Sino-European Relations in the 1980s:Increasing Engagement in the Shadow of the United States

This chapter discusses the development of Europe’s relationship with China from 1978 to 1990. It begins by surveying relations prior to this period, highlighting both the restrictive presence of the United States as well as the economic potential that existed on both sides. It proceeds to review the development of a series of bilateral relationships between European countries (West Germany, France, and the Netherlands) and China and discusses the role played by the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union (EU), in supporting these ties. The anticipated developmental pathway of these relations was truncated by the crackdown in Tiananmen Square. The penultimate section of this chapter discusses how the EEC states reacted to this event, drawing conclusions on the state of the relationship circa 1990. Throughout this chapter, it will be apparent that, France’s early opening notwithstanding, during the entire period from 1949 to 1990, the United States acted as a restraining factor setting the bounds to how far European states could go when dealing with China. In the 1980s, however, economic ties started to form between Western Europe and China that would soon introduce a dynamic independent of the United States into the relationship. The effect of these ties was visible in late 1989 and early 1990, when some EEC members tussled with the diplomatic and partial economic freeze that they themselves had imposed on China following 4 June 1989.</p

Single-fluid radiation-hydrodynamic modeling of laser-driven EUV-emitting plasmas

State-of-the-art nanolithography machines employ extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light to pattern nanometer-scale features on silicon wafers for the production of integrated circuits. This radiation is generated in a laser-produced plasma formed on tin microdroplet targets. This thesis presents work on radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of tin droplet-based laser-produced plasmas, including plasma characterization, plasma expansion, and subsequent early-time droplet dynamics. The work is closely connected to experimental measurements, be it to successfully validate the simulation results on plasma expansion and droplet dynamics, or to guide future experiments towards optimal EUV emission conditions. It is shown that, after validation, the simulations can provide additional insight into (i) non-trivial plasma dynamics leading to the measured ion kinetic energy distributions and (ii) the plasma impulse shaping the early-time droplet dynamics that ultimately determines the late-time droplet morphology. Moreover, the simulations can successfully explore a broad range of laser wavelengths and intensities. Finally, these investigations aim to complement efforts to increase the performance of the EUV source system: the conversion efficiency of laser pulses to in-band EUV radiation as well as the lifetime of the collector mirror, which may be affected by ionic or liquid debris

SDSL-ESR-based protein structure characterization

As proteins are key molecules in living cells, knowledge about their structure can provide important insights and applications in science, biotechnology, and medicine. However, many protein structures are still a big challenge for existing high-resolution structure-determination methods, as can be seen in the number of protein structures published in the Protein Data Bank. This is especially the case for less-ordered, more hydrophobic and more flexible protein systems. The lack of efficient methods for structure determination calls for urgent development of a new class of biophysical techniques. This work attempts to address this problem with a novel combination of site-directed spin labelling electron spin resonance spectroscopy (SDSL-ESR) and protein structure modelling, which is coupled by restriction of the conformational spaces of the amino acid side chains. Comparison of the application to four different protein systems enables us to generalize the new method and to establish a general procedure for determination of protein structur

ESR of spin-labeled bacteriophage M13 coat protein in mixed phospholipid bilayers.

Bacteriophage M13 major coat protein was spin-labeled with a nitroxide derivative of iodoacetamide, preferentially at the single methionine that is located in the hydrophobic region of the protein. The spin-labeled protein was incorporated at different lipid-to-protein ratios in phospholipid bilayers composed of dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol (DMPG), dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), or the 1:1 molar mixture of these lipids. Both conventional and saturation transfer (ST) ESR studies were performed to investigate the rotational motions of the protein over a large dynamic range. The conventional ESR spectra indicate that the mobility of the spin labelled protein in the lipid gel phase decreases in the order: DMPG > DMPC/DMPG (1:1) > DMPC. In the liquid crystalline phase, the largest mobility is found in DMPC/DMPG (1:1, mol/mol) mixtures, but the mobility is still greater in DMPG than in DMPC. The results are interpreted in terms of different degrees of protein aggregation in the different lipids. Segmental motion with rotational correlation times on the order of tens of nanoseconds, motional anisotropy, and spectral overlap complicate the analysis of the STESR spectra. An estimate of the size of the protein aggregates is found to be in the region of 85 monomer units. Removing the polar tails from the protein by proteolytic digestion results in an enhanced aggregation in the gel phase. In the liquid crystalline phase, the segmental wobbling mobility of the protein is increased relative to the native protein, whereas the overall rotational diffusion is not changed greatly

Eisen aan kwaliteit van kuiken en houderij

De 'uiteindelijke kwaliteit' van kuikenvlees komt tot stand door de inspanningen van vrijwel alle schakels van de productieketen, vanaf het fokbedrijf tot en met de aankomst bij de consument. Alle deelnemers aan de kuikenvleesketen geven hun eigen invull

Nekton communities of an intertidal creek of an European estuarine brackish marsh

The utilization of an estuarine brackish marsh in the Westerschelde estuary (southwest Netherlands) by fish and crustaceans visiting the intertidal creeks at rising tides was investigated over an 18 mo period. Samples were collected every month over a tidal cycle. A stow net passively fished the nekton migrating in and out of the marsh habitat. Simultaneous measurements of current speed and waterheight allowed for quantification of the catches. Multivariate clustering and ordination techniques were applied to assess temporal changes in the nekton assemblage. A total of 68 fish and crustacean species were caught but only 38 were regular visitors of the marsh creek. The marsh nekton community proved to have a very stable character. Only 40% of the observed variance could be explained. The seasonal appearance of juvenile stages of fish and crustaceans was found to differentiate between spring and summer-autumn communities. The environmental variables measured (i.e. temperature, salinity, oxygen concentration and detritus standing stock) did not correlate well with the observed changes in community structure. The mysid shrimp Neomysis integer dominated the community, both in density and biomass, during most of the year. Early postlarval flounder Pleuronectes flesus characterized the spring nekton assemblage. Early postlarval brown shrimp Crangon crangon was abundant from spring through autumn. In late summer juveniles of seabass Dicentrarchus labrax, common goby Pomatoschistus microps and shore crab Carcinus maenas were typical members of the marsh creek nekton. The hyperbenthic fauna of the marsh was comparable to the hyperbenthos found in the adjacent subtidal parts of the Westerschelde estuary while the epifauna of both areas differed substantially. It is argued that the marsh under study is a nursery ground for only a small number of estuarine inhabitants: C. crangon, P. flesus, C. maenas, P. microps, D. labrax and possibly 2 mullet species. Adult flounder, adult and juvenile common goby, juvenile seabass and the early postlarval brown shrimp all use the creeks as feeding ground, mainly preying upon the creek infauna and mysids. Given the high abundance of hyperbenthic mysid shrimp in the marsh and their presumed role in detritus-based food chains, we believe marsh studies should not refrain from considering this component of the nekton. This is the first study reporting on the nekton use of a European marsh. The need for similar research in other European marshes is stressed