. Newly developed electronics allow for detection and registration of single photon events over time periods of hours with picoseconds accuracy. Subsequent software-correlation yields correlation curves covering more than 12 orders of magnitude in time. At the same time, the original data, containing all information accessible by single photon counting techniques, can be analyzed conventionally according to common single molecule fluorescence techniques. Potential applications of the new technique using pulsed or cw laser excitation are discussed.
An electromagnetic drift instability in the magnetic reconnection experiment and its importance for magnetic reconnection
Authors: Kulsrud Russell , Ji Hantao , Fox William , Yamada Masaaki
Published: July 2005

The role which resistivity plays in breaking magnetic field lines, heating the plasma, and plasma-field slippage during magnetic reconnection is discussed. Magnetic fluctuations are observed in the MRX (magnetic reconnection experiment) [M. Yamada, H. Ji, S. Hsu, T. Carter, R. Kulsrud, N. Bertz, F. Jobes, Y. Ono, and F. Perkins, Phys. Plasmas 4, 1936 (1997)] that are believed to provide resistive friction or wave resistivity. A localized linear theory has been proposed for their origin as an obliquely propagating lower hybrid drift instability. In this paper, the linear theory of the instability is summarized, and the resulting heating and slippage are calculated from quasilinear theory. Making use of measured amplitudes of the magnetic fluctuations in the MRX, the amount of these effects is estimated. Within the experimental uncertainties they are shown to be quite important for the magnetic reconnection process.
Model for nitridation of nanoscale SiO2 thin films in pulsed inductively coupled N2 plasma
Authors: Rauf Shahid , Lim Sangwoo , Ventzek Peter L. G.
Published: July 2005

As nitration of SiO2 gate dielectric can increase the film’s dielectric constant and reduce boron penetration into the Si channel during ion implantation, plasma nitridation is of considerable interest for the fabrication of semiconductor devices. A coupled plasma equipment-surface physics model is used in conjunction with an experimental analysis of nitrided SiO2 thin films to understand the mechanism of SiO2 plasma nitridation. This investigation is conducted in a pulsed inductively coupled N2 plasma. Computational results show that N atoms and N2+ ions are the primary species in the N2 plasma that contribute to the nitridation of SiO2 thin film. N atoms adsorb at the SiO2 surface and diffuse into the bulk film, and most nitrogen near the surface is due to these adsorbed N atoms. N2+ ions, on the other hand, penetrate deeper into the SiO2 film in an ion-implantation-like manner, and these ions are responsible for the observed tail in the nitrogen concentration profile. Nitrogen concentration in the film can be increased by enhancing the plasma source power or the nitridation time. However, once the dielectric surface starts saturating with nitrogen, further nitrogen adsorption is inhibited and nitridation rate tapers off. As the fluxes of atomic N and N2+ ions to the wafer decrease with increasing gas pressure, the nitridation rate decreases with gas pressure. For the range of SiO2 film thickness examined (13–15 Å), the nitrogen transport and reaction properties in the film are film thickness dependent, probably due to the nonuniform density of the initial SiO2 thin film or to interfacial stresses.
Effects of temperature and atmosphere on the magnetism properties of Mn-doped ZnO
Authors: Chen W. , Zhao L. F. , Wang Y. Q. , Miao J. H. , Liu S. , Xia Z. C. , Yuan S. L.
Published: July 2005

Magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO (Zn0.98Mn0.02O) bulk materials prepared by the solid-state reaction method were investigated by measuring magnetization as functions of temperature and magnetic field. The special feature of our sample preparation was the low-temperature processing. When high-temperature (T>700°C) was used, secondary phase was found. The results indicate that the samples sintered in Ar gas show ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature, but it disappears in samples sintered in air. Even for ferromagnetic samples, the obtained saturation value of magnetization is much smaller than the theoretical value, suggesting the possibility that there is a strong antiferromagnetic exchange coupling in this kind of compound.
A refined ring polymer molecular dynamics theory of chemical reaction rates
Authors: Craig Ian R. , Manolopoulos David E.
Published: July 2005

