bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pseudomorphic stabilization on crystal structure and mechanical properties of nanocomposite Ti-Al-N thin films
Authors: Karimi A. , Vasco Th. , Santana A.
Published: April 2011

As the dimensions of materials are reduced to the nanometer scale, the stabilization of pseudomorphic crystal structures that differ from their bulk equilibrium phases can occur. The pseudomorphic growth could provide a substantially larger bulk modulus and greater hardness than the average of the constituent materials in nanolayered and nanocomposite thin films. To evaluate this effect in Ti1-xAlxN system, a series of nanostructured films with × up to 0.7 were deposited onto WC-Co substrates using arc PVD, and characterised in terms of structure-property relations. Chemical composition by RBS together with HRTEM and XRD analysis showed that for the Al content below × = 0.4 a solid solution single-phase film is formed, while for × values beyond 0.5 mixed structures made of fcc-TiN and hcp-AlN, or nanocomposite films made of fcc-TiN, hcp-AlN, and fcc-AlN appeared depending on deposition conditions. Hardness of solid solution films was found to increase almost linearly with the Al content, while two opposite behaviours were distinguished for composite structures. Hardness rapidly decreased according to the rule of mixture as soon as solid solution phase began to separate into TiN and AlN growing in their natural structures with misfit dislocation at the interface. In contrast, further hardness enhancement was measured when nanocomposites with coherent interfaces were formed due to pseudomorphic stabilization of fcc-AlN on fcc-TiN crystallites.
Competitive Guidance Cues Affect Fibroblast Cell Alignment: Electric Fields vs. Contact Guidance
Authors: Gibson Iain R. , McCaig Colin D.
Published: April 2011

When bovine ligament fibroblast cells were cultured on parallel micro-grooved surfaces, they aligned their long axes parallel to the groove direction. This alignment was dependent on the groove depth, with increasing groove depth increasing guided cell alignment. When cells were cultured in a physiological dc electric field (EF) on non-grooved, flat surfaces, the cells aligned in response to the EF, with their long axes perpendicular to the EF vector. This response was EF strength dependent, increasing EF strength (from 20 to 200mV/mm) increased cell alignment, perpendicular to the EF vector. These two guidance cues were applied simultaneously, so that the EF vector was parallel to the groove direction. At high but still physiological EF strengths (200mV/mm) cells ignored the topography and were guided by the EF alone, aligning perpendicular to the EF vector, as on non-grooved surfaces. At low field strengths (20mV/mm) cells responded only to the topographic guidance cue, with cells aligning parallel to the grooves and therefore also to the EF vector. Intermediate field strengths (50 to 100mV/mm) produced a mixed response, with cells responding to both guidance cues. The effect of removing serum from the culture medium on the EF and topographical guidance of fibroblast cells was studied and the results were compared to cells on non-grooved surfaces. Removal of serum produced a small but significant decrease in the angle of cell alignment for cells on non-grooved surfaces, from 78 to 63 degrees, relative to the EF vector, but did not completely suppress the EF guidance cue. In contrast, the EF guidance of cells on grooved substrates was suppressed almost completely by the absence of serum, with cells responding only to the grooved topography, aligning their long axis parallel to the grooves and the EF vector. These results imply that alignment of fibroblasts by topography is serum-independent, but alignment by EFs is serum-dependent. In addition they demonstrate that the alignment of fibroblast cells can be tailored by the dual guidance cues of topography and electric fields.
Controlled Macrophage Adhesion on Micropatterned Hydrogel Surfaces
Authors: Krsko P. , Vartanian K. , Geller H. , Libera M.
Published: April 2011

We studied the protein adsorption and subsequent macrophage adhesion on poly(ethylene glycol) [PEG] hydrogels crosslinked using a focused electron beam. Thin-film gels were patterned on silicon substrates and could be formed with swell ratios (hydrated height/ dry height) anywhere between fifteen and unity. We have shown that laminin does not adsorb onto highly swelling gels but that it does adsorb on heavily-crosslinked low-swelling gels. As part of ongoing research on patterning surfaces to control neurite growth in the context of the inflammatory environment of a spinal cord injury, we are interested in how these gel surfaces interact with macrophages. We show that the high-swelling PEG gels resist macrophage adhesion, but the macrophages adhere to low-swelling gels pre-exposed to laminin. By spatially patterning combinations of low and high swelling gels, we show that macrophage adhesion can be confined to specific locations on a surface.
A Molecular Route to Dip-coated Transition Metal Nitride Thin Films.
Authors: Jackson Andrew W. , Hector Andrew L.
Published: April 2011

There is an increasing interest in sol-gel synthesis of nitrides. The ability to deposit films of these materials by dip- or spin-coating will increase the range of applications in which they are viable and is an important step toward general sol-gel processing of nitride materials.

