bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lebensverhältnisse Der Unterschichten Deutschlands Im Neunzehnten Jahrhundert
Authors: Saalfeld Diedrich
Published: December 2008

Am Ende des Ancien Régime lebte die Mehrzahl der deutschen Familien an der Grenze des Existenzminimums. Verstärkt durch den wechselhaften Witterungsverlauf schwankte die Lebenshaltung dieser Zugehörigen zu den ländlichen und nichtbürgerlichen Unterschichten wegen des ungleichmäßigen Angebots an Lebensmitteln zwischen Unterversorgung mit den lebensnotwendigen Bedürfnissen bei Minderernten (und relativ hohem Preisniveau) und damit abwechselnden Zeiten ausreichender Bedarfsdeckung in wohlfeilen Jahren. In den beiden ersten Jahrzehnten und in der Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts stieg der Anteil dieser urn die physische Existenz ihrer Familie ringenden Bevölkerungsgruppen erheblich an. Engels und Marx haben dieses Phänomen der Massenarmut (oder das Elend des Proletariats) auf die Industrialisierung und den übermächtigen Einfluß des Kapitals, das zunehmend in alle Lebensbereiche eindrang, zurückgeführt. Durch Abzug von Kapital aus dem Produktionsprozeß und Akkumulierung zu großen Vermögen würden den in der großbetrieblichen Produktion beschäftigten Arbeitern nur noch Löhne ausgezahlt, die lediglich für die Bestreitung der physischen Existenz ausreichen wiirden. Mit zunehmender Industrialisierung und Konzentration der Produktion in Fabriken hätte schließlich eine ständig wachsende Zahl von kleingewerblichen Produzenten ihren Besitz verloren und sei in die Klasse des Proletariats (Expropriation) abgesunken. Knapp hat für Deutschland noch eine Sonderentwicklung aufgezeigt, indem er als wesentliche Ursache für die Entstehung eines freien Arbeiterstandes die Bauernbefreiung herausstellte.
Trade-Union Policy Between the Wars
Authors: Jones Stephen G.
Published: December 2008

Most standard histories of Britain between the wars refer to the development of holidays with pay, albeit briefly. It is widely acknowledged that by the end of the 1930's the majority of the British working population benefited from a paid holiday. The crucial initiative, so it is claimed, was the Holidays with Pay Act of 1938, which gave Parliamentary approval to the principle of payment of wages during holidays. Clearly the growth of paid holidays is seen as yet another instance of a more affluent Britain, an integral element of the growth of leisure. However, there has been very little detailed discussion of the paid-holiday-policy option and the precise reasons for the formulation and implementation of that policy. This neglect is rather surprising given the popular support for this “fringe benefit”, which was perceived as providing a certain degree of financial security during the annual break from the rigours of work. It is true that there has been more specialised treatment, but even this is of a general nature, with little reference to the industrial and political struggle for holidays with pay.
Strikes and Power in Britain, 1870–1920
Authors: Cronin James E.
Published: December 2008

Not long ago, sociologists and labor economists used to talk confidently about the “natural history of the strike”. By that they meant its rather smooth progress along a line that supposedly rose rapidly in the early stages of industrial growth, gradually flattened out with the establishment of stable collective bargaining, and slowly fell as the strike proceeded to “wither away” in the prosperity of “advanced industrial society”.
News of the Profession
Authors: Fuscher Eric J.
Published: December 2008

During the conference of the International Association of Labour History Institutions (Paris 1986) Lars Wessman, a member of the Scandinavian delegation, asked me to make an informal speech on the reorganization of the IISH. Since I hardly expected anyone to be interested in this subject, I felt no reservations and was pleased to agree. After consulting our Parisian host, Prof. Alain Prost, we informed all those present that there was to be an exchange of ideas on the IISH reorganization.
“What's in a Name?” Workplace History and “Rank and Filism”
Authors: Price Richard
Published: December 2008

Historical truth, like other kinds of intellectual understanding, proceeds through argument and discussion. Thus, we should be grateful to Jonathan Zeitlin for his rigorous responses to a body of scholarship which he categorizes as “rank-and-filist”. Although much of Zeitlin's argument is unexceptional, its proposal to consign as erroneous and irrelevant the scholarship that fits his “rank-and-filist” paradigm requires some examination. Most troubling are the procedures he uses to make his case; the prescriptive advice he offers though not without merit is also highly problematic. I shall discuss these objections in a moment. But first we must define the problem as Zeitlin sees it.
Tyranny, Work and Politics: The 1818 Strike Wave in the English Cotton District
Authors: Hall Robert G.
Published: December 2008

Critics of E. P. Thompson have questioned his emphasis on the ties between radicalism and trade unionism in early nineteenth-century England; historians have likewise described the 1818 strikes as simple wage disputes in which the radicals played a negligible role. This essay challenges these assumptions about the 1818 strikes and radicalism. In the summer of 1818, when a wide range of grievances touched off the strike wave, the radicals rallied to the side of the trades and sometimes served as leaders of the strikes; that summer the radicals and striking trades also drew upon and contributed to a shared repertoire of old and new tactics and forms of action.
The International Institute of Social History as a Pawn of Nazi Social Research
Authors: Roth Karl Heinz
Published: December 2008

