Quantum information processing in the wall of cytoskeletal microtubules

Microtubules (MT) are composed of 13 protofilaments, each of which is a series of two-state tubulin dimers. In the MT wall, these dimers can be pictured as "lattice" sites similar to crystal lattices. Based on the pseudo-spin model, two different location states of the mobile electron in each dimer are proposed. Accordingly, the MT wall is described as an anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) pseudo-spin system considering a periodic triangular "lattice". Because three different "spin-spin" interactions in each cell exist periodically in the whole MT wall, the system may be shown to be an array of three types of two-pseudo-spin-state dimers. For the above-mentioned condition, the processing of quantum information is presented by using the scheme developed by Lloyd.

Report on the Linda Vista bridge site

The Linda Vista Bridge spans the Arroyo Seco about a quarter of a mile above the Colorado Street Bridge, but serves an entirely different territory; as there is no road between there on the west bank. Los Angeles, Hollywood, and several of the beach cities can be reached by the way of the Colorado Street Bridge. The Linda Vista Bridge carries the traffic to the northwest of Pasadena, that is, Flintridge, Linda Vista, Montrose, Sunland. After leaving the bridge, the road follows the west bank of the Arroyo almost to the mouth of the canyon; then to the west along the foot of the mountains and into the San Fernando Valley.

Some generalizations of commutativity for linear transformations on a finite dimensional vector space

Let L be the algebra of all linear transformations on an n-dimensional vector space V over a field F and let A, B, ƐL. Let A_i+1 = A_iB - BA_i, i = 0, 1, 2,…, with A = A_o. Let f_k (A, B; σ) = A_2K+1 - ^σ1^A2K-1 ^{+ σ}2^A2K-3 -… +(-1)^Kσ_KA₁ where σ = (σ₁, σ₂,…, σ_K), σ_i belong to F and K = k(k-1)/2. Taussky and Wielandt [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 13(1962), 732-735] showed that f_n(A, B; σ) = 0 if σ_i is the i^th elementary symmetric function of (β₄- β_s)², 1 ≤ r ˂ s ≤ n, i = 1, 2, …, N, with N = n(n-1)/2, where β₄ are the characteristic roots of B. In this thesis we discuss relations involving f_k(X, Y; σ) where X, Y Ɛ L and 1 ≤ k ˂ n. We show: 1. If F is infinite and if for each X Ɛ L there exists σ so that f_k(A, X; σ) = 0 where 1 ≤ k ˂ n, then A is a scalar transformation. 2. If F is algebraically closed, a necessary and sufficient condition that there exists a basis of V with respect to which the matrices of A and B are both in block upper triangular form, where the blocks on the diagonals are either one- or two-dimensional, is that certain products X₁, X₂…X_r belong to the radical of the algebra generated by A and B over F, where X_i has the form f₂(A, P(A,B); σ), for all polynomials P(x, y). We partially generalize this to the case where the blocks have dimensions ≤ k. 3. If A and B generate L, if the characteristic of F does not divide n and if there exists σ so that f_k(A, B; σ) = 0, for some k with 1 ≤ k ˂ n, then the characteristic roots of B belong to the splitting field of g_k(w; σ) = w^2K+1 - σ₁w^2K-1 + σ₂w^2K-3 - …. +(-1)^K σ_Kw over F. We use this result to prove a theorem involving a generalized form of property L [cf. Motzkin and Taussky, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 73(1952), 108-114]. 4. Also we give mild generalizations of results of McCoy [Amer. Math. Soc. Bull., 42(1936), 592-600] and Drazin [Proc. London Math. Soc., 1(1951), 222-231].

A brief study of economic Penstock design : Supplementary to Course 800, Department of Civil Engineering

No abstract.

El juego en la educación infantil: cómo y por qué cambian las preferencias lúdicas

[ES] El interés por conocer la cultura lúdica de los niños y niñas de E. Infantil y los posibles cambios que en ella se han producido nos ha llevado a realizar 100 entrevistas sobre las preferencias lúdicas y algunas observaciones a infantes de 3-7 años. Para analizar los resultados se han categorizado las respuestas obtenidas siguiendo los criterios de clasificación de J. Piaget, R. Ortega y Mc Lloyd. Las gráficas de resultados han mostrado que la edad, el sexo y el juguete han sido determinantes en la preferencia lúdica. Por ello, nos ha parecido relevante en E. Infantil, dado que es la actividad por excelencia de la infancia.

Abundance and distribution of the eastern North Pacific Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) population

The eastern Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) population comprises animals that breed along the west coast of North America between California and southeastern Alaska. There are currently 13 major rookeries (>50 pups): five in southeastern Alaska, three in British Columbia, two in Oregon, and three in California. Overall abundance has increased at an average annual rate of 3.1% since the 1970s. These increases can largely be attributed to population recovery from predator-control kills and commercial harvests, and abundance is now probably as high as it has been in the last century. The number of rookeries has remained fairly constant (n=11 to 13) over the past 80 years, but there has been a northward shift in distribution of both rookeries and numbers of animals. Based on the number of pups counted in a population-wide survey in 2002, total pup production was estimated to be about 11,000 (82% in southeastern Alaska and British Columbia), representing a total population size as approximately 46,000−58,000 animal

"Heroes" and "Villains" of World History across Cultures

Emergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.