With transition metals, the ammono based analogue of the well established alkoxy route to gels is inherently difficult to control. Due to the basicity of the system, the overwhelming tendency is of the starting materials to favour particle growth which results in a precipitate rather than a stable emulsion, unless both environment and synthetic pathway are carefully controlled. Hence reports to date of sol-gel routes to nitrides describe production of powders. We report work on a sol-gel route to titanium nitride with the ammonolysis of titanium amides controlled by temperature and chemical moderators, resulting in stable emulsions useful for dip-coating.
Synthesis, Structure and Magnetism of ErCoIn5
Authors: Thomas Evan Lyle , Erickson Erin E. , Moldovan Monica , Young David P. , Chan Julia Y.
Published: April 2011

A new member of theLnMIn5family, ErCoIn5, has been synthesized by a flux-growth method. The structure of ErCoIn5was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes in the tetragonal space groupP4/mmm,Z= 1, with lattice parametersa= 4.5400(4) andc= 7.3970(7) Å, andV= 152.46(2) Å3. Electrical resistivity data show metallic behavior. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show this compound to be antiferromagnetic withTN= 5.1 K. We compare these experimental results with those of LaCoIn5in an effort to better understand the effect of the structural trends observed on the transport and magnetic properties.
Ferroelectric Properties of SBT doped with Pr
Authors: Mata J. , Durán A. , Martínez E. , Siqueiros J. M. , Heiras J.
Published: April 2011

The Sr1-xPrxBi2Ta2O9 (SBT-Pr) ferroelectric ceramic doped with Praseodymium in the range of concentration between 0 and 0.20 was studied. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the Pr-ion substitutes the Sr-ion in the main structure (A21am space group) and, as a consequence of this substitution the unit cell decreases monotonically. Thermoelectric Analysis (ε vs T) and ferroelectric hysteresis measurements were performed. From the ε-T curves it was observed that the transition temperature depends almost linearly on Pr content. Broad phase transitions were also observed, a typical behavior of ferroelectric materials with diffuse phase transition (DPT). An increase in the diffuseness coefficient is obtained by increasing Pr content according to the Isupov model, due to the higher cationic disorder in the structure, resulting in the loss of the long-range ferroelectric ordering. The hysteresis loop indicates that the substitution of Sr2+ by Pr3+,4+ lowers the polarization due possible to strong pinning domain mechanisms that obstruct long range ferroelectric ordering.
Mercury and C2B10 Icosahedra Interaction
Authors: Ilie Carolina C. , Lunca-Popa Petru , Zhang Jiandi , Doudin Bernard , Dowben Peter A.
Published: April 2011

We contrast the interaction of mercury with adsorbed orthocarborane films and semiconducting (dehydrogenated) boron carbide. Photoemission spectra reveal small shifts in orthocarborane (C2B10H12) molecular orbital binding energies as well as the shift in mercury 5d5/2 shallow core level binding energies, suggesting only small interaction between mercury and the molecular film. Mercury does, however, interact with decomposed orthocarboranes i.e. semiconducting boron carbide.
From configuration space to thermodynamic space: Predicting new inorganic solids via global exploration of their energy landscapes
Authors: Schön J. C. , Jansen M.
Published: April 2011

We present a general approach to predict new inorganic solid compounds as a function of pressure, composition and temperature. Our method is based on the global exploration of the energy and enthalpy landscapes of the chemical system, followed by the construction of the corresponding free energy/enthalpy landcsapes.
Solution Phase Synthesis of Semiconductor Nanowires
Authors: Hull Katherine L. , Grebinski James W. , Zhang Jing , Kosel Thomas H. , Kuno Masaru
Published: April 2011

The solution phase synthesis of narrow diameter CdSe and PbSe nanowires (NWs) is described. Crystalline NWs with lengths between 1–10 μm are obtained using a seeded solution approach, whereby NW growth is catalyzed by Au/Bi core/shell nanoparticles (NPs). A gold biphasic reduction step results in 1.5 (3) nm diameter Au NPs and is followed by the thermolysis of trialkylbismuthines to yield low melting, bimetallic particles with diameters less than 3 nm. These Au/Bi NPs are catalytically active towards the growth of similar diameter CdSe NWs (∼7 nm) that exhibit quantum confinement effects. By varying the ratio of Cd (or Pb) to Se, both straight and branched NWs can be obtained, with branched structures including v-shapes, tripods, and y-shapes in the case of CdSe and t-shapes in the case of PbSe. Structural characterization shows that both straight and branched CdSe NWs grow along either the <111> zinc blende (ZB) or <0001> wurtzite (W) directions. Conversely, PbSe has a rocksalt crystal structure, and both straight and branched NWs grow along <100> directions.
Amorphous Nanowires and Crystalline Thin Films of SiO2-Li2O Compounds obtained by Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition
Authors: Lima M. D. , Stein S.S. , de Andrade M.J. , Bergmann C.P.
Published: April 2011

Amorphous silica films deposited by Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition (CCVD) were modified by lithium addition in the precursor solution. The modified films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The addition of lithium promoted the crystallization of Li2O-SiO2 compounds, mainly crystalline phases like Li2SiO3, Li2Si2O5, quartz and cristobalite. Besides that, the morphology of the film was modified, leading to the formation of acicular structures and nanowires. The acicular structures were identified through TEM associated with SAED as crystalline phases, mainly constituted by Li2SiO3 and Li2SiO5. TEM and SEM analysis indicated that the nanowire diameter is between 20 and 80nm. In addition to this, SAED and microprobe EDS analysis indicated that these nanowires are constituted by amorphous silica. The probable growth mechanism of these nanowires is the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) catalyzed by a liquid particulate composed by Li2O-SiO2.
Polaritonic materials fabricated and tested with ultrashort-pulse lasers
Authors: Ward David W. , Statz Eric , Feurer Thomas , Nelson Keith A.
Published: April 2011