We further develop the ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) method for calculating chemical reaction rates [I. R. Craig and D. E. Manolopoulos, J. Chem. Phys. 122, 084106 (2005)]. We begin by showing how the rate coefficient we obtained before can be calculated in a more efficient way by considering the side functions of the ring-polymer centroids, rather than averaging over the side functions of the individual ring-polymer beads. This has two distinct advantages. First, the statistics of the phase-space average over the ring-polymer coordinates and momenta are greatly improved. Second, the resulting flux-side correlation function converges to its long-time limit much more rapidly. Indeed the short-time limit of this flux-side correlation function already provides a “quantum transition state theory” approximation to the final rate coefficient. In cases where transition state recrossing effects are negligible, and the transition state dividing surface is put in the right place, the RPMD rate is therefore obtained almost instantly. We then go on to show that the long-time limit of the new flux-side correlation function, and hence the fully converged RPMD reaction rate, is rigorously independent of the choice of the transition state dividing surface. This is especially significant because the optimum dividing surface can often be very difficult to determine for reactions in complex chemical systems.
Semiflexible grafted polymers in poor solvents: Toroidal, archway, and tower micelles
Authors: Pham T. T. , Pattanayek S. K. , Pereira G. G.
Published: July 2005

We study a system of grafted semiflexible polymers in a poor solvent which form toroidal or rodlike conformations in the bulk. However, because of the physical constraint of surface grafting, macrophase separation is inhibited and a number of different polymer aggregates (or micelles) form which can be related to the chains’ stiffness and their affinity for each other. In contrast to the fully flexible Gaussian case, we observe a number of novel micelle structures, including tower micelles, archway micelles, and spider micelles. We also attempt to develop a phase diagram for the occurrence of these structures with respect to the variables of chain length, chain stiffness, and polymer grafting density.
High resolution time-of-flight spectrometer for crossed molecular beam study of elementary chemical reactions
Authors: Qiu Minghui , Che Li , Ren Zefeng , Dai Dongxu , Wang Xiuyan , Yang Xueming
Published: July 2005

In this article, we describe an apparatus in our laboratory for investigating elementary chemical reactions using the high resolution time-of-flight Rydberg tagging method. In this apparatus, we have adopted a rotating source design so that collision energy can be changed for crossed beam studies of chemical reactions. Preliminary results on the HI photodissociation and the F atom reaction with H2 are reported here. These results suggest that the experimental apparatus is potentially a powerful tool for investigating state-to-state dynamics of elementary chemical reactions.
Stickiness in mushroom billiards
Authors: Altmann Eduardo G. , Motter Adilson E. , Kantz Holger
Published: July 2005

We investigate the dynamical properties of chaotic trajectories in mushroom billiards. These billiards present a well-defined simple border between a single regular region and a single chaotic component. We find that the stickiness of chaotic trajectories near the border of the regular region occurs through an infinite number of marginally unstable periodic orbits. These orbits have zero measure, thus not affecting the ergodicity of the chaotic region. Notwithstanding, they govern the main dynamical properties of the system. In particular, we show that the marginally unstable periodic orbits explain the periodicity and the power-law behavior with exponent γ=2 observed in the distribution of recurrence times.
Structural characterization of Cu nanocrystals formed in SiO2 by high-energy ion-beam synthesis
Authors: Johannessen B. , Kluth P. , Glover C. J. , de M. Azevedo G. , Llewellyn D. J. , Foran G. J. , Ridgway M. C.
Published: July 2005