The 27th of January 1941 was a memorable day in the bizarre history of the Amsterdam International Institute of Social History during the German occupation. Within the scope of activity of his “Office for the Occupied Territories”, NSDAP Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg placed the Lieutenant-Commander and Nazi publisher Eberhard Kautter “in charge” of the IISH: “It is your duty to be responsible for the organizational supervision and the deployment of those staff members who qualify for the utilization of the institute. Your mission is to be carried out in agreement with the head of the Netherlands work group of the task force from my office, Oberbereichsleiter Schirmer.” On the same day, the bustling chief of the self-namedEinsatzstab(task force), in his function as “Commissioner of the Führer for the Supervision of all Mental and Ideological Training and Education”, approached Robert Ley, the Reichsorganisationsleiter of the NSDAP and head of theDeutsche Arbeitsfront(DAF – German Labor Front). He had a letter sent to him that Eberhard Kautter had drafted already in early January and had obviously withheld until Kautter had been named to the post of IISH administrator. Rosenberg reminded Ley that, in a decree from 29 January 1940, Hitler had entrusted him with all of the preparations for the establishment of aHohe Schule(Supreme School), that was to be the “central site of National Socialist research, instruction and education”. Thus, he was “setting up a number of branch institutes of the Supreme School”. Among these was an “academy”, the task of which would be to work out the close connection between the “National SocialistWeltanschauung” and the “practical way of structuring life” both for the present and the future. Now he was contacting him, since Ley was also interested in “the relationship between Weltanschauung and social structuring” in his function as Reichsleiter of the DAF and had certainly run up against similar problems within the scope of the extensive “economic-statistical work” of his office.
Strike Action and Working-Class Politics on Clydeside 1914–1919
Authors: Foster John
Published: December 2008

The record of strike activity on Clydeside is used to explore the interaction between workplace organisation and political attitudes in working-class communities, focussing in particular upon the shipyard labour force in the years immediately preceding the 1919 General Strike. The findings are used to question research by Iain McLean which minimised the political significance of industrial militancy during the period of the Red Clyde and that by Alastair Reid, which argued that the main consequences of wartime industrial experience were to strengthen social democratic perspectives. It is suggested that a limited but significant radicalisation did occur and that this was related to the specific labour relations practices of employers in the west of Scotland and the structural weakness of Clydeside's economy.
The Image of Jesus in the Russian Revolutionary Movement
Authors: Bergman Jay
Published: December 2008

This article explores how Russian revolutionaries, in particular the Russian Marxists, used the image of Jesus to explain their political choices and commitments. These revolutionaries were almost uniformly hostile to institutional Christianity. Yet a number of Russian Marxists, such as Anatolii Lunacharskii, considered Jesus a genuine precursor of socialism. In 1917 many Bolsheviks and Bolshevik sympathizers interpreted the October Revolution in Christian terms, principally as a spiritual resurrection and rebirth. And in 1924, following Lenin's death, some Bolsheviks analogized Lenin to Jesus, and claimed that both were revolutionary martyrs. Finally, the article argues that Russian revolutionaries invested the Russian lower classes with a Christlike virtue, making it easier for the revolutionaries, once in power, to justify everything they did as advancing the interests of these classes.
The Disadvantaged and the Hussite Revolution
Authors: Klassen John
Published: December 2008

The following survey regards the upper nobility, urban patricians and the clergy of medieval Bohemia as the more privileged, and groups such as the gentry, peasants and urban poor and women as the disadvantaged. There were exceptions within each group. The ethical and moral ideals of Hussite leaders addressed social and economic inequalities and gave hope that a society with greater benefits for the disadvantaged was possible. People from all groups participated in the revolution which in the end however did not produce the hoped for community. Economically, socially and politically Hussite society was not that different from the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, ideas such as religious toleration, popular sovereignty, the dignity of the common man and woman and the destructive powers of greed and violence all raised by the Hussites have survived within European civilization.
Beyond Exceptionalism: Notes on the Artisanal Phase of the Labour Movement in France, England, Germany and the United States
Authors: Lenger Friedrich
Published: December 2008

The early labour movements in Western Europe and North America were all dominated by urban artisans, a fact reflected most clearly at the programmatic level by the prominence of demands for producers' cooperatives. This article presents a proposal for and an extremely brief sketch of a comparative investigation of this first phase of the labour movement in England, France, Germany, and the United States. Different aspects of class formation, such as the economic situation of the trades, the social relationships within them, or the role of artisanal and corporate traditions in artisanal politics and trade-union organization, are discussed. Comparative labour history, it is argued, must employ such a theoretical framework, one that allows the integration of the many dimensions of class formation; otherwise it will have to sacrifice whatever progress the last generation of labour historians has achieved.
The Orange Order in Scotland Between the Wars
Authors: Walker Graham
Published: December 2008