Using femtosecond laser machining, we have fabricated photonic bandgap materials that influence propagation of phonon-polaritons in ferroelectric crystals. Broadband polaritons were generated with impulsive stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) using an ultrashort laser pulse, and the spatial and temporal evolution of the polaritons were imaged as they propagated through the fabricated structures with polariton real-space imaging. These techniques offer a new approach to optical materials design.
Femtosecond Laser-Induced Micro-Structuring of Thin a-Si:H Films
Authors: Nayak Barada K. , Gupta Mool C.
Published: April 2011

In a-Si:H solar cells, light trapping has been sought as a method to enhance absorption and improve the efficiencies of these devices. Here we present results for surface texturing of 2μm thick a-Si:H films by 800 nm wavelength femtosecond laser. The texture led to a significant enhancement in optical absorption (80%) in visible through near IR (60%). The textured surface was examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The results indicated the formation of dense spikes with height of 65–75 nm. The samples were completely black after femtosecond laser treatment.
Ultrafast Laser Deposition of Semiconductor Nanowires
Authors: Mao Samuel S.
Published: April 2011

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has been applied to fabricate thin films of a variety of materials. However, formation of micron-sized particulates during conventional nanosecond laser-based deposition process makes it unsuitable for growing high quality nanoscale materials. Owing to a nonequilibrium non-thermal ablation mechanism and characterized by their short pulse duration compared to thermal diffusion time (tens of picoseconds), ultrafast laser pulses are able to produce particulate-free precursor vapor for nanoscale material deposition. In this article, the foundation of non-thermal ultrafast laser ablation will be examined by both experimental and theoretical investigations. Ultrafast laser-induced high-density electron ejection and subsequent build -up of a strong electric field above the target material were observed. Mass spectrometry and electron microscopy measurements confirmed the particulate-free nature of ultrafast laser ablation. Using ultrafast laser-based particulate-free PLD approach, high quality ZnO nanowires were grown on sapphire and silicon substrates. The optical properties of ZnO nanowires, including the external and internal quantum efficiency of nanowire nanolasers, were experimentally determined. In addition, a nanowire UV photodiode based on p−Si/n−ZnO nanowires was successfully fabricated. This first nanowire photodiode device shows good photocurrent characteristics when operated under reverse bias.
Investigation of Femtosecond Laser Irradiation on Fused Silica Etching Selectivity
Authors: Bellouard Yves , Said Ali A. , Dugan Mark , Bado Philippe
Published: April 2011

Femtosecond laser irradiation has various noticeable effects on fused silica. It can locally increase the index of refraction or modify the material chemical selectivity. Regions that have been exposed to the laser are etched several times faster than unexposed regions. Various observations reported in the literature seem to show that these effects are possibly related to a combination of structural changes and the presence of internal stress. However, a detailed analysis of the contribution of both effects is still lacking.

In this paper, we present systematic SEM-based investigations performed on fused silica (a-SiO2). Line-patterns were first scanned on the substrate using a femtosecond laser and then etched in a low-concentration HF solution. The effects of various laser parameters like power and scanning speed are analyzed and we show further evidence of an interface between two different etching regimes.
Rich Dynamics in Diblock Copolymers
Authors: Fytas G.
Published: April 2011

The dynamic structure factor S(q, t) of ultra-high molecular mass diblock copolymers BC in a common solvent was systematically investigated by photon correlation spectroscopy in different regimes of the phase diagram. Through proper probing of the composition fluctuations in symmetric and asymmetric BC the different relaxation mechanisms were identified and the influence of the disorder to order (ODT) transition was assessed. In the disordered regime, S(q, t) sensitively depends on the composition polydispersity of BC and the proximity to ODT complementing the real phase morphology of BC. The dynamic response of BC is therefore predictable.
TiCp2Cl-Catalyzed Living Radical and Ring Opening Polymerizations Initiated from Epoxides and Aldehydes in the Synthesis of Linear, Graft and Branched Polymers
Authors: Asandei Alexandru D. , Moran Isaac W. , Saha Gobinda , Chen Yanhui
Published: April 2011

Ti(III)Cp2Cl-catalyzed radical ring opening (RRO) of epoxides or single electron transfer (SET) reduction of aldehydes generates Ti alkoxides and carbon centered radicals which add to styrene, initiating a radical polymerization. This polymerization is mediate in a living fashion by the reversible termination of growing chains with the TiCp2Cl metalloradical. In addition, polymers or monomers containing pendant epoxide groups (glycidyl methacrylate) can be used as substrates for radical grafting or branching reactions by self condensing vinyl polymerization. In addition, Ti alkoxides generated in situ by both epoxide RRO and aldehyde SET initiate the living ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone. Thus, new initiators and catalysts are introduced for the synthesis of complex polymer architectures.
Interfacial Layer - A New Mechanism for Electromechanical Response
Authors: Li Zhimin , Cheng Z.-Y.
Published: April 2011

Electric field induced phase transition has been used to explain the high strain response in some PVDF-based EAP. However, it is hard to understand some features (such as the relationship between the strain and the preload) of elastomers - an important type of EAPs. In this paper, we reported the study of recrystallization on high-energy-electron irradiated P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer. The morphology and structure as well as the structural transformation in the recrystallized copolymers were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, DSC, FTIR, and polarization measurements. The effect of crosslinking induced by the irradiation is discussed. The results suggest that a new interface layer existed in the recrystallized polymers. The partially ordered interfacial layer is a novel micro-origin of a high polarization obtained in an EAP. Based on this concept, the effect of preload on the E-M performance of the elastomers can be well explained. A new method to develop high performance electroactive polymer is outlined by using the interface state.
Multicomponent Materials as Li+ Conductors
Authors: Babinec Susan , Zhang Huiqing , Talik Andrew , Ginzburg Valeriy
Published: April 2011