Cu nanocrystals (NCs) were produced by multiple high-energy ion implantations into 5-μm-thick amorphous silica (SiO2) at liquid-nitrogen temperature. The Cu-rich SiO2 films were subsequently annealed to reduce irradiation-induced damage and promote NC formation. The NC size distribution and structure were studied utilizing a combination of Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. We present results derived from all four techniques, focussing on EXAFS measurements to study the local atomic structure surrounding Cu atoms, and comparing NC samples with bulk standards. Using a unique sample preparation method, we drastically improve the signal-to-noise ratio to extract high-quality EXAFS data to enable the determination of a non-Gaussian bond length distribution via the third-order cumulant. We quantify subtle concentration- and annealing-temperature-dependent changes in the Cu NC short-range order and relate such changes to NC size. Relative to a bulk Cu standard, enhanced structural disorder is observed in addition to both a suppressed coordination number and bond length contraction. Deviations from bulklike structure increase as the NC size decreases. Samples of low Cu concentration and∕or low annealing temperature contain a significant fraction of Cu oxides, as either oxidized NCs or Cu bonding to O in the SiO2 matrix. EXAFS and x-ray-absorption near-edge structure analyses demonstrate Cu in an oxidized form exhibits an oxidation state and local coordination similar to crystalline Cu2O albeit in a disordered form.
n
-body dynamics of stabilized vector solitons
Authors: Montesinos Gaspar D. , Rodas-Verde María I. , Pérez-García Víctor M. , Michinel Humberto
Published: July 2005

In this work we study the interactions between stabilized Townes solitons. By means of effective Lagrangian methods, we have found that the interactions between these solitons are governed by central forces, in a first approximation. In our numerical simulations we describe different types of orbits, deflections, trapping, and soliton splitting. Splitting phenomena are also described by finite-dimensional reduced models. All these effects could be used for potential applications of stabilized solitons.
Quantum-mechanical study of the direct tunneling current in metal-oxide-semiconductor structures
Authors: Nakhmedov E. P. , Wieczorek K. , Burghardt H. , Radehaus C.
Published: July 2005

A quantum-mechanical model is developed to describe an electron transmission through a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor with ultrathin dielectric when the inversion regime is realized at the semiconductor/insulator interface. For a particular form of the electrostatic potential in the depletion layer, the Schrödinger equation is solved for metal gate, oxide layer, and semiconductor substrate. An analytical expression for the leakage current is derived, provided that an incident flux flows from an ideal contact attached to the silicon substrate to the metallic gate through the MOS capacitor. The obtained formula for the leakage current reproduces the well-known Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation for the direct tunneling through a trapezoidal barrier at small gate voltages, and the Fowler-Nordheim quasiclassical expression, which describes an electron tunneling through a triangular barrier at higher voltages. Computation of the leakage current through an ultrathin gate oxide according to the obtained analytical expressions yields good agreement with the experimental data without the use of fitting parameters.
Dust-acoustic solitary waves and double layers in a magnetized dusty plasma with nonthermal ions and dust charge variation
Authors: El-Taibany W. F. , Sabry R.
Published: July 2005

The effect of nonthermal ions and variable dust charge on small-amplitude nonlinear dust-acoustic (DA) waves is investigated. It is found that both compressive and rarefactive solitons exist and depend on the nonthermal parameter a. Using a reductive perturbation theory, a Zakharov–Kuznetsov (ZK) equation is derived. At critical value of a, ac, a modified ZK equation with third- and fourth-order nonlinearities, is obtained. Depending on a, the solution of the evolution equation reveals whether there is coexistence of both compressive and rarefactive solitary waves or double layers (DLs) with the possibility of their two kinds. In addition, for certain plasma parameters, the solitary wave disappears and a DL is expected. The variation of dust charge number, wave velocity, and soliton amplitude and its width against system parameters is investigated for the DA solitary waves. It is shown that the incorporation of both the adiabatic dust-charge variation and the nonthermal distributed ions modifies significantly the nature of DA solitary waves and DA DLs. The findings of this investigation may be useful in understanding the ion acceleration mechanisms close to the Moon and also enhances our knowledge on pickup ions around unmagnetized bodies, such as comets, Mars, and Venus.
Mode coupling of low frequency electromagnetic waves in magnetized dusty plasmas
Authors: Ziebell L. F. , de Juli M. C. , Schneider R. S. , Jatenco-Pereira V.
Published: July 2005