This paper focuses on the theme of religious conflict within the working class in inter-war Scotland. It pays particular attention to the Protestant working class of the industrial lowlands and to the role of the exclusively Protestant secret society of Irish origin, the Orange Order. It attempts to explain why the inter-war period saw an upsurge in membership of sectarian organisations like the Orange Order and their activities; and at the same time was notable for a broadening of Labour Party support among the working class which transcended religious divisions. It argues that sectarian and class loyalties often went together and in some ways reinforced each other. The Orange Order leadership's Conservative politics is stressed but it is contended that the Order's appeal to the working class was to a large extent based on issues such as education and mixed marriages and perceived Irish Catholic immigration, issues which did not break down neatly into party political terms. It is argued that the Orange Order's social role was of great significance in this period of economic austerity and mass unemployment.
Clytia hummelincki(Hydroidomedusae: Leptomedusae) in the Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Gravili Cinzia , D'Ambrosio Paolo , Di Camillo Cristina , Renna Giuseppina , Bouillon Jean , Boero Ferdinando
Published: December 2008

The inconspicuous hydrozoanClytia hummelincki, first recorded from the Mediterranean Sea in 1996, is presently widespread throughout the middle Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Two surveys carried out in 2003 and 2004 along the coast of the Salento Peninsula, Italy, showed that this species inhabits a belt between 0.5 and 2 m depth in sea urchin barrens and in areas damaged by date mussel fisheries. The comparison between the two surveys indicates that the frequency of the alien increased from 2003 to 2004. The life cycle ofC. hummelinckiis described for the first time.
Herbivory in small carnivores: benthic hydroids as an example
Authors: Gili Josep-Maria , Duró Alicia , García-Valero Josep , Gasol Josep M. , Rossi Sergio
Published: December 2008

Previous evidence has shown that benthic hydroids capture all kinds of available prey and the only known constraint was prey size. Among the prey captured are phytoplankton cells but it is not known whether they are digested and assimilated. To test the hypothesis that benthic hydroids assimilate phytoplankton cells, a series of feeding experiments was carried out with the Mediterranean speciesEudendrium racemosum. Ingestion rates and assimilation efficiency were determined by analysing the14C incorporated from a labelled population of the diatom speciesThalassiosira weissflogii. Eudendrium racemosumfed onT. weissflogii, after a period of starvation, and with the diatoms as the sole food item. In the presence of approximately 15,000 diatoms ml−1,Eudendriumfed at rates ranging from 16 to 55 diatoms polyp−1hour−1. Accumulation of radioactivity in the hydrocaulus and the polyps of the hydroids were observed. A maximum ingestion of 31.6 diatoms per μgC of polyp (i.e. 175 diatoms per polyp) was observed in the experiments. Most of the diatom14C ingested would have ended up in theEudendriumtissue (efficiency 94%), and it was expected that a certain percentage would have been respired by the polyps. These data show thatEudendriumfeed on phytoplankton, which can satisfy almost 100% of their energy demand when this type of food is sufficiently abundant.
Responsibility and Priority in Liver Transplantation
Authors: GLANNON WALTER
Published: December 2008

In a provocative 1991 paper, Alvin Moss and Mark Siegler argued that it may be fair to give individuals with alcohol-related end-stage liver disease (ARESLD) lower priority for a liver transplant than those who develop end-stage liver disease (ESLD) from other factors. Like other organs, there is a substantial gap between the available livers for transplantation and the number of people who need liver transplants. Yet, unlike those with end-stage renal disease, who can survive for some time on dialysis before receiving a kidney transplant, those with liver failure will die without a liver transplant.
The Health Impact Fund: Boosting Pharmaceutical Innovation Without Obstructing Free Access
Authors: POGGE THOMAS
Published: December 2008

In an earlier piece in these pages,1 I described the health effects of the still massive problem of global poverty: The poor worldwide face greater environmental hazards than the rest of us, from contaminated water, filth, pollution, worms, and insects. They are exposed to greater dangers from people around them, through traffic, crime, communicable diseases, sexual violence, and potential exploitation by the more affluent. They lack means to protect themselves and their families against such hazards, through clean water, nutritious food, satisfactory hygiene, necessary rest, adequate clothing, and safe shelter. They lack the means to enforce their legal rights or to press for political reform.
Schreckensherrschaften und ihre Presse Eine zeitungs-geschichtliche Studie
Authors: Baschwitz Kurt
Published: December 2008

This essay, as a section out of the history of the Newspaper-Press, deals with the collaboration between agitational papers and street-terrorism on the basis of characteristic examples. The author draws a distinction between partial and absolute terrorism. In the case of the former, a minority by means of intimidation with violence, presses the majority and their prominent leaders to political actions which in all human probability they would never have decided upon on their own initiative.

The American War of Independence is quoted as an example, or rather the deeds of violence which, as practised by a radical minority, influenced the course of event.

A sketch is then given of the importance of the American Press, at that time in its infancy, with regard to the political successes of the young government, both at home and abroad.

As an instance of absolute terrorism, the reign of terror of the French Revolution is taken. There the terrorists themselves seized the power. A survey is given of the various agitational papers and their methods, Their development is described up to the institution of a press-dictatorship by Napoleon Bonaparte. Finally the attention is drawn to the causes of the intimidating effect of the War-Press in times of political tension, all of which is based on historical instances taken from the latter half of the 19th century.

The essay endeavours to prove that in social-psychological descriptions it frequently occurs that insufficient attention is paid to the part played by coercion and intimidation.

The periodical press offers adequate information to permit of ascertaining the leading ideas and their modifications during agitated times. At the same time, its pages reveal the modifications in the views of the leading men and their influence on the masses.