The conductivity and mechanical stiffness of ethylene-oxide based Li+ conducting solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) were measured and compared for a variety of single- and two-phase systems. Our objective was to determine whether there are simple correlations between these two properties despite the fact that these systems are truly complex. Results show that molecular architecture dominates both transport and mechanical behavior of single phase systems, thereby eliminating broad correlations. Conductivity was additionally found to require not only facile local chain dynamics but also a sufficient concentration of vacancies, as per the site hopping model. Two phase systems also show complex behaviors, but offer a broader range of both conductivity and stiffness values, and good conductivity/stiffness correlations.
Effect of Nanoscale rods on the Kinetics of Phase-Separating Multi-Component Fluids
Authors: Hore Michael J.A. , Laradji Mohamed
Published: April 2011

Using large scale particle dynamics simulations, we investigated the effect of nanoscale rods on the dynamics of phase separation dynamics of two-component fluids in three dimensions. We found that when the nanoparticles interact more attractively with one of the two segregating component, they lead to a reduction of the rate of domain growth, and that this decrease is intensified as the nanoparticles volume fraction is increased. Furthermore, our results show that nanorods are much more effective in slowing down the kinetics than nanosphres. The dramatic effect of nanorods on the dynamics of phase separation of multi-component fluids, as opposed to nanospheres, implies that they may be used as an efficacious emulsifying agent of multi-component polymer blends.
Comment on Song: Mortgage Interest Deduction
Authors: Gordon Richard K
Published: April 2011

A proper income tax base should allow a deduction for mortgage interest expense, according to Richard Gordon of Case Western Reserve University.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Breast Cancer as Synchronous Primary in a Male—A Rare Combination
Authors: Dubashi Biswajit , Jain A. , Srinivasan K. , Surendrakumar V. , Vivekanandam S.
Published: April 2011

Second malignancies are known to be associated with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). [...]
Common Presentation of Uncommon Lesion
Authors: Radhika MB , Thambiah Lalita J , Paremala K , Sudhakara M , Umashankar DN , Mahesh Kumar R
Published: April 2011

Angioleiomyomas are rarely seen in the oral cavity. We present here an asymptomatic swelling discovered during routine intraoral examination. On excision and further histological examination it was diagnosed as an angioleiomyoma. There was no recurrence following excision.
Barium Hydrogen Phosphate Modified Carbon Paste Electrode for the Simultaneous Determination of Cadmium and Lead by Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry
Authors: Sheela T. , Basavanna S. , Viswanatha R. , Kalachar H. C. B. , Naik Y. Arthoba
Published: April 2011

The barium hydrogen phosphate modified carbon paste electrode (BHP‐CPE) was prepared as an electrochemical sensor. Its propensity towards the simultaneous determination of Cd(II) and Pb(II) has been demonstrated with differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) in the potential window between −1.2 V to −0.4 V. Important operational parameters such as pH of the solution, deposition potential and deposition time have been optimized. Under the optimized conditions, calibration curves were linear in the concentration range 1×10−8 to 8×10−8 M on BHP‐CPE and 1×10−8 to 5×10−8 M on Nafion‐BHP‐CPE. Experiments disclosed that BHP‐CPE and Nafion‐BHP‐CPE exhibit good performance for the simultaneous determination of Cd(II) and Pb(II).
A novel procedure for protein extraction from formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues
Authors: Rodríguez‐Rigueiro Teresa , Valladares‐Ayerbes Manuel , Haz‐Conde Mar , Blanco Moisés , Aparicio Guadalupe , Fernández‐Puente Patricia , Blanco Francisco J. , Lorenzo Mª José , Aparicio Luis A. , Figueroa Angélica
Published: April 2011

Most of the archived pathological specimens in hospitals are kept as formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues (FFPE) for long‐term preservation. Up to now, these samples are only used for immunohistochemistry in a clinical routine as it is difficult to recover intact protein from these FFPE tissues. Here, we report a novel, short time‐consuming and cost‐effective method to extract full‐length, non‐degraded proteins from FFPE tissues. This procedure is combined with an effective and non‐toxic deparaffinisation process and an extraction method based on antigen‐retrieval, high concentration of SDS and high temperature. We have obtained enough intact protein to be detected by Western blotting analysis. This technique will allow utilising these stored FFPE tissues in several applications for protein analysis helping to advance the translational studies in cancer and other diseases.
Establishment success of lichen diaspores in young and old boreal rainforests: a comparison betweenLobaria pulmonariaandL. scrobiculata
Authors: HILMO Olga , ROCHA Lester , HOLIEN Håkon , GAUSLAA Yngvar
Published: April 2011

