We study the phase space of initial conditions for brane inflation, and find that including the effects of the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) kinetic term dramatically improves previous estimates on the amount of fine tuning of initial conditions necessary for inflation, even for models dominated by slow roll. Two effects turn out to be important for the phase space analysis: restrictions on the total...

Steps to STIMulation W hen ER calcium levels plummet, an ER membrane calcium sensor called STIM1 directly activates plasma membrane (PM) channels to top up the cell’s calcium. Jen Liou, Tobias Meyer, and colleagues (Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, CA) have now uncovered the molecular steps of STIM1’s pathway to the PM and show that those steps don’t take STIM1 very far. STIM1 sits...

Events VaBio After Hours Adventures Mountain River Raft Trip AFTER Roseanne M. Ford received her Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989, she came to University of Virginia to continue her work on bacterial chemotaxis, the ability of motile bacteria to direct their migration toward beneficial chemicals and away from detrimental ones. That same year, an oil spill, which occurred in Prin...

We show how attractive interactions dramatically influence emulsion rheology. Unlike the repulsive case, attractive emulsions below random close packing, φ(RCP), can form soft gel-like elastic solids. However, above φ(RCP), attractive and repulsive emulsions have similar elasticities. Such compressed attractive emulsions undergo an additional shear-driven relaxation process during yielding. Our...

abstract: the aim of this research is to propose a new approach of kansei engineering, kano model and taguchi design of experiments to identify, categorize and prioritize customersʹ emotional needs (kansei) in the automotive industry in order to more customer satisfaction. to achieve the above aim, first customersʹ kansei words identified and screened; then these words classified based on kano ...

How does a pollen tube seek out and find an ovule, its ultimate goal inside the female reproductive organs of a flower? And once an ovule has been found and fertilized, how are other pollen tubes prevented from attempting the same task? These interesting questions have been posed and considered for over 100 years, and direct answers will soon be available. A structural guidance mechanism by its...