Accurate and specialized research on the basis of similar material taken from the history of the Newspaper-Pres, will complete and justify many a theory on mass-passions and mass-disturbances of reason in the field of social psychology.
D'Argenson et la question sociale
Authors: Weill Georges
Published: December 2008

In 1789, d'Argenson (1771–1842) who was a grandson of one of the ministers of Louis XV, embraced the new ideas. For a considerable time he held himself aloof from public life, while conscientiously managing his
extensive estates. All the same he was a “prefét” unter Napoleon. It is only with the Restauration, however, that he started out on his political career. Elected a deputy, he was a member of the leftist opposition, though paying far more attention than his faction to social questions, and particularly to the lot of the peasants whom he had come to know very well. In 1824 he announced the birth of a new science, viz. “the Science of Social Justice”, which was to correct the evils of inequality.

The revolution of 1830 fired him with passionate ardour in the defence of his ideas. He was encouraged, moreover, through his intimate connection with the aged Buonarotti, a friend of Babeuf's.

D'Argenson published a brochure of a revolutionary character entitled Boutades d'un riche à sentiments populaires, and defended this before the jury—by which he was acquitted—and before the Chamber. As he was not re-elected in 1834, he retired to his properties, remaining true to the socialist doctrines, however, up to the end of his life.
Le mouvement ouvrier en France pendant les années 1852—1864 d'après les rapports politiques des procureurs généraux. Documents inédits
Authors: Bernard Paul
Published: December 2008

From the reports of the Solicitor-Generals on the “moral and political conditions”, extracts are being published, which throw a light on the reawakening of the labour movement during the first years of Napoleon the Third's reign.

After a short period of great confusion a sense of solidarity grows up among the working classes in almost every part of the country, but particularly in the growing industrial centres, resulting from the contrast between labour and capital, which feeling often manifests itself in the formation of some or other organization. The working classes rise in opposition against the employers and the State-institutions, in so far as they act as employers, without however constituting a political opposition against the régime itself. Napoleon's general policy, and above all his foreign policy, is often even approved of by the lower classes. The manifestations of this awakening solidarity among the working classes are various: able management of the imperial charitable institutions, coalitions, hunger demonstrations, strikes etc. In times of economic prosperity such practices are little observed, but they become more general in times of economic depression.
The influence of mesoscale eddies on the detection of quasi‐zonal jets in the ocean
Authors: Schlax Michael G. , Chelton Dudley B.
Published: December 2008

Westward propagating Gaussian eddies with statistical characteristics estimated from altimeter observations but with purely random starting locations and times produce striated features in time‐averaged maps of zonal velocity. The striations in these simulations have magnitudes and meridional scales comparable to those reported from time‐averaged altimeter observations and model output in the central North Pacific and the California Current System. Time averages over the data records presently available are therefore not suitable for unambiguous detection of quasi‐zonal jets. The presence of mapping error and background isotropic eddy kinetic energy also bias the regionally‐averaged anisotropy of time averaged velocity fields, thus compromising the interpretation of anisotropy statistics.
Determining the specific microbial populations and their spatial distribution within the stromatolite ecosystem of Shark Bay
Authors: Goh Falicia , Allen Michelle A , Leuko Stefan , Kawaguchi Tomohiro , Decho Alan W , Burns Brendan P , Neilan Brett A
Published: December 2008

The stromatolites at Shark Bay, Western Australia, are analogues of some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth. The aim of this study was to identify and spatially characterize the specific microbial communities associated with Shark Bay intertidal columnar stromatolites. Conventional culturing methods and construction of 16S rDNA clone libraries from community genomic DNA with both universal and specific PCR primers were employed. The estimated coverage, richness and diversity of stromatolite microbial populations were compared with earlier studies on these ecosystems. The estimated coverage for all clone libraries indicated that population coverage was comprehensive. Phylogenetic analyses of stromatolite and surrounding seawater sequences were performed in ARB with the Greengenes database of full-length non-chimaeric 16S rRNA genes. The communities identified exhibited extensive diversity. The most abundant sequences from the stromatolites were α- and γ-proteobacteria (58%), whereas the cyanobacterial community was characterized by sequences related to the genera Euhalothece, Gloeocapsa, Gloeothece, Chroococcidiopsis, Dermocarpella, Acaryochloris, Geitlerinema and Schizothrix. All clones from the archaeal-specific clone libraries were related to the halophilic archaea; however, no archaeal sequence was identified from the surrounding seawater. Fluorescence in situ hybridization also revealed stromatolite surfaces to be dominated by unicellular cyanobacteria, in contrast to the sub-surface archaea and sulphate-reducing bacteria. This study is the first to compare the microbial composition of morphologically similar stromatolites over time and examine the spatial distribution of specific microorganismic groups in these intertidal structures and the surrounding seawater at Shark Bay. The results provide a platform for identifying the key microbial physiology groups and their potential roles in modern stromatolite morphogenesis and ecology.
Thermodynamic targeting of microbial perchlorate reduction by selective electron donors
Authors: Van Trump James Ian , Coates John D
Published: December 2008

