Road operation phase sustainability indicator as a response to the climate change phenomena

Road infrastructure is a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) around the world. Once constructed, a road becomes a part of a road network and is subjected to recurrent maintenance/rehabilitation activities. Studies to date are mostly aimed at the development of sustainability indicators that deal with the material and construction phases of a road when it is constructed. The operation phase is infrequently studied and there is a need for sustainability indicators to be developed relating to this phase to better understand the GHG emissions as a proper response to the climate change phenomena. During the operation phase, maintenance/rehabilitation activities are undertaken based on certain agreed intervention criteria that do not include environmental implications relating to the climate change aspect properly. Availability of appropriate indicators may, therefore, assist in sustainable road asset maintenance management. This paper presents the findings of a literature based study and has proposed a way forward to develop a key “road operation phase” environmental indicator, which can contribute to road operation phase carbon footprint management based on a comprehensive road life cycle system boundary model. The proposed indicator can address multiple aspects of high impact road operation life environmental components such as: pavement rolling resistance, albedo, material, traffic congestion and lighting, based on availability of relevant scientific knowledge. Development of the indicator to appropriate level would offset the impacts of these components significantly and contribute to sustainable road operation management.

Enhancement of nonvolatile polarization and pyroelectric sensitivity in lithium tantalate (LT)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocomposite

We report the ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties of the composite films of lithium tantalate (LT) nanoparticle in poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVDF matrix at different volume fractions of LT (f(LT) = 0.047, 0.09 and 0.17). For an applied electric field of 150 kV cm(-1) the nonvolatile polarization of the composite was observed to increase from 0.014 mu C cm(-2) at f(LT) = 0 to 2.06 mu C cm(-2) at f(LT) = 0.17. For f(LT) = 0.17, the composite films exhibit a saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loop with a remanent polarization (2P(r) = 4.13 mu C cm(-2)). Compared with pure poled PVDF the composite films also showed a factor of about five enhancement in the pyroelectric coefficient at f(LT) = 0.17. When used in energy detection mode the pyroelectric voltage sensitivity of the composite films was found to increase from 3.93 to 18.5 VJ(-1) with an increase in f(LT) from 0.0 to 0.17.

Role of polarization in probing anomalous gauge interactions of the Higgs boson

We explore the use of polarized e(+)/e(-) beams and/or the information on final state decay lepton polarizations in probing the interaction of the Higgs boson with a pair of vector bosons. A model independent analysis of the process e(+)e(-) -> f (f) over barH, where f is any light fermion, is carried out through the construction of observables having identical properties under the discrete symmetry transformations as different individual anomalous interactions. This allows us to probe an individual anomalous term independent of the others. We find that initial state beam polarization can significantly improve the sensitivity to CP-odd couplings of the Z boson with the Higgs boson (ZZH). Moreover, an ability to isolate events with a particular tau helicity, with even 40% efficiency, can improve sensitivities to certain ZZH couplings by as much as a factor of 3. In addition, the contamination from the ZZH vertex contributions present in the measurement of the trilinear Higgs-W (WWH) couplings can be reduced to a great extent by employing polarized beams. The effects of initial state radiation and beamstrahlung, which can be relevant for higher values of the beam energy are also included in the analysis.

Broadband Suspended Microstrip Antenna For Circular Polarization

In this paper we propose a circularly polarized (CP) microstrip antenna on a suspended substrate with a coplanar capacitive feed and a slot within the rectangular patch. The antenna has an axial ratio bandwidth (< 3 dB) of 7.1%. The proposed antenna exhibits a much higher impedance bandwidth of about 49% (S11 < -10 dB) and also yields return loss better than -15 dB in the useful range of circular polarization. Measured characteristics of the antenna are in good agreement with the simulated results. The radiation patterns indicate good cross polarization rejection and low back lobe radiations. The design proposed here can be scaled to any frequency of interest.

