East of Suez and the imaginary tangles of space and self

Drawing on postcolonial studies and the theorization on imperial gothic, this paper centres on three texts: The Hosts of the Lord (1900) by Flora Annie Steel; East of Suez (1901) by Alice Perrin, and The Way of an Eagle (1912)by Ethel Dell. These three texts highlight in different ways the discursive mediation of the Other and its destabilizing effects on the identity of the European-minded colonizer, thus foregrounding the multifarious nature of the British imaginative engagement with India. In this context, it is particularly relevant to examine the political and ideological implications of representing anywhere East of Suez as a locus of primitivism and chaos vis-à-vis the colonizer’s ambivalent reactions. Thus we seek to demonstrate the power of two distinct practices or modes of representation – namely, the power of a metaphorical discourse versus metonymic discourse- within the proces of constructing the East for a vast Western readership.

Thick dyke emplacement and internal flow: A structural and magnetic fabric study of the deep-seated dolerite dyke of Foum Zguid (southern Morocco)

Knowledge on forced magma injection and magma flow in dykes is crucial for the understanding of how magmas migrate through the crust to the Earth's surface. Because many questions still persist, we used the long, thick, and deep-seated Foum Zguid dyke (Morocco) to investigate dyke emplacement and internal flow by means of magnetic methods, structural analysis, petrography, and scanning electron microscopy. We also investigated how the host rocks accommodated the intrusion. Regarding internal flow: 1. Important variations of the rock magnetic properties and magnetic fabric occur with distance from dyke wall; 2. anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization reveals that anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) results mainly from the superposition of subfabrics with distinct coercivities and that the imbrication between magnetic foliation and dyke plane is more reliable to deduce flow than the orientation of the AMS maximum principal axis; and 3. a dominant upward flow near the margins can be inferred. The magnetic fabric closest to the dyke wall likely records magma flow best due to fast cooling, whereas in the core the magnetic properties have been affected by high-temperature exsolution and metasomatic effects due to slow cooling. Regarding dyke emplacement, this study shows that the thick forceful intrusion induced deformation by homogeneous flattening and/or folding of the host sedimentary strata. Dewatering related to heat, as recorded by thick quartz veins bordering the dyke in some localities, may have also helped accommodating dyke intrusion. The spatial arrangement of quartz veins and their geometrical relationship with the dyke indicate a preintrusive to synintrusive sinistral component of strike slip.

Filling and wetting transitions of nematic liquid crystals on sinusoidal substrates

Close to sinusoidal substrates, simple fluids may undergo a filling transition, in which the fluid passes from a dry to a filled state, where the interface remains unbent but bound to the substrate. Increasing the surface field, the interface unbinds and a wetting transition occurs. We show that this double-transition sequence may be strongly modified in the case of ordered fluids, such as nematic liquid crystals. Depending on the preferred orientation of the nematic molecules at the structured substrate and at the isotropic-nematic interface, the filling transition may not exist, and the fluid passes directly from a dry to a complete-wet state, with the interface far from the substrate. More interestingly, in other situations, the complete wetting transition may be prevented, and the fluid passes from a dry to a filled state, and remains in this configuration, with the interface always attached to the substrate, even for very large surface fields. Both transitions are observed only for a same substrate in a narrow range of amplitudes.

Structural characterization and immunogenicity in wildtype and immune tolerant mice of degraded recombinant human interferon alpha2b

Purpose - To study the influence of protein structure on the immunogenicity in wildtype and immune tolerant mice of well-characterized degradation products of recombinant human interferon alpha2b (rhIFNα2b). Methods - RhIFNα2b was degraded by metal catalyzed oxidation (M), crosslinking with glutaraldehyde (G), oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (H) and incubation in a boiling water bath (B). The products were characterized with UV absorption, circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, reversed-phase HPLC, SDS-PAGE, Western blotting and mass spectrometry. The immunogenicity of the products was evaluated in wildtype mice and in transgenic mice immune tolerant for hIFNα2. Serum antibodies were detected by ELISA or surface plasmon resonance. Results - M-rhIFNα2b contained covalently aggregated rhIFNα2b with three methionines partly oxidized to methionine sulfoxides. G-rhIFNα2b contained covalent aggregates and did not show changes in secondary structure. H-rhIFNα2b was only chemically changed with four partly oxidized methionines. B-rhIFNα2b was largely unfolded and heavily aggregated. Native (N) rhIFNα2b was immunogenic in the wildtype mice but not in the transgenic mice, showing that the latter were immune tolerant for rhIFNα2b. The antirhIFNα2b antibody levels in the wildtype mice depended on the degradation product: M-rhIFNα2b > H-rhIFNα2b ~ N-rhIFNα2b >> B-rhIFNα2b; G-rhIFNα2b did not induce anti-rhIFNα2b antibodies. In the transgenic mice, only M-rhIFNα2b could break the immune tolerance. Conclusions - RhIFNα2b immunogenicity is related to its structural integrity. Moreover, the immunogenicity of aggregated rhIFNα2b depends on the structure and orientation of the constituent protein molecules and/or on the aggregate size.