Here we describe 2,6-anthrahydroquinone disulfonate (AH2DS) as a model thermodynamically ‘targeting’ electron donor capable of selectively stimulating respiratory processes relevant to the bioremediation of perchlorate. Pure cultures of Dechloromonas aromatica, Dechloromonas agitata and Azospira suillum, as well as uncharacterized microbial consortia, were capable of stoichiometrically reducing perchlorate to chloride upon oxidation of AH2DS to the corresponding quinone 2,6-anthraquinone disulfonate (AQDS). No degradation of the anthraquinone structure was observed, and no organism tested grew by this metabolism. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that AH2DS oxidation should support nitrate and perchlorate reduction, whereas sulfate reduction and methanogenesis are predicted to be unfavorable. Mixed community microcosms oxidizing AH2DS reduced nitrate and perchlorate, whereas sulfate reduction never occurred. In contrast, microcosms amended with acetate respired nitrate, perchlorate and sulfate, as would be predicted by thermodynamic calculation. Our results suggest that the thermodynamic properties of hydroquinones allow for targeted stimulation of only a subset of potential respiratory processes. This observation could help improve enhanced in situ bioremediation of perchlorate by negating many of the detrimental aspects of biofouling.
NAADP-mediated channel ‘chatter’ in neurons of the rat medulla oblongata
Authors: Brailoiu G. Cristina , Brailoiu Eugen , Parkesh Raman , Galione Antony , Churchill Grant C. , Patel Sandip , Dun Nae J.
Published: December 2008

NAADP (nicotinic acid–adenine dinucleotide phosphate) is a potent Ca2+-mobilizing messenger that stimulates Ca2+ release in a variety of cells. NAADP-sensitive Ca2+ channels are thought to reside on acidic Ca2+ stores and to be functionally coupled to IP3 (inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate) and/or ryanodine receptors located on the endoplasmic reticulum. Whether NAADP-sensitive Ca2+ channels ‘chatter’ to other channels, however, is not clear. In the present study, we have used a cell-permeant NAADP analogue to probe NAADP-mediated responses in rat medulla oblongata neurons. NAADP-AM (NAADP-acetoxymethyl ester) evoked global cytosolic Ca2+ signals in isolated neurons that were reduced in amplitude by removal of external Ca2+, abolished by disruption of acidic compartments and substantially inhibited by blockade of ryanodine receptors. In rat medullary slices, NAADP-AM depolarized neurons from the nucleus ambiguus in the presence of intracellular EGTA, but not of the faster Ca2+ chelator BAPTA [1,2-bis-(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetra-acetic acid]. Depolarization was also dependent upon extracellular Ca2+, acidic stores and ryanodine receptors. In voltage-clamp mode, NAADP-AM induced an inward current with a reversal potential of approx. 0 mV. The results of the present study reveal the presence of acidic NAADP-sensitive Ca2+ stores in medulla neurons, the mobilization of which results not only in global Ca2+ signals but also in local signals that activate non-selective cation channels on the cell surface resulting in depolarization. Thus NAADP is capable of co-ordinating channels both within the cell interior and at the cell membrane representing a novel mechanism for excitation of central neurons.
Regulation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II catalysis by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 2B
Authors: Pradeep Kurup K. , Cheriyan John , Suma Priya Sudarsana Devi , Rajeevkumar Raveendran , Mayadevi Madhavan , Praseeda Mullasseril , Omkumar Ramakrishnapillai V.
Published: December 2008

Binding of CaMKII (Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II) to the NR2B subunit of the NMDAR (N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor) in the PSD (postsynaptic density) is essential for the induction of long-term potentiation. In this study, we show that binding of NR2B to the T-site (Thr286-autophosphorylation site binding pocket) of CaMKII regulates its catalysis as reflected in the kinetic parameters. The apparent S0.5 (substrate concentration at half maximal velocity) and Vmax values for ATP were lower for phosphorylation of a GST (glutathione transferase)-fusion of NR2B(1271-1311) (with the phosphorylation site Ser1303) when compared with phosphorylation of the analogous sequence motif from NR2A. The co-operative behaviour exhibited by the CaMKII holoenzyme towards ATP for phosphorylation of GST–NR2A was significantly altered by the interaction with GST–NR2B. Disrupting the T-site-mediated binding by mutagenesis of either NR2B or CaMKII abolished the modulation of CaMKII activity by NR2B. The active site residue of α-CaMKII, Glu96, participates in effecting the modulation. The CaMKII-binding motif of the Drosophila voltage-gated potassium channel Eag interacted with the T-site of CaMKII with lower affinity and caused catalytic modulation to a lesser extent. The kinetic parameters of ATP for the Thr286-autophosphorylation reaction of CaMKII were also altered by NR2B in a similar manner. Interestingly, the NR2B sequence motif caused increased sensitivity of CaMKII activity to ATP, and saturation by lower concentrations of ATP, which, in effect, resulted in a constant level of activity of CaMKII over a broad range of ATP concentrations. Our findings indicate that CaMKII at the PSD may be regulated by bound NR2B in a manner that supports synaptic memories.
A region N-terminal to the tandem SH3 domain of p47phox plays a crucial role in the activation of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase
Authors: Taura Masahiko , Miyano Kei , Minakami Reiko , Kamakura Sachiko , Takeya Ryu , Sumimoto Hideki
Published: December 2008

