Model of single-electron decay from a strongly isolated quantum dot

Recent measurements of electron escape from a nonequilibrium charged quantum dot are interpreted within a two-dimensional (2D) separable model. The confining potential is derived from 3D self-consistent Poisson-Thomas-Fermi calculations. It is found that the sequence of decay lifetimes provides a sensitive test of the confining potential and its dependence on electron occupation

Breaking free from the industrial age paradigm of branding

The paper aims to inform readers of the themes that emerged at the 2007 Thought Leaders International Conference on Brand Management and challenges academics and practitioners to rethink the basics of branding. The paper encourages academics and practitioners to escape from the continued confines of industrial age branding and the ‘influencing’ mindset and embrace the age of openness and co-creation. It is argued that we need to evolve from the industrial age paradigm of branding that informed brand management for decades and adjust practice and research accordingly.

Inference From Aging Information

For many learning tasks the duration of the data collection can be greater than the time scale for changes of the underlying data distribution. The question we ask is how to include the information that data are aging. Ad hoc methods to achieve this include the use of validity windows that prevent the learning machine from making inferences based on old data. This introduces the problem of how to define the size of validity windows. In this brief, a new adaptive Bayesian inspired algorithm is presented for learning drifting concepts. It uses the analogy of validity windows in an adaptive Bayesian way to incorporate changes in the data distribution over time. We apply a theoretical approach based on information geometry to the classification problem and measure its performance in simulations. The uncertainty about the appropriate size of the memory windows is dealt with in a Bayesian manner by integrating over the distribution of the adaptive window size. Thus, the posterior distribution of the weights may develop algebraic tails. The learning algorithm results from tracking the mean and variance of the posterior distribution of the weights. It was found that the algebraic tails of this posterior distribution give the learning algorithm the ability to cope with an evolving environment by permitting the escape from local traps.

Estimating fatality rates in occupational light vehicle users using vehicle registration and crash data

Objective: To estimate occupational light vehicle (OLV) fatality numbers using vehicle registration and crash data and compare these with previous estimates based on workers' compensation data. Method: New South Wales (NSW) Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) vehicle registration and crash data were obtained for 2004. NSW is the only Australian jurisdiction with mandatory work-use registration, which was used as a proxy for work-relatedness. OLV fatality rates based on registration data as the denominator were calculated and comparisons made with published 2003/04 fatalities based on workers' compensation data. Results: Thirty-four NSW RTA OLV-user fatalities were identified, a rate of 4.5 deaths per 100,000 organisationally registered OLV, whereas the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC), reported 28 OLV deaths Australia-wide. Conclusions: More OLV user fatalities were identified from vehicle registration-based data than those based on workers' compensation estimates and the data are likely to provide an improved estimate of fatalities specific to OLV use. Implications: OLV-use is an important cause of traumatic fatalities that would be better identified through the use of vehicle-registration data, which provides a stronger evidence base from which to develop policy responses.

Congestion pricing and active transport - evidence from five opportunities for natural experiment

Congestion pricing schemes have been implemented in cities worldwide as a means of addressing externalities associated with inefficient price signals in transport systems. Limited evidence exists however on the secondary impacts of these schemes, which may include both environmental and health benefits associated with a resultant reduction in motor vehicle usage. There is increasing recognition that transport behaviours may play a role as opportunistic population level targets to reduce physical inactivity. Yet limited evidence currently exists on the effectiveness of transport interventions, such as congestion pricing schemes, for improving physical activity levels.This study aims to examine the physical activity effects of congestion pricing, with the health benefits of physical activity well established. Congestion pricing schemes implemented internationally were considered as 'natural experiments' and evidence of modal shift from vehicle to active forms of transport or physical activity effect was reviewed. Twelve studies were included from a search of peer-reviewed and 'grey' literature, with overall evidence for a physical activity or modal shift effect considered weak. The quality of the available evidence was also considered to be low.This is not to say that congestion pricing schemes may not have important secondary physical activity related health benefits. Instead, this review highlights the paucity of evidence that has been collected from real-world implementation of congestion pricing schemes. Given the growing recognition of the importance of distal mediators and determinants of health and the need for an 'all-of-government' approach more and better quality evidence of effectiveness of transport interventions for a broad range of outcomes, including health, is required. Significant barriers to the collection of such evidence exist, with strategies for overcoming some of these barriers identified. Only with a better understanding of the full range of potential health impacts can transport policy be fully utilised as a tool for population health.

Contrasting effects of acute and chronic treatment with imipramine and fluoxetine on inhibitory avoidance and escape responses in mice exposed to the elevated T-maze

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Alternative Transfers to the NEOs 99942 Apophis, 1994 WR12, and 2007 UW1 via Derived Trajectories from Periodic Orbits of Family G

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Carriers escape mechanisms in shallow InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells grown on vicinal (001) GaAs substrates

We used photoluminescence spectroscopy in order to investigate the carriers escape mechanisms in In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs quantum wells grown on top of nominal (001) and 2°-, 4°-and 6°-off (001) towards (111)A GaAs substrates. We described the escape processes using two models that fit the Arrhenius plot of the integrated PL intensity as a function of the inverse of the sample temperature. In the first model, we considered equal escape probability for electrons and holes. In the second one, we assumed that a single type of carrier can escape from the well. At high temperature, the first model fits the experimental data well, whereas, between 50 K and 100 K, the second model has to be taken into account to describe the data. We observed that the escape activation energy depends on the misorientation angle. An unusual behavior was noted when the full width at half maximum of the photoluminescence main emission was plotted as a function of the sample temperature. We showed that the escape process of the less-confined carriers drives this behavior. © 1999 Academic Press.