Structural characterization and immunogenicity in wild-type and immune tolerant mice of degraded recombinant human interferon Alpha2b

Purpose: This study was conducted to study the influence of protein structure on the immunogenicity in wild-type and immune tolerant mice of well-characterized degradation products of recombinant human interferon alpha2b (rhIFNα2b). Methods: RhIFNα2b was degraded by metal-catalyzed oxidation (M), cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (G), oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (H), and incubation in a boiling water bath (B). The products were characterized with UV absorption, circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blotting, and mass spectrometry. The immunogenicity of the products was evaluated in wild-type mice and in transgenic mice immune tolerant for hIFNα2. Serum antibodies were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or surface plasmon resonance. Results: M-rhIFNα2b contained covalently aggregated rhIFNα2b with three methionines partly oxidized to methionine sulfoxides. G-rhIFNα2b contained covalent aggregates and did not show changes in secondary structure. H-rhIFNα2b was only chemically changed with four partly oxidized methionines. B-rhIFNα2b was largely unfolded and heavily aggregated. Nontreated (N) rhIFNα2b was immunogenic in the wild-type mice but not in the transgenic mice, showing that the latter were immune tolerant for rhIFNα2b. The anti-rhIFNα2b antibody levels in the wild-type mice depended on the degradation product: M-rhIFNα2b > H-rhIFNα2b ∼ N-rhIFNα2b ≫ B-rhIFNα2b; G-rhIFNα2b did not induce anti-rhIFNα2b antibodies. In the transgenic mice, only M-rhIFNα2b could break the immune tolerance. Conclusions: RhIFNα2b immunogenicity is related to its structural integrity. Moreover, the immunogenicity of aggregated rhIFNα2b depends on the structure and orientation of the constituent protein molecules and/or on the aggregate size.

A cellulose liquid crystal motor: a steam engine of the second kind

The salient feature of liquid crystal elastomers and networks is strong coupling between orientational order and mechanical strain. Orientational order can be changed by a wide variety of stimuli, including the presence of moisture. Changes in the orientation of constituents give rise to stresses and strains, which result in changes in sample shape. We have utilized this effect to build soft cellulose-based motor driven by humidity. The motor consists of a circular loop of cellulose film, which passes over two wheels. When humid air is present near one of the wheels on one side of the film, with drier air elsewhere, rotation of the wheels results. As the wheels rotate, the humid film dries. The motor runs so long as the difference in humidity is maintained. Our cellulose liquid crystal motor thus extracts mechanical work from a difference in humidity.

Interpretation of gravity data to delineate structural features connected to low-temperature geothermal resources at Northeastern Portugal

A great number of low-temperature geothermal fields occur in Northern-Portugal related to fractured rocks. The most important superficial manifestations of these hydrothermal systems appear in pull-apart tectonic basins and are strongly conditioned by the orientation of the main fault systems in the region. This work presents the interpretation of gravity gradient maps and 3D inversion model produced from a regional gravity survey. The horizontal gradients reveal a complex fault system. The obtained 3D model of density contrast puts into evidence the main fault zone in the region and the depth distribution of the granitic bodies. Their relationship with the hydrothermal systems supports the conceptual models elaborated from hydrochemical and isotopic water analyses. This work emphasizes the importance of the role of the gravity method and analysis to better understand the connection between hydrothermal systems and the fractured rock pattern and surrounding geology. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The nature of the ordered phase of the confined self-assembled rigid Rod model

We investigate the nature of the ordered phase and the orientational correlations between adjacent layers of the confined three-dimensional self-assembled rigid rod model, on the cubic lattice. We find that the ordered phase at finite temperatures becomes uniaxial in the thermodynamic limit, by contrast to the ground state (partial) order where the orientation of the uncorrelated layers is perpendicular to one of the three lattice directions. The increase of the orientational correlation between layers as the number of layers increases suggests that the unconfined model may also exhibit uniaxial ordering at finite temperatures.

Multiobjective optimization of cold-formed steel columns

The optimal design of cold-formed steel columns is addressed in this paper, with two objectives: maximize the local-global buckling strength and maximize the distortional buckling strength. The design variables of the problem are the angles of orientation of cross-section wall elements the thickness and width of the steel sheet that forms the cross-section are fixed. The elastic local, distortional and global buckling loads are determined using Finite Strip Method (CUFSM) and the strength of cold-formed steel columns (with given length) is calculated using the Direct Strength Method (DSM). The bi-objective optimization problem is solved using the Direct MultiSearch (DMS) method, which does not use any derivatives of the objective functions. Trade-off Pareto optimal fronts are obtained separately for symmetric and anti-symmetric cross-section shapes. The results are analyzed and further discussed, and some interesting conclusions about the individual strengths (local-global and distortional) are found.

Magma flow pattern in dykes of the Azores revealed by ansiotropy of magnetic susceptibility

The localization of magma melting areas at the lithosphere bottom in extensional volcanic domains is poorly understood. Large polygenetic volcanoes of long duration and their associated magma chambers suggest that melting at depth may be focused at specific points within the mantle. To validate the hypothesis that the magma feeding a mafic crust, comes from permanent localized crustal reservoirs, it is necessary to map the fossilized magma flow within the crustal planar intrusions. Using the AMS, we obtain magmatic flow vectors from 34 alkaline basaltic dykes from São Jorge, São Miguel and Santa Maria islands in the Azores Archipelago, a hot-spot related triple junction. The dykes contain titanomagnetite showing a wide spectrum of solid solution ranging from Ti-rich to Ti-poor compositions with vestiges of maghemitization. Most of the dykes exhibit a normal magnetic fabric. The orientation of the magnetic lineation k1 axis is more variable than that of the k3 axis, which is generally well grouped. The dykes of São Jorge and São Miguel show a predominance of subhorizontal magmatic flows. In Santa Maria the deduced flow pattern is less systematic changing from subhorizontal in the southern part of the island to oblique in north. These results suggest that the ascent of magma beneath the islands of Azores is predominantly over localized melting sources and then collected within shallow magma chambers. According to this concept, dykes in the upper levels of the crust propagate laterally away from these magma chambers thus feeding the lava flows observed at the surface.