States Of Origin Research Articles

An intrinsic formation mechanism for midgap electronic states in semiconductor glasses

We argue that semiconducting quenched liquids and frozen glasses may exhibit a set of peculiar electronic states of topological origin. These states reside at strained regions arising during structural reconfigurations between distinct aperiodic states intrinsic to quenched melts. The strained regions are domain walls separating the distinct aperiodic states; their number is about 10(20) cm(-3) in all glassformers owing to the universal dynamics of deeply supercooled melts. Even though located near the middle of the forbidden gap, the topological states are rather extended in one direction while being centered at under- and overcoordinated atoms. The states exhibit the reverse charge-spin relation, the majority of states being diamagnetic and charged. The topological states may be sufficient to account for a number of irradiation-induced phenomena in amorphous semiconductors, including electron spin resonance signal, midgap absorption, photoluminescence, and the fatigue of photoluminescence. We propose experiments to test the present microscopic picture.

Human Cardiac Stem Cells

The view of the heart as a static organ implies that myocyte death and formation play a negligible role in cardiac homeostasis. Although stem cells have been unexpectedly identified in several organs, including the brain, kidney, lung, and skeletal muscle, the search for a cardiac stem cell (CSC) has been perceived as a futile effort, given the acknowledged lack of regenerative potential of the myocardium. Nevertheless, in the past several years, the demonstration of myocyte renewal in the normal and diseased heart has revealed a new, dynamic, and lively picture of this organ. Components of the cell cycle machinery and markers of cell replication have been detected in cardiomyocytes. The demonstration that karyokinesis and cytokinesis involve cells expressing contractile proteins has provided evidence that cardiomyocyte division occurs in the adult heart.1 More recently, pulse-chase assays with thymidine analogs,2 lineage tracing protocols,3 and 14C birth dating of cells4 have shown the existence of myocyte turnover, a process that has been found to differ in magnitude according to the methods used for its documentation and quantification. Article see p 2559 Over the years, the heart has provided us with the evidence that solves the critical problem of the origin of cardiomyocytes. At this moment in time, paraphrasing Eugenio Montale, we could say that the human heart is “on the verge of betraying [its] final secret offering the opportunity to uncover…the still point of the world, the link that won't hold, the thread to untangle that will finally lead to the heart of a truth.”5 Newly generated myocytes may derive from division of preexisting parenchymal cells or from activation and differentiation of resident CSCs. Discriminating between these two possibilities is not an easy task. Fate-mapping strategies, which are commonly used to track the origin of cells and …

Co–Analgetika – heute und morgen – Eine rezeptorbasierte Übersicht analgetischer Therapieoptionen

The sensation of pain arises through stimulation of peripheral nociceptors and is transmitted centrally involving several receptors and ion channels. In addition many endogenous physiologic pain-modulating mechanisms exist. Besides of classical analgesics, numerous other drugs showed analgesic properties based on diverse modes of actions along the pain pathway. These co-analgesics, administered in combination with classical drugs, are able to reduce painful states of different origin. We describe the peripheral action sites of co-analgesics, such as cannabinoids, capsaicin, bisphosphonates, steroids and somatostatin. We also summarise the effect of peripherally and centrally acting ion-channel blockers, e.g. local anaesthetics, carbamazepine and tolperisone working on sodium channels and gabapentin and pregabalin working on calcium channels. Finally, central analgesic mechanisms are discussed, for instance the inhibition of NMDA-receptors by ketamine or magnesium, the stimulation of alpha2-receptors by clonidine, tizanidine or antidepressants, the activation of GABA-receptors through baclofen and other analgesic mechanisms of i.e. ondansetron and neostigmine.

