Thermo-oxidative Stability and Flammability of Three-dimensional Polymers Based on Olygocarbonate-methacrylates

By the irreversible condensation reaction of the mono-methacrylic ester of ethylene glycol and chlorocarbonic esters of 2,2-dimethylpropandiol- 1,3 and 2,2-dimethylene chloride-propandiol-1,3, two olygocarbonate methacrylate (OCM-I and -II, respectively) containing unsaturated ends were synthesised. The polymerization of OCM-I and OCM-II in the presence of cumene hydro.peroxide and an accelerator gave two cross-liinked polymers Ln a yield of 70-750/o. The thermal and thermo-oxidative decompositions of the prepared polymers were studied by the thermogravimetric method and by characterization of the volatile pyrolysis products and the nonvolatile polymer residue. The influence of the polymer structure on the mechanism of the decomposition reactions in vacuo as well as iin the presence of oxygen was discussed. The temperature dependence of thermostabiLity was compared with some polymer flammability parameters

Dispersive diffusion controlled distance dependent recombination in amorphous semiconductors

The photoluminescence in amorphous semiconductors decays according to power law $t^{-delta}$ at long times. The photoluminescence is controlled by dispersive transport of electrons. The latter is usually characterized by the power $alpha$ of the transient current observed in the time-of-flight experiments. Geminate recombination occurs by radiative tunneling which has a distance dependence. In this paper, we formulate ways to calculate reaction rates and survival probabilities in the case carriers execute dispersive diffusion with long-range reactivity. The method is applied to obtain tunneling recombination rates under dispersive diffusion. The theoretical condition of observing the relation $delta = alpha/2 + 1$ is obtained and theoretical recombination rates are compared to the kinetics of observed photoluminescence decay in the whole time range measured.Comment: To appear in Journal of Chemical Physic

Ubiquitin-based probes prepared by total synthesis to profile the activity of deubiquitinating enzymes

Epitope-tagged active-site-directed probes are widely used to visualize the activity of deubiquitinases (DUBs) in cell extracts, to investigate the specificity and potency of small-molecule DUB inhibitors, and to isolate and identify DUBs by mass spectrometry. With DUBs arising as novel potential drug targets, probes are required that can be produced in sufficient amounts and to meet the specific needs of a given experiment. The established method for the generation of DUB probes makes use of labor-intensive intein-based methods that have inherent limitations concerning the incorporation of unnatural amino acids and the amount of material that can be obtained. Here, we describe the total chemical synthesis of active-site-directed probes and their application to activity-based profiling and identification of functional DUBs. This synthetic methodology allowed the easy incorporation of desired tags for specific applications, for example, fluorescent reporters, handles for immunoprecipitation or affinity pull-down, and cleavable linkers. Additionally, the synthetic method can be scaled up to provide significant amounts of probe. Fluorescent ubiquitin probes allowed faster, in-gel detection of active DUBs, as compared to (immuno)blotting procedures. A biotinylated probe holding a photocleavable linker enabled the affinity pull-down and subsequent mild, photorelease of DUBs. Also, DUB activity levels were monitored in response to overexpression or knockdown, and to inhibition by small molecules. Furthermore, fluorescent probes revealed differential DUB activity profiles in a panel of lung and prostate cancer cells

Arendt and political realism: towards a realist account of political judgement

This article argues that Hannah Arendt’s thought can offer significant insights on political judgement for realism in political theory. We identify a realist position which emphasises the need to account for how humans judge politically, contra moralist tendencies to limit its exercise to rational standards, but which fails to provide a sufficient conception of its structure and potential. Limited appeals to political judgement render the realist defence of the political elusive, and compromise the endeavour to offer a meaningful alternative to the moralist tendency to displace politics. The potential and limitations of realist discussions on judgement are made visible in relation to proto-realists Judith Shklar and Isaiah Berlin. In seeking to enrich the realist conception of the political, the article introduces the displacement critique found in the neglected Arendtian ‘realism’. It also provides the foundations for a distinctly realist account of political judgement which, we argue, requires elaboration along two dimensions: the social coding of political judgement and the political capacities that help judgement build a suitable political sphere