This study compares the success of vegetative diaspore establishment of the old forest lichensLobaria pulmonariaandL. scrobiculatasown onPicea abiesbranches in boreal rainforests. The larger diaspores ofL. pulmonaria(green algal photobiont) established more successfully, and showed a greater flexibility in ecological amplitude, than the smaller diaspores ofL. scrobiculata(cyanobacterial photobiont). The establishment success apparently depended on species-specific differences in morphological and physiological traits of the diaspores. Both species established as well in young plantations as in old forests.Lobaria scrobiculatawas most successful on short branches and small trees. In contrast,L. pulmonariaresponded positively to trunk circumference in the old stands. The establishment success of both species decreases with increasing canopy openness, indicating that the soredia/isidioid soredia failed to establish on the most exposed branches. The probability of establishment did not change with bark-pH or with distance from the nearest stream. Despite a successful establishment in regeneration forests, the long-term survival in managed forests is still uncertain.
Laser focusing and multiple ionization of Ar in a hydrogen plasma channel created by a pre-pulse
Authors: Verma Updesh , Sharma A.K.
Published: April 2011

A model for plasma channel formation by a laser pre-pulse in a low Z gas (Hydrogen) embedded with high Z atoms (Ar) is developed. The laser of intensity I ≅ 1014 W/cm2 ionizes hydrogen atoms fully whereas Ar atoms are ionized only singly. After the first pulse is gone, plasma expands on the time scale of a nanosecond to produce a hydrogen plasma channel with minimum density on the axis. A second intense short pulse laser of intensity I ≥ 1016 W/cm2 gets focused. It tunnel ionizes the remaining Ar. The Ar acquires Ar8+ charge state after loosing 8 ions and acquires Ne like configuration and could emit X-rays.
Utopia and Reality: An Image of the United States in Russian Liberal and Radical Publications (End of the 19th to the Beginning of the 20th Century)
Authors: Shlapentokh Dmitry
Published: April 2011

In the 19th century, some Russian intellectuals concluded that democracy was the country's probable future. By the middle of the century, this eventually led to the West and its democratic traditions being directly linked to images of Utopia. From that date forward, this approach to the West has had a central role in modern Russian political thought.
“Go, Make Yourself for a Person”: Urbanity and the Construction of an American Identity in the Novels of Abraham Cahan and Anzia Yezierska
Authors: Von Rosk Nancy
Published: April 2011

Recalling His Early Days in New York, Abraham Cahan declared that he “felt strongly drawn to the life of the city.” “My heart,” he wrote, “beat to its rhythm” (Marovitz, 17). Anzia Yezierska also remembers New York's Lower East Side at the turn of the century with affection in her autobiographical novel,Bread Givers. When her heroine Sarah Smolinsky is away from Hester Street, she longs for “the crowds sweeping you on like waves of a beating sea. The drive and thrill of doing things faster and faster” (129). For both of these Jewish immigrant writers, the spectacle of New York City embodied hope, liberation, and vitality, yet as they explore the immigrant's exhilarating and exasperating adaptation to urban life in America, they highlight the keen sense of loss on becoming American, on becoming modern. In their vivid depictions of late-19th-century New York life, both Cahan'sThe Rise of David Levinsky(1917) and Yezier-ska'sBread Givers(1925) detail in an especially dramatic fashion a story that had not been explored before in America's urban novel: the Eastern European Jewish immigrant's adaptation to America's consumer culture. Highlighting the role of mass-produced goods and new forms of leisure in constructing a modern, middle-class American identity, both novels examine the tensions and contradictions of immigrant life as a more communal culture of scarcity gives way to an individually oriented culture of material abundance.
More Than Meets the Eye: Archibald Motley and Debates on Race in Art
Authors: Whiting Cécile
Published: April 2011

In 1933, Archibald J. Motley Jr., an African-American artist from Chicago who enjoyed a moderate level of national and international renown, issued his only formal public statement concerning the relationship he perceived between his art and race. His words, resonating with confidence, assert his conviction that painting could capture the truth of race through pigment. Reproduced opposite this declaration,Bluesof 1929 (Figure 1), which depicts well-coiffed men and women dancing in the Petite Cafe in Paris to tunes played by musicians seated in the foreground, would seem to reinforce Motley's point: paint transcribes the gradations of skin pigment incarnated by the various African, West Indian, and perhaps even African-American patrons of this nightspot. The color of skin, transmuted into the color of paint, identifies and catalogs race.
Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! The True History of the South
Authors: Parrish Tim
Published: April 2011

In December 2002, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott attended the 100th birthday celebration of South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond and said something he had said many times before: that the nation “wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years” had Thurmond been elected President in 1948.
Ring Lardner's You Know Me Al: Up from Popularity
Authors: Kupfer Charles A.
Published: April 2011

Ring Lardner's position in American literature suffers more from the praise he gains than the criticism he receives. His reputation as an acerbic journalist, mordant satirist, master dialectician, and popular sportswriter still draws clouds of suspicion across the minds of highbrow critics weighing his stature as a serious writer.

Lardner himself did nothing to debunk the notion that he was at heart a pulp author, never tearing away from his journalistic roots as did other authors who started their careers in the newspaper business. It may have been comfort with his preferred environment, or a reverse snobbery, but Lardner always disdained self-conscious artfulness, instead preening his image as a wordsmith and copy-slave. Max Perkins, his Scribner's editor, noted this self-defined lowbrow posture: “He always thought of himself as a newspaperman, anyhow. He had a sort of provincial scorn for literary people.”

