Die Wahrnehmung des Fremden im Caoba-Zyklus von B. Traven

Les six romans du cycle de Caoba retracent sur un mode fictif le déroulement de la Révolution mexicaine et montrent les conséquences de la colonisation de même que les injustices sociales et économiques dont souffre tout particulièrement la population indigène. Dans ce contexte de conflit culturel entre colonisés et colonisateurs, le personnage de l’indigène est perçu de façon variée dans les différents romans. L’analyse de la représentation de la population indigène est donc le sujet principal de ce travail qui combine une étude narratologique et une approche postcoloniale. L’examen détaillé d’extraits de texte permettra de vérifier dans quelle mesure l’auteur germanophone B. Traven, dans sa représentation de l'étranger, se détache d’un discours colonial, et s’il peut être considéré comme un auteur postcolonial avant la lettre. Dans ces analyses, les questions suivantes serviront de fil conducteur : dans quelle mesure la représentation du personnage de l’indigène correspond-elle à celle du «bon sauvage» ? Comment les différents groupes sociaux du Mexique sont-ils représentés – par des individus, des descriptions stéréotypées, des allégories? Quels moyens l’auteur utilise-t-il pour familiariser son lectorat européen/occidental avec cette culture étrangère? Ainsi, le travail se penche sur les procédés narratifs employés par l’auteur pour dépeindre la société à partir de perspectives diverses. Dans le but de dénoncer des conditions d’oppression et d’exploitation, Traven écrit à partir du regard du colonisé. Mais lorsqu'il cherche à comprendre le système dictatorial, il écrit dans la perspective du colonisateur. Cette méthode correspond à celle des regards croisés que le théoricien Edward E. Said décrit dans son ouvrage Orientalisme. L’emploi de cette méthode contrapunctique - permet-il d’exercer une critique (post)coloniale? Dans quelle mesure ce texte révèle-t-il l’importance de l’hybridité de la culture telle qu'elle a été théorisée par K. Bhabha? Dans quelle mesure l'accent est-il mis sur les rapports transculturels, sur la façon dont les cultures s'influencent les unes les autres?

A Triple-Mode Feed-Forward Sigma-Delta Modulator Design For Gsm / Wcdma / Wlan Applications

This paper presents a cascaded 2-2-2 reconfigurable sigma-delta modulator that can handle GSM, WCDMA and WLAN standards. The modulator makes use of a low-distortion swing suppression topology which is highly suitable for wide band applications. In GSM mode, only the first stage (2nd order Σ-Δ ADC) is turned on to achieve 88dB dynamic range with oversampling ratio of 160 for a bandwidth of 200KHz; in WCDMA mode a 2-2 cascaded structure (4th order) is turned on with 1-bit in the first stage and 2-bit in the second stage to achieve 74 dB dynamic range with oversampling ratio of 16 for a bandwidth of 2MHz and a 2-2-2 cascaded MASH architecture with a 4-bit in the last stage to achieve a dynamic range of 58dB for a bandwidth of 20MHz. The novelty lies in the fact that unused blocks of second and third stages can be switched off taking into considerations like power consumption. The modulator is designed in TSMC 0.18um CMOS technology and operates at 1.8 supply voltage.

A variational approach for calculating Franck-Condon factors including mode-mode anharmonic coupling

We have implemented our new procedure for computing Franck-Condon factors utilizing vibrational configuration interaction based on a vibrational self-consistent field reference. Both Duschinsky rotations and anharmonic three-mode coupling are taken into account. Simulations of the first ionization band of Cl O2 and C4 H4 O (furan) using up to quadruple excitations in treating anharmonicity are reported and analyzed. A developer version of the MIDASCPP code was employed to obtain the required anharmonic vibrational integrals and transition frequencies

Quantification of the probability of containment failure caused by an in-vessel steam explosion for the Sizewell B PWR

AEA Technology has provided an assessment of the probability of α-mode containment failure for the Sizewell B PWR. After a preliminary review of the methodologies available it was decided to use the probabilistic approach described in the paper, based on an extension of the methodology developed by Theofanous et al. (Nucl. Sci. Eng. 97 (1987) 259–325). The input to the assessment is 12 probability distributions; the bases for the quantification of these distributions are discussed. The α-mode assessment performed for the Sizewell B PWR has demonstrated the practicality of the event-tree method with input data represented by probability distributions. The assessment itself has drawn attention to a number of topics, which may be plant and sequence dependent, and has indicated the importance of melt relocation scenarios. The α-mode failure probability following an accident that leads to core melt relocation to the lower head for the Sizewell B PWR has been assessed as a few parts in 10 000, on the basis of current information. This assessment has been the first to consider elevated pressures (6 MPa and 15 MPa) besides atmospheric pressure, but the results suggest only a modest sensitivity to system pressure.

Deforming glassy polystyrene: Influence of pressure, thermal history, and deformation mode on yielding and hardening

The toughness of a polymer glass is determined by the interplay of yielding, strain softening, and strain hardening. Molecular-dynamics simulations of a typical polymer glass, atactic polystyrene, under the influence of active deformation have been carried out to enlighten these processes. It is observed that the dominant interaction for the yield peak is of interchain nature and for the strain hardening of intrachain nature. A connection is made with the microscopic cage-to-cage motion. It is found that the deformation does not lead to complete erasure of the thermal history but that differences persist at large length scales. Also we find that the strain-hardening modulus increases with increasing external pressure. This new observation cannot be explained by current theories such as the one based on the entanglement picture and the inclusion of this effect will lead to an improvement in constitutive modeling.

