Sets of p-multiplicity in locally compact groups

We initiate the study of sets of p-multiplicity in locally compact groups and their operator versions. We show that a closed subset E of a second countable locally compact group G is a set of p-multiplicity if and only if E∗={(s,t):ts−1∈E} is a set of operator p-multiplicity. We exhibit examples of sets of p-multiplicity, establish preservation properties for unions and direct products, and prove a p-version of the Stone–von Neumann Theorem.

Imidazolium ionic liquid crystals with pendant mesogenic groups

Ionic liquid crystals were obtained by coupling one or two mesogenic units (cholesterol or cyanobiphenyl) to an imidazolium cation. Anions are bromide, bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, and tetrakis(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato)europate(III). The mesomorphism of the compounds depends on the type and number of mesogenic units and on the type of anion. In general, the most stable mesophases are observed for the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide salts. Most of the compounds containing cholesterol moieties show enantiotropic SmA* phases over a broad temperature range, and some of them are room temperature liquid crystals. Modeling of the small-angle X-ray scattering patterns revealed the molecular arrangement in these mesophases. On the contrary, most of the compounds containing cyanobiphenyl groups exhibit monotropic lamellar or nematic mesophases, depending on the number of mesogenic units. The imidazolium salts containing the tetrakis(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato)europate(III) anion show an intense red photoluminescence.

Pyrrolidinium Ionic Liquid Crystals with Pendant Mesogenic Groups

New ionic liquid crystals (including ionic metallomesogens) based oil the pyrrolidinium core are presented. N-Methylpyrrolidine was quaternized with different mesogenic groups connected to a flexible, omega-bromosubstituted alkyl spacer. The length of the flexible alkyl spacer between the cationic head group and the rigid mesogenic group was varied. The substituted pyrrolidinium cations were combined with bromide, bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, tetrakis (2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato)europate(III), and tetrabromouranyl anions. The influence of the type of mesogenic unit, the lengths of the flexible spacer and terminal alkyl chain, the size of the mesogenic group, and the type of anion oil the thermotropic mesomorphic behavior was investigated. Furthermore, the phase behavior was thoroughly compared with the previously reported mesomorphism of N-alkyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium salts. Low-ordered smectic A phases of the de Vries type, smectic C phases, higher-ordered smectic F/I phases, as well its crystal smectic phases (E and G, J, H, or K) were observed and investigated by polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and powder X-ray diffraction.

Influence of access to straw provided in racks on the welfare of sows in large dynamic groups

This experiment investigated the effect of providing access to straw in racks on the welfare of sows in large dynamic groups. Two treatments were applied: (1) access to two racks containing chopped barley straw (offering an average of 0.3 kg straw/sow/day) and (2) control, with no straw racks. Treatments were applied to two separate dynamic groups each containing 35 ( 3) sows. Approximately 9 sows were replaced in each of these groups at 3-week intervals (each replacement constituting a replicate of the study). Peak rack usage was shown between 08:00 and 12:00 h, where on average 6% of sows were observed at each rack. On average over a 24-h period, 27% of sows that were observed at the racks were newly introduced. This percentage was significantly greater in the pre- rather than post-feeding yard (P 0.05). A greater proportion of sows performed sham chewing behaviour in the post- rather than the pre-feeding yard (P 0.05). Overall, providing access to straw in racks led to a reduction in pen-directed exploratory behaviour, and this may reflect the fact that sows were provided with an outlet for exploratory and/or foraging behaviour. However, the fact that sham chewing behaviour was not affected suggests that welfare benefits associated with the straw rack treatment were limited. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of social status on the welfare of sows in static and dynamic groups

Forty-eight Large White x Landrace multiparous sows were mixed into twelve groups of four animals after their piglets were weaned. These groups were defined as static, with no animals being added to or removed from the groups after their formation. Aggressive and submissive behaviours were recorded continuously for 9 h after the sows were mixed, and the sows were assigned high or low social status on the basis of their relative aggressiveness and success in aggressive interactions. After five weeks, each static group was mixed into a dynamic group of 40+/-2 sows for an 11-week period. Three static groups (ie 12 animals) at a time were added to the dynamic group at three-week intervals; the same number of animals was removed at these time-points in order to maintain the group number at 40+/-2. Injury levels increased significantly with the transition from static groups to the dynamic group (P

Functionalised ionic liquids: synthesis of ionic liquids with tethered basic groups and their use in Heck and Knoevenagel reactions

A simple and efficient synthesis of a novel series of ionic liquids bearing nucleophilic (Me2N) and non-nucleophilic base ((Pr2N)-Pr-i) functionalities is described. The non-nucleophilic base functionality resembles the structure of the Hunig's base (N, N-diisopropylethylamine), which has been used widely in organic synthesis. A qualitative measure of the basicity of these ionic liquids is presented by utilising their interaction with universal indicator. The basicity of these ionic liquids was found to be dependent on the amine tether and choice of linker between the two nitrogen centres. The relative base strength of these ionic liquids was also probed by using them as catalysts in the Heck and Knoevenagel reactions.

