Expertise And The Quest For Rural Modernization In The Russian Empire And The Soviet Union

The project of modernity is generally associated with industrial and urban contexts. Yet the belief that the world can be transformed through knowledge, technology and reason has left clear marks beyond the classic laboratories of modernity. In rural regions, it manifested itself in the implementation of ambitious agricultural programs and gigantic infrastructure projects. Such endeavors brought about both adventure and risk, promising unseen triumphs and foreshadowing ecological disasters an..

La technoscience nucléaire soviétique

En 1904, Frederick Soddy, lauréat du prix Nobel en 1921 pour ses recherches en radiochimie, spéculait sur le fait que le décodage, puis le déchaînement des forces prodigieuses de l’atome permettraient aux « nouveaux alchimistes » de « verdir les déserts, de fondre la calotte polaire et de transformer la terre entière en un plaisant jardin d’Éden ». Il prédisait aussi que l’État qui posséderait les premières armes atomiques opérationnelles conquerrait l’hégémonie mondiale. La prise de conscien..

Soviet Nuclear Technoscience

In 1904, Frederick Soddy, who would later receive the Nobel Prize for his seminal studies in radiochemistry, speculated that the “new alchemists” who had unlocked the awe‑inspiring power of the atom would “turn wastelands green, melt the polar ice caps, and transform the planet into a friendly Garden of Eden.” But he also predicted that the state to possess the first viable atomic weapon would achieve world domination. The significance of nuclear technology, at once promising and terrible, sh..

Neurotrophin-3 regulates ribbon synapse density in the cochlea and induces synapse regeneration after acoustic trauma

Neurotrophin-3 (Ntf3) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) are critical for sensory neuron survival and establishment of neuronal projections to sensory epithelia in the embryonic inner ear, but their postnatal functions remain poorly understood. Using cell-specific inducible gene recombination in mice we found that, in the postnatal inner ear, Bbnf and Ntf3 are required for the formation and maintenance of hair cell ribbon synapses in the vestibular and cochlear epithelia, respectively. We also show that supporting cells in these epithelia are the key endogenous source of the neurotrophins. Using a new hair cell CreERT line with mosaic expression, we also found that Ntf3's effect on cochlear synaptogenesis is highly localized. Moreover, supporting cell-derived Ntf3, but not Bbnf, promoted recovery of cochlear function and ribbon synapse regeneration after acoustic trauma. These results indicate that glial-derived neurotrophins play critical roles in inner ear synapse density and synaptic regeneration after injury. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.03564.00

Review of thermo-physical properties, wetting and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids and their applicability in industrial quench heat treatment

The success of quenching process during industrial heat treatment mainly depends on the heat transfer characteristics of the quenching medium. In the case of quenching, the scope for redesigning the system or operational parameters for enhancing the heat transfer is very much limited and the emphasis should be on designing quench media with enhanced heat transfer characteristics. Recent studies on nanofluids have shown that these fluids offer improved wetting and heat transfer characteristics. Further water-based nanofluids are environment friendly as compared to mineral oil quench media. These potential advantages have led to the development of nanofluid-based quench media for heat treatment practices. In this article, thermo-physical properties, wetting and boiling heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids are reviewed and discussed. The unique thermal and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids would be extremely useful for exploiting them as quench media for industrial heat treatment

Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom

This article presents an analysis of occupational structure, a key component of the ‘Little Divergence’, in an eastern-central European economy under the second serfdom, using data on 6,983 Bohemian villages in 1654. Non-agricultural activity was lower than in western Europe, but varied positively with village size, pastoral agriculture, sub-peasant strata, Jews, freemen, female headship, and mills, and negatively with arable agriculture and towns. It showed a curvilinear relationship with the ‘second serfdom’, as proxied by landlord presence on village holdings. Landlord presence in serf villages also reversed the positive effects of female headship and mills on non-agricultural activities. Under the second serfdom, landlords encouraged serf activities from which they could extract rents, while stifling others which threatened manorial interests.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Professor Dame Elizabeth Hill Fund at the University of Cambridge; the British Academy Small Research Grant Scheme; the Collaborative Project HIPOD, supported by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme for Research, Contract Number SSH7-CT-2008-225342; and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, Grant Number 13-138485. Alexander Klein Snr, Lucie Matějková, and Václav Žďárek provided excellent research assistance. This project builds on the lifelong work of the late Václav Červený and we are grateful to him for allowing us to build upon the data he collected.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ehr.1211