Evolutionary bi-stability in pathogen transmission mode

Many pathogens transmit to new hosts by both infection (horizontal transmission) and transfer to the infected host's offspring (vertical transmission). These two transmission modes require speci®c adap- tations of the pathogen that can be mutually exclusive, resulting in a trade-off between horizontal and vertical transmission. We show that in mathematical models such trade-offs can lead to the simultaneous existence of two evolutionary stable states (evolutionary bi-stability) of allocation of resources to the two modes of transmission. We also show that jumping between evolutionary stable states can be induced by gradual environmental changes. Using quantitative PCR-based estimates of abundance in seed and vege- tative parts, we show that the pathogen of wheat, Phaeosphaeria nodorum, has jumped between two distinct states of transmission mode twice in the past 160 years, which, based on published evidence, we interpret as adaptation to environmental change. The ®nding of evolutionary bi-stability has impli- cations for human, animal and other plant diseases. An ill-judged change in a disease control programme could cause the pathogen to evolve a new, and possibly more damaging, combination of transmission modes. Similarly, environmental changes can shift the balance between transmission modes, with adverse effects on human, animal and plant health.

Neurokinin-B transcription in erythroid cells - Direct activation by the hematopoietic transcription factor GATA-1

The GATA family of transcription factors establishes genetic networks that control developmental processes including hematopoiesis, vasculogenesis, and cardiogenesis. We found that GATA-1 strongly activates transcription of the Tac-2 gene, which encodes proneurokinin-B, a precursor of neurokinin-B (NK-B). Neurokinins function through G protein-coupled transmembrane receptors to mediate diverse physiological responses including pain perception and the control of vascular tone. Whereas an elevated level of NK-B was implicated in pregnancy-associated pre-eclampsia ( Page, N. M., Woods, R. J., Gardiner, S. M., Lomthaisong, K., Gladwell, R. T., Butlin, D. J., Manyonda, I. T., and Lowry, P. J. ( 2000) Nature 405, 797 - 800), the regulation of NK-B synthesis and function are poorly understood. Tac-2 was expressed in normal murine erythroid cells and was induced upon ex vivo erythropoiesis. An estrogen receptor fusion to GATA-1 (ER-GATA-1) and endogenous GATA-1 both occupied a region of Tac-2 intron-7, which contains two conserved GATA motifs. Genetic complementation analysis in GATA-1-null G1E cells revealed that endogenous GATA-2 occupied the same region of intron-7, and expression of ER-GATA-1 displaced GATA-2 and activated Tac-2 transcription. Erythroid cells did not express neurokinin receptors, whereas aortic and yolk sac endothelial cells differentially expressed neurokinin receptor subtypes. Since NK-B induced cAMP accumulation in yolk sac endothelial cells, these results suggest a new mode of vascular regulation in which GATA-1 controls NK-B synthesis in erythroid cells.

Reactions of artemisinin and arteether with acid: Implications for stability and mode of antimalarial action

The currently accepted mechanism of trioxane antimalarial action involves generation of free radicals within or near susceptible sites probably arising from the production of distonic radical anions. An alternative mechanistic proposal involving the ionic scission of the peroxide group and consequent generation of a carbocation at C-4 has been suggested to account for antimalarial activity. We have investigated this latter mechanism using DFT (B3LYP/6-31+G* level) and established the preferred Lewis acid protonation sites (artemisinin O5a >> O4a approximate to O3a > O2a > O1a; arteether O4a >= O3a > O5b >> O2a > O1a; Figure 3) and the consequent decomposition pathways and hydrolysis sites. In neither molecule is protonation likely to occur on the peroxide bond O1-O2 and therefore lead to scission. Therefore, the alternative radical pathway remains the likeliest explanation for antimalarial action.

Vibrations in the B-4 rhombic structure

A double minimum six-dimensional Potential energy surface (PES) is determined in symmetry coordinates for the most stable rhombic (D-2h) B-4 isomer in its (1)A(g) electronic ground state by fitting to energies calculated ab initio. The PES exhibits a barrier to the D-4h square structure of 255 cm(-1). The vibrational levels (J=0) are calculated variationally using an approach which involves the Watson kinetic energy operator expressed in normal coordinates. The pattern of about 65 vibrational levels up to 1600 cm-1 for all stable isotopomers is analyzed. Analogous to the inversion in ammonia-like molecules, the rhombus rearrangements lead to splittings of the vibrational levels. In B-4 it is the B-1g (D-4h mode which distorts the square molecule to its planar rhombic form. The anharmonic fundamental vibrational transitions of B-11(4) are calculated to be (splittings in parentheses): G(O) = 2352(22) cm(-1), v(1)(A(1g)) - 1136(24) cm(-1,) v(2)(B-1g)=209(144) cm(-1) v(3)(B-2g)=1198(19)cm(-1), v(4)(B-2u) = 271(24) cm(-1), and v(5) (E-u) = 1030( 166) cm(-1) (D-4h notation). Their variations in all stable isotoporners were investigated. Due to the presence of strong anharmonic resonances between the B-1g in-plane distortion and the B-2u, out-of-plane bending modes. the hiaher overtones and combination levels are difficult to assign unequivocally. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.