Provincial scorn notwithstanding, Lardner was a prominent member of Perkins's stable. Contemporaries at Scribner's included Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Perkins, a literary talent scout with a knack for coaxing maximum output from mercurial writers, devoted ample time and attention to cultivating Lardner's work. Few writers of any stripe could boast more lustrous friends and colleagues, and, in his lifetime, Lardner's proper place in the American literary pantheon was accorded with scant complaint. It was only after his death in 1933 that the diminishing process began.
Friendly Entertainers: Dance Bandleaders and Singers in the Depression, 1929–1935
Authors: Greene Victor R.
Published: April 2011

Millions of older Americans well remember the stockmarket Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. Painfully recalled is the widespread misery: the unemployment, the sudden loss of income and savings, the evictions of families and consequent homelessness, the squatter shantytowns on the edge of cities, and the breadlines and soup kitchens where even the upper class had to accept handouts. Popular histories of the event have etched that grim era indelibly in the nation's mind. Scholars have been especially interested in how people dealt with the disaster emotionally and its impact.
Appalachian Spring: A Collaboration and a Transition
Authors: Rutkoff Peter M. , Scott William B.
Published: April 2011

In late October, 1944, the Martha Graham Dance Company performed Appalachian Spring at the Library of Congress, establishing Graham as the master of modern dance. The significance of Appalachian Spring, however, went well beyond Graham's artistic development. Notwithstanding its traditional theme, Appalachian Spring heralded an important shift in American art. Following the Second World War a large segment of New York City artists abandoned the effort, so dominant in the interwar years, to create an explicitly “American” art in favor of a “modernist” aesthetic, best exemplified in abstract expressionist painting. Choreographed by Graham, composed by Aaron Copland, and designed by Isamu Noguchi, the “Ballet for Martha” marked an early expression of the shift from American realism to modernism. But unlike much of the radically nonrepresentational work of the late 1940s and early 1950s Appalachian Spring continued to embody the concerns of American realism, even unabashedly displaying its creators' continued embrace of the folk vernacular, while moving toward its modern aesthetic.
Inventing Polonia: Notions of Polish American Identity, 1870–1990
Authors: Cygan Mary E.
Published: April 2011

In the last quarter of the 19th century, the American Polish-language press began using the termPoloniato describe the imagined community of all Polish-speaking immigrants in the United States. Local Polish American settlements already bore neighborhood names. Where the Roman Catholic hierarchy permitted an ethnic Polish parish to form, Poles often designated the surrounding area — not only the parish buildings, but the whole network of neighborhood institutions and businesses — by the parish name followed by the suffixowo. By 1895, Poles in Chicago, for example, could read about news in different parts of the city nicknamed for local Polish-language parishes located there: Stanislawowo, Wojciechowo, Jadwigowo, Jackowo, and Michalowo. When speaking of all the Poles living in a single American city,Poloniacould be used with a qualifier such as Chicago Polonia, Buffalo Polonia, or Milwaukee Polonia. But Polonia by itself referred to all Polish immigrants who were bound — or should have been, the writers insisted — by a shared notion of Polishness.
Reconfigurable digital receiver design and application for instantaneous polarimetric measurement
Authors: Wang Zongbo , Krasnov Oleg A. , Babur Galina P. , Ligthart Leo P. , van der Zwan Fred
Published: April 2011

This paper presents the development of a reconfigurable receiver to undertake challenging signal processing tasks for a novel polarimetric radar system. The field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)-based digital receiver samples incoming signals at intermediate frequency (IF) and processes signals digitally instead of using conventional analog approaches. It offers more robust system stability and avoids unnecessary multichannel calibrations of analog circuits for a full polarimetric radar. Two kinds of dual-orthogonal signals together with corresponding processing algorithms have been investigated; the digital implementation architectures for all algorithms are then presented. Processing algorithms implemented in FPGA chips can be reconfigured adaptively regarding to different transmitted waveforms without modification of hardware. The successful development of such reconfigurable receiver extends our radar capacity and thus yields tremendous experimental flexibility for atmospheric remote sensing and polarimetric studies of ground-based targets.
Concurrent multiple-state analytic perturbation theory via supersymmetry
Authors: Dhatt Sharmistha , Bhattacharyya Kamal
Published: April 2011

Conventional nondegenerate perturbation theory for some nth state starts with the corresponding unperturbed state. The present formulation yields recursively perturbation expansions for any bound state using the sole information of the unperturbed ground state. Logarithmic perturbation theory is exploited along with supersymmetric quantum mechanics to achieve this end. As the method involves ground-state perturbations of a series of supersymmetric Hamiltonians, concern about nodal shifts of targeted excited states arises only at the ultimate step, thus, minimizing considerably the labor of clumsy computations involved in dealing with excited states.
WOMEN IN UK PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SCHOLARSHIP?
Authors: MILLER KAREN JOHNSTON , McTAVISH DUNCAN
Published: April 2011

The promotion of gender equality has been adopted onto many national policy agendas with the introduction of legislation, public policies and regulatory duties. Yet, gender occupational segregation and discrimination persists. This paper examines the gendered nature of the UK public sector and questions the extent to which public administration scholarship addresses gender bias. The evidence, based on secondary and primary data, reveals that public administration scholarship tends to value masculinity. The intention of the paper is to stimulate a debate by providing a critical reflection of public administration scholarship, and concludes with some tentative suggestions on ways forward for the field of study.
The cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists rimonabant (SR141716) and AM251 directly potentiate GABAA receptors
Authors: Baur R , Gertsch J , Sigel E
Published: April 2011

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Rimonabant (SR141716) and the structurally related AM251 are widely used in pharmacological experiments as selective cannabinoid receptor CB1 antagonists / inverse agonists. Concentrations of 0.5–10 µM are usually applied in in vitro experiments. We intended to show that these drugs did not act at GABAA receptors but found a significant positive allosteric modulation instead.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Recombinant GABAA receptors were expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Receptors were exposed to AM251 or rimonabant in the absence and presence of GABA. Standard electrophysiological techniques were used to monitor the elicited ionic currents.

