Jouko Turkan Teatterikorkeakoulun kauden yhteiskunnallinen kontekstuaalisuus vuosina 1982 - 1985

The subject of my doctoral thesis is the social contextuality of Finnish theater director, Jouko Turkka's (b. 1942) educational tenure in the Theater Academy of Finland 1982 1985. Jouko Turkka announced in the opening speech of his rectorship in 1982 that Finnish society had undergone a social shift into a new cultural age, and that actors needed new facilities like capacity, flexibility, and ability for renewal in their work. My sociological research reveals that Turkka adapted cultural practices and norms of new capitalism and new liberalism, and built a performance environment for actors' educational work, a real life simulation of a new capitalist workplace. Actors educational praxis became a cultural performance, a media spectacle. Turkka's tenure became the most commented upon and discussed era in Finnish postwar theater history. The sociological method of my thesis is to compare information of sociological research literature about new capitalist work, and Turkka's educational theater work. In regard to the conceptions of legitimation, time, dynamics, knowledge, and social narrative consubstantial changes occurred simultaneously in both contexts of workplace. I adapt systems and chaos theory's concepts and modules when researching how a theatrical performance self-organizes in a complex social space and the space of Information. Ilya Prigogine's chaos theoretic concept, fluctuation, is the central social and aesthetic concept of my thesis. The chaos theoretic conception of the world was reflected in actors' pedagogy and organizational renewals: the state of far from equilibrium was the prerequisite of creativity and progress. I interpret the social and theater's aesthetical fluctuations as the cultural metaphor of new capitalism. I define the wide cultural feedback created by Turkka's tenure of educational praxis, and ideas adapted from the social context into theater education, as an autopoietic communicative process between theater education and society: as a black box, theater converted the virtual conception of the world into a concrete form of an actor's psychophysical praxis. Theater educational praxis performed socially contextual meanings referring to a subject's position in the social change of 1980s Finland. My other theoretic framework lies close to the American performance theory, with its close ties to the social sciences, and to the tradition of rhetoric and communication: theater's rhetorical utility materializes quotidian cultural practices in a theatrical performance, and helps the audience to research social situations and cultural praxis by mirroring them and creating an explanatory frame.

Entanglement and nonclassicality for multimode radiation-field states

Nonclassicality in the sense of quantum optics is a prerequisite for entanglement in multimode radiation states. In this work we bring out the possibilities of passing from the former to the latter, via action of classicality preserving systems like beam splitters, in a transparent manner. For single-mode states, a complete description of nonclassicality is available via the classical theory of moments, as a set of necessary and sufficient conditions on the photon number distribution. We show that when the mode is coupled to an ancilla in any coherent state, and the system is then acted upon by a beam splitter, these conditions turn exactly into signatures of negativity under partial transpose (NPT) entanglement of the output state. Since the classical moment problem does not generalize to two or more modes, we turn in these cases to other familiar sufficient but not necessary conditions for nonclassicality, namely the Mandel parameter criterion and its extensions. We generalize the Mandel matrix from one-mode states to the two-mode situation, leading to a natural classification of states with varying levels of nonclassicality. For two-mode states we present a single test that can, if successful, simultaneously show nonclassicality as well as NPT entanglement. We also develop a test for NPT entanglement after beam-splitter action on a nonclassical state, tracing carefully the way in which it goes beyond the Mandel nonclassicality test. The result of three-mode beam-splitter action after coupling to an ancilla in the ground state is treated in the same spirit. The concept of genuine tripartite entanglement, and scalar measures of nonclassicality at the Mandel level for two-mode systems, are discussed. Numerous examples illustrating all these concepts are presented.

Responsiveness of human male volunteers to immunization with ovine follicle stimulating hormone vaccine: Results of a pilot study

