Quantum control of photodissociation using intense, femtosecond pulses shaped with third order dispersion

We demonstrate the ability to control the molecular dissociation rate using femtosecond pulses shaped with third-order dispersion (TOD). Explicitly, a significant 50% enhancement in the dissociation yield for the low lying vibrational levels (v ∼ 6) of an H+2 ion-beam target was measured as a function of TOD. The underlying mechanism responsible for this enhanced dissociation was theoretically identified as non-adiabatic alignment induced by the pre-pulses situated on the leading edge of pulses shaped with negative TOD. This control scheme is expected to work in other molecules as it does not rely on specific characteristics of our test-case H+2 molecule.

Species composition of coastal dune vegetation in Scotland has proved resistant to climate change over a third of a century

Climate change is expected to have an impact on plant communities as increased temperatures are expected to drive individual species' distributions polewards. The results of a revisitation study after c. 34years of 89 coastal sites in Scotland, UK, were examined to assess the degree of shifts in species composition that could be accounted for by climate change. There was little evidence for either species retreat northwards or for plots to become more dominated by species with a more southern distribution. At a few sites where significant change occurred, the changes were accounted for by the invasion, or in one instance the removal, of woody species. Also, the vegetation types that showed the most sensitivity to change were all early successional types and changes were primarily the result of succession rather than climate-driven changes. Dune vegetation appears resistant to climate change impacts on the vegetation, either as the vegetation is inherently resistant to change, management prevents increased dominance of more southerly species or because of dispersal limitation to geographically isolated sites.

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Annual report of the Audubon Society of South Carolina, 1 January 1910, discusses fish and game laws, bird species found in the state of South Carolina, the effects of insects on local crops, and membership information. Report also includes a color illustration of a mockingbird on the inside of the front cover.

Catalogue of the articles on exhibition, at the fair of the South-Carolina Institute, third annual fair, November 18, 1851

This document contains a catalogue of the articles on exhibition at the 1851 annual fair of the South Carolina Institute. It includes 432 items exhibited at the fair in Charleston.

Variety of Media Systems in Third-Wave Democracies

The number of comparative studies in the field of political communication increased considerably after Daniel Hallin and Paolo Mancini's publication of comparing Media systems. In this book, four dimensions are used to distinguish between the media environments in western countries around the year 2000: press market development, parallelism between parties and media outlets, state intervention in the realm of media, and levels of journalist professionalization. The authors conclude that in western Europe and North America three types of media systems coexisted: a polarized pluralist model (in southern Europe), a democratic corporatist model (in scandinavia and some western European countries), and a liberal model (Canada, USA, Ireland, and the UK). Within this framework, both Portugal and Spain are described as polarized pluralist media systems, given their weak press markets and low patterns of journalistic professionalization, as well as strong state intervention in the realm of media and parallelism between media outlets and political parties.

Sigma Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia presents Northwest Composers in their Third Annual Symposium of Original Compositions, 1942

Concert Program for Sigma Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia presents Northwest Composers in their Third Annual Symposium of Original Compositions, 1942

Seasonal patterns of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in digestive gland and arm of octopus (Octopus vulgaris) from the Northwest Atlantic

Among organic pollutants existing in coastal areas, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are of great concern due to their ubiquity and carcinogenic potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seasonal patterns of PAHs in the digestive gland and arm of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) from the Northwest Atlantic Portuguese coast. In the different seasons, 18 PAHs were determined and the detoxification capacity of the species was evaluated. Ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) and ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (ECOD) activities were measured to assess phase I biotransformation capacity. Individual PAH ratios were used for major source (pyrolytic/petrogenic) analysis. Risks for human consumption were determined by the total toxicity equivalence approach. Generally, low levels of PAHs were detected in the digestive gland and in the arm of octopus, with a predominance of low molecular over high molecular weight compounds. PAHs exhibited seasonality in the concentrations detected and in their main emission sources. In the digestive gland, the highest total PAH levels were observed in autumn possibly related to fat availability in the ecosystem and food intake. The lack of PAH elimination observed in the digestive gland after captivity could be possibly associated to a low biotransformation capacity, consistent with the negligible/undetected levels of EROD and ECOD activity in the different seasons. The emission sources of PAHs found in the digestive gland varied from a petrogenic profile observed in winter to a pyrolytic pattern in spring. In the arm, the highest PAH contents were observed in June; nevertheless, levels were always below the regulatory limits established for food consumption. The carcinogenic potential calculated for all the sampling periods in the arm were markedly lower than the ones found in various aquatic species from different marine environments. The results presented in this study give relevant baseline data for environmental monitoring of organic pollution in coastal areas.

Hematopoiesis in the Drosophila larva: beyond the lymph gland

All coelomate animals possess a population of cells that do not make part of an organ and instead freely flow inside the body cavity. These cells, termed hemocytes (in invertebrates) or blood cells (in vertebrates), are involved in varied functions including immune response, clearance of apoptotic cells and distribution of nutrient and gases (Grigorian & Hartenstein 2013).(...)