Climate change‐induced migration in the Pacific Region: sudden crisis and long‐term developments1

With so many other social, economic and environmental factors at work establishing linear, causative relationships between anthropogenic climate change and population dynamics it has been difficult to pinpoint the specific human consequences of climate change on respective populations. Qualitative information was examined based on interviewees’ testimonies and personal experience, as well as a descriptive analysis of population records, climate‐change related impacts, and consequences of uneven development in the Republic of Kiribati and Tuvalu, two low‐lying atoll nations in the Pacific region taken as examples to illustrate the issues involved. Strong evidence was found that recent influxes in population movements to urban central islands from rural outer islands experienced in these countries can be attributed to a combination of the adverse impacts of climate change and socioeconomic factors inherit in small island developing states. Moreover, internal migrants cannot be accommodated in their states of origin, putting pressure on local infrastructure and services. This, combined with a recent population boom, has led to a decline in human development indicators and a general livelihood decline.

Legal aspects of the axum obelisk case

In 1937 the 1,700‐year‐old Axum obelisk was removed from the town of Axum in Ethiopia, following the annexation of the country by Italy. The obelisk was broken into five fragments, transported to Rome and re‐erected in front of the Ministry of Colonies. In April 2005, despite three previous treaty engagements (1947, 1956 and 1997), Italy finally complied with its obligation to return the obelisk to Axum. In 2008 it was re‐erected at its original site. The story of the return of the obelisk can be seen as a precedent in the current process of formation of new principles of international law in the field of cultural heritage: namely, the principle of non‐impoverishment of the cultural heritage of states of origin, the principle of non‐exploitation of the weakness of other countries to obtain cultural gain and the principle of preservation of the integrity of cultural sites.

Public Opinion in Russia on the Politics of Human Trafficking

The growing literature on human trafficking lacks survey data on citizens' attitudes towards it in states of origin. This article discusses the results of a nationwide public opinion poll conducted in June 2007 in Russia and explores the views of two focus groups. It examines Russians' thoughts about the causes and scale of human trafficking and beliefs about what should be done to tackle it, by whom and how. Both sets of data reveal pessimism about state capacity to address human trafficking effectively.

India

Data collection on immigration and emigration in India is carried out by various government agencies. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner and the National Sample Survey Organization collect data on immigration whereas the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs collect data on emigration. The Reserve Bank of India is the main source of data on remittance returns. Data on emigration need to collect more information on the destination, purpose of emigration, sex, states of origin, age and educational profile of migrants. Coordination among ministries dealing with international migration and cooperation with academic institutions and non-government agencies are recommended.

Caminhos que levam à Corte: carreiras e padrões de recrutamento dos ministros dos órgãos de cúpula do Poder Judiciário brasileiro (1829-2006)

O artigo analisa mudanças e continuidades nos padrões de recrutamento dos ministros dos órgãos de cúpula do poder Judiciário brasileiro entre 1829 e 2006. Para isso, são analisados dados relativos a 1) origem social e 2) carreiras jurídicas, políticas e coercitivas dos membros do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (1829-1890) e do Supremo Tribunal Federal (1891-2006). Isolamos os atributos sociais dos indivíduos recrutados para essas cortes, identificando características próprias a cada geração de ministros, salientando a importância das instituições universitárias específicas na projeção de carreiras jurídicas, os estados de origem e a ocorrência de fenômenos de mobilidade geográfica em diferentes períodos. Observamos ainda o grau de diferenciação da arena jurídica em relação àquelas de natureza propriamente política, ponto considerado fundamental para a institucionalização do órgão. Os resultados observados oferecem pistas para a compreensão de mudanças longitudinais existentes nos padrões de carreira e recrutamento para as cortes supremas brasileiras e os requisitos sociais, institucionais e políticos que acompanham trajetórias nessa parcela do campo jurídico. Fundamentalmente, observa-se lento incremento de indivíduos provenientes do universo exclusivamente jurídico, prevalecendo durante a maior parte do tempo indivíduos que percorreram carreiras tanto no campo jurídico como em outras arenas, sejam elas políticas ou ligadas ao aparato coercitivo do Estado. O decréscimo da circulação geográfica ao longo da carreira dos futuros ministros, bem como a diversificação de suas instituições superiores de diplomação, ambos em especial após a primeira Era Vargas, sugerem, ainda que um tanto paradoxalmente, incremento da autonomia do órgão.

