Pathways of hydrogen photoproduction by immobilized Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells deprived of sulfur

The green algae Сhlamydomonas reinhardtii entrapped in a thin alginate film have been shown to sustain elevated rates of hydrogen photoproduction under anaerobic incubation in sulfur/phosphorus depleted tris-acetate medium. In the present work we studied mechanisms, underlying hydrogen photoproduction by the immobilized culture, particularly, the roles of PSII and starch accumulation/breakdown. DCMU, a specific inhibitor of electron transport in PSII, is known to suppress hydrogen evolution by circa 80% in suspension cultures of S-deprived C. reinhardtii. In immobilized cells DCMU caused successive stimulatory and inhibitory effects on hydrogen photoproduction, both depending on the deprivation status of the algal cell. The inhibitory effect of DCMU was 25% at 70 h of S deficiency when maximal rates of hydrogen photoproduction were observed. Measurements of the light-induced prompt and delayed chlorophyll fluorescence transients and reflectance at 820 nm (P₇₀₀ redox transitions) revealed very rapid decline of PSII activity in the entrapped S-deprived cells as compared with the suspension culture, whereas PSI suffered less. The immobilized culture showed a high capacity to accumulate starch during early stages of S deprivation and relatively high rates of anaerobic starch degradation during the following hydrogen evolution period. DCMU partly inhibited starch breakdown. Results of the present work brought us to the conclusion that PSII-independent pathway of hydrogen evolution is elevated in the immobilized S-deprived cells rather due to the rapid inactivation of PSII, efficient starch catabolism and non-photochemical PQ reduction.     

Dynamic optimization of investments in the economic growth models

Consideration was given to the optimal control of investments in the economic growth model. The basic construction of the model is the production function relating the growth of production with the dynamics of production factors, and the investments in the production factors are the control parameters. The integral indicator of the discounted consumption index is the optimization functional. The Pontryagin principle of maximum for problems on infinite horizon was used to construct the optimal investment control. For the corresponding Hamiltonian system, considered were its qualitative properties such as existence and uniqueness of the steady state, properties of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the linearized system, and characteristics of the saddle point. This analysis allows one to obtain an algorithm to construct the optimal growth trajectories. The model was calibrated for the USA macroeconomic indicators.     

Butterfly proboscis: combining a drinking straw with a nanosponge facilitated diversification of feeding habits

The ability of Lepidoptera, or butterflies and moths, to drink liquids from rotting fruit and wet soil, as well as nectar from floral tubes, raises the question of whether the conventional view of the proboscis as a drinking straw can account for the withdrawal of fluids from porous substrates or of films and droplets from floral tubes. We discovered that the proboscis promotes capillary pull of liquids from diverse sources owing to a hierarchical pore structure spanning nano- and microscales. X-ray phase-contrast imaging reveals that Plateau instability causes liquid bridges to form in the food canal, which are transported to the gut by the muscular sucking pump in the head. The dual functionality of the proboscis represents a key innovation for exploiting a vast range of nutritional sources. We suggest that future studies of the adaptive radiation of the Lepidoptera take into account the role played by the structural organization of the proboscis. A transformative two-step model of capillary intake and suctioning can be applied not only to butterflies and moths but also potentially to vast numbers of other insects such as bees and flies.     

Information–Theoretic Multiclass Classification Based on Binary Classifiers

In this paper, we consider the multiclass classification problem based on sets of independent binary classifiers. Each binary classifier represents the output of a quantized projection of training data onto a randomly generated orthonormal basis vector thus producing a binary label. The ensemble of all binary labels forms an analogue of a coding matrix. The properties of such kind of matrices and their impact on the maximum number of uniquely distinguishable classes are analyzed in this paper from an information-theoretic point of view. We also consider a concept of reliability for such kind of coding matrix generation that can be an alternative to other adaptive training techniques and investigate the impact on the bit error probability. We demonstrate that it is equivalent to the considered random coding matrix without any bit reliability information in terms of recognition rate.     

Examining the impact of Culture's consequences: A three-decade, multilevel, meta-analytic review of Hofstede's cultural value dimensions.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 95(5) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2010-18410-003). Tables 1 and 2 were printed incorrectly due to errors in the production process. In Table 1 (p. 414), row 2 (vote count, data point count) the table incorrectly lists 0s for categories in which data points were not available; therefore the data cells should in fact be empty. In Table 2 (pp. 416–423), due to formatting errors some of the columns were incorrectly shifted either one or two columns to the right (i.e., in row 1, the “4” should be aligned under the “k,” not the “r”). The formatting errors in Tables 1 and 2, however, do not affect the values in the tables. Corrected versions of both Table 1 and Table 2 can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020939 .supp.] Using data from 598 studies representing over 200,000 individuals, we meta-analyzed the relationship between G. Hofstede's (1980a) original 4 cultural value dimensions and a variety of organizationally relevant outcomes. First, values predict outcomes with similar strength (with an overall absolute weighted effect size of ρ = 0.18) at the individual level of analysis. Second, the predictive power of the cultural values was significantly lower than that of personality traits and demographics for certain outcomes (e.g., job performance, absenteeism, turnover) but was significantly higher for others (e.g., organizational commitment, identification, citizenship behavior, team-related attitudes, feedback seeking). Third, cultural values were most strongly related to emotions, followed by attitudes, then behaviors, and finally job performance. Fourth, cultural values were more strongly related to outcomes for managers (rather than students) and for older, male, and more educated respondents. Fifth, findings were stronger for primary, rather than secondary, data. Finally, we provide support for M. Gelfand, L. H. Nishii, and J. L. Raver's (2006) conceptualization of societal tightness–looseness, finding significantly stronger effects in culturally tighter, rather than looser, countries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization of CIAE developed double-sided silicon strip detector for charged particles

A double-sided silicon strip detector(DSSD)with active area of 48 mm x 48 mm and thickness of300μm has been developed. Each side of DSSD consists of48 strips, each with width of 0.9 mm and inter-strip separation of 0.1 mm. Electrical properties and detection performances including full depletion bias voltage, reverse leakage current, rise time, energy resolution and cross talk have been studied. At a bias of 80 V, leakage current in each strip is less than 15 nA, and rise time for alpha particle at 5157 keV is approximately 15 ns on both sides.Good energy resolutions have been achieved with0.65-0.80% for the junction strips and 0.85-1.00% for the ohmic strips. The cross talk is found to be negligible on both sides. The overall good performance of DSSD indicates its readiness for various nuclear physics experiments.