KEY RESULTS AM251 dose‐dependently potentiated responses to 0.5 µM GABA at the recombinant α1β2γ2 GABAA receptor with an EC50 below 1 µM and a maximal potentiation of about eightfold. The Hill coefficient indicated that more than one binding site for AM251 was located in this receptor. Rimonabant had a lower affinity, but a fourfold higher efficacy. AM251 potentiated also currents mediated by α1β2, αxβ2γ2 (x = 2,3,5,6), α1β3γ2 and α4β2δ GABAA receptors, but not those mediated by α1β1γ2. Interestingly, the CB1 receptor antagonists LY320135 and O‐2050 did not significantly affect α1β2γ2 GABAA receptor‐mediated currents at concentrations of 1 µM.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This study identified rimonabant and AM251 as positive allosteric modulators of GABAA receptors. Thus, potential GABAergic effects of commonly used concentrations of these compounds should be considered in in vitro experiments, especially at extrasynaptic sites where GABA concentrations are low.

LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed section on Cannabinoids in Biology and Medicine. To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2012.165.issue‐8. To view Part I of Cannabinoids in Biology and Medicine visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2011.163.issue‐7
Critical thoughts on current rodent models for evaluating potential treatments of alcohol addiction and withdrawal
Authors: Ripley Tamzin L , Stephens David N
Published: April 2011

Despite years of neurobiological research that have helped to identify potential therapeutic targets, we do not have a reliable pharmacological treatment for alcoholism. There are a range of possible explanations for this failure, including arguments that alcoholism is a spectrum disorder and that different population subtypes may respond to different treatments. This view is supported by categorisations such as early‐ and late‐onset alcoholism, whilst multifactorial genetic factors may also alter responsivity to pharmacological agents. Furthermore, experience of alcohol withdrawal may play a role in future drinking in a way that may distinguish alcoholism from other forms of addiction.

Additionally, our neurobiological models, based largely upon results from rodent studies, may not mimic specific aspects of the human condition and may reflect different underlying phenomena and biological processes from the clinical pattern. As a result, potential treatments may be targeting inappropriate aspects of alcohol‐related behaviours. Instead, we suggest a more profitable approach is (a) to identify well‐defined intermediate behavioural phenotypes in human experimental models that reflect defined aspects of the human clinical disorder and (b) to develop animal models that are homologous with those phenotypes in terms of psychological processes and underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

This review describes an array of animal models currently used in the addiction field and what they tell us about alcoholism. We will then examine how established pharmacological agents have been developed using only a limited number of these models, before describing some alternative novel approaches to achieving homology between animal and human experimental measures.

LINKED ARTICLESThis article is part of a themed issue on Translational Neuropharmacology. To view the other articles in this issue visithttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2011.164.issue‐4
UNTERSUCHUNGEN ÜBER AUFFINDEN UND WAHL DER NAHRUNG BEIM KARTOFFELKÄFER (LEPTINOTARSA DECEMLINEATA SAY)
Authors: JERMY T.
Published: April 2011

Zwecks Ausarbeitung biozönoseschonender, selektiver Bekämpfungsmethoden wurden die reflektorischen Bedingungen der Nahrungswahl des Kartoffelkäfers untersucht. Die überwinterten Käfer können im Freiland die Anwesenheit der Wirtspflanze höchstens aus einer Entfernung von einigen Dezimetern wahrnehmen. Jungkäfer sprechen nur nach erfolgter Dressur (= Nahrungsaufnahme) auf die von der Wirtspflanze stammenden olfaktorischen Reize an. Beim Auffinden der Pflanzen spielen die visuellen Reize bei den Alt‐ und Jungkäfern, allerdings nur aus kleinen Entfernungen, eine wichtige Rolle. Die Jungkäfer halten bei der Nahrungssuche eine konstante Laufrichtung ein. Die Frass‐Stoffe sind nur begrenzt spezifisch, die Oligophagie des Kartoffelkäfers ist demnach auf eine negative Anpassung an vergällend wirkender Stimuli zurückzuführen. Die vergällende Wirkung der Stoffe ist von der chemischen Struktur weitgehend unabhängig. Eine Reduktion der Vermehrungsrate des Schädlings kann durch Veränderung des Reizstoffgehaltes der Wirtspflanze bzw. durch Anwendung von Vergällungsstoffen erreicht werden.