Peculiarities of the electronic structure and optical spectra of Mott insulator nanoparticles

Changes in the electronic structure of Mott insulators upon transition from bulk crystals to nanoparticles have been considered. It is shown that an increase in the concentration of surface defects (in particular, oxygen vacancies for particles of transition metal oxides) leads to the formation of in-gap states of the spinpolaron origin inside the gap. As a result, the optical absorption spectrum of a nanoparticle undergoes a red shift with respect to a crystal.

Anisotropic double exchange in valence-delocalized [Fe 2.5+ Fe 2.5+] cluster

Anisotropic double exchange (DE) interaction is considered for the valence-delocalized [Fe 2.5+ Fe 2.5+] clusters with strong isotropic Anderson-Hasegawa DE coupling. The combined effect of the spin–orbit interaction and electron transfer between the excited states of the mixed-valence Fe ions results in the inter-ion anisotropic DE coupling. The coefficients of anisotropic DE coupling are linearly proportional to the parameters t 0 and t μ of the electron transfer (ET) in the ground and excited cluster states. The anisotropic DE coupling results in the zero-field splitting (ZFS) specific for the valence-delocalized clusters. The ZFS of the delocalized states of the anisotropic DE origin is described by the new effective ZFS Hamiltonian H ZFS t , which is active between the cluster states of different localizations, whereas the standard ZFS Hamiltonian, H ZFS 0 , acts in the localized states. The contributions of the anisotropic DE origin to the cluster ZFS parameters are linearly proportional to the ET (DE) parameters t 0 and t μ . The anisotropic DE contribution to the cluster ZFS parameters of the ground delocalized state Φ - 0 ( S max = 9 / 2 ) is of the same order of magnitude as the single-ion ZFS contributions.

From preemptive to preventive analgesia

Much effort has been taken to prove that a treatment initiated before surgery is more effective in reducing postoperative pain compared with the same intervention started after surgery. Clinical studies failed to demonstrate major clinical benefits of preemptive analgesia, however, and the results of recent systemic reviews are equivocal. The present review will discuss recent clinical as well as experimental evidence of preemptive analgesia and examine the implications of a preventive postoperative pain treatment. Recent preclinical and clinical studies give strong evidence that neuronal hypersensitivity and nociception after incision is mainly maintained by the afferent barrage of sensitized nociceptors across the perioperative period. This is in contrast to pain states of other origin in which prolonged hypersensitivity is initiated during the injury. Therefore, not timing but duration and efficacy of an analgesic and antihyperalgesic intervention are most important for treating pain and hyperalgesia after surgery. Extending a multimodal analgesic treatment into the postoperative period to prevent postoperative pain may be superior compared with preemptive analgesia. In the future, appropriate drug combinations, drug concentrations and duration of preventive strategies need to be determined to be most beneficial for the management of acute and chronic pain after surgery.

Ab initio modeling of clean and Y-doped grain boundaries in alumina and intergranular glassy films (IGF) in β-Si3N4

Based on large and relaxed grain boundary (GB) models in alumina and intergranular glassy film (IGF) models in polycrystalline β-Si3N4, ab initio modeling and theoretical tensile experiments were carried out for both clean and Y-doped models. It is shown that the increased covalent bonding between Y and O or N through the participation of the Y-4d and Y-3p orbitals is the mechanism by which Y ions enhance the mechanical and elastic properties of the Y-doped GB and IGF models. In alumina, this explains the improved creep behavior in the presence of Y doping. Preliminary results on the electronic structure and bonding of a specific GB model (Σ37) in α-Al2O3 is presented. For the IGF models, the distribution patterns of Y ions in the glassy region were investigated by total energy calculations. Y ions prefer to be at the interfacial region between the IGF and bulk crystal. Defect-like states of different origin can be identified near the valence band and the conduction band edges. These theoretical predictions obtained from the calculation of the fundamental electronic structure of the materials can be used to derive local strain fields of dissimilar “particles” that may be linked to continuum level theories via finite element methods.