A kinetic description is used to analyze wave propagation in dusty plasmas, taking into account the fluctuation of the charge of the dust particles due to inelastic collisions with electrons and ions. The case of propagation of waves exactly parallel to the external magnetic field and Maxwellian distributions for the electrons and ions in the equilibrium is considered, and a parametric analysis of the dispersion relation is performed. The investigation emphasizes particularly the effects of dust density, radius of dust particles, ion temperature, ratio between electron and ion temperatures, ion density, and ambient magnetic field, on the solutions of the dispersion relation. The analysis shows the possibility of occurrence of coupling between waves in the whistler branch and waves in the branch of circularly polarized waves, in the presence of the dust particles.
New target for high-intensity laser-matter interaction: Gravitational flow of micrometer-sized powders
Authors: Servol M. , Quéré F. , Bougeard M. , Monot P. , Martin Ph. , Faenov A. Ya , Pikuz T. A. , Audebert P. , Francucci M. , Petrocelli G.
Published: July 2005

The design of efficient targets for high-intensity laser-matter interaction is essential to fully exploit the advantages of laser-induced photons or particles sources. We present an advantageous kind of target, consisting in a free gravitational flow of micrometer-sized powder, and describe its main technical characteristics. We demonstrate a laser-induced keV x-ray source using this target, and show that the photon flux obtained for the Kα line of Si by irradiating different silica powders is comparable to the one obtained with a bulk silica target.
A simple uniaxial pressure device for electrical resistivity measurements: Suitable for closed cycle refrigerator system
Authors: Arumugam S. , Mydeen K. , Vanji M. Kumaresa , Mori N.
Published: July 2005

A simple uniaxial pressure device suitable for closed cycle refrigerator system (CCRS) has been built. This device in principle is applicable to any crystal. In this device the pressure can be varied smoothly and continuously to any desired temperature using a disc-micrometer and a spring – holder attachment, which are kept on the demountable top flange of the vacuum shroud of CCRS at room temperature. This device is not dependent on pressure calibration and the pressure calculation is obtained directly from the surface area of the crystal, the rotations of the disc-micrometer and the spring – constant value of the spring. Piezoresistance measurements were made on n-type Si to check the quality of data from the uniaxial pressure device. The performance of the uniaxial pressure device is illustrated by investigating the uniaxial pressure dependence of bilayer manganite La1.25Sr1.75Mn2O7 single crystals along the ab-plane and c-axis using electrical resistivity measurements down to 15 K. We found that the peak resistivity measured with the current parallel to the ab-plane and the pressure parallel to the c-axis reduced ∼50% of its resistivity at 120 MPa. The resistivity increased to ∼460% at 120 MPa with the current parallel to the c-axis and the pressure parallel to the ab-plane. The metal-insulator transition drastically enhances (dTMI∕dPc=+46.33K∕GPa) when the pressure is parallel to the c-axis and decreases moderately (dTMI∕dPab=−16.58K∕GPa) when the pressure is parallel to the ab-plane. The change of ρab with the pressure parallel to the c-axis is almost equivalent to change of ρab under external magnetic field of ∼8Tesla.
A high-resolution full-field range imaging system
Authors: Carnegie D. A. , Cree M. J. , Dorrington A. A.
Published: July 2005

There exist a number of applications where the range to all objects in a field of view needs to be obtained. Specific examples include obstacle avoidance for autonomous mobile robots, process automation in assembly factories, surface profiling for shape analysis, and surveying. Ranging systems can be typically characterized as being either laser scanning systems where a laser point is sequentially scanned over a scene or a full-field acquisition where the range to every point in the image is simultaneously obtained. The former offers advantages in terms of range resolution, while the latter tend to be faster and involve no moving parts. We present a system for determining the range to any object within a camera’s field of view, at the speed of a full-field system and the range resolution of some point laser scans. Initial results obtained have a centimeter range resolution for a 10 second acquisition time. Modifications to the existing system are discussed that should provide faster results with submillimeter resolution.
Metal-induced photoluminescence quenching of tri-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum
Authors: Wu Y. , Zhou Y. C. , Wu H. R. , Zhan Y. Q. , Zhou J. , Zhang S. T. , Zhao J. M. , Wang Z. J. , Ding X. M. , Hou X. Y.
Published: July 2005

