Politics and Poetics of the Novel: Using Domesticity to Create the Nation

This thesis examines how the depiction of the family during war reinforces or challenges societal values in three nineteenth-century novels. The primary focus lies in three novels by Sir Walter Scott, Leo Tolstoy, and Harriet Beecher Stowe that represent the perspectives of England, Russia, and the United States, respectively, and their evolving nationalism as the roots of the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War became visible. By investigating the interaction between economic classes, it can be concluded that the preservation of the family is inherently dependent on social status in some nations, while in others, it is integral to daily life regardless of class. The backdrop of impending war only serves to heighten national differences, overturn the organization of the family hierarchy, and redefine the idea of the modern household.

Exercise-induced phosphorylation of the novel Akt substrates AS160 and filamin A in human skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle contraction stimulates multiple signaling cascades that govern a variety of metabolic and transcriptional events. Akt/protein kinase B regulates metabolism and growth/muscle hypertrophy, but contraction effects on this target and its substrates are varied and may depend on the mode of the contractile stimulus. Accordingly, we determined the effects of endurance or resistance exercise on phosphorylation of Akt and downstream substrates in six trained cyclists who performed a single bout of endurance or resistance exercise separated by ?7 days. Muscle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis at rest and immediately after exercise. Akt Ser 473 phosphorylation was increased (1.8-fold; P = 0.011) after endurance but was unchanged after resistance exercise. Conversely, Akt Thr 308 phosphorylation was unaltered after either bout of exercise. Several exercise-responsive phosphoproteins were detected by immunoblot analysis with a phospho-Akt substrate antibody. pp160 and pp300 were identified as AS160 and filamin A, respectively, with increased phosphorylation (2.0- and 4.9-fold, respectively; P < 0.05) after endurance but not resistance exercise. In conclusion, AS160 and filamin A may provide an important link to mediate endurance exercise-induced bioeffects in skeletal muscle.

Study of the novel non-xanthine heterocyclic compound GU 285 as a potent non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist in the rat

The novel pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine compound GU285 (4-amino-6-alpha-carbamoylethylthio-1- phenylpyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine, CAS 134896-40-5) was examined for its ability (1) to inhibit binding of adenosine (ADO) receptor ligands in rat brain membranes, (2) to antagonise functional responses to ADO agonists in rat right and left atria and coronary resistance vessels, and (3) to reduce the fall in heart rate and arterial blood pressure produced by the ADO A1 agonist N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA) in the intact, anaesthetized rat. GU285 competitively inhibited binding of the ADO A1 agonist [3H]-R-N6-phenylisopropyladenosine (R-PIA) yielding a Ki value of 11 (7-18) nmol.l-1 (geometric mean +/- 95% Cl). When assayed against the ADO A2A selective agonist [3H]-2-[p-(2-carboxyethyl)- phenethylamino]-5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine, (CGS21680), a Ki of 15 (10-24) nmol.l-1 was obtained. In spontaneously beating right atria, GU285 competitively antagonized negative chronotropic effects of R-PIA with a pA2 of 8.7 +/- 0.3 and in electrically paced left atria, GU285 competitively antagonized negative inotropic effects of R-PIA with a pA2 of 9.0 +/- 0.1. In the potassium-arrested, perfused rat heart GU285 (1 mumol.l-1) antagonized only the high sensitivity, ADO A2B mediated component of the biphasic relaxation of the coronary vasculature produced by NECA. The low sensitivity component was unchanged. GU285 (1 mumol.kg-1) antagonized the negative chronotropic and hypotensive effects of the adenosine A1 agonist CPA in anaesthetized rats, producing a 10-fold rightward shift in the dose-response relationship. These data demonstrate that in the rat, GU285 is a potent, non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist that maintains its activity in vivo.

Poetics of the Nameless Middle : Japan and the West in Philosophy and Music of the Twentieth Century

This study investigates the affinities between philosophy, aesthetics, and music of Japan and the West. The research is based on the structuralist notion (specifically, on that found in the narratology of Algirdas Julius Greimas), that the universal grammar functions as an abstract principle, underlying all kinds of discourse. The study thus aims to demonstrate how this grammar is manifested in philosophical, aesthetic, and musical texts and how the semiotic homogeneity of these texts can be explained on this basis. Totality and belongingness are the key philosophical concepts presented herein. As distinct from logocentrism manifested as substantializations of the world of ideas , god or mind, which was characteristic of previous Western paradigms, totality was defined as the coexistence of opposites. Thus Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Dōgen, and Nishida often illustrated it by identifying fundamental polarities, such as being and nothing, seer and seen, truth and illusion, etc. Accordingly, totality was schematically presented as an all-encompassing middle of the semiotic square. Similar values can be found in aesthetics and arts. Instead of dialectic syntagms, differentiated unity is considered as paradigmatic and the study demonstrates how this is manifested in traditional Japanese and Heideggerian aesthetics, as well as in the aspects of music of Claude Debussy and Tōru Takemitsu.