Object knowledge modulates colour appearance

We investigated the memory colour effect for colour diagnostic artificial objects. Since knowledge about these objects and their colours has been learned in everyday life, these stimuli allow the investigation of the influence of acquired object knowledge on colour appearance. These investigations are relevant for questions about how object and colour information in high-level vision interact as well as for research about the influence of learning and experience on perception in general. In order to identify suitable artificial objects, we developed a reaction time paradigm that measures (subjective) colour diagnosticity. In the main experiment, participants adjusted sixteen such objects to their typical colour as well as to grey. If the achromatic object appears in its typical colour, then participants should adjust it to the opponent colour in order to subjectively perceive it as grey. We found that knowledge about the typical colour influences the colour appearance of artificial objects. This effect was particularly strong along the daylight axis

Too much or too little step width variability is associated with a fall history in older persons who walk at or near normal gait speed

BACKGROUND: Decreased gait speed and increased stride time, stride length, double support time, and stance time variability have consistently been associated with falling whereas step width variability has not been strongly related to falls. The purpose was to examine the linear and nonlinear associations between gait variability and fall history in older persons and to examine the influence of gait speed. METHODS: Gait characteristics and fall history were obtained in 503 older adults (mean age = 79; 61% female) participating in the Cardiovascular Health Study who could ambulate independently. Gait characteristics were recorded from two trials on a 4 meter computerized walkway at the subject's self-selected walking speed. Gait variability was calculated as the coefficient of variation. The presence of a fall in the past 12 months was determined by interview. The nonlinear association between gait variability and fall history was examined using a simple three level classification derived from the distribution of the data and from literature based cut-points. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between step width variability (extreme or moderate) and fall history stratifying by gait speed (1.0 m/s) and controlling for age and gender. RESULTS: Step length, stance time, and step time variability did not differ with respect to fall history (p > .33). Individuals with extreme step width variability (either low or high step width variability) were more likely to report a fall in the past year than individuals with moderate step width variability. In individuals who walked ≥ 1.0 m/s (n = 281), after controlling for age, gender, and gait speed, compared to individuals with moderate step width variability individuals with either low or high step width variability were more likely to have fallen in the past year (OR and 95% CI 4.38 [1.79–10.72]). The association between step width variability and fall history was not significant in individuals who walked < 1.0 m/s (n = 224). CONCLUSION: Extreme (either too little or too much) step width variability is associated with falls in the past year in older persons who walk at or near normal gait speed and not in older persons who walk slowly (<1.0 m/s)

Effective one-dimensionality of AC hopping conduction in the extreme disorder limit

It is argued that in the limit of extreme disorder AC hopping is dominated by "percolation paths". Modelling a percolation path as a one-dimensional path with a sharp jump rate cut-off leads to an expression for the universal AC conductivity, that fits computer simulations in two and three dimensions better than the effective medium approximation.Comment: 6 postscript figure

Survey of Instantaneous 1-22 GHz Spectra of 550 Compact Extragalactic Objects with Declinations from -30deg to +43deg

We present observational results for extragalactic radio sources with milliarcsecond components, obtained with the 600 meter ring radio telescope RATAN-600 from 1st to 22nd December, 1997. For each source, a six frequency broad band radio spectrum was obtained by observing simultaneously with an accuracy up to a minute at 1.4, 2.7, 3.9, 7.7, 13 and 31 cm. The observed list is selected from Preston et al. (1985) VLBI survey and contains all the sources in the declinations between -30deg and +43deg with a correlated flux density exceeding 0.1 Jy at 13 cm. The sample includes the majority of sources to be studied in the current VSOP survey and the future RadioAstron Space VLBI mission.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables, published in the A&AS; figure 4 with the broad-band spectra plots is included in the preprint; tables 1 and 5, in electronic form, as well as the ReadMe file can be extracted from the preprint sourc

The 'Parekh Report' - national identities with nations and nationalism

‘Multiculturalists’ often advocate national identities. Yet few study the ways in which ‘multiculturalists’ do so and in this article I will help to fill this gap. I will show that the Commission for Multi-Ethnic Britain’s report reflects a previously unnoticed way of thinking about the nature and worth of national identities that the Commission’s chair, and prominent political theorist, Bhikhu Parekh, had been developing since the 1970s. This way of thinking will be shown to avoid the questionable ways in which conservative and liberal nationalists discuss the nature and worth of national identities while offering an alternative way to do so. I will thus show that a report that was once criticised for the way it discussed national identities reflects how ‘multiculturalists’ think about national identities in a distinct and valuable way that has gone unrecognised