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Selected AbstractsThe United Nations Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade: insolvency aspectsINTERNATIONAL INSOLVENCY REVIEW, Issue 3 2004Spiros V. Bazinas Breaking new ground, the UN Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade refers all priority conflicts with respect to receivables to the law of single and easily determinable jurisdiction, and one that is most likely going to be the insolvency jurisdiction, namely to the law of the assignor's place of business or, in the case of places of business in more than one State, the assignor's central administration. In the case of an insolvency proceeding in another jurisdiction, the mandatory rules of that juridiction displace any priority rule of the law of the assignor's location only if that priority rule is manifestly contrary to the public policy of that jurisdiction. In such a case, the balance of the priority rules of the law of the assignor's location prevails over the priority rules of the insolvency jurisdiction with the exception of rules relating to preferential rights. In any case, the Convention ensures that priority rules do not interfere with basic insolvency rights, such as those relating to stays, avoidance actions and to the performance of contracts or maintenance of the estate. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Deformation by examples: a density flow approachCOMPUTER ANIMATION AND VIRTUAL WORLDS (PREV: JNL OF VISUALISATION & COMPUTER ANIMATION), Issue 2 2007Hoi-Chau Leung Abstract In this article, a shape transformation technique is introduced for deforming objects based on a given deformation example. The example consists of two reference shapes representing two different states of an object. The reference shapes are assumed to morph from one state to the other. The evolution between the two reference shapes determines the shape transformation function. Any given objects can then be deformed by the same transformation. A continuous 4D Radial Basis Function is used to construct a density flow field (an extension of the optical flow in computer vision) representing the shape transformation of the example in 3-space. Objects embedded in the density flow field are deformed by moving vertices of the objects along the density flow vectors. Additional parameters are introduced to control the process of the deformation. This provides explicit control on the shape of the object obtained in the deformation process. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Oscillating trophic control induces community reorganization in a marine ecosystemECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 12 2007Michael A. Litzow Abstract Understanding how climate regulates trophic control may help to elucidate the causes of transitions between alternate ecosystem states following climate regime shifts. We used a 34-year time series of the abundance of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) and five prey species to show that the nature of trophic control in a North Pacific ecosystem depends on climate state. Rapid warming in the 1970s caused an oscillation between bottom,up and top,down control. This shift to top,down control apparently contributed to the transition from an initial, prey-rich ecosystem state to the final, prey-poor state. However, top,down control could not be detected in the final state without reference to the initial state and transition period. Complete understanding of trophic control in ecosystems capable of transitions between alternate states may therefore require observations spanning more than one state. [source] Partial Ordering of Unpredictable Mobility with Welfare ImplicationsECONOMICA, Issue 299 2008DANNY BEN-SHAHAR We propose a partial ordering of ,unpredictable mobility' in the spirit of Blackwell's ordering of information structures. The proposed ordering ranks mobility matrices according to the degree to which elements in a given set are likely to move from one state to another, independently of their origin. Furthermore, for an important class of transition structures, our proposed ordering implies ordering, thus carrying significant welfare implications. Moreover, whenever it exists, our partial ordering functions as a sufficient condition for a class of renowned mobility measures and thereby generates, for a subset of transition matrices, unanimous ranking among mobility indices that are not generally consistent with one another. [source] An approach to the nonlinear dynamics of Russian wheat aphid population growth with the cusp catastrophe modelENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Z. S. MA Abstract Many insect field populations, especially aphids, often exhibit irregular and even catastrophic fluctuations. The objective of the present study is to explore whether or not the population intrinsic rates of growth (rm) obtained under laboratory conditions can shed some light on the irregular changes of insect field populations. We propose to use the catastrophe theory, one of the earliest nonlinear dynamics theories, to answer the question. To collect the necessary data, we conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate population growth of the Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), in growth chambers. The experiment was designed as the factorial combinations of five temperatures and five host plant-growth stages (25 