Polyquinanes from (R)-(+)-limonene. Enantioselective total synthesis of the novel tricyclic sesquiterpene (-)-ceratopicanol

The first total synthesis of the biogenetically important and structurally novel triquinane sesquiterpene (-)-ceratopicanol has been accomplished.

Total synthesis of the novel sesquiterpenes of Eremophila georgei Diels

The first stereoselective total synthesis of the natural sesquiterpenes 4 and 5, having the tricyclo[6.2.1.0(1,5)]undecane skeleton with a bridgehead methyl group, is reported via the intermediate 9, which was obtained by the acid catalysed rearrangement of the alcohols 7 and 8.

Length polymorphism of thymidylate synthase regulatory region in Chinese populations and evolution of the novel alleles

The tandemly repeated 28-bp sequence in the 5'-terminal regulatory, region of human thymidylate synthase (TSER), which has been reported to be polymorphic in different populations, was surveyed in 668 Chinese from 9 Han groups, 8 ethnic populations, and 3

Microstructure, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the novel (W1-xAlx)C-Co (x=0.2, 0.33, 0.4, 0.5) cemented carbide

Bulk novel cemented carbides (W1-xAlx)C-10.1 vol% Co (x = 0.2, 0.33, 0.4, 0.5) are prepared by mechanical alloying and hot-pressing sintering. Hot-pressing (HP) is used to fabricate the bulk bodies of the hard alloys. The novel cemented carbides have good mechanical properties compared with WC-Co. The density and operating cost of the novel material is much lower than a WC-Co system. The material is easy to process and the processing leads to nano-scaled, rounded, particles in the bulk material. The hardness of (W1-xAlx)C-10.1 vol% Co (x = 0.2, 0.33, 0.4, 0.5) hard material is 20.37, 21.16, 21.59 and 22.16 GPa, and the bending strength is 1257, 1238, 1211 and 1293 MPa, with the aluminum content varying from 20% to 50%. The relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the novel hard alloy is also discussed.

The synthesis and characterization of the novel poly(aryl ether ketone)s with liquid crystallinity

The novel poly(aryl ether ketone)s with liquid crystallinity were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution reactions of 4,4'-biphenol and substituted hydroquinone with 4,4'-difluorobenzophenone and their thermotropic liquid crystalline properties were characterized by DSC, PLM and WAXD, The copolymers containing 70% biphenol formed nematic phase while the copolymer containing 50% biphenol exhibited smectic texture, The banded textures were formed after shearing the sample in the nematic liquid crystalline state. The identification of the structures in each mesogenic phase has been carried out by combining WAXD with PLM and DSC.

Crystallization behavior of the novel LLDPE and its molecular characteristics

Crystallization behavior of the single-site catalysed ethylene-octene-1 copolymer (LLDPE) has been investigated. The results indicate that the distribution of branches in the novel LLDPE is more homogeneous and regular than that in materials prepared with Ziegler-Natta catalysts. However, there is still some variability in inter-branch separation. The work has confirmed that branches trend to be excluded from crystals formed by branched polyethylene, but it is dependent on branch distribution and crystallization dynamics.

The synthesis and thermotropic liquid crystalline behavior of the novel poly(aryl ether ketone)s containing chloro-side group

The novel poly(aryl ether ketone)s containing chloro-side group were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution reactions of 4,4'-biphenol and chlorohydroquinone with either 4,4'-difluorobenzophenone(BP/CH/DF) or 1,4-bis(p-fluorobenzoyl)benzene (BP/CH/BF) and their thermotropic liquid crystalline properties were characterized by a variety of experimental techniques. The thermotropic liquid crystalline behavior was observed in the copolymers containing 50 and 70% biphenol. Melting transition (Tm) and isotropization transition (Ti) both appeared in the DSC thermograms. A banded texture was formed after shearing the sample in the liquid crystalline state. The novel poly(aryl ether ketone)s had relatively higher glass transition temperature (Tg) in the range of 168 similar to 200 degrees C and lower melting temperature (Tm) in the range of 290 similar to 340 degrees C. The thermal stability (Td) was in the range of 430 similar to 490 degrees C.

The Poetics of the Limit : Ethics and Politics in Modern and Contemporary American Poetry

Woods, Timothy, The Poetics of the Limit (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) RAE2008