The World’s Largest Airline: How Aeroflot Learned to Stop Worrying and Became a Corporation

Similar to sex, the Soviet Union did not have corporations. The famous utterance from the Gorbachev era about a sexless Soviet existence suggests how we might approach what happened to the corporation in Soviet history. Like explicit sex in Soviet culture, the workers’ state formally eradicated the dreaded incorporated bodies of capitalism and gave them no quarter in subsequent ideological battles. But just like sex, the behaviors and practices of corporations kept cropping up in the oddest places to help sustain the Soviet economy, while the West remained a source of inspiration for new ways to do it. To examine the corporation in the Soviet era, this article explores Aeroflot and the routes it shared with Pan American World Airways between the United States and Soviet Union in the late 1960s and 1970s. I argue that operating in the US market allowed Aeroflot to learn how to become a corporation well before the Gorbachev era and the collapse of the USSR. Aeroflot’s adaptations of corporate practices bolstered rather than threatened the airline and the Soviet political economy. In addition, I show how the airline relied not just on Pan Am but also on a network of American businesses and individuals, including émigrés from Russia, to acculturate itself to corporate practices. What Aeroflot’s example suggests, I argue, is that Soviet enterprises could become corporations in all but name beyond Soviet borders and that their models for doing so were not prerevolutionary Russian corporations but Western corporations of the postwar era. This article also demonstrates the ways corporations and state socialist enterprises shaped the Cold War, as well as what closer attention to them can reveal about how the superpower conflict ended

Functional Characterization and Localization of the \u3ci\u3eAspergillus nidulan\u3c/i\u3e Formin SEPA

Formins are a family of multidomain scaffold proteins involved in actin-dependent morphogenetic events. In Aspergillus nidulans, the formin SEPA participates in two actin-mediated processes, septum formation and polarized growth. In this study, we use a new null mutant to demonstrate that SEPA is required for the formation of actin rings at septation sites. In addition, we find that a functional SEPA::GFP fusion protein localizes simultaneously to septation sites and hyphal tips, and that SEPA colocalizes with actin at each site. Using live imaging, we show that SEPA localization at septation sites and hyphal tips is dynamic. Notably, at septation sites, SEPA forms a ring that constricts as the septum is deposited. Moreover, we demonstrate that actin filaments are required to maintain the proper localization pattern of SEPA, and that the amino-terminal half of SEPA is sufficient for localization at septation sites and hyphal tips. In contrast, only localization at septation sites is affected by loss of the sepH gene product. We propose that specific morphological cues activate common molecular pathways to direct SEPA localization to the appropriate morphogenetic site

Functional Characterization and Localization of the \u3ci\u3eAspergillus nidulan\u3c/i\u3e Formin SEPA

Formins are a family of multidomain scaffold proteins involved in actin-dependent morphogenetic events. In Aspergillus nidulans, the formin SEPA participates in two actin-mediated processes, septum formation and polarized growth. In this study, we use a new null mutant to demonstrate that SEPA is required for the formation of actin rings at septation sites. In addition, we find that a functional SEPA::GFP fusion protein localizes simultaneously to septation sites and hyphal tips, and that SEPA colocalizes with actin at each site. Using live imaging, we show that SEPA localization at septation sites and hyphal tips is dynamic. Notably, at septation sites, SEPA forms a ring that constricts as the septum is deposited. Moreover, we demonstrate that actin filaments are required to maintain the proper localization pattern of SEPA, and that the amino-terminal half of SEPA is sufficient for localization at septation sites and hyphal tips. In contrast, only localization at septation sites is affected by loss of the sepH gene product. We propose that specific morphological cues activate common molecular pathways to direct SEPA localization to the appropriate morphogenetic site

The Trichoptera of Panama XIII. Further new country records for caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Republic of Panama

The Republic of Panama currently includes 414 recorded species of Trichoptera. Herein we add two new genera (Hydroptilidae: Angrisanoia Ozdikmen, 2008 and Mayatrichia Mosely, 1937) and 17 new country records (Philopotamidae: Chimarra (C.) tapanti Blahnik, Wormaldia bolivari Muñoz-Quesada and Holzenthal, and Wormaldia zunigae Muñoz-Quesada and Holzenthal; Hydropsychidae: Centromacronema pygmaeum Botosaneanu; Hydroptilidae: Brysopteryx esparta Harris and Holzenthal, Byrsopteryx solisi Harris and Holzenthal, Costatrichia falsa Santos, Takiya, and Nessimian, Mayatrichia illobia Harris and Holzenthal, Metrichia amplitudinis Bueno-Soria and Holzenthal, Ochrotrichia boquillas Moulton and Harris, O. conformalis Bueno-Soria and Holzenthal, O. quinealensis Bueno-Soria and Holzenthal, and O. unica Bueno-Soria and Santiago; Leptoceridae: Triaenodes morai Holzenthal and Andersen; Odontoceridae: Marilia kingsolveri Bueno-Soria and Rojas-Ascencio; and, Helicopsychidae: Helicopsyche alajuela Johanson and Holzenthal and Helicopsyche breviterga Flint) to Panama’s caddisfly fauna. The newly recorded taxa increase Panama’s total known caddisfly fauna to 431 species, distributed among 15 families and 55 genera. These results are part of an ongoing effort to characterize the caddisfly fauna of Panama, and to evaluate the aquatic insect diversity of the country’s major watersheds (cuencas). La República de Panamá actualmente incluye 414 especies registradas de Trichoptera. Aquí agregamos dos nuevos géneros (Hydroptilidae: Angrisanoia Ozdikmen, 2008 y Mayatrichia Mosely, 1937) y 17 nuevos registros para el país (Philopotamidae: Chimarra (C.) tapanti Blahnik, Wormaldia bolivari Muñoz-Quesada y Holzenthal, y Wormaldia zunigae Muñoz-Quesada y Holzenthal; Hydropsychidae: Centromacronema pygmaeum Botosaneanu; Hydroptilidae: Brysopteryx esparta Harris y Holzenthal, Byrsopteryx solisi Harris y Holzenthal, Costatrichia falsa Santos, Takiya, y Nessimian, Mayatrichia illobia Harris y Holzenthal, Metrichia amplitudinis Bueno-Soria y Holzenthal, Ochrotrichia boquillas Moulton y Harris, Ochrotrichia conformalis Bueno-Soria y Holzenthal, Ochrotrichia quinealensis Bueno-Soria y Holzenthal, y Ochrotrichia unica Bueno-Soria y Santiago; Leptoceridae: Triaenodes morai Holzenthal y Andersen; Odontoceridae: Marilia kingsolveri Bueno-Soria y Rojas- Ascencio; y, Helicopsychidae: Helicopsyche alajuela Johanson y Holzenthal y Helicopsyche breviterga Flint) a la fauna de Trichoptera de Panamá. Los taxones recien reportados aumentan el total de la fauna de Trichoptera de Panamá a 431 especies, distribuidas en 15 familias y 55 géneros. Estos resultados son parte de un esfuerzo continuo para caracterizar la fauna de Trichoptera y para evaluar la diversidad de insectos acuáticos de las principales cuencas hidrográficas (cuencas) de Panamá