Breaking Down and Breaking Out: Beckett’s ‘Absolute Liminality’ in the Third Age of Capitalist Traumas

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Fundação Millennium bcp

The use of mannan antigen and anti-mannan antibodies in the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis: recommendations from the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia.

INTRODUCTION: Timely diagnosis of invasive candidiasis (IC) remains difficult as the clinical presentation is not specific and blood cultures lack sensitivity and need a long incubation time. Thus, non-culture-based methods for diagnosing IC have been developed. Mannan antigen (Mn) and anti-mannan antibodies (A-Mn) are present in patients with IC. On behalf of the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia, the performance of these tests was analysed and reviewed. METHODS: The literature was searched for studies using the commercially available sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Platelia™, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) for detecting Mn and A-Mn in serum. The target condition of this review was IC defined according to 2008 European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycoses Study Group criteria. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratios (DOR) were calculated for Mn, A-Mn and combined Mn/A-Mn testing. RESULTS: Overall, 14 studies that comprised 453 patients and 767 controls were reviewed. The patient populations included in the studies were mainly haematological and cancer cases in seven studies and mainly intensive care unit and surgery cases in the other seven studies. All studies but one were retrospective in design. Mn sensitivity was 58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 53-62); specificity, 93% (95% CI, 91-94) and DOR, 18 (95% CI 12-28). A-Mn sensitivity was 59% (95% CI, 54-65); specificity, 83% (95% CI, 79-97) and DOR, 12 (95% CI 7-21). Combined Mn/A-Mn sensitivity was 83% (95% CI, 79-87); specificity, 86% (95% CI, 82-90) and DOR, 58 (95% CI 27-122). Significant heterogeneity of the studies was detected. The sensitivity of both Mn and A-Mn varied for different Candida species, and it was the highest for C. albicans, followed by C. glabrata and C. tropicalis. In 73% of 45 patients with candidemia, at least one of the serological tests was positive before the culture results, with mean time advantage being 6 days for Mn and 7 days for A-Mn. In 21 patients with hepatosplenic IC, 18 (86%) had Mn or A-Mn positive test results at a median of 16 days before radiological detection of liver or spleen lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Mn and A-Mn are useful for diagnosis of IC. The performance of combined Mn/A-Mn testing is superior to either Mn or A-Mn testing.

Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) inhibition transforms human mammary gland epithelial cells.

Carriers of mutations in the cell cycle checkpoint protein kinase ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), which represent 1-2% of the general population, have an increased risk of breast cancer. However, experimental evidence that ATM deficiency contributes to human breast carcinogenesis is lacking. We report here that in MCF-10A and MCF-12A cells, which are well established normal human mammary gland epithelial cell models, partial or almost complete stable ATM silencing or pharmacological inhibition resulted in cellular transformation, genomic instability, and formation of dysplastic lesions in NOD/SCID mice. These effects did not require the activity of exogenous DNA-damaging agents and were preceded by an unsuspected and striking increase in cell proliferation also observed in primary human mammary gland epithelial cells. Increased proliferation correlated with a dramatic, transient, and proteasome-dependent reduction of p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p27(KIP1) protein levels, whereas little or no effect was observed on p21(WAF1/CIP1) or p27(KIP1) mRNAs. p21(WAF1/CIP1) silencing also increased MCF-10A cell proliferation, thus identifying p21(WAF1/CIP1) down-regulation as a mediator of the proliferative effect of ATM inhibition. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that ATM is a human breast tumor suppressor. In addition, they mirror the sensitivity of ATM tumor suppressor function and unveil a new mechanism by which ATM might prevent human breast tumorigenesis, namely a direct inhibitory effect on the basal proliferation of normal mammary epithelial cells.

Marginal/minority popular music : the concept of the "third space" and the case for "hybridities" of cultures/identities /