O comércio intra-industrial brasileiro de 1990 a 2013: mensuração, decomposição e os determinantes

Em uma relação de bilateral,o comérciointra-industrial (CII)acontece quando os dois países exportam e importam produtos pertencentes a uma mesma indústria. Conforme apontam diversas pesquisas relacionadas a esse assunto, o intercâmbio intra-indústriade produtos tem aumentado sua participação nas transações bilaterais. Não obstante, os resultados mensurados para o comércio entre o Brasil e o resto do mundo revelam a predominância do engajamento inter-industrial em detrimento do intra-industrial. Observando dados de comércio que abrangem todos os produtos catalogados com seis dígitos no Sistema Harmonizado, esta dissertação investiga o comércio intra-industrial brasileiro entre o período de 1990 a 2013 sob suas duas formas: o intercâmbio de bens diferenciados horizontalmente e verticalmente. Ademais, a pesquisa de mensuração do CII vertical se dedica a definição dos lados superior e inferior, a fim de verificar se o Brasil é exportador ou importador líquido de bens verticalmente diferenciados de qualidade relativamente superior. Dentre a amostra de 57 países, as relações bilaterais em que o índice de Grubel e Lloyd (GL) se mostrou mais expressivo foram Argentina, Estados Unidos, México, Alemanha, Suécia, Uruguai, França, Itália, Reino Unido e Colômbia. Com relação aos setores que mais contribuíram para o índice que mensura o shareintra-industrial do comércio, destacam-se os ramos produtores de materiais de transporte e máquinas e materiais elétricos, também merecendo menção o setor de produtos químicos.Utilizando técnicas econométricas usuais da abordagem de dados em painel, a investigação dos determinantes do CII nos leva à aceitação da hipótese que relaciona o CII à presença de economias de escala. Além disso, os parâmetros estimados revelam que a distância geográfica que separa o Brasil de seu parceiro comercial prejudica mais o comércio intra-industrial vis-à-vis o inter-industrial. O processo de integração desencadeado pelo MERCOSUL, por sua vez, mostrou efeito positivo sobre o comércio intra-industrialvertical.

克氏针茅草原的碳通量与碳收支

植被和大气之间CO2通量的长期观测有助于理解陆地生态系统的碳循环及其控制机理，评价生态系统碳循环及其对未来气候变化的响应。本研究以中国北方克氏针茅草原为研究对象，以涡度相关法为主要技术手段，利用克氏针茅草原观测站碳通量的长期连续观测数据，探讨了环境因子在不同时间尺度上对克氏针茅草原光合生产力(GEP)、系统呼吸(Re)和净CO2交换(NEE)的影响，分析了克氏针茅草原碳通量的季节变化和年际碳收支动态。主要得到以下结论： (1) 温度和土壤水分是调控克氏针茅草原光响应曲线的关键环境因子。10-20oC是克氏针茅草原瞬时GEP的最适温度，15-20oC是日GEP的最适温度。GEP日总值随土壤水分的增加呈二次曲线关系，当土壤含水量(SWC)超过0.2 m3m-3时，GEP日总值不再增加。 (2) 克氏针茅草原Re同时受温度和土壤水分的控制。降雨脉冲对短期系统呼吸有激发作用。Lloyd & Taylor方程对Re的拟合效果好于指数方程。 (3) 克氏针茅草原表现出白天净碳吸收和夜间净碳释放的日变化特征，并且往往出现上午碳吸收强、下午碳吸收弱的不对称现象。降雨的季节分布通过SWC的季节变异间接影响克氏针茅草原NEE的季节变化。在日尺度上，NEE主要受温度和土壤水分的控制，10-20oC的空气温度有助于克氏针茅草原吸收CO2。在月尺度上，NEE主要受土壤水分的控制。 (4) 生长季的长度是决定克氏针茅草原源汇变化的关键因子。 (5) 克氏针茅草原的GEP、Re和NEE都具有非常明显的季节变化。冬季或干旱胁迫下量级较低，温暖和湿润季节的量级较高。干旱胁迫同时抑制植被的GEP和Re，对GEP的抑制强度更大，随着土壤水分的下降，不同尺度的NEE累积值逐渐向正值转变，即生态系统由碳汇转变为碳源。 (6) 克氏针茅草原2005年降雨量只有174mm，当年GEP和Re也是三年中最低的，只有101和169gCm-2yr-1;2006年降雨量为215mm，GEP和Re是三年中最强的，分别为149 和187gCm-2yr-1;2004年降雨量为297mm，接近多年平均，但大部分降雨发生在8、9月份，GEP和Re分别为141和190gCm-2yr-1。 (7) 克氏针茅草原在2004、2005和2006年碳收支分别为：49、68和37 gCm-2yr-1。未来全球气候的变暖可能对克氏针茅草原的碳汇功能产生负面影响，降雨的季节不均匀分布可能加强这种影响。

Development of non-weak link bulk YBCO grain boundaries for high magnetic field eegimeering applications

A non-weak link joining technique has been developed for YBCO pseudo-crystals fabricated by seeded peritectic solidification based on the formation of a liquid phase which segregates from the platelet boundaries at temperatures above = 920 °C. Electrical and magnetic measurements on these boundaries suggest that their irreversibility field can be as high as 7 T at 77 K in fully oxygenated pseudo-crystals joined along their crystallographic ab-planes which is comparable to the irreversibility behaviour of the adjacent YBCO grains. © 1999 IEEE.

A family of simple benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) aromatic carboxylic acid hydrogels.

We present the characterisation of a hydrogel forming family of benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives. The simple, easy to synthesise compounds presented here exhibit consistent gel formation at low concentrations through the use of a pH trigger.