A study of 140 days duration was performed to examine if human male volunteers (n = 5) respond to ovine follicle stimulating hormone (oFSH) immunization (administered adsorbed on Alugel on days 1, 20, 40 and 70) by producing antibodies capable of both binding and neutralizing bioactivity of human FSH. The kinetics of antibody production for both the immunogen (oFSH) and the cross-reactive antigen (hFSH) were essentially similar, The volunteers responded only to the first two immunizations, The boosters given on days 40 and 70 were ineffective, probably because of the presence of substantial amounts of circulating antibody to oFSH. Of the antibodies generated to oFSH, 25-45% bound hFSH with a mean binding affinity of 0.65 x 10(9) +/- 0.53 M(-1). The binding capacities at the time of high (30-80 days of immunization) and low (>110 days) titres were 346 +/- 185 and 10.5 +/- 5.8 ng hFSH/ml respectively, During the period of high titre, free serum FSH (value in normal males 1-5 ng/ml) was not monitorable, A 50 mu l aliquot of the antiserum obtained from different volunteers between days 30 and 80 and on day 140 blocked binding of I-125-labelled hFSH to its receptor by 82 +/- 9.7 and 53 +/- 12.2% respectively, The antibody produced was specific for FSH, and no significant change in the values of related glycoprotein hormones (luteinizing hormone/testosterone and thyroid stimulating hormone/thyroxine) were recorded, Seminal plasma transferrin, a marker of Sertoli cell as well as of seminiferous tubular function, showed marked reduction (30-90%) following immunization with oFSH. Considering that endogenous FSH remained neutralized for approximately one sperm cycle only (65 days), the reduction in sperm counts (30-74%) exhibited by some volunteers is encouraging, Immunization with oFSH did not result in any significant changes in haematology, serum biochemistry or hormonal profiles, There was no production of antibodies capable of interacting with non-specific tissues, It is concluded that it should be possible to obtain a sustained long-term blockade of endogenous FSH action in men by using oFSH as an immunogen, This is a prerequisite for obtaining significant reduction in the quality and quantity of spermatozoa produced, thus leading to infertility.

Vegetation Status in Uttara Kannada District

Uttara Kannada is the only district in Karnataka, which has a forested area of about 80% and falls in the region of the Western Ghats. It is considered to be a very resourceful in terms of abundant natural resources and constitutes an important district in Karnataka. The forest resources of the district are under pressure as a large portion of the forested area has been converted to non-forestry activities since independence owing to the increased demands from human and animal population resulting in degradation of the forest ecosystem. This has led to poor productivity and regenerative capacity which is evident in the form of barren hill tops, etc in Coastal taluks of Uttara Kannada, entailing regular monitoring of the forest resources very essential. The classification of forest is a prerequisite for managing forest resources. Geographical Information System (GIS), allows the spatial and temporal analysis of the features of interest, and helps in solving the problem of deforestation and associated environmental and ecological problems. Spatial and temporal tools such as GIS and remotely sensed data helps the planners and decision makers in evolving the sustainable strategies for management and conservation of natural resources. Uttara Kannada district was classified on the basis of the land-use using supervised hard classifiers. The land use categories identified were urban area, water bodies, agricultural land, forest cover, and waste land. Further classification was carried out on the basis of forest type. The types of forest categorised were semi-evergreen, evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, plantations and scrub, thorny and non-forested area. The identified classes were correlated with the ground data collected during field visits. The observed results were compared with the historic data and the changes in the forest cover were analysed. From the assessment made it was clear that there has been a considerable degree of forest loss in certain areas of the district. It was also observed that plantations and social forests have increased drastically over the last fifteen years, and natural forests have declined.

Vegetation Analysis in Uttara Kannada District Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques

Uttara Kannada is the only district in Karnataka, which has a forested area of about 80% and falls in the region of the Western Ghats. It is considered to be a very resourceful in terms of abundant natural resources and constitutes an important district in Karnataka. The forest resources of the district are under pressure as a large portion of the forested area has been converted to non-forestry activities since independence owing to the increased demands from human and animal population resulting in degradation of the forest ecosystem. This has led to poor productivity and regenerative capacity which is evident in the form of barren hill tops, etc in Coastal taluks of Uttara Kannada, entailing regular monitoring of the forest resources very essential. The classification of forest is a prerequisite for managing forest resources. Geographical Information System (GIS), allows the spatial and temporal analysis of the features of interest, and helps in solving the problem of deforestation and associated environmental and ecological problems. Spatial and temporal tools such as GIS and remotely sensed data helps the planners and decision makers in evolving the sustainable strategies for management and conservation of natural resources. Uttara Kannada district was classified on the basis of the land-use using supervised hard classifiers. The land use categories identified were urban area, water bodies, agricultural land, forest cover, and waste land. Further classification was carried out on the basis of forest type. The types of forest categorised were semi-evergreen, evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, plantations and scrub, thorny and non-forested area. The identified classes were correlated with the ground data collected during field visits. The observed results were compared with the historic data and the changes in the forest cover were analysed. From the assessment made it was clear that there has been a considerable degree of forest loss in certain areas of the district. It was also observed that plantations and social forests have increased drastically over the last fifteen years,and natural forests have declined.