The superoxide-producing NADPH oxidase in phagocytes is crucial for host defence; its catalytic core is the membrane-integrated protein gp91phox [also known as Nox2 (NADPH oxidase 2)], which forms a stable heterodimer with p22phox. Activation of the oxidase requires membrane translocation of the three cytosolic proteins p47phox, p67phox and the small GTPase Rac. At the membrane, these proteins assemble with the gp91phox–p22phox heterodimer and induce a conformational change of gp91phox, leading to superoxide production. p47phox translocates to membranes using its two tandemly arranged SH3 domains, which directly interact with p22phox, whereas p67phox is recruited in a p47phox-dependent manner. In the present study, we show that a short region N-terminal to the bis-SH3 domain is required for activation of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase. Alanine substitution for Ile152 in this region, a residue that is completely conserved during evolution, results in a loss of the ability to activate the oxidase; and the replacement of Thr153 also prevents oxidase activation, but to a lesser extent. In addition, the corresponding isoleucine residue (Ile155) of the p47phox homologue Noxo1 (Nox organizer 1) participates in the activation of non-phagocytic oxidases, such as Nox1 and Nox3. The I152A substitution in p47phox, however, does not affect its interaction with p22phox or with p67phox. Consistent with this, a mutant p47phox (I152A), as well as the wild-type protein, is targeted upon cell stimulation to membranes, and membrane recruitment of p67phox and Rac normally occurs in p47phox (I152A)-expressing cells. Thus the Ile152-containing region of p47phox plays a crucial role in oxidase activation, probably by functioning at a process after oxidase assembly.
MODELLING THE INFLUENCE OF STRAIN HARDENING AND PLASTIC CONSTRAINT ON CRACK CLOSURE OF ARBITRARILY THICK CCT‐SPECIMENS
Authors: Wang J , Shen YP , Wanlin G
Published: December 2008

The triaxial stress constraint and the effective yield stress distribution in the plastic zone for strain hardening materials are studied, and then a modified strip‐yield model is proposed to investigate the thickness effect of CCT specimens. Consequently, a plastic constraint factor α is defined and analysed in detail. The results show that the factor α can comprehensively account for the influence of thickness, crack length, loading level and hardening exponent. A simple expression for the plastic zone length and a fitting expression involving α are obtained. Application of the modified strip model to Newman’s crack closure model, and comparison with FEM results, show that the model can account for the influence of thickness on crack closure.
Central limit theorem and recurrence for random walks in bistochastic random environments
Authors: Lenci Marco
Published: December 2008

We prove the annealed central limit theorem for random walks in bistochastic random environments on Zd with zero-local drift. The proof is based on a “dynamicist’s interpretation” of the system and requires a much weaker condition than the customary uniform ellipticity. Moreover, recurrence is derived for d≤2.
Self-doping effects in epitaxially grown graphene
Authors: Siegel D. A. , Zhou S. Y. , El Gabaly F. , Fedorov A. V. , Schmid A. K. , Lanzara A.
Published: December 2008

Self-doping in graphene has been studied by examining single-layer epitaxially grown graphene samples with differing characteristic lateral terrace widths. Low energy electron microscopy was used to gain real-space information about the graphene surface morphology, which was compared with data obtained by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the effect of the monolayer graphene terrace width on the low energy dispersions. By altering the graphene terrace width, we report significant changes in the electronic structure and quasiparticle relaxation time of the material, in addition to a terrace width-dependent doping effect.
Subterahertz noise signal generation using a photodetector and wavelength-sliced optical noise signals for spectroscopic measurements
Authors: Song Ho-Jin , Shimizu Naofumi , Furuta Tomofumi , Wakatsuki Atsushi , Nagatsuma Tadao
Published: December 2008

We present a photonic technique for generating a subterahertz time-continuous noise signal, which provides not only fine resolution and a potential for broadband measurements but also a higher output power resulting in high signal to noise ratio for the spectroscopy measurement. To increase the output noise power at subterahertz frequencies, the optical noise is sliced with the arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs), resulting in the power level of −126.1 dBm/Hz at 350 GHz, which is approximately 17 dB higher than that without the AWGs. Using the implemented subterahertz noise signal source, we demonstrate a simple spectroscopic measurement of the H2O absorption line at around 380 GHz.
Quantum electron-acoustic double layers in a magnetoplasma
Authors: Misra A. P. , Samanta S.
Published: December 2008

Using a quantum magnetohydrodynamic (QMHD) model, the existence of small but finite amplitude quantum electron-acoustic double layers (QEADLs) is reported in a magnetized collisionless dense quantum plasma whose constituents are two distinct groups of cold and hot electrons, and the stationary ions forming only the neutralizing background. It is shown that the existence of steady state solutions of these double layers obtained from an extended Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation depends parametrically on the ratio of the cold to hot electron unperturbed number density (δ), the quantum diffraction parameter (H), the obliqueness parameter (lz), and the external magnetic field via the normalized electron-cyclotron frequency (Ω). It is found that the system supports both compressive and rarefactive double layers depending on the parameters δ and lz. The effects of all these parameters on the profiles of the double layers are also examined numerically.
Charge transport and glassy dynamics in imidazole-based liquids
Authors: Iacob C. , Sangoro J. R. , Serghei A. , Naumov S. , Korth Y. , Kärger J. , Friedrich C. , Kremer F.
Published: December 2008