Metal-induced photoluminescence (PL) quenching of organic thin film [tri-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq)] has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. By doing experiments in situ in high vacuum, we have measured the PL intensity of Alq film deposited on metal-doped Alq film or metal film as a function of its thickness. For the case of metal-doped Alq film, exciton diffusion length of Alq is derived as LD=8.6±0.1nm by analyzing experimental results and using a model based on diffusion and interface dissociation of excitons. For the case of metal film, another model considering exciton diffusion, interface dissociation, and nonradiative energy transfer to the metal is suggested to explain the experimental observation. Good agreement is achieved between theory and experiment.
Application of double-cell arrangement in planar laser-induced fluorescence experiments
Authors: Golnabi H. , Ahmadi H. , Razani M.
Published: July 2005

This paper describes a double-cell method, which offers some advantages in image capturing and analysis of the planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) experiments. Double static-cell and circulating-static designs are tested and the fluorescence results are reported. The static-static design offers some advantages when comparing the fluorescence signals for two different dyes, the effect of additives, and of oxidation, whereas the circulating-static design provides an effective method to study the thermal contributions of the measured signal, the photostability of a particular dye, the effect of adding agents, and the quenching effects on a dye under study. In this experiment Rhodamine-WT (Rh-WT) and Resorufin (RSRF) dye solutions are tested and PLIF results are reported. The photostability of both dyes is investigated and the oxidation process of fluorescent probe molecule RSRF is also demonstrated. Results obtained for these dyes are very interesting and verify that such a method can be used effectively for investigating different interesting phenomenon affecting the fluorescence emission/extinction. It is also possible to compare the fluorescence yields for different dyes in different solvents and at different molar concentrations.
Carbon nanotube composites with high dielectric constant at low percolation threshold
Authors: Wang Lan , Dang Zhi-Min
Published: July 2005

In this letter, the dielectric properties of the untreated multiwall carbon-nanotubes∕poly(vinylidene fluoride) (MWNT∕PVDF) composites are studied. Towards low frequencies, the dielectric constant of a composite with about 2.0vol% of MWNT increases rapidly and the value of the dielectric constant is as high as 300. However, by a calculation, the percolation threshold of the MWNT∕PVDF composites is only 1.61vol% (0.0161 volume fraction) of MWNT. Both the large aspect ratio and the high conductivity of the MWNT may lead to the low percolation threshold of the MWNT∕PVDF composites. For the percolation composite, the dielectric loss value is always less than 0.4, irrespective of the frequency. Therefore, the experimental results suggest that the dielectric properties of MWNT∕PVDF composites may be improved significantly without the chemical functionalization to carbon nanotubes.
Stability of functions in Boolean models of gene regulatory networks
Authors: Rämö Pauli , Kesseli Juha , Yli-Harja Olli
Published: July 2005

Boolean networks are used to model large nonlinear systems such as gene regulatory networks. We will present results that can be used to understand how the choice of functions affects the network dynamics. The so called bias-map and its fixed points depict much of the function’s dynamical role in the network. We define the concept of stabilizing functions and show that many Post and canalizing functions are also stabilizing functions. Boolean networks constructed using the same type of stabilizing functions are always stable regardless of the average in-degree of network functions. We derive the number of all stabilizing functions and find it to be much larger than the number of Post and canalizing functions. We also discuss the implementation of functions and apply the presented results to biological data that give an approximation of the distribution of regulatory functions in eucaryotic cells. We find that the obtained theoretical results on the number of active genes are biologically plausible. Finally, based on the presented results, we discuss why canalizing and Post regulatory functions seem to be common in cells.
Polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells: Frozen-junction operation of an “ionic liquid” device
Authors: Shin Joon-Ho , Xiao Steven , Fransson Åke , Edman Ludvig
Published: July 2005