Using Electrochemical Oxidation to Remove PFAS in Simulated Investigation-DerivedWaste (IDW): Laboratory and Pilot-Scale Experiments

Repeated use of aqueous firefighting foams at military aircraft training centers has contaminated groundwater with per and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). To delineate the extent of PFAS contamination, numerous site investigations have occurred, which have generated large quantities of investigation-derived wastes (IDW). The commonly used treatment of incinerating PFAS-tainted IDW is costly, and was recently suspended by the Department of Defense. Given long-term IDW storage in warehouses is not sustainable, our objective was to use electrochemical oxidation to degrade PFAS in contaminated water and then scale the technology toward IDW treatment. This was accomplished by conducting a series of laboratory and pilot-scale experiments that electrochemically oxidized PFAS using direct current with boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. To improve destruction efficiency, and understand factors influencing degradation rates, we quantified the treatment effects of current density, pH, electrolyte and PFAS chain length. By using 14C-labeled perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and tracking temporal changes in both 14C-activity and fluoride concentrations, we showed that oxidation of the carboxylic head (-14COOH ! 14CO2) was possible and up to 60% of the bonded fluorine was released into solution. We also reported the efficacy of a low-cost, 3D printed, four-electrode BDD reactor that was used to treat 189 L of PFOA and PFOS-contaminated water (Co ≤ 10 µg L-1). Temporal monitoring of PFAS with LC/MS/MS in this pilot study showed that PFOS concentrations decreased from 9.62 µg L-1 to non-detectable (\u3c0.05 µg L-1) while PFOA dropped from a concentration of 8.16 to 0.114 µg L-1. Efforts to improve reaction kinetics are ongoing, but current laboratory and pilot-scale results support electrochemical oxidation with BDD electrodes as a potential treatment for PFAS-tainted IDW

The Trichoptera of Panama IV. New records for caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Republic of Panama

The Republic of Panama currently has 300 recorded species of Trichoptera distributed among 14 families. Herein we add 42 new country records for Panama, including one new family (Anomalopsychidae) and three new genera (Anomalopsychidae: Contulma; Hydroptilidae: Byrsopteryx and Cerasmatrichia). The newly recorded caddisfly taxa increase Panama’s total known fauna to 342 species, distributed among 15 families and 50 genera. These results are part of an ongoing effort to characterize the caddisfly fauna of Panama, and to evaluate that country’s major watersheds (cuencas)

The Trichoptera of Panama IV. New records for caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Republic of Panama

The Republic of Panama currently has 300 recorded species of Trichoptera distributed among 14 families. Herein we add 42 new country records for Panama, including one new family (Anomalopsychidae) and three new genera (Anomalopsychidae: Contulma; Hydroptilidae: Byrsopteryx and Cerasmatrichia). The newly recorded caddisfly taxa increase Panama’s total known fauna to 342 species, distributed among 15 families and 50 genera. These results are part of an ongoing effort to characterize the caddisfly fauna of Panama, and to evaluate that country’s major watersheds (cuencas)

Origins of linewidth in ¹H magic-angle spinning NMR

A detailed study of the factors determining the linewidth (and hence resolution) in 1H solid-state magic-angle spinning NMR is described. Although it has been known from the early days of magic-angle spinning (MAS) that resolution of spectra from abundant nuclear spins, such as 1H, increases approximately linearly with increasing sample rotation rate, the difficulty of describing the dynamics of extended networks of coupled spins has made it difficult to predict a priori the resolution expected for a given sample. Using recently developed, highly efficient methods of numerical simulation, together with experimental measurements on a variety of test systems, we propose a comprehensive picture of 1H resolution under MAS. The "homogeneous" component of the linewidth is shown to depend primarily on the ratio between an effective local coupling strength and the spin rate, modified by geometrical factors which loosely correspond to the "dimensionality" of the coupling network. The remaining "inhomogeneous" component of the natural linewidth is confirmed to have the same properties as in dilute-spin NMR. Variations in the NMR frequency due to chemical shift effects are shown to have minimal impact on 1H resolution. The implications of these results for solid-state NMR experiments involving 1H and other abundant-spin nuclei are discussed