Laser spectroscopy of high spin isomers – a review

This review summarizes the experimental data on charge radii differences among ground state and high spin isomeric states determined by high-resolution laser spectroscopic methods. A comparison is presented between radii changes obtained from the isomeric shifts in the atomic spectra and from the quadrupole moments of both ground and isomeric states under the assumption that the radii changes are determined by the difference of the quadrupole deformations. Special attention is paid to isomers arising from the break-up of nucleon pairs and isomers of odd-odd nuclei. The characteristic features of the radii changes for isomeric states of different origin are discussed.

Phylogenetic divisions among Collared peccaries ( Pecari tajacu) detected using mitochondrial and nuclear sequences

The Collared peccary ( Pecari tajacu) is one of the three extant recognised species of the family Tayassuidae, living in the Americas. To understand phylogenetic relationships among Collared peccaries, the entire mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochrome b as well as partial nuclear GPIP and PRE-1 P27, PRE-1 P642 and TYR sequences from specimens from Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, United States and Australian zoo animals of unknown origin were analysed. Separate and combined analyses of the mitochondrial sequences provided good resolution of Collared peccary relationships. Nuclear sequences were partially informative when combined sequence analyses were performed. Maximum Likelihood analyses of mitochondrial sequences showed that Collared peccaries clustered in two major clades, representing North-Central American and South American specimens. Collared peccaries from Colombia are paraphyletic. Statistical Parsimony analysis of combined nuclear sequences showed a distribution of DNA variants consistent with mitochondrial sequence analyses. However, there is an uncoupling of nuclear and mitochondrial sequence variation in two specimens from Colombia. The present study suggests the recent contact of isolated populations within Colombia and possible mitochondrial introgression between the North/Central clade and the South clade. Pairwise genetic distances comparison of mitochondrial sequences show that divergence between the two major clades of the Collared peccary was higher and comparable respectively with that within and between the other two recognised peccary species. Divergence between the two major clades of the Collared peccary was also higher than that observed within and even between recognised species of the Suidae family. The divergence within the major clades of the Collared peccary showed comparable values with those observed within the other two species of Tayassuidae and within six species of Suidae. The results show that the geographically widespread and phenotypically diverse Collared peccary consists of two species or at least subspecies with implications for management of wild, zoo and captive populations.

The Epidemiology of HIV Among Mexican Migrants and Recent Immigrants in California and Mexico

For Mexican migrants and recent immigrants, the impact of migration from Mexico to California has the potential to lead to an increased risk for HIV infection. Until recently, the prevalence of HIV in Mexico and among Mexican migrants in California appeared to be stable and relatively low. Recent studies have raised new concerns, however, that the HIV epidemic may expand more aggressively among this population in the coming years. Unfortunately, the insufficient amount of data available within recent years makes it difficult to fully assess the potential for rapid spread of the HIV epidemic among this population. Consequently, there is a critical need for an ongoing binational surveillance system to assess prevalence and trends in HIV/STD/TB disease and related risk behaviors among this population both in Calfornia and within this population's states of origin in Mexico. This enhanced epidemiologic surveillance system should provide improved data on the subpopulations at the highest risk for HIV/STD/TB, such as men who have sex with men, and should provide the opportunity to evaluate the impact of migration on the transmission dynamics, risk behaviors, and determinants of behavior on each side of the border. It is essential that this potential threat be assessed and that intervention programs are developed and implemented to combat this possible escalation in the HIV epidemic.

Dual fluorescence in donor-acceptor molecules and the effect of fluorination

Fluorescent properties of the P4CF2 and P4CF3 molecules are studied by quantum-chemical methods taking into account the interaction with a polar solvent. It is shown that the molecules exhibit two minima of the potential where hydrogen bonding with a proton-donor solvent can occur. A mechanism responsible for two-band anomalous fluorescence in para- and orthoposions is disccussed. The mechanism was earlier described in [2]. The effect of fluorine substitution in para- and orthopositions is also considered. It is found that strong hydrogen bonding takes place to give a molecule — polar solvent complex where two radiative states of different origin can occur.

