English Bankrupts 1732-1831: A Social Account

During the long eighteenth century in England many thousands of men and women became bankrupts, but little is known today about what they experienced as bankrupts. This study seeks to redress this imbalance by giving an account of the social experience of a wide and varied sample of English bankrupts from between the years 1732 and 1831. Through the employment of twenty-four case studies this study introduces the reader to some very different members of the English middling sort, all of whom, however, were engaged in a trade at which they failed. Some of these bankrupts were the predictable tropes of bankers and merchants who risked too much, but others were small provincial businessmen and shopkeepers. This study therefore challenges notions that bankruptcy was largely an event affecting only speculators and the extravagant. Each case study is supported by a variety of sources, for example, law court and bankruptcy commission records, personal correspondence, private journals, self-published exculpatory pamphlets and press reports. Together the sources reveal bankrupts’ personal experience, their beliefs, attitudes, anxieties, reflections and introspections. The social and cultural climate that surrounded bankrupts is represented by a range of polemical pamphlets and treatises, newspaper columns, advice literature, novels, verse and plays. Bankruptcy was not always the soft-option choice of the privileged. There was a larger overlap between the regimes of imprisonment for debt and bankruptcy in England in the long eighteenth century than is often supposed. This study will show that it was because all traders faced the real prospect of being summarily flung into debtors’ gaol, that bankruptcies were triggered. The study explores bankrupts’ relationships with family and friends and finds how these connections continued to represent the most vital safety net against poverty, and how dire the consequences were when these affinities failed. Space and time were transformed for bankrupts as the law deprived them of freedom to move and trapped them in proceedings of indeterminate duration. Finally, the study assesses how bankrupts and their families experienced sudden financial and personal loss, and how they responded to, and came to terms with, downward social mobility. They lost property, public roles, status, often their health, and even their lives. However, as this study shows, not all bankrupts were equal in the degree to which their experience was unpleasant or tragic. Some sank, whilst others rose to the surface again to lead, often different, new lives

Desarrollo de un software en MATLAB para la simulación de campo ultrasónico

The study of the acoustic field generated by an ultrasonic transducer is fundamental to its construction and characterization, because it defines how it will behave before being built. It also defines whether it is feasible or not, for the application to which it was designed. It can also lead to modifications to the project so it behaves as expected. In this work, a software was implemented in MATLAB®, for computational simulation of acoustic fields generated by ultrasonic transducers of different configurations. Two models were used, Zemanek and Stepanishen. Transducers with focus and apodization and transmission medium with attenuation may also be simulated. For the simulation of Zemanek’s model, the mathematical method of discretization was used. The Stepanishen’s model used an analytical solution for the impulse response. The developed programs were aggregated into a computer package, named FSIM, and a graphic interface was created. The user can choose among some of the transducer configurations and simulation parameters already implemented. FSIM has a modular architecture and allows further simulation modules to be added. The simulations were validated comparing results to those previously published in classical papers from Zemanek, and from Lockwood and Willete, in addition to prior results from research studies conducted at the Biomedical Engineering Department of the School of Electrical and Computing Engineering at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP).El estudio del campo acústico generado por un transductor ultrasónico es fundamental para su construcción y caracterización, ya que define cómo se comportará antes de ser construido. También define si realmente es factible para la aplicación a la que fue diseñado, y también puede sugerir modificaciones al proyecto, para que se comporte como se espera. En este trabajo un software fue implementado en MATLAB®, para la simulación computacional de los campos acústicos generados por los transductores ultrasónicos de diferentes configuraciones. Dos modelos fueran usados, Zemanek y Stepanishen. Transductores con el enfoque y apodización y medios con atenuación también pueden ser simulados. Para la simulación del modelo de Zemanek, se utilizó el método matemático de discretización y para el modelo de Stepanishen, se empleó una solución analítica para la respuesta impulsiva. Los programas desarrollados fueron agregados en un paquete computacional, llamado FSIM, y una interfaz gráfica fue creada. El usuario puede elegir entre algunas configuraciones del transductor y parámetros de simulación ya implementados; FSIM tiene una arquitectura modular y permite que otros módulos de simulación sean añadidos. Las simulaciones fueron validadas comparando resultados obtenidos previamente por otros trabajos de investigación del Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica de la Facultad de Ingeniería Eléctrica y Computación de la UNICAMP y por los artículos clásicos de Zemanek y Lockwood y Willette

