Bar-Ilan University

About: Bar-Ilan University is a education organization based out in Ramat Gan, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 12835 authors who have published 34964 publications receiving 995648 citations. The organization is also known as: Bar Ilan University & BIU.

The Local Selves of Global Workers: The Social Construction of National Identity in the Face of Organizational Globalization

Abstract: This article seeks to further understanding of the significance and impact of national identity in the context of organizational globalization. Arguing against the tendency of organizational researchers to pose this identity as an objective, cognitive essence, the article claims that national identity constitutes a symbolic resource that is actively and creatively constructed by organizational members to serve social struggles which are triggered by globalization. It offers support to this claim with ethnographic field data generated from an Israeli high-tech corporation undergoing a merger with an American competitor. The implications of the article concern the need for researchers to take into account the space for choice that organizational members have in defining national identity and the interrelationships between the enactment of this identity and processes of resistance to globalization.

D over : An Optimal On-Line Scheduling Algorithm for Overloaded Uniprocessor Real-Time Systems

Abstract: Consider a real-time system in which every task has a value that it obtains only if it completes by its deadline. The problem is to design an on-line scheduling algorithm (i.e., the scheduler has no knowledge of a task until it is released) that maximizes the guaranteed value obtained by the system. When such a system is underloaded (i.e., there exists a schedule for which all tasks meet their deadlines), Dertouzos [Proceedings IFIF Congress, 1974, pp.\ 807--813] showed that the earliest deadline first algorithm will achieve 100% of the possible value. Locke [Ph. D. thesis, Computer Science Dept., Carnegie-Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA] showed that earliest deadline first performs very badly, however, when the system is overloaded, and he proposed heuristics to deal with overload. This paper presents an optimal on-line scheduling algorithm for overloaded uniprocessor systems. It is optimal in the sense that it gives the best competitive ratio possible relative to an off-line scheduler.

In Situ Conductivity, Impedance Spectroscopy, and Ex Situ Raman Spectra of Amorphous Silicon during the Insertion/Extraction of Lithium

Abstract: The electrical conductivity and the impedance behavior of thin layers of amorphous silicon (a-Si), which are promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, were monitored in situ during the insertion/extraction of lithium in 1 M of a LiBOB (Li-bioxalato borate) propylene carbonate solution. In addition, Raman spectra of the same electrodes were recorded in situ and ex situ during lithiation/delithiation processes in the above-mentioned solutions. The conductivity of the a-Si electrode was increased by about 3.5 orders of magnitude during the course of lithium insertion. While the impedance response of these electrodes is complicated and cannot be resolved unambiguously, it is clear that the electrical conductivity influences strongly the electrodes' impedance: a similar dependence of the electrical conductivity and the impedance of these electrodes on the potential are measured. The intensity of the Raman signal dropped significantly upon lithiation and recovered at a potential of 0.523 V vs Li/Li+...

Semiclassical initial value treatments of atoms and molecules

Abstract: This review describes some developments in the theory and application of the semiclassical initial representation for the treatment of the dynamical and static properties of atoms and molecules. The theoretical basis of initial value treatments for the propagator is discussed. A variety of useful alternative initial value expressions for the propagator and other quantities are presented as generalizations of the well-known Herman-Kluk approximation. Special emphasis is given to treatments that involve integration over only half the phase space variables. The recent development of semiclassical initial value expressions that are exact for specific, desired systems is reviewed and some of the implications are described.

Apoptosis Induction of Human Myeloid Leukemic Cells by Ultrasound Exposure

Abstract: Therapeutic ultrasound (ULS) and the resulting cavitation process has been shown to induce irreversible cell damage. In this study, we wanted to further investigate the mechanism of ULS-induced cell death and to determine whether apoptosis is involved. High intensity focused pulsed ULS sonication at a frequency of 750 KHz was delivered to HL-60, K562, U937, and M1/2 leukemia cell line cultures. ULS exposure used with induction of transient cavitation in the focal area was delivered with an intensity level of 103.7 W/cm2 and 54.6 W/cm2 spatial-peak temporal-average intensity. As a control, ULS of lower intensity was delivered at 22.4 W/cm2 spatial-peak temporal-average intensity, presumably without generation of cavitation. Our results indicated that DNA damage induced by ULS cavitation did not involve generation of free radicals in the culture media. Morphological alterations observed in cells after exposure to ULS included: cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation, and apoptotic body formation. Apoptotic cells were evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and detected using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assay, which identifies DNA breaks, and by the leakage of phosphatidylserine from the inner to the outer side of the membrane layer of treated cells. Some bioeffects induced on sonicated HL-60 cells, such as inhibition of cell proliferation, DNA repair, and cell-dependent apoptosis, were found to be similar to those produced by gamma-irradiation. Thus, much of the cell damage induced by therapeutic ULS in leukemia cells surviving ULS exposure appears to occur through an apoptotic mechanism.