Consumerist Predators"? Emerging lifestyles between McDonaldization and sustainability perspectives: the case of highly qualified employees (HQEs) in India

In industrializing countries new groups of consumers with remarkable purchasing power are emerging. Representing a ?new middle class? they are seen as a carrier and promoter of a so-called ?western way of life? beyond the OECD countries. They are presented as having a consumerist predator lifestyle which stands in conflict with the requirements for a sustainable future. Furthermore, they are imputed a profound lack of a sense of responsibility towards society. However, such a ?civil society spirit? is a core prerequisite for coping with the challenge of changing existing lifestyles to insure a more sustainable future....

Phenylboronic acids in crystal engineering: Utility of the energetically unfavorable syn,syn-conformation in co-crystal design

Phenylboronic acids can exist, in principle, in three different conformers (syn,syn; syn,anti and anti,anti) with distinct energy profiles. In their native state, these compounds prefer the energetically favored syn, anti-conformation. In molecular complexes, however, the functionality exhibits conformational diversity. In this paper we report a series of co-crystals, with N-donor compounds, prepared by a design strategy involving the synthons based on the syn, syn-conformation of the boronic acid functionality. For this purpose, we employed compounds with the 1,2-diazo fragment (alprazolam, 1H-tetrazole, acetazolamide and benzotriazole), 1,10-phenanthroline and 2,2'-bipyridine for the co-crystallization experiments. However, our study shows that the mere presence of the 1,2-diazo fragment in the coformer does not guarantee the successful formation of co-crystals with a syn, syn-conformation of the boronic acid. [GRAPHICS] The -B(OH)(2) fragment makes unsymmetrical O-H center dot center dot center dot N heterosynthons with alprazolam (ALP) and 1,10-phenanthroline (PHEN). In the co-crystals of phenylboronic acids with 1H-tetrazole (TETR) and 2,2'-bipyridine (BPY), the symmetrical boronic acid dimer is the major synthon. In the BPY complex, boronic acid forms linear chains and the pyridine compound interacts with the lateral OH of boronic acid dimers that acts as a connector, thus forming a ladder structure. In the TETR complex, each heterocycle interacts with three boronic acids. While two boronic acids interact using the phenolic group, the third molecule generates O-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds using the extra OH group, of -B(OH)(2) fragment, left after the dimer formation. Thus, although molecules were selected retrosynthetically with the 1,2-diazo fragment or with nearby hetero-atoms to induce co-crystal formation using the syn,syn-orientation of the -B(OH)(2) functionality, co-crystal formation is in fact selective and is probably driven by energy factors. Acetazolamide (ACET) contains self-complementary functional groups and hence creates stable homosynthons. Phenylboronic acids being weak competitors fail to perturb the homosynthons and hence the components crystallize separately. Therefore, besides the availability of possible hydrogen bond acceptors in the required position and orientation, the ability of the phenyl-boronic acid to perturb the existing interactions is also a prerequisite to form co-crystals. This is illustrated in the table below. In the case of ALP, PHEN and BPY, the native structures are stabilized by weak interactions and may be influenced by the boronic acid fragment. Thus phenylboronic acids can attain co-crystals with those compounds, wherein the cyclic O-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds are stronger than the individual homo-interactions. This can lower the lattice energy of the molecular complex as compared with the individual crystals. [GRAPHICS] Phenylboronic acids show some selectivity in the formation of co-crystals with N-heterocycles. The differences in solubility of the components fall short to provide a possible reason for the selective formation of co-crystals only with certain compounds. These compounds, being weak acids, do not follow the Delta pK(a) analysis and hence fail to provide any conclusive observation. Theoretical results show that of the three conformers possible, the syn,anti conformer is the most stable. The relative stabilities of the three conformers syn,anti,syn,syn and anti,anti are 0.0, 2.18 and 3.14 kcal/mol, respectively. The theoretical calculations corroborate the fact that only energetically favorable synthons can induce the formation of heterosynthons, as in ALP and PHEN complexes. From a theoretical and structural analysis it is seen that phenylboronic acids will form interactions with those molecules wherein the heterocyclic and acidic fragments can interrupt the homosynthons. However, the energy profile is shallow and can be perturbed easily by the presence of competing functional groups (such as OH and COOH) in the vicinity. [GRAPHICS] .