Technological Applications of Porphyrins and Related Compounds: Spintronics and Micro-/Nanomotors

The vital role played by porphyrins in cells and their use in therapeutic processes are well known. More recently, the technological applications of porphyrins have attracted the attention of researchers. Porphyrins have the property of half-metallic material, i.e., molecules that can host transition metals making feasible the production of spin-polarized electronic states at different channels. Therefore, porphyrins and hemeproteins are among the materials that have spin-filtering property to be applied in spintronics. Molecular spintronics is an emerging and highly relevant field due to their applications to the development of high-capacity information-storage devices and quantum computers. The catalytic properties of porphyrins and related compounds such as the hemeproteins are also applicable in the fabrication of micro-/nanomotors (MNMs). In this chapter, we describe the advances and future perspectives in the technological applications of porphyrins and related compounds in spintronic devices and micro-/nanomotors

Two images of Nantes as a ‘Green Model’ of Urban Planning and Governance: The ‘Collaborative City’ Versus the ‘Slow City’

This article examines how the city of Nantes, European Green Capital in 2013, came to promote plans for a new international airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes. Deploying poststructuralist discourse theory, it analyses how the highly politicised struggle against the airport reveals the limits of the Nantes model of urban sustainability and collaboration, giving rise to a counter model, which we provisionally characterise as the ‘slow city’. While the struggle against the airport can be understood as a rural social movement, we show how its ideals and logics have been progressively displaced to Nantes itself, disclosing new images and possibilities of urban governance

Ferricytochrome c Directly Oxidizes Aminoacetone to Methylglyoxal, a Catabolite Accumulated in Carbonyl Stress

Age-related diseases are associated with increased production of reactive oxygen and carbonyl species such as methylglyoxal. Aminoacetone, a putative threonine catabolite, is reportedly known to undergo metal-catalyzed oxidation to methylglyoxal, NH4+ ion, and H2O2 coupled with (i) permeabilization of rat liver mitochondria, and (ii) apoptosis of insulin-producing cells. Oxidation of aminoacetone to methylglyoxal is now shown to be accelerated by ferricytochrome c, a reaction initiated by one-electron reduction of ferricytochrome c by aminoacetone without amino acid modifications. the participation of O-2(center dot-) and HO center dot radical intermediates is demonstrated by the inhibitory effect of added superoxide dismutase and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spin-trapping experiments with 5,5'-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide. We hypothesize that two consecutive one-electron transfers from aminoacetone (E-0 values = -0.51 and -1.0 V) to ferricytochrome c (E-0 = 0.26 V) may lead to aminoacetone enoyl radical and, subsequently, imine aminoacetone, whose hydrolysis yields methylglyoxal and NH4+ ion. in the presence of oxygen, aminoacetone enoyl and O-2(center dot-) radicals propagate aminoacetone oxidation to methylglyoxal and H2O2. These data endorse the hypothesis that aminoacetone, putatively accumulated in diabetes, may directly reduce ferricyt c yielding methylglyoxal and free radicals, thereby triggering redox imbalance and adverse mitochondrial responses.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)INCT Processos Redox em Biomedicina (Brazil)Univ São Paulo, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Bioquim & Biol Mol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Inst Ciencias Ambientais Quim & Farmaceut, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Dept Fis & Informat, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed ABC, Ctr Ciencias Nat & Humanas, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Bioquim & Biol Mol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Inst Ciencias Ambientais Quim & Farmaceut, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Paraganglioma gangliocítico duodenal

Se presenta el caso de un varón de 85 años que ingresó por dolor abdominal e ictericia, por lo cual se le realizaron diversas exploraciones, apreciandose en 2ª porción duodenal una masa cuyo estudio histológico demostró que se trataba de un paraganglioma gangliocítico duodenal. Se describen las características clínicas de este infrecuente tumor y revisamos su diagnóstico y tratamiento. We present the case of an 85 year old male who was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain and jaundice. Different explorations were performed for this reason, with a mass observed in his 2nd duodenal portion. Histiological study showed that it was a duodenal gangliocytic paraganlioma. The clinical characteristics of this infrequent tumour are described and we review the diagnosis and treatment

Manejo do pastejo de cultivares de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst) Stapf e de Panicum maximum Jacq.