Broadband dielectric spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, rheology, and pulsed field gradient–nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG NMR) are combined to study glassy dynamics and charge transport in a homologous series of imidazole-based liquids with systematic variation of the alkyl chain length. The dielectric spectra are interpreted in terms of dipolar relaxation and a conductivity contribution. By applying the Einstein, Einstein–Smoluchowski, and Stokes–Einstein relations, translational diffusion coefficients—in quantitative agreement with PFG NMR measurements—are obtained. With increasing alkyl chain length, it is observed that the viscosity increases, whereas the structural α-relaxation rate decreases, in accordance with Maxwell’s relation. Between the rate ωe of electrical relaxation and the rate ωα of the structural α-relaxation, scaling is observed over more than six decades with a decoupling index of about 2.
Polarization switching in epitaxial films of BaTiO3: A molecular dynamics study
Authors: Paul Jaita , Nishimatsu Takeshi , Kawazoe Yoshiyuki , Waghmare Umesh V.
Published: December 2008

We use molecular dynamics simulations with a first-principles model Hamiltonian to study polarization switching in ultrathin epitaxial films of BaTiO3 sandwiched by ideal electrodes as a function of temperature and epitaxial strain. We find that the coercive fields of polarization switching reduce with tensile epitaxial strain and as temperature increases up to the transition, and depend sensitively on the nature of the epitaxial constraint. Our results should be directly relevant to the design of high frequency ferroelectric random access memories made with ultrathin epitaxial ferroelectric films.
Microporous inorganic membranes for high temperature hydrogen purification
Authors: Dong Junhang , Lin Y. S. , Kanezashi Masakoto , Tang Zhong
Published: December 2008

The general mechanisms of gas separation in microporous inorganic membranes are reviewed in this article. Emphasis has been placed on discussing the requirements of membrane pore structure and material properties for high temperature hydrogen separation from other small gases involved in processes of hydrogen production from fossil fuels. The recent research progresses in developing the crystalline zeolite membranes, and amorphous silica-based membranes for high temperature hydrogen separation are critically reviewed. The fundamental issues associated with the zeolite and silica membranes relevant to the practical applications are analyzed based on the relationships between the separation performance and membrane structural and chemical properties.
Micron-scale width multislot plasma cathode
Authors: Yarmolich D. , Vekselman V. , Gurovich V. Tz. , Gleizer J. Z. , Felsteiner J. , Krasik Ya. E.
Published: December 2008

High-current electron beam (∼1.5kA, ∼30A∕cm2, ∼200keV, ∼300ns) generation in a diode with a micron-scale width multislot cathode is reported. The cathode operation is based on plasma formation inside slots formed by a stack of glass plates interlaid with 25μm Cu foils. It was shown that the plasma formation is initiated at the beginning of the accelerating pulse with electric field ⩽104V∕cm. The plasma density and temperature were found to be ∼1015cm3 and ∼7eV inside the slots and ∼1014cm−3 and ∼7eV at the vicinity of the slots output. The dependence of the plasma parameters inside the slots upon the slot’s width as well as the control of the extracted electron beam parameters by varying the slot’s width and the distance between slots have been studied.
Interaction of a thin shock with turbulence. I. Effect on shock structure: Analytic model
Authors: Ao Xianzhi , Zank Gary P. , Pogorelov Nikolai V. , Shaikh Dastgeer
Published: December 2008

A two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical model describing the interaction of thin shock waves with turbulence is developed by adopting a multiscale perturbation analysis. The interaction is found to be governed by a two-dimensional inviscid Burgers’ equation that includes “perturbation terms.” Initially prescribed perturbation profiles are explored with numerical simulations to show how the shock front is modified by turbulence. Our numerical simulations show that magnetic field perturbations play a very important role in modifying the structure of perpendicular and parallel shocks. While turbulence can balance the nonlinear steepening of a shock wave at some regions, it can also help to create a larger jump in physical quantities such as the magnetic field at other regions. The plasma medium in these regions can therefore experience a higher compression, which will result in a downstream state that differs from the usual Rankine–Hugoniot state.
Stress induced cracks in carbon black filled elastomers probed by atomic force microscopy
Authors: Mdarhri A. , Elies P. , Brosseau C.
Published: December 2008

In the current study, carbon black (CB) filled ethylene butylacrylate copolymer samples, which are submitted to a uniaxial creep, are probed with a sub-100-nm spatial resolution using atomic force microscopy in tapping mode. We demonstrate the significant effect of the long-time application of stress, at low strain amplitude well below the breaking threshold, on the crack occurrence along the interfaces between polymer and CB aggregates. The data analysis indicates a log-normal distribution of crack width whose average value follows an exponential saturation as a function of aging time. A possible model realizing this behavior is the rate dependent theory of fracture for polymers.
Improvement of fatigue resistance for multilayer lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-based ceramic actuators by external mechanical loads
Authors: Yang Gang , Yue Zhenxing , Ji Ye , Chu Xiangcheng , Li Longtu
Published: December 2008