treatments in total): 1800 newly born RWA nymphs arranged in the 25 treatments (each treatment with 72 repetitions) were observed for their development, reproduction and survival through their entire lifetimes. After obtaining the population intrinsic rates of growth (rm) from the experimental data under various environmental conditions, we built a cusp catastrophe model for RWA population growth by utilizing rm as the system state variable, and temperature and host plant-growth stage as control variables. The cusp catastrophe model suggests that RWA population growth is intrinsically catastrophic, and dramatic jumps from one state to another might occur even if the temperature and plant-growth stage change smoothly. Other basic behaviors of the cusp catastrophe model, such as catastrophic jumps, hystersis and divergence, are also expected in RWA populations. These results suggest that the answer to the previously proposed question should be "yes". [source] From unambiguous quantum state discrimination to quantum state filteringFORTSCHRITTE DER PHYSIK/PROGRESS OF PHYSICS, Issue 2-3 2003J.A. Bergou Unambiguous discrimination among nonorthogonal but linearly independent quantum states is possible with a certain probability of success. Here, we consider a new variant of that problem. Instead of discriminating among all of the N different states, we now ask for less. We want to unambiguously assign the state to one of two complementary subsets of the set of N given non-orthogonal quantum states, each occurring with given a priori probabilities. We refer to the special case when one subset contains only one state and the other contains the remaining N -1 states as unambiguous quantum state filtering. We present an optimal analytical solution for the special case of N=3, and discuss the optimal strategy to unambiguously distinguish |,1, from the set {|,2,,|,3,}. For unambiguous filtering the subsets need not be linearly independent. We briefly discuss how to construct generalized interferometers (multiports) which provide a fully linear optical implementation of the optimal strategy. [source] Effect of outsourcing public sector audits on cost-efficiencyACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 4 2009Kar-Ming Chong M42; M48 Abstract This study compares the cost-efficiency of ,in-house' and outsourced to private sector audit supplier arrangements to deliver financial audits in the public sector by examining audit cost-efficiency within the context of the public sector arrangement at one state in Australia (Western Australia). The results for 178 public agencies show that outsourced audits are, in general, more costly than in-house audits, but this result is conditional on the type and size of public agency. Specifically, outsourced audits are more costly than in-house audits for small statutory authority audits, whereas for specialist audits (i.e. hospitals) and large and complex statutory authority audits, the in-house supply is equally efficient as the outsourced service. [source] Converse Bergmann cline in a Eucalyptus herbivore, Paropsis atomaria Olivier (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation?GLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Mark K. Schutze ABSTRACT Aim, To measure latitude-related body size variation in field-collected Paropsis atomaria Olivier (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) individuals and to conduct common-garden experiments to determine whether such variation is due to phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation. Location, Four collection sites from the east coast of Australia were selected for our present field collections: Canberra (latitude 35°19, S), Bangalow (latitude 28°43, S), Beerburrum (latitude 26°58, S) and Lowmead (latitude 24°29, S). Museum specimens collected over the past 100 years and covering the same geographical area as the present field collections came from one state, one national and one private collection. Methods, Body size (pronotum width) was measured for 118 field-collected beetles and 302 specimens from collections. We then reared larvae from the latitudinal extremes (Canberra and Lowmead) to determine whether the size cline was the result of phenotypic plasticity or evolved differences (= local adaptation) between sites. Results, Beetles decreased in size with increasing latitude, representing a converse Bergmann cline. A decrease in developmental temperature produced larger adults for both Lowmead (low latitude) and Canberra (high latitude) individuals, and those from Lowmead were larger than those from Canberra when reared under identical conditions. Main conclusions, The converse Bergmann cline in P. atomaria is likely to be the result of local adaptation to season length. [source] A new policy-aware terminal for QoS, AAA and mobility managementINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2004Hakima Chaouchi Policy-based management has been widely studied in recent years. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has recently introduced the policy-based networking as a means of managing IP networks according to the new constraints defined in the network, such as the guarantee of the quality of service (QoS). Network management based on policies, is modelled as a state machine, which moves from one state to another according to the enforced policy. The IETF policy-based networking is defined for application to network nodes. However, some recent work suggests extending the policy-based networking to the end-user terminals. In this paper, we present an analysis of such an extension and we propose some possible solutions to support new policy-aware terminals. In addition, we present AAA, QoS and mobility management that user such a policy-aware terminals.,Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Stabilization of n integrators in cascade with bounded input with experimental application to a VTOL laboratory systemINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 10 2010G. Sanahuja Abstract This paper presents a global stabilization of a chain of n integrators in cascade. The control strategy is obtained using the Lyapunov approach and separated saturation functions. Moreover, the stability analysis is obtained using the recurrence theorem. This generalized control law is designed in order to quickly implement it on a system, as choosing a degree n gives all conditions to have a stable system. Moreover, in the proposed controller the saturation function bound only one state. This allows us to easily tune the control parameters. Simulations and real-time experiments are presented for the VTOL platform represented as a chain of two and four integrators in cascade. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] State Building and Transitional Politics in Iraq: The Perils of a Top-down TransitionINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 3 2007Katia Papagianni This article examines Iraq's transitional politics from June 2003 to the Constitutional Referendum of October 2005. It argues that the top-down political transition led by the United States and a narrow group of Iraqi elites was inappropriate for the task of reforming the Iraqi state and building democratic institutions. The article argues that, in countries going through regime change while also radically reforming the state, inclusive transitional institutions and consultative processes contribute to agreements being reached about the future of the state. Such transitions allow actors to guarantee the continued participation of opponents in the political process and to gradually develop agreements on constitutional questions. This did not occur in Iraq. An inclusive political process and a national debate on the country's future did not occur. Rather, a narrow group of political elites led the transitional process in the absence of wide consultations. The article argues that the management of Iraq's transition had an independent impact on the outcome of the transition, namely the failure to reach agreement on the sharing of political and economic power within one state by October 2005. [source] A travelling salesman problem with allocation, time window and precedence constraints , an application to ship schedulingINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2000K. Fagerholt Abstract A Travelling Salesman Problem with Allocation, Time Window and Precedence Constraints (TSP-ATWPC) is considered. The TSP-ATWPC occurs as a subproblem of optimally sequencing a given set of port visits in a real bulk ship scheduling problem, which is a combined multi-ship pickup and delivery problem with time windows and multi-allocation problem. Each ship in the fleet is equipped with a flexible cargo hold that can be partitioned into several smaller holds in a given number of ways, thus allowing multiple products to be carried simultaneously by the same ship. The allocation constraints of the TSP-ATWPC ensure that the partition of the ship's flexible cargo hold and the allocation of cargoes to the smaller holds are feasible throughout the visiting sequence. The TSP-ATWPC is solved as a shortest path problem on a graph whose nodes are the states representing the set of nodes in the path, the last visited node and the accumulated cargo allocation. The arcs of the graph represent transitions from one state to another. The algorithm is a forward dynamic programming algorithm. A number of domination and elimination tests are introduced to reduce the state space. The computational results show that the proposed algorithm for the TSP-ATWPC works, and optimal solutions are obtained to the real ship scheduling problem. [source] Elderly Patients' Preferences and Experiences with Providers in Managing Their Drug CostsJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 12 2007Chien-Wen Tseng MD OBJECTIVES: To determine whether elderly patients with high drug expenditures want and receive providers' help in managing drug costs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: A Medicare managed care plan (>400,000 members) in one state in 2002. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand one hundred six seniors (62% response rate) sampled so that half exceeded caps on their drug benefits the previous year, and all had total drug expenditures in the top quartile of members in their cap level. MEASUREMENTS: Participants' preferences and experiences with providers discussing costs and participation in choosing medications. RESULTS: Two-thirds reported difficulty paying for medications, and one-fourth decreased medication use because of cost. Most wanted providers to ask about medication affordability (81%), consider cost (86%), offer choices (70%), and to persuade them or decide for them which medication to use (88%), but few said providers asked about affordability (17%), usually or always discussed prices (19%), or offered choices (45%), although nearly all said providers chose their medications (93%). Sixty-two percent had asked providers for help with drug costs, although 34% who used less medication because of cost or had difficulty paying for medications had not asked for help. CONCLUSION: Providers should be aware that elderly patients want their help in managing drug costs but do not always receive it or ask for help when they need it. Providers could improve communication by initiating conversations about cost and by asking patients about preferences when prescribing. [source] Incentives, challenges, and dilemmas of TANF: A case studyJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Barbara L. Wolfe This paper compares the incentives inherent in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the U.S. welfare system in place after the 1996 reforms, with those of TANF's predecessor, AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), using the experience in one state, Wisconsin, as an example. Is the new program successful in avoiding the "poverty trap" of the old welfare system, in which the marginal tax rates imposed on earnings and benefits were so high that they discouraged work effort outside a narrow earnings range? As women receiving assistance begin working more hours and earning more, income-conditioned benefits (Food Stamps, EITC, Medicaid, and subsidies for child care) are reduced and withdrawn, in effect constituting a "tax" on earnings. Under TANF, there is more support for these families, at least in Wisconsin, and so economic well-being should be higher for most women with earning in this range than it was under AFDC. But marginal tax rates under TANF remain high, and in some income ranges they are higher than under AFDC. Once in the work force, former TANF recipients have earnings over the long run that expose them to very high marginal tax rates, which decrease the benefits of working harder and make it very difficult to gain full eonomic independence. Evidence from other sources suggest that most low-skilled women have earnings in the same range and so are likely to face similar reductions in benefits such as child care subsidies or the EITC as their earnings increase, even if they are not receiving welfare-related benefits. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] The Supreme Court and the Interstate Slave Trade: A Study in Evasion, Anarchy, and ExtremismJOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 3 2004DAVID L. LIGHTNER Opponents of slavery often argued that the federal government possessed the constitutional authority to outlaw the interstate slave trade. At its founding in 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society declared that Congress "has a right, and is solemnly bound, to suppress the domestic slave trade between the several States." The idea had been endorsed earlier, during the Missouri controversy of 1819,1820, by both John Jay and Daniel Webster. Later on, in the 1840s and 1850s, it was supported by such prominent politicians as John Quincy Adams, Salmon P. Chase, and Charles Sumner. Defenders of slavery were, of course, horrified by the suggestion that the South's peculiar institution might be attacked in this way, and they vehemently denied that the Constitution permitted any such action. The prolonged debate over the issue focused on two key provisions of the Constitution. One was the Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), which says that Congress has the power to "regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." The other was the 1808 Clause (Article I, Section 9, Clause 1), which says that the "Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight." Abolitionists held that the Constitution sanctioned congressional interference in the domestic slave trade both generally, by virtue of the Commerce Clause, and specifically, by virtue of the 1808 Clause. They argued that since slaves were routinely bought and sold, they obviously were articles of commerce, and therefore Congress had unlimited authority over interstate slave trafficking. Furthermore, they said, the words "migration or importation" in the 1808 Clause meant that as of January 1, 1808 Congress had acquired the right not only to ban the importation of slaves, but also to prohibit their migration from one state to another. Defenders of slavery replied that Congress could not interfere in property rights and that the power to regulate commerce did not include the power to destroy it. They also said that the word "migration" in the 1808 Clause referred, not to the domestic movement of slaves, but to the entry into the United States of white immigrants from abroad.1 [source] Stochastic modeling of usage patterns in a web-based information systemJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2002Hui-Min Chen Users move from one state (or task) to another in an information system's labyrinth as they try to accomplish their work, and the amount of time they spend in each state varies. This article uses continuous-time stochastic models, mainly based on semi-Markov chains, to derive user state transition patterns (both in rates and in probabilities) in a Web-based information system. The methodology was demonstrated with 126,925 search sessions drawn from the transaction logs of the University of California's MELVYL® library catalog system (www.melvyl.ucop.edu). First, user sessions were