Fluorescence-polarization studies on binding of 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-galactopyranoside to Ricinus communis (castor-bean) agglutinin

The binding of Ricinus communis (castor-bean) agglutinin 1 to saccharides was studied by equilibrium dialysis and fluorescence polarization by using the fluorescently labelled sugar 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-galactopyranoside. No appreciable change in ligand fluorescence of 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-D-galactopyranoside was considerably polarized on its binding to the lectin. The association constants obtained by Scatchard analysis of equilibrium-dialysis and fluorescence-polarization data do not differ much from each other, and at 25 degrees C, Ka = 2.4 (+/- 0.2) X 10(4)M-1. These values agree reasonably well with that reported in the literature for Ricinus agglutinin 1. The number of binding sites obtained by the different experimental procedures is 1.94 +/- 0.1 per molecule of 120 000 daltons and is equal to the reported value of 2. The consistency in the values of Ka and number of binding sites indicate the absence of additional subsites on Ricinus agglutinin 1 for its specific sugars. In addition, the excellent agreement between the binding parameters obtained by equilibrium dialysis and fluorescence polarization indicate the potential of ligand-fluorescence-polarization measurements in the investigation of lectin-sugar interactions.

Fluctuation phenomena in electrochemistry part I. The formalism

A unified approach to the problem of electrochemical fluctuations is presented. On the basis of the Langevin procedure, primary noise sources are introduced in the basic phenomenological equations and a discussion of the secondary noise sources arising in the expressions for the power spectra of currents is given.

Fluctuation phenomena in electrochemistry part II. Modelling the noise sources

A discussion of the modelling of the primary and secondary noise sources introduced in the formalism of fluctuation phenomena in a previous report is presented. It is illustrated that the generalisation of the modelling of noise sources in mass transport as given by Tyagai is limited in its applicability. A general procedure for the same is discussed in detail.

Using tau polarization to probe the stau co-annihilation region of the minimal supergravity model at the LHC

The minimal supergravity model predicts the polarization of the tau coming from the stau to bino decay in the co-annihilation region to +1. This can be exploited to extract this soft tau signal at LHC and also to measure the tiny mass differences between the stau and the bi lightest superparticle. Moreover, this strategy will be applicable for a wider class of bino lightest superparticle models, where the lighter stau has a right component at least of similar size as the left.

The connection between Mueller and Jones matrices of polarization optics

A necessary and sufficient condition for the 4 × 4 Mueller matrix to be derivable from the 2 × 2 Jones matrix is obtained. This condition allows one to determine if a given Mueller matrix describes a totally polarized system or a partially polarized (depolarizing) system. The result of Barakat is analysed in the light of this condition. A recently reported experimentally measured Mueller matrix is examined using this condition and is shown to represent a partially polarized system.

Cross polarization in laser beams

Polarization properties of Gaussian laser beams are analyzed in a manner consistent with the Maxwell equations, and expressions are developed for all components of the electric and magnetic field vectors in the beam. It is shown that the transverse nature of the free electromagnetic field demands a nonzero transverse cross-polarization component in addition to the well-known component of the field vectors along the beam axis. The strength of these components in relation to the strength of the principal polarization component is established. It is further shown that the integrated strengths of these components over a transverse plane are invariants of the propagation process. It is suggested that cross- polarization measurement using a null detector can serve as a new method for accurate determination of the center of Gaussian laser beams.

Mesospheric influences on linkages between solar activity and lower atmospheric phenomena

Analyses of rocket data at mid- and high-latitude locations over the American Continent show a solar activity-dependent mesospheric heating effect in the 60 to 90 km altitude region. A study of the altitude dependence of the effect shows that the heating and associated processes propagating downwards through the mesosphere do not cause discernible effects, below the 50 to 60 km layer. At Thumba, a significant short-term heating effect attributable to varying solar ultraviolet fluxes causing variable heating of atmospheric ozone is observed. This effect does not seem to propagate downwards into the upper stratosphere.