A Refined Methodology for Durability-Based Service Life Estimation of Reinforced Concrete Structural Elements Considering Fuzzy and Random Uncertainties

A reliable method for service life estimation of the structural element is a prerequisite for service life design. A new methodology for durability-based service life estimation of reinforced concrete flexural elements with respect to chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement is proposed. The methodology takes into consideration the fuzzy and random uncertainties associated with the variables involved in service life estimation by using a hybrid method combining the vertex method of fuzzy set theory with Monte Carlo simulation technique. It is also shown how to determine the bounds for characteristic value of failure probability from the resulting fuzzy set for failure probability with minimal computational effort. Using the methodology, the bounds for the characteristic value of failure probability for a reinforced concrete T-beam bridge girder has been determined. The service life of the structural element is determined by comparing the upper bound of characteristic value of failure probability with the target failure probability. The methodology will be useful for durability-based service life design and also for making decisions regarding in-service inspections.

Antimony-resistant but not antimony-sensitive Leishmania donovani up-regulates host IL-10 to overexpress multidrug-resistant protein 1

The molecular mechanism of antimony-resistant Leishmania donovani ((SbLD)-L-R)-driven up-regulation of IL-10 and multidrug-resistant protein 1 (MDR1) in infected macrophages (M phi s) has been investigated. This study showed that both promastigote and amastigote forms of (SbLD)-L-R, but not the antimony-sensitive form of LD, express a unique glycan with N-acetylgalactosamine as a terminal sugar. Removal of it either by enzyme treatment or by knocking down the relevant enzyme, galactosyltransferase in (SbLD)-L-R (KD (SbLD)-L-R), compromises the ability to induce the above effects. Infection of M phi s with KD (SbLD)-L-R enhanced the sensitivity toward antimonials compared with infection with (SbLD)-L-R, and infection of BALB/c mice with KD (SbLD)-L-R caused significantly less organ parasite burden compared with infection induced by (SbLD)-L-R. The innate immune receptor, Toll-like receptor 2/6 heterodimer, is exploited by (SbLD)-L-R to activate ERK and nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B involving p50/c-Rel leading to IL-10 induction, whereas MDR1 up-regulation is mediated by PI3K/Akt and the JNK pathway. Interestingly both recombinant IL-10 and (SbLD)-L-R up-regulate MDR1 in M. with different time kinetics, where phosphorylation of PI3K was noted at 12 h and 48 h, respectively, but M phi s derived from IL-10(-/-) mice are unable to show MDR1 up-regulation on infection with (SbLD)-L-R. Thus, it is very likely that an IL-10 surge is a prerequisite for MDR1 up-regulation. The transcription factor important for IL-10-driven MDR1 up-regulation is c-Fos/c-Jun and not NF-kappa B, as evident from studies with pharmacological inhibitors and promoter mapping with deletion constructs.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy: a unique tool to determine the internal heterostructure of nanoparticles

We review the existing literature on the application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in the study of nanocrystals. The unique ability of this technique to provide quantitative and reliable descriptions of highly complex internal structures of a variety of nanocrystals has been discussed in detail. We show that an accurate description of the nanocrystal internal structure is crucial and a prerequisite to understand many different properties, particularly optical properties, of such nanocrystal systems. We also discuss limitations and future outlook of this technique.

Optimisation of an asymmetric polymerase chain reaction assay for the amplification of single-stranded DNA from Wuchereria bancrofti for electrochemical detection

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is a prerequisite for electrochemical sensor-based detection of parasite DNA and other diagnostic applications. To achieve this detection, an asymmetric polymerase chain reaction method was optimised. This method facilitates amplification of ssDNA from the human lymphatic filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti. This procedure produced ssDNA fragments of 188 bp in a single step when primer pairs (forward and reverse) were used at a 100:1 molar ratio in the presence of double-stranded template DNA. The ssDNA thus produced was suitable for immobilisation as probe onto the surface of an Indium tin oxide electrode and hybridisation in a system for sequence-specific electrochemical detection of W. bancrofti. The hybridisation of the ssDNA probe and target ssDNA led to considerable decreases in both the anodic and the cathodic currents of the system's redox couple compared with the unhybridised DNA and could be detected via cyclic voltammetry. This method is reproducible and avoids many of the difficulties encountered by conventional methods of filarial parasite DNA detection; thus, it has potential in xenomonitoring.