We report frozen-junction operation of a polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell containing a mixture of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) and the ionic liquid tetra-n-butylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate (TBA-TF) as the active material. We find fast turn-on time, unipolar light emission, and significant operational lifetime up to T=200K for planar Au∕(TBA-TF+MEH-PPV)∕Au surface cells, which had been charged (i.e., electrochemically p- and n-type doped in situ) at T=393K and V=4V and then cooled to 80 K at V=4V. We employed differential scanning calorimetry to demonstrate that (TBA-TF+MEH-PPV) exhibits two melting transitions of TBA-TF crystalline phases located at Tm,1≈280K and Tm,2≈380K, respectively. The lower Tm,1 sets the upper limit for frozen-junction operation (with zero-ionic conductivity), while the larger Tm,2 correlates to the lower limit for the charging regime (with high ionic conductivity).
Room-temperature ferromagnetism in La2∕3Sr1∕3MnO3 nanoparticle assembled nanotubes
Authors: Curiale J. , Sánchez R. D. , Troiani H. E. , Leyva A. G. , Levy P.
Published: July 2005

We present magnetic and transmission electron microscopy experiments on the double-exchange compound La2∕3Sr1∕3MnO3, nanostructured to form tubes with 700 nm of external diameter. Microscopy reveals that their walls are formed by a compact agglomerate of grains, whose sizes are around 20 nm. The study of magnetic properties of randomly oriented nanotubes shows that the transition from the ferromagnetic to paramagnetic state is at TC=320K, close to the bulk sample value. They exhibit hysteresis in magnetic field loops. The coercive field at 90 K is around 130 Oe, and estimated single-domain size is around 20 nm.
Rupture force measurement of biotin-streptavidin bonds using optical trapping
Authors: Ota Taisuke , Sugiura Tadao , Kawata Satoshi
Published: July 2005

Optical trapping has been applied to investigate the bond rupture force between biotin attached to a microparticle and streptavidin attached to a substrate. The force for rupturing the bonds was loaded vertically by pulling the particle from the substrate and detected by measuring the displacement of the particle from the equilibrium position in the optical trap. The displacement was measured by detecting light the light scattered from the particle in an evanescent field, and the field was generated by total internal reflection of a beam output from a high-NA objective lens. From the histogram yielded from the rupture force measurements, the most frequent rupture force was determined to be between 3.6 and 5.4 pN with a loading rate of 7.7pN∕s.
Ab initio study of the structural stability of TiSi2 compounds
Authors: Colinet C. , Wolf W. , Podloucky R. , Pasturel A.
Published: July 2005

In order to clarify the allotropic structural properties of TiSi2 we calculated by means of an ab initio density functional approach the total energies of the C49, C54, and C40 crystal structures of the bulk compound. We found that at T=0K the C49 structure of TiSi2 is its most stable phase whereas the C54 structure, which experimentally is considered to be the ground state, is less favorable. Furthermore, by calculating the vibrational properties and the corresponding temperature dependent free energies of the three structures we predict a structural transition from C49 to C54 at about 1100K. We also demonstrate that point defects as well as stacking faults, which are known to be present in the C49 phase, have no significant influence on the structural stability.
Repression of unconscious information by conscious processing: Evidence from affective blindsight induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation
Authors: Jolij Jacob , Lamme Victor A. F.
Published: July 2005

Some patients with a lesion to the primary visual cortex (V1) show “blindsight”: the remarkable ability to guess correctly about attributes of stimuli presented to the blind hemifield. Here, we show that blindsight can be induced in normal observers by using transcranial magnetic stimulation of the occipital cortex but exclusively for the affective content of unseen stimuli. Surprisingly, access to the affective content of stimuli disappears upon prolonged task training or when stimulus visibility increases, allegedly increasing the subjects' confidence in their overall performance. This finding suggests that availability of conscious information suppresses access to unconscious information, supporting the idea of consciousness as a repressant of unconscious tendencies.
Investigation of antitumor effects of synthetic epothilone analogs in human myeloma models
in vitro
and
in vivo
Authors: Wu Kai-Da , Cho Young Shin , Katz Jonathan , Ponomarev Vladimir , Chen-Kiang Selina , Danishefsky Samuel J. , Moore Malcolm A. S.
Published: July 2005