In order to find selective control methods, which would not disturb the biocoenoses, the reflex mechanism of food finding and host selection by the Colorado potato beetle was investigated. The greater part of the overwintered beetles do not begin to feed just after emergence, but first migrate. Seeking the food they perceive the host plant in the field by olfaction from a distance of not more than a few decimetres. The newly hatched young beetles react upon the olfactostimuli coming from the host plant only after some‘ “training” (= feeding). During the food‐seeking of old and young beetles sight only plays an important role, however, within a very limited distance. If searching for food, young beetles keep a constant direction in creeping. In the Colorado beetle host selection depends mainly on taste. Feeding stimuli are not markedly specific; the oligophagy of the beetles is based largely upon the negative reactions to repellent stimuli. Repellency is to a great extent independent of chemical structure and is therefore to be found in the many different groups of compounds. For example the repellency of the Bordeaux mixture is very high and is thereupon able to reduce the rate of reproduction very considerably. The selective reduction of the biotic potential of the pest could be achieved (1) by changing the quantity of acceptants and rejectants in the host plant (by selection or by cultural methods) or (2) by applying repellents.
THE REARING OF CRANE FLIES (TIPULIDAE)
Authors: LAUGHLIN ROGER
Published: April 2011

A simple method for the culture of Tipula oleracea L. & T. paludosa Meig. is described. Eggs obtained from decapitated fertilised females are incubated on damp filter paper. Larvae are kept in damp, drained sand and fed on powdered dried grass. Pupae are kept in damp blocks of plaster of paris.

Befruchteten weiblichen Schnaken werden die Köpfe, Flügel und Beine entfernt, um sie zur Eiablage zu veranlassen. Der Körper “schwimmt” auf der Wasseroberfläche einer Schale, so dass man die Eier auffangen kann.

Die Eier werden auf einem Filtrierpapierstreifen ausgebrütet, der unten senkrecht in Wasser steht. Die ausschlüpfenden Larven werden dadurch am Entkommen verhindert, dass man das Filtrierpapier in einen Behälter einspannt, der aus zwei “Perspex”‐Platten und einem Gummiring besteht.

Man hält die Larven einzeln oder in Gruppen in feuchtem drainiertem Sand. Sie werden mit einem Brei aus gepulvertem, getrocknetem Gras gefüttert.

Die Puppen hält man in Löchern eines feuchten Gipsblocks. Sie können kühl gehalten werden, so dass männliche und weibliche Fliegen zusammen ausschlüpfen.

Die Hauptursache für die Sterblichkeit ist Kannibalismus. Es werden Möglichkeiten diskutiert, um die Sterblichkeit auf einem Minimum zu halten.
PUPARIUM FORMATION IN CALLIPHORA VOMITORIA: A HITHERTO UNSUSPECTED FUNCTION OF THE EPICUTICLE
Authors: DENNELL R.
Published: April 2011

Removal of the epicuticle from larvae of Calliphora vomitoria causes the underlying procuticle to become deeply coloured owing to the oxidation of its dihydroxyphenols. This oxidation is non‐enzymatic. In the intact larva the epicuticle protects the phenols from spontaneous oxidation so that they are available later for use in puparium formation. The changes which take place in the procuticle as puparium formation is approached are described, and their significance in relation to the onset of phenolic tanning is discussed.

Die Entfernung der Epikutikula von Larven von Calliphora vomitoria bewirkt, daß die darunter liegende “Prokutikula” infolge Oxydation ihrer Dioxyphenole eine dunkle Färbung annimmt. Diese Oxydation erfolgt nicht enzymatisch. In der unverletzten Larve schützt die Epikutikula die Phenole vor spontaner Oxydation, so daß sie später bei der Bildung des Pupariums zur Verfügung stehen. Die Umwandlungen, welche während des Herannahens der Pupariumbildung in, der “Prokutikula” stattfinden, werden beschrieben und ihre Bedeutung in Bezug auf den Beginn der Gerbung besprochen.
THE RELATION OF WEIGHT OF FOOD INGESTED TO INCREASE IN BODY‐WEIGHT DURING GROWTH IN THE BED‐BUG, CIMEX LECTULARIUS L. (HEMIPTERA)
Authors: JOHNSON C. G.
Published: April 2011

The increase in body‐weight before feeding of successive instars of Cimex lectularius is of the order of 30% of the weight of the blood ingested at each instar, except in the 1st—2nd instars where it is approximately 40%. There is a characteristic trend in the efficiency with which the food is used to increase body‐weight from instar to instar and the mean value per instar between different hosts is positively related to the proportion of solid matter in the blood. The efficiency does not vary appreciably with temperature between 20° and 30° C.

DIE BEZIEHUNG ZWISCHEN DEM GEWICHT DER AUFGENOMMENEN NAHRUNG UND DEM ANSTIEG DES KÖRPERGEWICHTES BEI DER BETTWANZE, CIMEX LECTULARIUS L. (HEMIPTERA)

Larven von Cimex lectularius wurden schubweise gewogen und gefüttert, wobei die Individuen in jedem Stadium eine Blutmahlzeit erhielten. Die Gewichtszunahme der — jeweils vor der Nahrungsaufnahme gewogenen — folgenden Stadien drückte sich im Prozentsatz des zugeführten Blutgewichtes aus (grober Wirkungsgrad der Nahrungsverwertung): dieser Wert variierte von 42,5% zwischen erstem und zweiten Larvalstadium bis 22,0% zwischen fünftem und Adult‐Stadium. Der durchschnittliche Wirkungsgrad (Nutzeffekt) verlief vom zweiten bis zum fünften Stadium parallel zum Anteil an Trockensubstanz im Blut der verschiedenen Wirte. Im allgemeinen lag der Nutzeffekt bei 30%, aber es traten übereinstimmende Minima vom dritten zum vierten Larvenstadium und vom fünften Stadium zur Imago auf. Der maximale Wirkungsgrad lag im ersten Larvenstadium. Temperaturen zwischen 20 und 30° C waren ohne merklichen Einfluß auf die Nahrungsausnutzung.