Some notes on the early history of the tribes living in the Lower Tana, collected by Mikael Samson and others

Volume: XVI

‘Our sentiments of sympathy for the late unwarranted, cruel, and barbarous massacre’: The American Jewish response to the Damascus Affair

By looking at four American Jewish meetings that were convened in the United States, this thesis seeks to understand why they would care about a handful of Jews in a faraway land (Damascus). In so doing, it militates against Jacob R. Marcus’ argument (which dominates the historiography) that holds that American Jews felt a special connection to Damascene Jews by virtue of their shared religion. Instead, this thesis argues the American Jewish attempt to rescue the Damascene Jews was informed by prevailing intellectual currents in Western society. A product of the culture of sensibility and Romanticism, American Jews had a heightened sense of sympathy for the well-being of others and an aversion to pain. They believed humans were given certain inviolable rights, including: 1.) The right to a fair trial; 2.) The right to live free of torture; 3.) The right to practice religion without the threat of persecution. They saw the Damascus Affair as an atrocity that flew in the face of universal human rights. Moreover, American Jews believed that the United States was an exponent of republican virtue that set a model to be followed by the rest of the world. They felt America was ordained with a divine duty to protect human rights abroad. According to American Jews, if the United States truly embodied the rights enshrined in the Constitution, it would take meaningful action to end the sufferings of the Damascene Jews. The American Jewry had a special affinity to American exceptionalism because it dovetailed with Jewish particularism. If the American Jews were a chosen people, tasked with spreading the word of God, America was a chosen nation, tasked with spreading representative government. American Jews were not an insular community, cut off from society. They were a perceptive people that bought into ideas that were pervasive in America and Western society, co-opting them to suit their own interest

Active control of strong plasmon-exciton coupling in biomimetic pigment-polymer antenna complexes grown by surface-initiated polymerisation from gold nanostructures

Plexcitonic antenna complexes, inspired by photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes, are formed by attachment of chlorophylls (Chl) to poly(cysteine methacrylate) (PCysMA) scaffolds grown by atom-transfer radical polymerisation from gold nanostructure arrays. In these pigment-polymer antenna complexes, localised surface plasmon resonances on gold nanostructures are strongly coupled to Chl excitons, yielding hybrid light-matter states (plexcitons) that are manifested in splitting of the plasmon band. Modelling of the extinction spectra of these systems using a simple coupled oscillator model indicates that their coupling energies are up to twice as large as those measured for LHCs from plants and bacteria. Coupling energies are correlated with the exciton density in the grafted polymer layer, consistent with the collective nature of strong plasmon-exciton coupling. Steric hinderance in fully-dense PCysMA brushes limits binding of bulky chlorophylls, but the chlorophyll concentration can be increased to ~2M, exceeding that in biological light-harvesting complexes, by controlling the grafting density and polymerisation time. Moreover, synthetic plexcitonic antenna complexes display pH- and temperature-responsiveness, facilitating active control of plasmon-exciton coupling. Because of the wide range of compatible polymer chemistries and the mild reaction conditions, plexcitonic antenna complexes may offer a versatile route to programmable molecular photonic materials

Active control of strong plasmon-exciton coupling in biomimetic pigment-polymer antenna complexes grown by surface-initiated polymerisation from gold nanostructures

Plexcitonic antenna complexes, inspired by photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes, are formed by attachment of chlorophylls (Chl) to poly(cysteine methacrylate) (PCysMA) scaffolds grown by atom-transfer radical polymerisation from gold nanostructure arrays. In these pigment-polymer antenna complexes, localised surface plasmon resonances on gold nanostructures are strongly coupled to Chl excitons, yielding hybrid light-matter states (plexcitons) that are manifested in splitting of the plasmon band. Modelling of the extinction spectra of these systems using a simple coupled oscillator model indicates that their coupling energies are up to twice as large as those measured for LHCs from plants and bacteria. Coupling energies are correlated with the exciton density in the grafted polymer layer, consistent with the collective nature of strong plasmon-exciton coupling. Steric hindrance in fully-dense PCysMA brushes limits binding of bulky chlorophylls, but the chlorophyll concentration can be increased to ∼2 M, exceeding that in biological light-harvesting complexes, by controlling the grafting density and polymerisation time. Moreover, synthetic plexcitonic antenna complexes display pH- and temperature-responsiveness, facilitating active control of plasmon-exciton coupling. Because of the wide range of compatible polymer chemistries and the mild reaction conditions, plexcitonic antenna complexes may offer a versatile route to programmable molecular photonic materials. This journal i

Measurement of the Spectral Shape of the beta-decay of 137Xe to the Ground State of 137Cs in EXO-200 and Comparison with Theory

We report on a comparison between the theoretically predicted and experimentally measured spectra of the first-forbidden non-unique $\beta$-decay transition ^{137}\textrm{Xe}(7/2^-)\to\,^{137}\textrm{Cs}(7/2^+). The experimental data were acquired by the EXO-200 experiment during a deployment of an AmBe neutron source. The ultra-low background environment of EXO-200, together with dedicated source deployment and analysis procedures, allowed for collection of a pure sample of the decays, with an estimated signal-to-background ratio of more than 99-to-1 in the energy range from 1075 to 4175 keV. In addition to providing a rare and accurate measurement of the first-forbidden non-unique $\beta$-decay shape, this work constitutes a novel test of the calculated electron spectral shapes in the context of the reactor antineutrino anomaly and spectral bump.Comment: Version as accepted by PR

Power estimation of tests in log-linear non-uniform association models for ordinal agreement

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Log-linear association models have been extensively used to investigate the pattern of agreement between ordinal ratings. In 2007, log-linear non-uniform association models were introduced to estimate, from a cross-classification of two independent raters using an ordinal scale, varying degrees of distinguishability between distant and adjacent categories of the scale.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this paper, a simple method based on simulations was proposed to estimate the power of non-uniform association models to detect heterogeneities across distinguishabilities between adjacent categories of an ordinal scale, illustrating some possible scale defects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Different scenarios of distinguishability patterns were investigated, as well as different scenarios of marginal heterogeneity within rater. For sample size of N = 50, the probabilities of detecting heterogeneities within the tables are lower than .80, whatever the number of categories. In additition, even for large samples, marginal heterogeneities within raters led to a decrease in power estimates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This paper provided some issues about how many objects had to be classified by two independent observers (or by the same observer at two different times) to be able to detect a given scale structure defect. Our results also highlighted the importance of marginal homogeneity within raters, to ensure optimal power when using non-uniform association models.</p

Sinking Organic Particles in the Ocean—Flux Estimates From in situ Optical Devices

Optical particle measurements are emerging as an important technique for understanding the ocean carbon cycle, including contributions to estimates of their downward flux, which sequesters carbon dioxide (CO2) in the deep sea. Optical instruments can be used from ships or installed on autonomous platforms, delivering much greater spatial and temporal coverage of particles in the mesopelagic zone of the ocean than traditional techniques, such as sediment traps. Technologies to image particles have advanced greatly over the last two decades, but the quantitative translation of these immense datasets into biogeochemical properties remains a challenge. In particular, advances are needed to enable the optimal translation of imaged objects into carbon content and sinking velocities. In addition, different devices often measure different optical properties, leading to difficulties in comparing results. Here we provide a practical overview of the challenges and potential of using these instruments, as a step toward improvement and expansion of their applications