Russia in 2015. Could the former super-power turn into a battle-ground?

Pavel K. Baev describes a Russia that appears as both politically stable and economicallydynamic, compared to a world in crisis and recession. Butwill it continue that way also in the future? Baev points out the weaknesses in the present situation and discusses several scenarios for the Russian future

Russland rüstet seine Marinekräfte auf und streicht sie zusammen

Die russische Führung hegt Ansprüche auf den Status einer »maritimen Großmacht«, doch sieht das Staatliche Rüstungsprogramm bis 2027 beträchtliche Kürzungen bei der Finanzierung von Schiffsbauten vor. Oberste Priorität wird der Vollendung der Serie von acht strategischen U-Booten der »Borej«-Klasse gegeben. Dem neuen Plan zur Entwicklung atomgetriebener U-Boote wird viel politische Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. U-Boote unterschiedlicher Typen werden die Hauptstreitmacht der russischen Kriegsmarine stellen, doch sind viele Fähigkeiten (amphibische Operationen, Kriegsführung gegen U-Boote) im Niedergang begriffen. Die konstanten strategischen Anforderungen, um den wahrgenommenen Bedrohungen auf den vier potentiellen Kriegsschauplätzen (Nordpolarmeer, Ostsee, Schwarzes Meer und Pazifik) zu begegnen, verlangen hohe Risikobereitschaft und erhöhen die Wahrscheinlichkeit von Unfällen

Evidence for Conical Magnetic Structure in M-type BaFe12O19 Hexaferrite: A Combined Single-Crystal XMCD and Neutron Diffraction Study

The magnetic ground state of BaFe12O19 (BFO) was investigated using X-ray absorption at 1.2 K and 1.5 K, respectively. The XMCD measurements on single-crystals of BFO in grazing incidence geometry reveal the canting of the spins away from the c-axis of the hexagonal unit cell. Single-crystal neutron diffraction studies reveal magnetic satellite peaks along the 00l reciprocal lattice row around the forbidden l = 2n +/- 1 positions confirming conical-type magnetic structure in the ground state of BFO. The observation of the conical magnetic structure of BFO opens the possibility of type-II multiferroicity in undoped BFO also.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Element-specific probe of quantum criticality in CeCoIn5\mathrm{CeCoIn_{5}}

Employing the elemental sensitivity of x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), we study the valence and magnetic order in the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn$_5$. We probe spin population of the f-electrons in Ce and d-electrons in Co as a function of temperature (down to 0.1 K) and magnetic field (up to 6 T). From the XAS we find a pronounced contribution of Ce$^{4+}$ component at low temperature and a clear temperature dependence of the Ce valence below 5 K, suggesting enhanced valence fluctuations, an indication for the presence of a nearby quantum critical point (QCP). We observe no significant corresponding change with magnetic field. The XMCD displays a weak signal for Ce becoming clear only at 6 T. This splitting of the Kramers doublet ground state of Ce$^{3+}$ is significantly smaller than expected for independent but screened ions, indicating strong antiferromagnetic pair interactions. The unconventional character of superconductivity in CeCoIn$_5$ is evident in the extremely large specific heat step at the superconducting transition.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Supplementary information (4 pages, 5 figures

The role of released ATP in killing Candida albicans and other extracellular microbial pathogens by cationic peptides

A unifying theme common to the action of many cationic peptides that display lethal activities against microbial pathogens is their specific action at microbial membranes that results in selective loss of ions and small nucleotides chiefly ATP. One model cationic peptide that induces non-lytic release of ATP from the fungal pathogen Candida albicans is salivary histatin 5 (Hst 5). The major characteristic of Hst 5-induced ATP release is that it occurs rapidly while cells are still metabolically active and have polarized membranes, thus precluding cell lysis as the means of release of ATP. Other cationic peptides that induce selective release of ATP from target microbes are lactoferricin, human neutrophil defensins, bactenecin, and cathelicidin peptides. The role of released extracellular ATP induced by cationic peptides is not known, but localized increases in extracellular ATP concentration may serve to potentiate cell killing, facilitate further peptide uptake, or function as an additional signal to activate the host innate immune system at the site of infection

Relating gene expression data on two-component systems to functional annotations in Escherichia coli

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obtaining physiological insights from microarray experiments requires computational techniques that relate gene expression data to functional information. Traditionally, this has been done in two consecutive steps. The first step identifies important genes through clustering or statistical techniques, while the second step assigns biological functions to the identified groups. Recently, techniques have been developed that identify such relationships in a single step.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed an algorithm that relates patterns of gene expression in a set of microarray experiments to functional groups in one step. Our only assumption is that patterns co-occur frequently. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated as part of a study of regulation by two-component systems in <it>Escherichia coli</it>. The significance of the relationships between expression data and functional annotations is evaluated based on density histograms that are constructed using product similarity among expression vectors. We present a biological analysis of three of the resulting functional groups of proteins, develop hypotheses for further biological studies, and test one of these hypotheses experimentally. A comparison with other algorithms and a different data set is presented.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our new algorithm is able to find interesting and biologically meaningful relationships, not found by other algorithms, in previously analyzed data sets. Scaling of the algorithm to large data sets can be achieved based on a theoretical model.</p

Doppler Effect in Resonant Photoemission from SF6 : Correlation between Doppler Profile and Auger Emission Anisotropy

Fragmentation of the SF6 molecule upon F 1s excitation has been studied by resonant photoemission. The F atomiclike Auger line exhibits the characteristic Doppler profile that depends on the direction of the photoelectron momentum relative to the polarization vector of the radiation as well as on the photon energy. The measured Doppler profiles are analyzed by the model simulation that takes account of the anisotropy of the Auger emission in the molecular frame. The Auger anisotropy extracted from the data decreases with an increase in the F–SF5 internuclear distance

Кислотно-основные свойства поверхности оксида хрома(III)

The article is devoted to the study of the nature and number of acid-base centers on the surface of chromium(III) oxide obtained by precipitation from an aqueous nitrate solution. The curve of the distribution of the number of acidbase centers of the samples is plotted depending on the indicator of the ionization constant of indicators. It was determined that the main Lewis centers make the main contribution to the acidity of the samples; there are also Bronsted centers of different acidity. A comparative analysis of the structural features of the surface of oxides of chromium, zinc and binary systems Cr (III)–Zn (II) was carried out according to the results of X-ray phase analysis of oxides and thermolysis of the corresponding hydroxides. Based on this, the possibility of obtaining nanosized catalysts based on oxide-hydroxide systems of chromium with a number of 3d-metals obtained in the process of polynuclear hydroxocomplexation is predicted.Проведено исследование природы и количества кислотно-основных центров на поверхности оксида хрома(III), полученного осаждением из водного нитратного раствора. Определено, что основной вклад в кислотность образцов вносят основные центры Льюиса, присутствуют также различные по кислотности центры Бренстеда. Проведен анализ структурных особенностей поверхности оксидов хрома, цинка и двойных систем Cr(III)–Zn(II) по результатам рентгенофазового анализа оксидов и термолиза соответствующих гидроксидов. На основании этого прогнозируется возможность получения наноразмерных катализаторов на основе оксидно-гидроксидных систем хрома с рядом 3d-металлов, получаемых в процессе полиядерного гидроксокомплексообразования