238 research outputs found
Hitler on the Ballachulish Beat: The Plays of C. P. Taylor
Although seven of his plays were performed at the 1992 Edinburgh
International Festival, the Scottish playwright C.P. Taylor (1929-81) is
much less well-known than some of this younger colleagues. This is
particularly unfortunate as C.P. Taylor’s thematic concerns, and the dramatic
vocabulary he employs to voice them, are unique in their contemporary
Scottish context, albeit strongly indebted to European, specifically
German, Modernism.
The article will first provide a brief survey of C.P. Taylor’s life and
writing career, focussing on his Jewish background (which informs,
for example, such plays as Walter and The Black and White Minstrels),
and on the conditions of writing in exile (as a Scot in England). The
second part will consist of a detailed, comparative examination of three
plays, namely, Bread and Butter, The Ballachulish Beat, and Good. In
spite of their considerable differences —Bread and Butter explores the
lives of two young Jewish couples in Glasgow, The Ballachullish Beat
follows the career of a rock band, and Good discusses the question of
euthanasia before the sinister background of 1930s Germany —all three
plays are concerned with the responses of individuals to the pressures,
but also the allure, of various kinds of totalitarianism. In addition, all
three plays associate totalitarianism with music, as a pre- or non- rational
form of experience; as a consequence, the role of music in these
plays, both as a theme and as a dramatic technique, will have to be
explored
Power laws of complex systems from Extreme physical information
Many complex systems obey allometric, or power, laws y=Yx^{a}. Here y is the
measured value of some system attribute a, Y is a constant, and x is a
stochastic variable. Remarkably, for many living systems the exponent a is
limited to values +or- n/4, n=0,1,2... Here x is the mass of a randomly
selected creature in the population. These quarter-power laws hold for many
attributes, such as pulse rate (n=-1). Allometry has, in the past, been
theoretically justified on a case-by-case basis. An ultimate goal is to find a
common cause for allometry of all types and for both living and nonliving
systems. The principle I - J = extrem. of Extreme physical information (EPI) is
found to provide such a cause. It describes the flow of Fisher information J =>
I from an attribute value a on the cell level to its exterior observation y.
Data y are formed via a system channel function y = f(x,a), with f(x,a) to be
found. Extremizing the difference I - J through variation of f(x,a) results in
a general allometric law f(x,a)= y = Yx^{a}. Darwinian evolution is presumed to
cause a second extremization of I - J, now with respect to the choice of a. The
solution is a=+or-n/4, n=0,1,2..., defining the particular powers of biological
allometry. Under special circumstances, the model predicts that such biological
systems are controlled by but two distinct intracellular information sources.
These sources are conjectured to be cellular DNA and cellular transmembrane ion
gradient
Two-dimensional magnetic interactions in LaFeAsO
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements demonstrate that the magnetic interactions in antiferromagnetic LaFeAsO are two dimensional. Spin-wave velocities within the Fe layer and the magnitude of the spin gap are similar to the AFe2As2 based materials. However, the ratio of interlayer and intralayer exchange is found to be less than ∼10−4 in LaFeAsO, very similar to the cuprates, and ∼100 times smaller than that found in AFe2As2 compounds. The results suggest that the effective dimensionality of the magnetic system is highly variable in the parent compounds of the iron arsenides and weak three-dimensional interactions may limit the maximum attainable superconducting Tc
The Complete Genome Sequence of the Emerging Pathogen Mycobacterium haemophilum Explains Its Unique Culture Requirements
Mycobacterium haemophilum is an emerging pathogen associated with a variety of clinical syndromes, most commonly skin infections in immunocompromised individuals. M. haemophilum exhibits a unique requirement for iron supplementation to support its growth in culture, but the basis for this property and how it may shape pathogenesis is unclear. Using a combination of Illumina, PacBio, and Sanger sequencing, the complete genome sequence of M. haemophilum was determined. Guided by this sequence, experiments were performed to define the basis for the unique growth requirements of M. haemophilum. We found that M. haemophilum, unlike many other mycobacteria, is unable to synthesize iron-binding siderophores known as mycobactins or to utilize ferri-mycobactins to support growth. These differences correlate with the absence of genes associated with mycobactin synthesis, secretion, and uptake. In agreement with the ability of heme to promote growth, we identified genes encoding heme uptake machinery. Consistent with its propensity to infect the skin, we show at the whole-genome level the genetic closeness of M. haemophilumwith Mycobacterium leprae, an organism which cannot be cultivated in vitro, and we identify genes uniquely shared by these organisms. Finally, we identify means to express foreign genes in M. haemophilum. These data explain the unique culture requirements for this important pathogen, provide a foundation upon which the genome sequence can be exploited to improve diagnostics and therapeutics, and suggest use of M. haemophilum as a tool to elucidate functions of genes shared with M. leprae. IMPORTANCE Mycobacterium haemophilum is an emerging pathogen with an unknown natural reservoir that exhibits unique requirements for iron supplementation to grow in vitro. Understanding the basis for this iron requirement is important because it is fundamental to isolation of the organism from clinical samples and environmental sources. Defining the molecular basis for M. haemophilium\u27s growth requirements will also shed new light on mycobacterial strategies to acquire iron and can be exploited to define how differences in such strategies influence pathogenesis. Here, through a combination of sequencing and experimental approaches, we explain the basis for the iron requirement. We further demonstrate the genetic closeness of M. haemophilum and Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy which cannot be cultured in vitro, and we demonstrate methods to genetically manipulate M. haemophilum. These findings pave the way for the use of M. haemophilum as a model to elucidate functions of genes shared with M. leprae
Near and Mid-IR Photometry of the Pleiades, and a New List of Substellar Candidate Members
We make use of new near and mid-IR photometry of the Pleiades cluster in
order to help identify proposed cluster members. We also use the new photometry
with previously published photometry to define the single-star main sequence
locus at the age of the Pleiades in a variety of color-magnitude planes.