The influence of external compressive loads, applied along a direction perpendicular to polarization, on fatigue behaviors of multilayer lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-based ceramic actuators was investigated. Under no external mechanical load, a normal fatigue behavior was observed, demonstrating that both switching polarization (Pswitching) and remnant polarization (Pr) progressively decreased with increasing switching cycles due to domain pinning by charge point defects. However, an anomalous enhancement in both switching and remnant polarizations was observed upon application of the external compressive loads. After 5×106 cycles of polarization switching, Pswitching and Pr increase by about 13% and 6% at 40 MPa, respectively, while Pswitching and Pr increase by about 11% and 21% at 60 MPa, respectively. The improvement of fatigue resistance can be attributed to non-180° domain switching and suppression of microcracking, triggered by external mechanical loads.
Synthesis of self-assembled monodisperse 3 nm FePd nanoparticles: Phase transition, magnetic study, and surface effect
Authors: Gajbhiye Namdeo S. , Sharma Sachil , Ningthoujam Raghumani S.
Published: December 2008

Self-assembled monodisperse 3 nm face centered cubic (fcc) FePd particles are synthesized by modified polyol method using polyethylene glycol-600 as a reducing agent and oleic acid and oleyl amine as surfactants. As-synthesized FePd nanoparticles are superparamagnetic at room temperature and ferromagnetic below blocking temperature (TB=21 K). The significant enhancement in saturation magnetization is observed at 5 K. This is attributed to surface effect for 3 nm size particles. The nanoparticles are spherical with uniform dispersion as depicted in transmission electron microscopy study. The noninteracting behavior of as-synthesized FePd nanoparticles is verified through Langevin fit. The saturation magnetization (σs) and mean moment of (μm) particles are computed to be σs=22.73 emu/g and μm=4466μB, respectively. The ordered face centered tetragonal (fct) phase of composition Fe43Pd57 was obtained from disordered fcc FePd phase by annealing at 550 °C for 1 h under reducing atmosphere of (N2+H2) gas. The hard magnetic fct Fe43Pd57 phase exhibits high coercivity Hc=1180 Oe, saturation magnetization σs=65.2 emu/g, and hysteresis loop area of 1.5×106 erg/cm3 at 300 K.
Optical properties of ZnO and MgZnO nanocrystals below and at the phase separation range
Authors: Morrison John L. , Huso Jesse , Hoeck Heather , Casey Erin , Mitchell James , Bergman Leah , Norton M. Grant
Published: December 2008

This paper presents studies of the optical properties of MgxZn1−xO nanocrystals below and at the phase transition range where the solubility is limited. For the nanocrystals of Mg composition 0%–30%, the samples were found to consist of the wurtzite structure and exhibited band edge absorption as well as photoluminescence (PL) blueshift of ∼0.25 eV. The cold temperature PL of the ZnO nanocrystals exhibits the A-exciton and the bound exciton with values similar to that of the bulk ZnO reference sample. In addition, the PL of the ZnO nanocrystals was found to be dominated by an emission, referred to as the ε-PL, at ∼3.32 eV that is ∼56 meV below the A-exciton. The characteristics of the ε-PL agree well with model calculations of an emission that involves a transition of conduction-band electrons to acceptorlike states having an acceptor binding energy of ∼116 meV. The room temperature PL exhibited a strong exciton component, which is convoluted with the ε-PL. The PL line shapes of the MgxZn1−xO samples of Mg composition ranging from 3% up to 30% were found to exhibit the inherent alloy broadening, which masks the excitonic emissions. For samples at the Mg composition range of 40%–50%, the PL exhibited multiple emission peaks at a wide range of the UV spectrum starting from ∼3.22 eV, which is that of ZnO, up to 4 eV. Additionally, the x-ray diffraction of these samples was found to have diffractions corresponding to the wurtzite as well as to the cubic structures. The results for higher Mg composition imply that the nanoalloys have the onset of phase separation at Mg composition of ∼40%.
Enhanced electron field emission from single-crystalline LaB6 nanowires with ambient temperature
Authors: Xu J. Q. , Zhao Y. M. , Zhang Q. Y.
Published: December 2008

Large-scale single-crystalline LaB6 nanowires have been fabricated via a catalysis-free vapor phase method using La and BCl3 as starting materials. These nanowires exhibit a low field-emission turn on (4.62 V/μm at 10 μA/cm2) and high current density. The turn-on field is found to decrease clearly from 4.62 to 3.41 V/μm, while the estimated field enhancement factor increases from 405 to 723 with increasing the ambient temperature from room temperature to 573 K. The field enhancement factor, emission current density, and the dependence of the effective work function with temperature have been investigated, and we have tried to explain the temperature-dependent emission mechanism.
Molecular dynamics simulation of backflow generation in nematic liquid crystals
Authors: Sunarso Alfeus , Tsuji Tomohiro , Chono Shigeomi
Published: December 2008

The mechanism of backflow generation in nematic liquid crystals under the application of an electric field is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation, and the roles of intermolecular interaction in the generation of bulk velocity are investigated. It is confirmed that the reorientation of molecules by the application of an electromagnetic field induces a transient “S-shaped” bulk velocity profile. The rotation and rearrangement of molecules during the reorientation process generate a local bulk velocity gradient.