A definição dos princípios adequados de manejo do pastejo capazes de possibilitar que as pastagens mantenhamse produtivas e persistentes tem sido uma preocupação constante dos pesquisadores brasileiros. No entanto, foi durante as duas últimas décadas que ocorreram grandes mudanças e um avanço significativo na compreensão dos processos determinantes da correta utilização das plantas forrageiras tropicais em pastagens. Este texto tem por objetivo apresentar e discutir os principais resultados obtidos sobre o manejo do pastejo de alguns cultivares de Panicum maximum e de Brachiaria brizantha, bem como a importância da utilização de metas de pasto como guia de campo para o monitoramento e controle do processo de pastejo para planejar e recomendar práticas de manejo eficientes.Título em inglês: Pasture and grazing management of Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst) Stapf and Panicum maximum Jacq

Photo-induced electron transfer in supramolecular materials of titania nanostructures and cytochrome c

In the present paper, we report on the molecular interaction and photochemistry of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and cytochrome c systems for understanding the effects of supramolecular organization and electron transfer by using two TiO2 structures: P25 TiO2 NPs and titanate nanotubes. The adsorption and reduction of cytochrome c heme iron promoted by photo-excited TiO2, arranged as P25 TiO2 NPs and as nanotubes, were characterized using electronic absorption spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and atomic force microscopy. In an aqueous buffered suspension (pH 8.0), the mass of cytochrome c adsorbed on the P25 TiO2 NP surface was 2.3 fold lower (0.75 μg m−2) than that adsorbed on the titanate nanotubes (1.75 μg m−2). Probably due to the high coverage of titanate nanotubes by adsorbed cytochrome c, the low amount of soluble remaining protein was not as efficiently photo-reduced by this nanostructure as it was by the P25 TiO2 NPs. Cytochrome c, which desorbed from both titanium materials, did not exhibit changes in its redox properties. In the presence of the TiO2 NPs, the photo-induced electron transfer from water to soluble cytochrome c heme iron was corroborated by the following findings: (i) identification by EPR of the hydroxyl radical production during the irradiation of an aqueous suspension of TiO2 NPs, (ii) impairment of a cytochrome c reduction by photo-excited TiO2 in the presence of dioxane, which affects the dielectric constant of the water, and (iii) change in the rate of TiO2-promoted cytochrome c reduction when water was replaced with D2O. The TiO2-promoted photo-reduction of cytochrome c was reverted by peroxides. Cytochrome c incorporated in the titanate nanotubes was also reversibly reduced under irradiation, as confirmed by EPR and UV-visible spectroscopy21974177426CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP475235/2010-0; 2011/01541-0Sem informação2008/04849-0; 2009/15558-1; 2011/01541-

Probing a Complex of Cytochromecand Cardiolipin by Magnetic Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy: Implications for the Initial Events in Apoptosis

Oxidation of cardiolipin (CL) by its complex with cytochrome c (cyt c) plays a crucial role in triggering apoptosis. Through a combination of magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy and potentiometric titrations, we show that both the ferric and ferrous forms of the heme group of a CL:cyt c complex exist as multiple conformers at a physiologically relevant pH of 7.4. For the ferric state, these conformers are His/Lys- and His/OH–-ligated. The ferrous state is predominantly high-spin and, most likely, His/–. Interconversion of the ferric and ferrous conformers is described by a single midpoint potential of -80 ± 9 mV vs SHE. These results suggest that CL oxidation in mitochondria could occur by the reaction of molecular oxygen with the ferrous CL:cyt c complex in addition to the well-described reaction of peroxides with the ferric form