26-Trifluoro-(
E
)-9,10-dehydro-12,13-desoxyepothilone B [Fludelone (Flu)] has shown broad antitumor activity in solid tumor models. In the present study, we showed,
in vitro
, that Flu significantly inhibited multiple myeloma (MM) cell proliferation (with 1-15 nM IC
50
), whereas normal human bone marrow stromal cells (HS-27A and HS-5 lines) were relatively resistant (10- to 15-fold higher IC
50
). Cell-cycle analysis demonstrated that Flu caused G
2
/M phase arrest and induced cell apoptosis. After Flu treatment, caspase-3, -8, and -9 were activated, cytochrome
c
and second mitochondrial-derived activator of caspase were released to the cytosol, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase was activated, indicating that mitochondria were involved in the apoptosis. Flu toxicity to human hematopoietic stem cells was evaluated by CD34
+
cell-apoptosis measurements and hematopoietic-progenitor assays. There was no significant toxicity to noncycling human CD34
+
cells. We compared the efficacy of Flu with the epothilone analog 12,13-desoxyepothilone B (dEpoB) in xenograft nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mouse models with subcutaneous or disseminated MM. Flu caused tumor disappearance in RPMI 8226 subcutaneous xenografts after only five doses of the drug (20 mg/kg of body weight), with no sign of relapse after 100 d of observation. In a disseminated CAG MM model, mice treated with Flu had a significantly decreased tumor burden, as determined by bioluminescence imaging, and prolonged overall survival vs. mice treated with dEpoB or vehicle control, indicating that Flu may be a promising agent for MM therapy.
Role of domestic ducks in the propagation and biological evolution of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses in Asia
Authors: Hulse-Post D. J. , Sturm-Ramirez K. M. , Humberd J. , Seiler P. , Govorkova E. A. , Krauss S. , Scholtissek C. , Puthavathana P. , Buranathai C. , Nguyen T. D. , Long H. T. , Naipospos T. S. P. , Chen H. , Ellis T. M. , Guan Y. , Peiris J. S. M. , Webster R. G.
Published: July 2005

Wild waterfowl, including ducks, are natural hosts of influenza A viruses. These viruses rarely caused disease in ducks until 2002, when some H5N1 strains became highly pathogenic. Here we show that these H5N1 viruses are reverting to nonpathogenicity in ducks. Ducks experimentally infected with viruses isolated between 2003 and 2004 shed virus for an extended time (up to 17 days), during which variant viruses with low pathogenicity were selected. These results suggest that the duck has become the “Trojan horse” of Asian H5N1 influenza viruses. The ducks that are unaffected by infection with these viruses continue to circulate these viruses, presenting a pandemic threat.
Mutually dependent secretion of proteins required for mycobacterial virulence
Authors: Fortune S. M. , Jaeger A. , Sarracino D. A. , Chase M. R. , Sassetti C. M. , Sherman D. R. , Bloom B. R. , Rubin E. J.
Published: July 2005

The ESX-1 locus is a region critical for full virulence in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
, which encodes two secreted proteins as well as other genes involved in their secretion. The mechanism of secretion of the two proteins, ESAT-6 and CFP-10, and their function remain unknown. Using proteomic methods to search for additional proteins secreted by the ESX-1 locus, we discovered that a protein encoded by a chromosomally unlinked gene,
espA
, is also secreted by strains that contain the ESX-1 locus but not by strains with ESX-1 deletions. Mutations in individual ESX-1 genes, including those that encode ESAT-6 and CFP-10, were found to block EspA secretion. Surprisingly, mutants that lack
espA
reciprocally failed to secrete ESAT-6 and CFP-10 and were as attenuated as ESX-1 mutants in virulence assays. The results indicate that secretion of these proteins, which are each critical for virulence of pathogenic mycobacteria, is mutually dependent. The results further suggest that discerning the nature of the interaction and the structure of macromolecular complexes will provide insights into both an alternative mechanism of protein secretion and mycobacterial virulence.
A function space 𝐶_{𝑝}(𝑋) without a condensation onto a 𝜎-compact space
Authors: Marciszewski Witold
Published: July 2005