Methods for High-Density Admixture Mapping of Disease Genes

Admixture mapping (also known as "mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium," or MALD) has been proposed as an efficient approach to localizing disease-causing variants that differ in frequency (because of either drift or selection) between two historically separated populations. Near a disease gene, patient populations descended from the recent mixing of two or more ethnic groups should have an increased probability of inheriting the alleles derived from the ethnic group that carries more disease-susceptibility alleles. The central attraction of admixture mapping is that, since gene flow has occurred recently in modern populations (e.g., in African and Hispanic Americans in the past 20 generations), it is expected that admixture-generated linkage disequilibrium should extend for many centimorgans. High-resolution marker sets are now becoming available to test this approach, but progress will require (a). computational methods to infer ancestral origin at each point in the genome and (b). empirical characterization of the general properties of linkage disequilibrium due to admixture. Here we describe statistical methods to estimate the ancestral origin of a locus on the basis of the composite genotypes of linked markers, and we show that this approach accurately estimates states of ancestral origin along the genome. We apply this approach to show that strong admixture linkage disequilibrium extends, on average, for 17 cM in African Americans. Finally, we present power calculations under varying models of disease risk, sample size, and proportions of ancestry. Studying approximately 2500 markers in approximately 2500 patients should provide power to detect many regions contributing to common disease. A particularly important result is that the power of an admixture mapping study to detect a locus will be nearly the same for a wide range of mixture scenarios: the mixture proportion should be 10%-90% from both ancestral populations.

Diamond-to-graphite conversion in nanodiamond and the electronic properties of nanodiamond-derived carbon system

Heat-treatment-induced conversion of nanodiamond to nanographite is investigated. Graphitization starts at the surface region around a heat-treatment temperature of 900°C, then it proceeds inward in the particle, and finally it is completed around 1600°C, where nanographite particles form a polyhedron with a hollow inside. The change in the electronic feature is subjected to the structural change induced by the heat treatment. In the intermediate stage of graphitization, where graphene sheets are small and defective, charge transfer takes place from graphitic π-band to nonbonding edge states. Electrophoretic deposition of nanodiamond particles provides a technique for fabricating isolated single nanodiamond particles on a substrate. Successive heat treatment at 1600°C converts a nanodiamond particle to a single nanographene sheet laying flat on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite substrate. Weak interaction between the nanographene sheet and the substrate is expected to give a model system of nanographene, for which theory predicts the presence of nonbonding \gv-electron states of the edge origin and its related unconventional nanomagnetism.

Determinants of Migration to and from Bolivar State, Venezuela for 1961 and 1990: The Effect of Ciudad Guayana on Migration

In 1959, Venezuela created an industrial growth pole in Bolivar State as an attempt to direct population away from Caracas. Regression analysis was applied to determine whether the predictor variables pertaining to states of origin or destination for life-time inmigrants and outmigrants to and from Bolivar differed between 1961 and 1990 as a result of this program. In addition, migration occurring one year prior to the 1961 and 1990 censuses was also considered in separate regressions. Results indicated that 1961 life-time inmigrants responded to distance, while, 1990 life-time inmigrants responded to distance, population, and industry. Whereas in 1961, Bolivar could only attract migrants from the surrounding area, by 1990 migrants were being recruited from the more populous states suggesting that the industrial growth pole had obtained a size that attracted further growth. The predictor variables for life-time outmigrants as of 1961 were income, distance, and population, whereas 1990 life-time outmigrants only responded to income.

Non-stoichiometry in SnTe thin films and temperature instabilities of thermoelectric properties

The temperature dependences of the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity for (0 0 1)KCl/SnTe monocrystalline thin films with thicknesses d=20–600 nm were obtained in the range of 80–300 K. In contrast with SnTe bulk crystals, these dependences exhibited anomalies (plateaus, steps, bends). It is suggested that as temperature increases, the system passes through a number of intermediate states of quantum origin and/or corresponding to different distributions of non-stoichiometric defects (cation vacancies) over the crystal lattice. The observed effect is attributed to a high concentration of non-stoichiometric defects, which leads to the defect interaction stimulating their ordering, to loosening of the crystal lattice and to an increase in the diffusion rate. It is suggested that the observed temperature instabilities of properties are typical for other phases with high concentrations of non-stoichiometric defects.