Rab8 and Rab8-interacting proteins as players in cell polarization

Rab8 and its interacting proteins as regulators of cell polarization During the development of a multi-cellular organism, progenitor cells have to divide and migrate appropriately as well as organize their differentiation with one another, in order to produce a viable embryo. To divide, differentiate and migrate cells have to undergo polarization, a process where internal and external components such as actin, microtubules and adhesion receptors are reorganized to produce a cell that is asymmetric, with functionally different surfaces. Also in the adult organism there is a continuous need for these processes, as cells need to migrate in response to tissue damage and to fight infection. Improper regulation of cell proliferation and migration can conversely lead to disease such as cancer. GTP-binding proteins function as molecular switches by cycling between a GTP-bound (active) conformation and a GDP-bound (inactive) conformation. The Ras super-family of small GTPases are found in all eukaryotic cells. They can be functionally divided into five subfamilies. The Ras family members mainly regulate gene expression, controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. Ras was in fact the first human oncogene to be characterized, and as much as 30% of all human tumors may be directly or indirectly caused by mutations of Ras molecules The Rho family members mainly regulate cytoskeletal reorganization. Arf proteins are known to regulate vesicle budding and Rab proteins regulate vesicular transport. Ran regulates nuclear transport as well as microtubule organization during mitosis. The focus of the thesis of Katarina Hattula, is on Rab8, a small GTPase of the Rab family. Activated Rab8 has previously been shown to induce the formation of new surface extensions, reorganizing both actin and microtubules, and to have a role in directed membrane transport to cell surfaces. However, the exact membrane route it regulates has remained elusive. In the thesis three novel interactors of Rab8 are presented. Rabin8 is a Rab8-specific GEF that localizes to vesicles where it presumably recruits and activates its target Rab8. Its expression in cells leads to remodelling of actin and the formation of polarized cell surface domains. Optineurin, known to be associated with a leading cause of blindness in humans (open-angle glaucoma), is shown to interact specifically with GTP-bound Rab8. Rab8 binds to an amino-terminal region and interestingly, the Huntingtin protein binds a carboxy-terminal region of optineurin. (Aberrant Huntingtin protein is known to be the cause Huntington s disease in humans.) Co-expression of Huntingtin and optineurin enhanced the recruitment of Huntingtin to Rab8-positive vesicular structures. Furthermore, optineurin promoted cell polarization in a similar way to Rab8. A third novel interactor of Rab8 presented in this thesis is JFC1, a member of the synaptogamin-like protein (Slp) family. JFC1 interacts with Rab8 specifically in its GTP-bound form, co-localizes with endogenous Rab8 on tubular and vesicular structures, and is probably involved in controlling Rab8 membrane dynamics. Rab8 is in this thesis work clearly shown to have a strong effect on cell shape. Blocking Rab8 activity by expression of Rab8 RNAi, or by expressing the dominant negative Rab8 (T22N) mutant leads to loss of cell polarity. Conversely, cells expressing the constitutively active Rab8 (Q67L) mutant exhibit a strongly polarized phenotype. Experiments in live cells show that Rab8 is associated with macropinosomes generated at ruffling areas of the membrane. These macropinosomes fuse with or transform into tubules that move toward the cell centre, from where they are recycled back to the leading edge to participate in protrusion formation. The biogenesis of these tubules is shown to be dependent on both actin and microtubule dynamics. The Rab8-specific membrane route studied contained several markers known to be internalized and recycled (1 integrin, transferrin, transferrin receptor, cholera toxin B subunit (CTxB), and major histocompatibility complex class I protein (MHCI)). Co-expression studies revealed that Rab8 localization overlaps with that of Rab11 and Arf6. Rab8 is furthermore clearly functionally linked to Arf6. The data presented in this thesis strongly suggests a role for Rab8 as a regulator for a recycling compartment, which is involved in providing structural and regulatory components to the leading edge to participate in protrusion formation.

Use of transverse polarization to probe R-parity violating supersymmetry at ILC

In supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation, squarks and sleptons can mediate Standard Model fermion–fermion scattering processes. These scalar exchanges in e+e− initiated reactions can give new signals at future linear colliders. We explore use of transverse beam polarization in the study of these signals in the process View the MathML source. We highlight certain asymmetries, which can be constructed due to the existence of the transverse beam polarization, which offer discrimination from the Standard Model (SM) background and provide increased sensitivity to the R-parity violating couplings.

Sequence generator for periodic sampling of transient phenomena

A simple instrument that can provide a sequence of timed pulses for first initiating a transient process and then enabling sampling and recording periodically during the course of the transient event is described. The time delay between the first of these sampling pulses and the start of the transient event is adjustable. This sequence generator has additional features that make it ideal for use in acquiring the waveforms when a storage oscilloscope is used as the recording device. For avoiding the clutter caused by many waveforms being recorded at the same place on an oscilloscope screen such features as displacements of waveforms in the X and Y directions and trace blanking at places where the waveform is not required, have been incorporated. This sequence generator has been employed to acquire a sequence of Raman scattered radiation signals from an adiabatically expanding saturated vapour probed by a flashlamp-pumped dye laser.