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Screening Effect (screening + effect)
Selected AbstractsThe Screening Effect of the Private Securities Litigation Reform ActJOURNAL OF EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2009Stephen J. Choi Prior research shows that the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) increased the significance of merit-related factors in determining the incidence and outcomes of securities fraud class actions (Johnson et al. 2007). We examine two possible explanations for this finding: the PSLRA may have reduced the incidence of nonmeritorious litigation, or it may have changed the definition of merit, effectively precluding claims that would have survived and produced a settlement pre-PSLRA. We find no evidence that pre-PSLRA claims that settled for nuisance value would be less likely to be filed under the PSLRA regime. There is evidence, however, that pre-PSLRA nonnuisance claims would be less likely to be filed under the PSLRA regime. The latter result, which we refer to as the screening effect, is particularly pronounced for claims lacking hard evidence of securities fraud or abnormal insider trading. We find only limited evidence of a similar screening effect for case outcomes. [source] Visual isolation furthers access to drift-feeding positions for subordinate juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta) in dominance hierarchiesJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2003J-M. Roussel Juvenile salmonids are visual predators that primarily feed on drifting invertebrates and compete for suitable feeding positions in swift water. We used an outdoor experimental stream to test the effect of visual isolation on agonistic interactions and habitat use by age-1 brown trout (Salmo trutta) in riffle-pool sections. We hypothesized that dominant fish defend suitable feeding positions in riffle and that visual obstruction between individuals enhance access to riffle for subordinates. Groups of juveniles, caught in the wild, were stocked in high and low visibility treatments. Visual isolation was manipulated by placing dark plastic ribbons or opaque Plexiglas boards onto the substrate of riffles. As expected, dominant fish held profitable positions in riffle and the proportion of fish in riffle significantly increased in presence of artificial structures. In high visibility treatment, the dominant fish despotically excluded subordinates from the riffle. In low visibility treatment, the proportion of fish that foraged on benthic prey in the pool and the number of major aggressive acts (chase, nip) decreased. Our results support the hypothesis that screening effect of physical structures in the water column loosen resource monopolization in dominance hierarchies of juvenile salmonids. [source] UV stabilising synergies between carbon black and hindered light stabilisers in linear low density polyethylene filmsMACROMOLECULAR SYMPOSIA, Issue 1 2003A. Richard Horrocks Abstract The combined effects of selected carbon black pigments and hindered light stabilisers (HALS) on the UV stabilities of linear low density polyethylene film have been studied under UVA and UVB fluorescent radiation sources. While the presence of HALS do not change the chemistry of film photodegradation, whether they are low or high molecular variants, their presence significantly extends film lifetime relative to the sum of the effects of carbon black and HALS individually. These lifetime extensions may be defined in terms of a synergy factor defined with respect to film time to lose a specific percentage of a tensile property, namely t20, the time to lose 20% of initial elongation-at-break, or the carbonyl index associated with this condition. It is proposed that possible causes of this synergy are a result of the UV screening effect of the carbon black particles which provide lower concentrations of polymer radicals for the HALS component to interact with and/or an accompanying thermal stabilising effect by the latter as a consequence of the higher polymer local temperature during irradiation of pigmented films. [source] High pressure Raman study of carotene-encapsulating single-wall carbon nanotubesPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (B) BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 3 2009J. Arvanitidis Abstract The pressure response of carotene-encapsulating single-wall carbon nanotubes is investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy. The pressure evolution of the tangential G band frequencies of the carbon nanotubes is linear without any specific features. On the other hand, the pressure response of the carotene's ,1 mode frequency is quite distinct, having a smaller low pressure slope than that reported in the literature for the molecule. This behaviour is compatible with the pressure screening effect in the interior of carbon nanotubes. For pressure higher than 2 GPa, the pressure slope becomes even smaller, an effect which can be attributed to the theoretically predicted cross-section deformation of the encapsulating tubes. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Large excitation-power dependence of pressure coefficients of InxGa1,xN/InyGa1,yN quantum wellsPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (B) BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 2 2003Q. Li Abstract Excitation-power dependence of hydrostatic pressure coefficients (dE/dP) of InxGa1,xN/InyGa1,yN multiple quantum wells is reported. When the excitation power increases from 1.0 to 33 mW, dE/dP increases from 26.9 to 33.8 meV/GPa, which is an increase by 25%. A saturation behavior of dE/dP with the excitation power is observed. The increment of dE/dP with increasing carrier density is explained by an reduction of the internal piezoelectric field due to an efficient screening effect of the free carriers on the field. [source] Metal-based antitumor, cytotoxic and antimicrobial activity: pharmacological evaluation of Knoevenagel condensate ,-diketone Schiff base thiosemicarbazone Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexesAPPLIED ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 7 2009N. Raman Abstract Knoevenagel condensate Schiff base ligands [L = 3-cinnamalideneacetylacetone-thiosemicarbazone (CAT)/3-cinnama- lideneacetylacetoneethylthiosemicarbazone (CAET)/3-cinnamalideneacetylacetonephenylthiosemicarbazone (CAPT)] and their copper/zinc complexes were synthesized. They were characterized by analytical and spectral techniques. From these data it was found that the ligands adopt square-planar geometry on metalation with Cu2+ and Zn2+. To evaluate the antitumor and cytotoxic activity of the synthesized complexes in mice and human cancer cell lines, the antitumor activity of the complexes was evaluated against an Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) tumor model. The activity was assessed using survival time and short-term in vitro cytotoxic activity. Oral administration of complexes (100 mg/kg) increased the survival time. The cytotoxic activity of complexes was evaluated using human breast cancer (MDA-MB-231), colon cancer (HCT-116) and nonsmall lung cancer (NCI-H-23) cell lines. Both the complexes possessed significant antitumor and cytotoxic activity on EAC and human cancer cell lines. The in vitro antimicrobial screening effect of the investigated compounds was also tested against the various organisms by well diffusion method. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parametric Study of Blade Tip Clearance, Flow Rate, and Impeller Speed on Blood Damage in Rotary Blood PumpARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 6 2009Nahn Ju Kim Abstract Phenomenological studies on mechanical hemolysis in rotary blood pumps have provided empirical relationships that predict hemoglobin release as an exponential function of shear rate and time. However, these relations are not universally valid in all flow circumstances, particularly in small gap clearances. The experiments in this study were conducted at multiple operating points based on flow rate, impeller speed, and tip gap clearance. Fresh bovine red blood cells were resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline at about 30% hematocrit, and circulated for 30 min in a centrifugal blood pump with a variable tip gap, designed specifically for these studies. Blood damage indices were found to increase with increased impeller speed or decreased flow rate. The hemolysis index for 50-µm tip gap was found to be less than 200-µm gap, despite increased shear rate. This is explained by a cell screening effect that prevents cells from entering the smaller gap. It is suggested that these parameters should be reflected in the hemolysis model not only for the design, but for the practical use of rotary blood pumps, and that further investigation is needed to explore other possible factors contributing to hemolysis. [source] Titration of poly(dA-dT) · poly(dA-dT) in solution at variable NaCl concentrationBIOPOLYMERS, Issue 2 2004Marta Airoldi Abstract CD and uv absorption data showed that high molecular weight poly(dA-dT) · poly(dA-dT), at 298 K, undergoes an acid-induced transition from B-double helix to random coil in NaCl solutions of different concentrations, ranging from 0.005 to 0.600M. Similarly, titration of the polynucleotide with a strong base causes duplex-to-single strands transition. The base- and acid-induced transitions were both reversible by back-titration (with an acid or, respectively, with a base): the apparent pKa were the same in both directions. However, the number of protons per titratable site (adenine N1) required to reach half-denaturation was in great excess over the stoichiometric value; to a much larger extent, the same effect was observed also for the deprotonation of the N3H sites of thymine. Moreover, in the basic denaturation experiments, at low salt concentrations ([NaCl],0.300M) less acid than calculated was needed to back-titrate the base excess to half-denaturation. Both effects could be qualitatively justified on the basis of the counterion condensation theory of polyelectrolytes and considering the energy barrier created by the negatively charged phosphodiester groups to the penetration of the OH, ions inside the double helix and the screening effect of the Na+ ions on such charges, in the deprotonation experiments. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers, 2004 [source] A Colloidal Au Monolayer Modulates the Conformation and Orientation of a Protein at the Electrode/Solution InterfaceCHEMPHYSCHEM, Issue 8 2005Xiue Jiang Abstract The orientation and conformation of adsorbed cytochrome c (cyt c) at the interface between an electrode modified with colloidal Au and a solution were studied by electrochemical, spectroscopic, and spectroelectrochemical techniques. The results indicate that the colloidal Au monolayer formed via preformation of an organic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) can increase the electronic coupling between the SAM and cyt c in the same manner as bifunctional molecular bridges, one functional group of which is bound to the electrode surface while the other interacts with the protein surface. The approach of cyt c to the modified electrode/solution interface can be assisted by strong interactions of the intrinsic charge of colloidal particles with cyt c, while the heme pocket remains almost unchanged due to the screening effect of the negatively charged field created by the intrinsic charge. The conformational changes of cyt c induced by its adsorption at a bare glassy carbon electrode/solution interface and the effect of the electric field on the ligation state of the heme can be avoided at the colloidal-Au-modified electrode/solution interface. Finally, a possible model for the adsorption orientation of cyt c at the colloidal-Au-modified electrode/solution interface is proposed. [source] | ||||||||||