Call intensity is a repeatable and dominant acoustic feature determining male call attractiveness in a field cricket

Acoustic signal variation and female preference for different signal components constitute the prerequisite framework to study the mechanisms of sexual selection that shape acoustic communication. Despite several studies of acoustic communication in crickets, information on both male calling song variation in the field and female preference in the same system is lacking for most species. Previous studies on acoustic signal variation either were carried out on populations maintained in the laboratory or did not investigate signal repeatability. We therefore used repeatability analysis to quantify variation in the spectral, temporal and amplitudinal characteristics of the male calling song of the field cricket Plebeiogryllus guttiventris in a wild population, at two temporal scales, within and across nights. Carrier frequency (CF) was the most repeatable character across nights, whereas chirp period (CP) had low repeatability across nights. We investigated whether female preferences were more likely to be based on features with high (CF) or low (CP) repeatability. Females showed no consistent preferences for CF but were significantly more attracted towards signals with short CPs. The attractiveness of lower CP calls disappeared, however, when traded off with sound pressure level (SPL). SPL was the only acoustic feature that was significantly positively correlated with male body size. Since relative SPL affects female phonotaxis strongly and can vary unpredictably based on male spacing, our results suggest that even strong female preferences for acoustic features may not necessarily translate into greater advantage for males possessing these features in the field. (C) 2013 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Single crystalline magnetite, maghemite, and hematite nanoparticles with rich coercivity

One-pot synthesis of amorphous iron oxide nanoparticles with two different dimensions (<5 nm and 60 nm) has been achieved using the reverse micelle method, with <5 nm nanoparticles separated from the stable colloid by exploiting their magnetic behaviour. The transformation of the as-prepared amorphous powders into Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 phases (gamma and alpha) is achieved by carrying out controlled annealing at elevated temperatures under different optimized conditions. The as-prepared samples resulting from micellar synthesis and the corresponding annealed ones are thoroughly characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and by Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. Expectedly, the magnetic characteristics of Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 phase (gamma and alpha) nanoparticles are found to have strong dependence on their phase, dimension, and morphology. The coercivity of Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 (gamma and alpha) nanoparticles is reasonably high, even though high resolution TEM studies bring out that these nanoparticles are single crystalline. This is in contrast with previous reports wherein poly-crystallinity of iron oxides nanoparticles has been regarded as a prerequisite for high coercivity.

Spectral Migration of Fluorescence in Graphene Oxide Aqueous Dispersions: Evidence for Excited-State Proton Transfer

Aqueous dispersions of graphene oxide (GO) exhibit strong pH-dependent fluorescence in the visible that originates, in part, from the oxygenated functionalities present. Here we examine the spectral migration on nanosecond time-scales of the pH dependent features in the fluorescence spectra. We show, from time-resolved emission spectra (TRES) constructed from the wavelength dependent fluorescence decay curves, that the migration is associated with excited state proton transfer. Both `intramolecular' and `intermolecular' transfer involving the quasi-molecular oxygenated aromatic fragments are observed. As a prerequisite to the time-resolved measurements, we have correlated the changes in the steady state fluorescence spectra with the sequence of dissociation events that occur in GO dispersions at different values of pH.

The N-terminal region containing the zinc finger domain of tobacco streak virus coat protein is essential for the formation of virus-like particles

Tobacco streak virus (TSV), a member of the genus Ilarvirus (family Bromoviridae), has a tripartite genome and forms quasi-isometric virions. All three viral capsids, encapsidating RNA 1, RNA 2 or RNA 3 and subgenomic RNA 4, are constituted of a single species of coat protein (CP). Formation of virus-like particles (VLPs) could be observed when the TSV CP gene was cloned and the recombinant CP (rCP) was expressed in E. coli. TSV VLPs were found to be stabilized by Zn2+ ions and could be disassembled in the presence of 500 mM CaCl2. Mutational analysis corroborated previous studies that showed that an N-terminal arginine-rich motif was crucial for RNA binding; however, the results presented here demonstrate that the presence of RNA is not a prerequisite for assembly of TSV VLPs. Instead, the N-terminal region containing the zinc finger domain preceding the arginine-rich motif is essential for assembly of these VLPs.