The new near and mid-IR photometry extend effectively two magnitudes deeper
than the 2MASS All-Sky Point Source catalog, and hence allow us to select a new
set of candidate very low mass and sub-stellar mass members of the Pleiades in
the central square degree of the cluster. We identify 42 new candidate members
fainter than Ks =14 (corresponding to 0.1 Mo). These candidate members should
eventually allow a better estimate of the cluster mass function to be made down
to of order 0.04 solar masses.
We also use new IRAC data, in particular the images obtained at 8 um, in
order to comment briefly on interstellar dust in and near the Pleiades. We
confirm, as expected, that -- with one exception -- a sample of low mass stars
recently identified as having 24 um excesses due to debris disks do not have
significant excesses at IRAC wavelengths. However, evidence is also presented
that several of the Pleiades high mass stars are found to be impacting with
local condensations of the molecular cloud that is passing through the Pleiades
at the current epoch.Comment: Accepted to ApJS; data tables and embedded-figure version available
at http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/stauffer/pleiades07
The Chemical Distribution in a Subluminous Type Ia Supernova: HST Images of the SN 1885 Remnant
We present HST images of the remnant of SN 1885 seen in absorption against
M31's bulge via resonance lines of Ca I, Ca II, Fe I, and Fe II. Viewed in CaII
H & K line absorption, the remnant appears as a nearly black circular spot with
an outermost angular radius of 0.40" +/- 0.025" implying r = 1.52 pc and a 120
yr average expansion velocity of 12400 +/-1400 km/s. The strongest Ca II
absorption is organized in a broken ring structure with a radius of 0.20"
(=6000 km/s) with several apparent absorption `clumps' of an angular size near
the pixel scale of 0.05" (= 1500 km/s). The detection of Ca II clumps is the
first direct evidence for some instabilities and the existence of a
deflagration phase in SNe Ia or, alternatively, mixing induced by radioactive
decay of 56^Ni over time scales of seconds or days. However, the degree of
mixing allowed by the observed images is much smaller than current 3D
calculations for Rayleigh-Taylor dominated deflagration fronts. The images also
require a central region of no or little Ca but iron group elements indicative
of burning under sufficiently high densities for electron capture taking place,
i.e., burning prior to a significant pre-expansion of the WD.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Cross-Sectional Study on Influenza Vaccination, Germany, 1999–2000
To assess influenza vaccination coverage in Germany, we conducted a nationwide telephone survey in November 1999 in adults (>18 yrs) using random-digit dialing. Overall, 23% of 1,190 survey participants reported having been vaccinated (adjusted 18%) with 16% (adjusted 15%) in former West Germany versus 35% (adjusted 32%) in former East Germany. Immunization rates for vaccination target groups were lower in West Germany (21%) than in East Germany (40%). Seven percent of health-care workers were immunized. Previous influenza vaccination, positive attitudes towards immunization, and having a family physician increased the rate of vaccination; fear of adverse effects lowered the rate. Family physicians performed 93% of the vaccinations, which suggests their key role in improving low vaccination coverage in Germany. The fact that >71% (850/1,190) of participants belonged to at least one of the vaccination target groups recommended by the German Standing Commission on Immunization emphasizes the need to focus the definition of target groups
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