The Hopf Rings for KO and KU

We compute the mod two homology Hopf rings of the spectra KO and KU. The spaces in these spectra are the infinite classical groups and their coset spaces, and their homology was first calculated in the Cartan seminars, but the Hopf ring structure was first determined in the second author's unpublished PhD thesis. The presentation given here serves as an introduction to the first author's much more intricate work on the connective spectrum bo. The Hopf ring viewpoint turns out to be very convenient for understanding the homological effect of various maps between classical groups and fibrations of their connective covers.Comment: 20 pages; to appear in JPA

Community in Europe: a historical lexicon

Eines der Hauptargumente für die EU ist die anhaltende hohe Arbeitslosigkeit in allen Ländern der Union. Das vorliegende Arbeitspapier zeigt, dass die EU bei Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit sich in fast allen ihren Statements und Forderungen zwischen mehr Wettbewerbsfähigkeit auf den Märkten einerseits und 'sozialem Schutz', 'sozialer Balance' und 'sozialer Verantwortung' andererseits bewegt. Die schwierige Frage ist dabei die nach der Vereinbarkeit zwischen individueller Eigenverantwortlichkeit und staatlichen Interventionen und Regulierungen, die häufig mit den Freiheitsrechten des Einzelnen in Konflikt geraten. Die Kollision zwischen Selbständigkeit und dem Anspruch auf wohlfahrtsstaatliche Hilfe ist nur zu lösen, wenn der Verlust an subsidiären Solidarleistungen durch eine sozial vertretbare Form der kollektiven Hilfeleistungen kompensiert werden kann. (ICAÜbers)'One of the main causes of flagging support for the EU has been the persistence of high levels of unemployment in virtually all member states of the Union. Our paper shows that in combating unemployment, present policy as set out in EU documents is forced to steer a course between 'competitiveness' of markets and what is variously referred to as 'social protection', 'social balance' or 'social responsibility'. The difficult question which then arises is how an injunction for individual responsibility can be enforced through rules and regulations which run against the principle of freedom to which responsibility is attached. When freedom is associated with social custom or convention, and that it is customary for individuals to have a state-provided social benefit, a 'community' of social responsibility and the like becomes so problematic. The task is finding the means of persuasion that makes the loss of local custom and individual dependence appear as a socially responsible but private gain of livelihood.' (author's abstract)

Morphological and compositional evidence for biotic precipitation of marine barite

Barite formation in the surface oceans is generally assumed to be dominated by abiotic precipitation. Acceptance of this pathway is largely the result of the absence of a pelagic marine organism known to precipitate the ovoid to rounded-rectangular barite crystals typically observed in marine waters and sediments. Barite crystals observed in net-tow particles and on substrates retrieved from the seafloor (both in the central North Pacific) were examined by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. Three distinct crystalline forms of barite were observed: ovoid and hexagonal crystals several microns in diameter, and aggregates of submicron-sized crystals. Ovoid and hexagonal-type crystals contained between 0 and 26 mole percent SrSO4. The microcrystalline barite contained no detectable Sr (\u3c0.05 percent). Hexagonal-type crystals were precipitated by an unusual benthic foraminifera. Comparison of the morphology and composition of the barite crystals observed in this study to crystals precipitated by a variety of biotic and abiotic processes suggests a biotic origin for the ovoid barite crystals, the most common form of barite observed in this region

The influence of a changing bacterial community on trace metal scavenging in a deep-sea particle plume

An extensive set of particle samples was collected from the extended (nonbuoyant) hydrothermal plume, the distal remnant plume, and the adjacent waters in a transect across the Southern Juan de Fuca Ridge. Bacterial capsules comprised the primary species of particulate Mn. However, the data also showed significant shifts in the relative abundance of distinctive subpopulations of this bacterial community, as expressed by several consistently recurring capsule morphologies. The data are discussed with respect to distance from plume origins (relative plume age), total bacterial numbers, experimentally determined scavenging rate constants and total particulate and dissolved Mn. The relative distribution of one morph (Fibrous) corresponded (r = .825, p \u3c 0.001) to that of the scavenging rate constant, k1 (Cowen et al., 1990) for dissolved Mn onto particles. The greatest Mn deposits (by a factor of over 10×) were associated with this same morph, which was also the numerically dominant capsule morph at the off-axis stations where total particulate Mn plume values were highest. The disequilibrium in the particle population and the geochemical cycle of Mn in an evolving hydrothermal vent plume is reflected in the distribution coefficients for Mn (KD), which increase with distance from vent origins. The potential influence that changing subpopulations of bacteria may exert on the overall scavenging behavior of Mn in this evolving natural particle population is emphasized

Community between Europe and Africa

'Die Studie untersucht den Typ von Gemeinschaft, der durch die verschiedenen Lome Konventionen etabliert wurde. Die Beziehung zwischen der EG/ EU und den AKP-Staaten ist einem tiefgreifenden Wandel unterworfen. Während am Anfang die Beziehung auf der (kontrafaktischen) Unterstellung der Gleichheit der Vertragspartner und fairem Austausch basierte, wurde das Ungleichgewicht zwischen den Partnern im weiteren Verlauf immer offensichtlicher. Wurden die AKP-Staaten anfänglich als Klienten betrachtet, so wurden sie immer mehr zu Bittstellern, weil sich die sozio-ökonomischen und politischen Grundlagen veränderten, auf der die Fiktion der Gleichheit basierte. Das spezielle, als 'post-kolonial' charakterisierte Verhältnis zwischen der EG/ EU und den AKP-Staaten geht aller Wahrscheinlichkeit seinem Ende entgegen, genau so wie die besondere Form der Gemeinschaft, die sich zwischen diesen Staatengruppen entwickelt hatte. Auch in der Vergangenheit war das Verhältnis durch politische und ökonomische Konditionalität gekennzeichnet, die auf interne politische Reformen, Konfliktprävention und Armutsbekämpfung ausgerichtet war. So lange die EG/ EU nicht bereit und willens ist, direkt in diesen Staaten zu intervenieren, wird sie weiterhin die Entwicklungshilfe als indirektes Mittel benützen, um ihren politischen Interessen Geltung zu verschaffen. Dazu zählen neuerdings die Flüchtlingsproblematik, der Kampf gegen die Verbreitung von epidemischen Seuchen und der Kampf gegen den wachsenden Drogenhandel.' (Autorenreferat)'The study analyses the kind of community which was established through the various Lome Conventions. The relationship between the EC/ EU and the ACP countries has undergone profound changes. While in the beginning the relationship was based on the (contrafactual) supposition of equality between the partners and fair exchange the situation turned into a more openly unbalanced one. The real status of the ACP countries turned from client to supplicant because the socio-economic and political rational for upholding the fiction of equality vanished. The special 'post-colonial' relationship between the EC/ EU and the ACP countries is likely to come to an end as is the particular form of community between these two groups of states. Even in the past the relationship was characterised by political and economic conditionality aimed at internal political reform, conflict prevention, and poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, as long as the EC/ EU is not ready and willing to directly intervene in these countries it will rely on development aid as an indirect means to address its political concerns which now include refugee flight, the spread of cross border epidemic disease, and the growth of narcotics trade.' (author's abstract)