categorized into six groups based on their similar use of the system. Second, by using a three-layer hierarchical taxonomy of the system Web pages, user sessions in each usage group were transformed into a sequence of states. All the usage groups but one have third-order sequential dependency in state transitions. The sole exception has fourth-order sequential dependency. The transition rates as well as transition probabilities of the semi-Markov model provide a background for interpreting user behavior probabilistically, at various levels of detail. Finally, the differences in derived usage patterns between usage groups were tested statistically. The test results showed that different groups have distinct patterns of system use. Knowledge of the extent of sequential dependency is beneficial because it allows one to predict a user's next move in a search space based on the past moves that have been made. It can also be used to help customize the design of the user interface to the system to facilitate interaction. The group CL6 labeled "knowledgeable and sophisticated usage" and the group CL7 labeled "unsophisticated usage" both had third-order sequential dependency and had the same most-frequently occurring search pattern: screen display, record display, screen display, and record display. The group CL8 called "highly interactive use with good search results" had fourth-order sequential dependency, and its most frequently occurring pattern was the same as CL6 and CL7 with one more screen display action added. The group CL13, called "known-item searching" had third-order sequential dependency, and its most frequently occurring pattern was index access, search with retrievals, screen display, and record display. Group CL14 called "help intensive searching," and CL18 called "relatively unsuccessful" both had third-order sequential dependency, and for both groups the most frequently occurring pattern was index access, search without retrievals, index access, and again, search without retrievals. [source] Conformational states of human H-Ras detected by high-field EPR, ENDOR, and 31P NMR spectroscopy ,MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue S1 2005Michael Spoerner Abstract Ras is a central constituent of the intracellular signal transduction that switches between its inactive state with GDP bound and its active state with GTP bound. A number of different X-ray structures are available. Different magnetic resonance techniques were used to characterise the conformational states of the protein and are summarised here. 31P NMR spectroscopy was used as probe for the environment of the phosphate groups of the bound nucleotide. It shows that in liquid solution additional conformational states in the GDP as well as in the GTP forms coexist which are not detected by X-ray crystallography. Some of them can also be detected by solid-state NMR in the micro crystalline state. EPR and ENDOR spectroscopy were used to probe the environment of the divalent metal ion (Mg2+ was replaced by Mn2+) bound to the nucleotide in the protein. Here again different states could be observed. Substitution of normal water by 17O-enriched water allowed the determination of the number of water molecules in the first coordination sphere of the metal ion. In liquid solution, they indicate again the existence of different conformational states. At low temperatures in the frozen state ENDOR spectroscopy suggests that only one state exists for the GDP- and GTP-bound form of Ras, respectively. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Constructions of competence within dietetics: Trust, professionalism and communications with individual clientsNUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 2 2009Robyn CANT Abstract Aim:, Issues of trust are important factors that affect communication in professional,client relationships. This paper aims to explore trust in communication from the viewpoint of both clients (the truster) and dietitians. Methods:, The qualitative research techniques were based on grounded theory. Purposive samples of 46 dietitians and 34 of their adult outpatients were drawn from health services (hospitals, community services and private clinics) in one state of Australia. Clients from eight centres were aged from 21 to 80+ years. Audio-recorded in-depth interviews and focus groups were used to gather data. Transcribed narratives were open-coded and examined for deviant cases. Themes identified in dietitian and client data sets describing clients' trust were compared. Results:, The themes identified confirmed a typology of trust (from the perspective of the truster) present in the health care literature. Clients' trust was derived from institutional context or reputation. Interpersonal trust perceived in verbal and non-verbal communications with a dietitian were in evidence. Dietitians' value attributes of integrity and respect were identified as traits that help build trust and demonstrate dietitians' professionalism. The findings were built into a concept model of trust. Conclusions:, Behaviours shown that convey a sense of acceptance, understanding and individual management may lead to positive communication, and hence help build a client's trust in a professional. The link between trust, performance and dietetics clients' outcomes should be investigated further. [source] Grp94, the endoplasmic reticulum Hsp90, has a similar solution conformation to cytosolic