The use of the two-body energy to study problems of escape/capture Ernesto Vieira Neto1

The problem of escape/capture is encountered in many problems of the celestial mechanics -the capture of the giants planets irregular satellites, comets capture by Jupiter, and also orbital transfer between two celestial bodies as Earth and Moon. To study these problems we introduce an approach which is based on the numerical integration of a grid of initial conditions. The two-body energy of the particle relative to a celestial body defines the escape/capture. The trajectories are integrated into the past from initial conditions with negative two-body energy. The energy change from negative to positive is considered as an escape. By reversing the time, this escape turns into a capture. Using this technique we can understand many characteristics of the problem, as the maximum capture time, stable regions where the particles cannot escape from, and others. The advantage of this kind of approach is that it can be used out of plane (that is, for any inclination), and with perturbations in the dynamics of the n-body problem. © 2005 International Astronomical Union.

Regional integration in Latin America and dynamic gains from macroeconomic cooperation

Includes bibliography

Structure and post-translational modifications of the web silk protein spidroin-1 from Nephila spiders

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Searching for capture and escape trajectories around Jupiter using its Galilean satellites

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A NEW “PAROTRAP” ADAPTED FROM THE MAC TRAP FOR CAPTURING LIVE PARAKEETS IN THE FIELD

The Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri [Scopdi]) has been reported (Roberts, 1974; Bashir, 1978; Beg, 1978; and DeGrazio, 1978) as a serious bird pest of maize, sunflower, rape seeds, and fruit crops, particularly citrus, mangoes, and guavas, in Pakistan. Estimated annual losses to maize grown for seed alone amount to about 97,000 tons, worth about Pak. Rs. 150 million or US $15 million (Roberts, 1978). Paradoxically, this handsome bright green parakeet is highly esteemed in the pet trade; and limited numbers are also marketed locally and sometimes exported to neighboring countries, particularly the Arab Gulf Emirates, as caged pets. Traditional control methods aimed at scaring or chasing birds from the crops, usually with noise-making devices, are costly; furthermore, they have largely been unsuccessful and time consuming because they require human patrolling before and after normal working hours. They provide at best only temporary relief. The aim of this study was to develop a new decoy trap based on the Modified Australian Crow Trap (MAC), which we propose to call the PAROTRAP, and to evaluate its effectiveness and potential in capturing live parakeets in the field as a possible solution to the parakeet problem, as well as promoting the economic exploitation of trapped parakeets for the pet trade. The study was undertaken during March and June 1979 as a part of the UNDP/FAO Project No. PAK/71/554, assisting Pakistan Vertebrate Pest Control Centre in developing and improving control techniques to prevent or reduce bird damage to important crops. Our earlier trials showed that parakeets could be induced to enter a conventionally designed MAC trap, and that after some time they learned how to escape from it. Therefore, a series of minor modifications were introduced and field tested.

Minimizing residential distribution system operating costs through intelligently scheduled plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging

Rising fuel prices and environmental concerns are threatening the stability of current electrical grid systems. These factors are pushing the automobile industry towards more effcient, hybrid vehicles. Current trends show petroleum is being edged out in favor of electricity as the main vehicular motive force. The proposed methods create an optimized charging control schedule for all participating Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles in a distribution grid. The optimization will minimize daily operating costs, reduce system losses, and improve power quality. This requires participation from Vehicle-to-Grid capable vehicles, load forecasting, and Locational Marginal Pricing market predictions. Vehicles equipped with bidirectional chargers further improve the optimization results by lowering peak demand and improving power quality.

Role of germ line p53 mutations in aneuploidy and immortalization of dermal fibroblasts from Li-Fraumeni cancer patients

Pedigree analysis of certain families with a high incidence of tumors suggests a genetic predisposition to cancer. Li and Fraumeni described a familial cancer syndrome that is characterized by multiple primary tumors, early age of onset, and marked variation in tumor type. Williams and Strong (1) demonstrated that at least 7% of childhood soft tissue sarcoma patients had family histories that is readily explained by a highly penetrant autosomal dominant gene. To characterize the mechanism for genetic predisposition to many tumor types in these families, we have studied genetic alterations in fibroblasts, a target tissue from patients with the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS).^ We have observed spontaneous changes in initially normal dermal fibroblasts from LFS patients as they are cultured in vitro. The cells acquire an altered morphology, chromosomal anomalies, and anchorage-independent growth. This aberrant behavior of fibroblasts from LFS patients had never been observed in fibroblasts from normal donors. In addition to these phenotypic alterations, patient fibroblasts spontaneously immortalize by 50 population doublings (pd) in culture; unlike controls that remain normal and senesce by 30-35 (2). At 50 pd, immortal fibroblasts from two patients were found to be susceptible to tumorigenic transformation by an activated T24 H-ras oncogene (3). Approximately 80% of the oncogene expressing transfectants were capable of forming tumors in nude mice within 2-3 weeks. p53 has been previously associated with immortalization of cells in culture and cooperation with ras in transfection assays. Therefore, patients' fibroblast and lymphocyte derived DNA was tested for point mutations in p53. It was shown that LFS patients inherited certain point mutations in one of the two p53 alleles (4). Further studies on the above LFS immortal fibroblasts have demonstrated loss of the remaining p53 allele concomitant with escape from senescence. While the loss of the second allele correlates with immortalization it is not sufficient to transformation by an activated H-ras or N-ras oncogene. These immortal fibroblasts are resistant to tumorigenic transformation by v-abl, v-src, c-neu or v-mos oncogene; implying that additional steps are required in the tumorigenic progression of LFS patients' fibroblasts.^ References. (1) Williams et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 79:1213, 1987. (2) Bischoff et al., Cancer Res. 50:7979, 1990. (3) Bischoff et al., Oncogene 6:183, 1991. (4) Malkin et al., Science 250:1233, 1990. ^