The topic of this thesis is marginaVminority popular music and the question of identity; the term "marginaVminority" specifically refers to members of racial and cultural minorities who are socially and politically marginalized. The thesis argument is that popular music produced by members of cultural and racial minorities establishes cultural identity and resists racist discourse. Three marginaVminority popular music artists and their songs have been chosen for analysis in support of the argument: Gil Scott-Heron's "Gun," Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" and Robbie Robertson's "Sacrifice." The thesis will draw from two fields of study; popular music and postcolonialism. Within the area of popular music, Theodor Adorno's "Standardization" theory is the focus. Within the area of postcolonialism, this thesis concentrates on two specific topics; 1) Stuart Hall's and Homi Bhabha's overlapping perspectives that identity is a process of cultural signification, and 2) Homi Bhabha's concept of the "Third Space." For Bhabha (1995a), the Third Space defines cultures in the moment of their use, at the moment of their exchange. The idea of identities arising out of cultural struggle suggests that identity is a process as opposed to a fixed center, an enclosed totality. Cultures arise from historical memory and memory has no center. Historical memory is de-centered and thus cultures are also de-centered, they are not enclosed totalities. This is what Bhabha means by "hybridity" of culture - that cultures are not unitary totalities, they are ways of knowing and speaking about a reality that is in constant flux. In this regard, the language of "Otherness" depends on suppressing or marginalizing the productive capacity of culture in the act of enunciation. The Third Space represents a strategy of enunciation that disrupts, interrupts and dislocates the dominant discursive construction of US and THEM, (a construction explained by Hall's concept of binary oppositions, detailed in Chapter 2). Bhabha uses the term "enunciation" as a linguistic metaphor for how cultural differences are articulated through discourse and thus how differences are discursively produced. Like Hall, Bhabha views culture as a process of understanding and of signification because Bhabha sees traditional cultures' struggle against colonizing cultures as transforming them. Adorno's theory of Standardization will be understood as a theoretical position of Western authority. The thesis will argue that Adorno's theory rests on the assumption that there is an "essence" to music, an essence that Adorno rationalizes as structure/form. The thesis will demonstrate that constructing music as possessing an essence is connected to ideology and power and in this regard, Adorno's Standardization theory is a discourse of White Western power. It will be argued that "essentialism" is at the root of Western "rationalization" of music, and that the definition of what constitutes music is an extension of Western racist "discourses" of the Other. The methodological framework of the thesis entails a) applying semiotics to each of the three songs examined and b) also applying Bhabha's model of the Third Space to each of the songs. In this thesis, semiotics specifically refers to Stuart Hall's retheorized semiotics, which recognizes the dual function of semiotics in the analysis of marginal racial/cultural identities, i.e., simultaneously represent embedded racial/cultural stereotypes, and the marginal raciaVcultural first person voice that disavows and thus reinscribes stereotyped identities. (Here, and throughout this thesis, "first person voice" is used not to denote the voice of the songwriter, but rather the collective voice of a marginal racial/cultural group). This dual function fits with Hall's and Bhabha's idea that cultural identity emerges out of cultural antagonism, cultural struggle. Bhabha's Third Space is also applied to each of the songs to show that cultural "struggle" between colonizers and colonized produces cultural hybridities, musically expressed as fusions of styles/sounds. The purpose of combining semiotics and postcolonialism in the three songs to be analyzed is to show that marginal popular music, produced by members of cultural and racial minorities, establishes cultural identity and resists racist discourse by overwriting identities of racial/cultural stereotypes with identities shaped by the first person voice enunciated in the Third Space, to produce identities of cultural hybridities. Semiotic codes of embedded "Black" and "Indian" stereotypes in each song's musical and lyrical text will be read and shown to be overwritten by the semiotic codes of the first person voice, which are decoded with the aid of postcolonial concepts such as "ambivalence," "hybridity" and "enunciation."

The shifting terrain of feminist theory and activism : university-based women's centres and third wave feminism

This thesis, based on the results of an organizational ethnography of a university-based feminist organization in Southern Ontario (the Centre), traces how third wave feminism is being constituted in the goals, initiatives, mandate, organizational structure, and overall culture of university-based feminist organizations. I argue that, from its inception, the meanings and goals of the Centre have been contested through internal critique, reflection, and discussion inspired by significant shifts in feminist theory that challenge the fundamental principles of second wave feminism. I identify a major shift in the development and direction of the Centre that occurs in two distinct phases. The first phase of the shift occurs with the emergence of an antioppression framework, which broadens the Centre's mandate beyond gender and sexism to consider multiple axes of identity and oppression that affect women's lives. The second phase of this shift is characterized by a focus on (trans) inclusion and accessibility and has involved changing the Centre's name so that it is no longer identified as a women's centre in order to reflect more accurately its focus on mUltiple axes of identity and oppression. Along with identifying two phases of a major shift in the direction of the Centre, I trace two discourses about its development. The dominant discourse of the Centre's development is one of progress and evolution. The dominant discourse characterizes the Centre as a dynamic feminist organization that consistently strives to be more inclusive and diverse. The reverse discourse undermines the dominant discourse by emphasizing that, despite the Centre's official attempts to be inclusive and to build diversity, little has actually changed, leaving women of colour marginalized in the Centre's dominant culture of whiteness. This research reveals that, while many of their strategies have unintended (negative) consequences, members of the Centre are working to build an inclusive politics of resistance that avoids the mistakes of earlier feminist movements and organizations. These members, along with other activists, actively constitute third wave feminism in a process that is challenging, contradictory, and often painful. A critical analysis of this process and the strategies it involves provides an opportunity for activists to reflect on their experiences and develop new strategies in an effort to further struggles for social justice and equity.