Hsp90 in the absence of nucleotidePROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 9 2009Kristin A. Krukenberg Abstract The molecular chaperone, Hsp90, is an essential eukaryotic protein that assists in the maturation and activation of client proteins. Hsp90 function depends upon the binding and hydrolysis of ATP, which causes large conformational rearrangements in the chaperone. Hsp90 is highly conserved from bacteria to eukaryotes, and similar nucleotide-dependent conformations have been demonstrated for the bacterial, yeast, and human proteins. There are, however, important species-specific differences in the ability of nucleotide to shift the conformation from one state to another. Although the role of nucleotide in conformation has been well studied for the cytosolic yeast and human proteins, the conformations found in the absence of nucleotide are less well understood. In contrast to cytosolic Hsp90, crystal structures of the endoplasmic reticulum homolog, Grp94, show the same conformation in the presence of both ADP and AMPPNP. This conformation differs from the yeast AMPPNP-bound crystal state, suggesting that Grp94 may have a different conformational cycle. In this study, we use small angle X-ray scattering and rigid body modeling to study the nucleotide free states of cytosolic yeast and human Hsp90s, as well as mouse Grp94. We show that all three proteins adopt an extended, chair-like conformation distinct from the extended conformation observed for the bacterial Hsp90. For Grp94, we also show that nucleotide causes a small shift toward the crystal state, although the extended state persists as the major population. These results provide the first evidence that Grp94 shares a conformational state with other Hsp90 homologs. [source] The Effects of Strategic and Economic Interdependence on International Conflict Across Levels of AnalysisAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009Zeev Maoz This study develops a Social Network Analytic approach to conceptualize and measure interdependence across levels of analysis. This framework contains several innovations. First, it integrates "sensitivity interdependence",the effects of changes in one state on other states,with "vulnerability interdependence",the opportunity costs of breaking a relationship. Second, it measures interdependence at different levels of analysis and across multiple relationships. Third, it integrates multiple dimensions of interdependence into a single measure. I derive hypotheses from the realist and liberal paradigms regarding the effects of strategic and economic interdependence on monadic, dyadic, and systemic conflict. These hypotheses are tested via data on alliances, military capability, and trade. The findings provide robust support to the expectations of the liberal paradigm regarding the effects of strategic and economic interdependence on conflict. On the other hand, the expectations of the realist paradigm are not supported. I discuss the theoretical and empirical implications of this approach. [source] Bottom-Up Federalism: The Diffusion of Antismoking Policies from U.S. Cities to StatesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2006Charles R. Shipan Studies of policy diffusion often focus on the horizontal spread of enactments from one state to another, paying little or no attention to the effects of local laws on state-level adoptions. For example, scholars have not tested whether local policy adoptions make state action more likely (through a snowball effect) or less likely (through a pressure valve effect). This study conducts the first comprehensive analysis of vertical policy diffusion from city governments to state governments, while simultaneously examining the influence of state-to-state and national-to-state diffusion. Focusing on three different types of antismoking laws, we find evidence that policies do bubble up from city governments to state governments. State politics are crucial to this relationship, however, as local-to-state diffusion is contingent on the level of legislative professionalism and the strength of health advocates in the state. [source] Dwelling in the dark: procedures for the crystallography of phytochromes and other photochromic proteinsACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 11 2009Jo Mailliet Crystallization of phytochromes and other photochromic proteins is hampered by the conformational changes that they undergo on exposure to light. As a canonical phytochrome, cyanobacterial Cph1 switches between two stable states upon absorption of red/far-red light. Consequently, it is mandatory to work in darkness from protein purification to crystal cryoprotection in order to ensure complete occupancy of one state or the other. With the simple and inexpensive methods that have been developed, phytochromes and other photochromic molecules can effectively be handled and crystallized, as has been demonstrated by the solution of the three-dimensional structure of the Cph1 sensory module. [source] pH-Triggered Dethreading,Rethreading and Switching of Cucurbit[6]uril on Bistable [3]Pseudorotaxanes and [3]RotaxanesCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 13 2008Dönüs Tuncel Dr. Abstract A series of water-soluble [3]rotaxanes-(n+2) and [3]pseudorotaxanes-(n+2) with short (propyl, n=1) and long (dodecyl, n=10) aliphatic spacers have been prepared in high yields by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction catalyzed by cucurbit[6]uril (CB6). The pH-triggered dethreading and rethreading of CB6 on these pseudorotaxanes was monitored by 1H,NMR spectroscopy. A previously reported [3]rotaxane-12 that is known to behave as a bistable molecular switch has two recognition sites for CB6, that is, the diaminotriazole moieties and the dodecyl spacer. By changing the pH of the system, it is possible to observe more than one state in the shuttling process. At low pH values both CB6 units are located on the diaminotriazole moieties owing to an ion,dipole interaction, whereas at high pH values both of the CB6 units are located on the hydrophobic dodecyl spacer. Surprisingly, the CB6 units shuttle back to their initial state very slowly after reprotonation of the axle. Even after eighteen days at room temperature, only about 50,% of the CB6 units had relocated back onto the diaminotriazole moieties. The rate constants for the shuttling processes were measured as a function of temperature over the range from 313 to 333,K and the activation parameters (enthalpy, entropy, and free energy) were calculated by using the Eyring equation. The results indicate that this [3]rotaxane behaves as a kinetically controlled molecular switch. The switching properties of [3]rotaxane-3 have also been studied. However, even under extreme pH conditions this rotaxane has not shown any switching action, which confirms that the propyl spacer is too short to accommodate CB6 units. [source] Effective casework practice with adolescents: perspectives of statutory child protection practitionersCHILD & FAMILY SOCIAL WORK, Issue 2 2010Virginia Schmied ABSTRACT Many child protection practitioners struggle with the complexity of problems and the limited casework time for adolescent cases. However, there is little research on child protection practice or case management that can guide a practitioner working with adolescents in the child protection system. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the nature of effective child protection practice with adolescents from the perspective of statutory child protection practitioners in one state in Australia. Data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews with child protection practitioners and managers currently working with adolescents (n= 44). A grounded theory approach was used to identify the dominant themes or categories and form linkages and relationships through constant comparison techniques. Seven key categories emerged from this analysis: characteristics of the young person and their family; ,walking it together', the centrality of relationships; ,looking back/looking forward', practice strategies; practitioner attributes and skills; ,walking a fine line', working with the families of adolescents; ,walking with services', effective inter-agency work; and organizational context in effective child protection practice with adolescents. Key implications for practice and areas for further research were discussed. [source] State of mind organization in personality disorders.CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 5 2005Typical states, the triggering of inter-state shifts It is possible to portray patients suffering from personality disorders using Horowitz's States of Mind Theory, according to which each disorder features its own particular set of forms of subjective experience (states of mind) and the shifting from one state to another is done under compulsion. If we want to define personality disorders correctly we need to define the rules causing inter-state shifts and, as a result, creating personality organization. The prime candidates to acting as these rules constraining the shifts are interpersonal patterns and shortfalls in the ability to metarepresent internal experience and others' psychological worlds. We shall illustrate these hypotheses with some session transcript extracts involving patients suffering from personality disorders. In the transcripts we have pinpointed the initial state of mind, the cause of the shift and the state of mind the patient has moved into. The discussion of the theory that personality disorders are organizations of states of mind in which the inter-state shifts are constrained will be on the basis of some clinical examples.,Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Epsilon-stable quasi-static brittle fracture evolutionCOMMUNICATIONS ON PURE & APPLIED MATHEMATICS, Issue 5 2010Christopher J. Larsen We introduce a new definition of stability, ,-stability, that implies local minimality and is robust enough for passing from discrete-time to continuous-time quasi-static evolutions, even with very irregular energies. We use this to give the first existence result for quasi-static crack evolutions that both predicts crack paths and produces states that are local minimizers at every time, but not necessarily global minimizers. The key ingredient in our model is the physically reasonable property, absent in global minimization models, that whenever there is a jump in time from one state to another, there must be a continuous path from the earlier state to the later along which the energy is almost decreasing. It follows that these evolutions are much closer to satisfying Griffith's criterion for crack growth than are solutions based on global minimization, and initiation is more physical than in global minimization models. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||