Trusting Groups in Coalition Formation using Social Distance

In environments where distributed team formation is key, and defections are possible, the use of trust as social capital allows social norms to be defied and compared. An agent can use this information, when invited to join a group or collation, to decide whether or not its utility will be increased by joining. In this work a social network approach is used to define and reason about the relationships contained in the agent community. Previous baseline work is extended with two decision making mechanisms. These are compared by simulating an abstract grid-like environment, and preliminary results are reported.

Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: personhood beliefs across 37 national groups

Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 7,623), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 34 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations, and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.

A comparison of four extraction methods for substance P, neurokinin A and calcitonin gene-related peptide from human dental pulp tissue

Measuring neuropeptides in biological tissues by radioimmunoassay requires efficient extraction that maintains their immunoreactivity. Many different methods for extraction have been described, but there is little information on optimal extraction methods for individual neuropeptides from human dental pulp tissue. The aim was therefore to identify an effective extraction procedure for three pulpal neuropeptides: substance P. neurokinin A and calcitonin gene-related peptide. Tissue was obtained from 20 pulps taken from teeth freshly extracted for orthodontic reasons. The pulp samples were divided into four equal groups and different extraction methods were used for each group. Boiling whole pulp in acetic acid gave the highest overall yield and, in addition, offered an easy and rapid means of pulp tissue processing. The use of protease inhibitors did not increase the recovery of the immunoreactive neuropeptides but did provide the best combination of maximal recoveries and minimal variability. These results should be useful for planning the extraction of these neuropeptides from human pulp tissue in future studies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Second-order NMR spectra at high field of common organic functional groups

The proton NMR spectra of aryl n-propyl sulfides gave rise to what may appear to be first-order proton NMR spectra. Upon oxidation to the corresponding sulfone, the spectra changed appearance dramatically and were clearly second-order. A detailed analysis of these second-order spectra, in the sulfone series, provided vicinal coupling constants which indicated that these compounds had a moderate preference for the anti-conformer, reflecting the much greater size of the sulfone over the sulfide. It also emerged, from this study, that the criterion for observing large second-order effects in the proton NMR spectra of 1,2-disubstituted ethanes was that the difference in vicinal coupling constants must be large and the difference in geminal coupling constants must be small. n-Propyl triphenylphosphonium bromide and 2-trimethylsilylethanesulfonyl chloride, and derivatives thereof, also exhibited second-order spectra, again due to the bulky substituents. Since these spectra are second-order due to magnetic nonequivalence of the nuclei in question, not chemical shifts, the proton spectra are perpetually second-order and can never be rendered first-order by using higher field NMR spectrometers.

Occurrence of chromosome- or plasmid-mediated aerobactin iron transport systems and hemolysin production among clonal groups of human invasive strains of Escherichia coli K1

The incidence of the aerobactin system and the genetic location of aerobactin genes were investigated in Escherichia coli K1 neonatal isolates belonging to different clonal groups. A functional aerobactin system was found in all members of the O7 MP3, O1 MP5, O1 MP9, and O18 MP9 clonal groups examined and also in K1 strains having O6, O16, and O75 lipopolysaccharide types, which are less frequently associated with neonatal infections. In contrast, the aerobactin system was not detected in strains from the O18 MP6 clone. The combined results of plasmid and colony hybridization experiments showed that the aerobactin genes were located on the chromosome in the majority (75%) of the aerobactin-producing K1 isolates, the genetic location of the aerobactin genes was closely correlated with the outer membrane protein profile rather than the O lipopolysaccharide type, the K1 strains harboring a chromosome-mediated aerobactin system did not possess colicin V genes, and five of six K1 isolates possessing a plasmid-borne aerobactin system contained colicin V genes which were located on the same plasmids carrying the aerobactin genes. The comparison of hemolysin production with possession of the aerobactin system in virulent clones of E. coli K1 strains showed that all of the aerobactin-producing strains from the O18 MP9 and O7 MP3 clonal groups did not synthesize hemolysin, whereas 11 of 12 aerobactin-nonproducing O18 MP6 isolates were hemolytic. Of the K1 strains examined, 92.5% possessed either the aerobactin system or the ability to produce hemolysin or both.

Identifying Economically Vulnerable Groups as the Economic Crisis Emerged

A frequent refrain during recent debates on welfare cuts and tax increases has related to the need to "protect the vulnerable". However, it is far from clear that a consensus exists on which individuals or groups are to be included under this heading with a consequent lack of clarity for the policy implications of pursuing this goal. In this paper, operating with a conception of social exclusion that incorporates notions of dynamics and multidimensionality, we make use of EU-SILC 2008 data for Ireland to clarify the distinction between income poverty and economic vulnerability. We then proceed to consider the relationship between these outcomes and multiple deprivation, financial pressures and perceptions of recent and future economic prospects. Our analysis is then extended to compare patterns of risk for poverty and vulnerability in relation to key socio-economic groups. Finally, we will consider the relationship between poverty and vulnerability and the distribution of welfare dependence. Our analysis suggests that the vulnerable but non-poor group may need to be a key focus of policy attention in the future.