Assuming that the minimal cardinality of a dominating family in

ω

ω

\omega ^{\omega }

is equal to

2

ω

2^{\omega }

, we construct a subset

X
X

of a real line

R

\mathbb {R}

such that the space

C

p

(
X
)

C_{p}(X)

of continuous real-valued functions on

X
X

does not admit any continuous bijection onto a

σ
\sigma

-compact space. This gives a consistent answer to a question of Arhangel’skii.
On the spectral picture of an irreducible subnormal operator II
Authors: Feldman Nathan , McGuire Paul
Published: July 2005

In this paper we show that the spectral picture of an irreducible subnormal operator may be arbitrarily prescribed subject only to certain natural necessary conditions. This completes work begun by the second author.
Mass points of measures on the unit circle and reflection coefficients
Authors: Golinskii Leonid
Published: July 2005

Measures on the unit circle and orthogonal polynomials are completely determined by their reflection coefficients through the Szegő recurrences. We find the conditions on the reflection coefficients which provide the lack of a mass point at

ζ
=
1

\zeta =1

. We show that the result is sharp in a sense.
The product of a nonsymmetric Jack polynomial with a linear function
Authors: Marshall Dan
Published: July 2005

In this paper a decomposition in terms of the nonsymmetric Jack polynomials is given for the product of any nonsymmetric Jack polynomial

E

η

(
z
)

E_{\eta }(z)

with

z
i

z_i

. This decomposition generalises a recurrence formula satisfied by single variable orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle. The decomposition also allows the evaluation of the generalised binomial coefficients

(

η
ν

)

\binom {\eta }{\nu }

associated with the nonsymmetric Jack polynomials for

|

η

|

=

|

ν

|

+
1

|\eta |=|\nu | + 1

.
A product decomposition of infinite symmetric groups
Authors: Seress Ákos
Published: July 2005

We prove that for any infinite

κ
\kappa

, the full symmetric group

Sym
⁡
(
κ
)

\operatorname {Sym}(\kappa )

is the product of at most

14
14

abelian subgroups. This is a strengthening of a recent result of M. Abért.
On sampling theory associated with the resolvents of singular Sturm-Liouville problems
Authors: Annaby M.
Published: July 2005

This paper is concerned with the sampling theory associated with resolvents of eigenvalue problems. We introduce sampling representations for integral transforms whose kernels are Green’s functions of singular Sturm-Liouville problems provided that the singular points are in the limit-circle situation, extending the results obtained in the regular problems.
Characteristic classes and transfer relations in cobordism
Authors: Bakuradze M. , Jibladze M. , Vershinin V.
Published: July 2005

Decompositions of products of the Ray elements by free generators of small dimensions in the symplectic cobordism ring are obtained. In particular it is stated that most of the

4
n

4n

-dimensional generators, for

n
n

small, after multiplication by the Ray elements

ϕ
i

\phi _i

,

i
⩾
0

i\geqslant 0

, land in the ideal generated by Ray elements of low dimension.
Rational versus real cohomology algebras of low-dimensional toric varieties
Authors: Feichtner Eva
Published: July 2005

We show that the real cohomology algebra of a compact toric variety of complex dimension 

2
2

is determined, up to isomorphism, by the combinatorial data of its defining fan. Surprisingly enough, this is no longer the case when taking rational coefficients. Moreover, we show that neither the rational nor the real or complex cohomology algebras of compact quasi-smooth toric varieties are combinatorial invariants in general.
Asymptotic limit for condensate solutions in the Abelian Chern-Simons Higgs model
Authors: Han Jongmin
Published: July 2005

In this paper we show that the maximal solutions(ϕϵ,Aϵ)(\phi ^\epsilon , A^\epsilon )in the Abelian Chern-Simons Higgs model on a ’t Hooft type periodic domain converges to(ϕ∗,A∗)(\phi _*,A_*)andϕ∗\phi _*is a harmonic map. We also study asymptotic behaviors of the energy density.