Arthur Fula

This is a translation of a chapter entitled "Arthur Fula" from Peter Sulzer's unpublished manuscript Südafrik im Spiegel der Afrikaans Literatur (1965), pages 381-91. This Swiss librarian and Africanist corresponded for at least eight years with Fula and met him in the early 1960s at his place of work, the Johannesburg Magistrate's courts. Fula, a native Xhosa speaker, worked as an interpreter where he also interpreted from Zulu and Sesotho. He published the novels Jôhannie giet die beeld (1954, Johannesburg casts the graven image; The Golden Magnet, 1984) and Met erbarming, O Here (1957, With Compassion, Oh Lord). In this chapter Sulzer provides valuable information on several of Fula's unpublished works of which none has survived. This includes the unpublished novel 'n Zoeloe-dogter (A Zulu Daughter), two novellas "Vader Kalashe" (Pastor Kalashe) and "Matsiliso van Phomolong" (Matsiliso of Phomolong), and several poems. Fula's prose writing often explored the tensions between tradition and modernity. Sulzer's view argued in this chapter is that the author's poetry is "of greater literary value than the novellas". Sulzer' unpublished chapter pro- vides valuable background and literary commentary on a writer who has largely been forgotten.&nbsp

Monitoring of metabolic parameters of mammal cells cultures in microfluidic devices using integrated optical chemical sensors

Optical chemical sensors are well established in the chemical industry, life science, biotechnology and research laboratories. They are operate non-invasive, do not need any reference elements and can be read-out via contactless measurement. Moreover, it is possible to miniaturize and integrate them into microfluidic systems. Due to their simple composition, optical sensors can be produced at low price and therefore represent a good alternative compared to electrochemical sensors for their application in disposable microfluidics. The various possibilities of integrated optical oxygen sensors have already shown their potential in different microfluidic applications [1]. However, monitoring of further metabolic parameters is important for a better understanding of biological processes. Therefore, our group develops, next to oxygen sensors, also optical sensors for monitoring pH, glucose, CO2, ammonia and various ions. Still, integration in a Lab-on-a-chip format is a challenging task due to the state-of-the-art performances in terms of signal brightness, response times, optoelectronic read-out systems, fabrication and integration. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstrac

1-[2,2-Bis(phenyl­sulfon­yl)ethen­yl]-4-meth­oxy­benzene

In the title compound, C21H18O5S2, the two sulfur-bound phenyl rings lie on opposite sides of the meth­oxy­phenyl group, making dihedral angles of 77.58 (8) and 87.45 (8)°with it. The dihedral angle between the sulfur-bound phenyl rings is 57.31 (8)°. In the crystal, π–π stacking is observed between the two sulfur-bound phenyl rings, with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.878 (1) Å and a dihedral angle of 7.58 (8)°. The mol­ecules are linked by weak C—H⋯O and C—H⋯π contacts

"Knees" in lithium-ion battery aging trajectories

Lithium-ion batteries can last many years but sometimes exhibit rapid, nonlinear degradation that severely limits battery lifetime. In this work, we review prior work on "knees" in lithium-ion battery aging trajectories. We first review definitions for knees and three classes of "internal state trajectories" (termed snowball, hidden, and threshold trajectories) that can cause a knee. We then discuss six knee "pathways", including lithium plating, electrode saturation, resistance growth, electrolyte and additive depletion, percolation-limited connectivity, and mechanical deformation -- some of which have internal state trajectories with signals that are electrochemically undetectable. We also identify key design and usage sensitivities for knees. Finally, we discuss challenges and opportunities for knee modeling and prediction. Our findings illustrate the complexity and subtlety of lithium-ion battery degradation and can aid both academic and industrial efforts to improve battery lifetime.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of the Electrochemical Societ

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Methamphetamine Increases LPS-Mediated Expression of IL-8, TNF-α and IL-1β in Human Macrophages through Common Signaling Pathways

The use of methamphetamine (MA) has increased in recent years, and is a major health concern throughout the world. The use of MA has been associated with an increased risk of acquiring HIV-1, along with an increased probability of the acquisition of various sexually transmitted infections. In order to determine the potential effects of MA exposure in the context of an infectious agent, U937 macrophages were exposed to various combinations of MA and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Treatment with MA alone caused significant increases in the levels of TNF-α, while treatment with both MA and LPS resulted in significant increases in TNF-α, IL-1β and the chemokine IL-8. The increases in cytokine or chemokine levels seen when cells were treated with both LPS and MA were generally greater than those increases observed when cells were treated with only LPS. Treatment with chemical inhibitors demonstrated that the signal transduction pathways including NF-kB, MAPK, and PI3-Akt were involved in mediating the increased inflammatory response. As discussed in the paper, these pathways appear to be utilized by both MA and LPS, in the induction of these inflammatory mediators. Since these pathways are involved in the induction of inflammation in response to other pathogens, this suggests that MA-exacerbated inflammation may be a common feature of infectious disease in MA abusers

Rapid Dopaminergic Modulation of the Fish Hypothalamic Transcriptome and Proteome

Background - Dopamine (DA) is a major neurotransmitter playing an important role in the regulation of vertebrate reproduction. We developed a novel method for the comparison of transcriptomic and proteomic data obtained from in vivo experiments designed to study the neuroendocrine actions of DA. // Methods and Findings - Female goldfish were injected (i.p.) with DA agonists (D1-specific; SKF 38393, or D2-specific; LY 171555) and sacrificed after 5 h. Serum LH levels were reduced by 57% and 75% by SKF 38393 and LY 171555, respectively, indicating that the treatments produced physiologically relevant responses in vivo. Bioinformatic strategies and a ray-finned fish database were established for microarray and iTRAQ proteomic analysis of the hypothalamus, revealing a total of 3088 mRNAs and 42 proteins as being differentially regulated by the treatments. Twenty one proteins and mRNAs corresponding to these proteins appeared on both lists. Many of the mRNAs and proteins affected by the treatments were grouped into the Gene Ontology categorizations of protein complex, signal transduction, response to stimulus, and regulation of cellular processes. There was a 57% and 14% directional agreement between the differentially-regulated mRNAs and proteins for SKF 38393 and LY 171555, respectively. // Conclusions - The results demonstrate the applicability of advanced high-throughput genomic and proteomic analyses in an amendable well-studied teleost model species whose genome has yet to be sequenced. We demonstrate that DA rapidly regulates multiple hypothalamic pathways and processes that are also known to be involved in pathologies of the central nervous system

A Phosphorylation Site Regulates Sorting of the Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter to Dense Core Vesicles

Vesicular transport proteins package classical neurotransmitters for regulated exocytotic release, and localize to at least two distinct types of secretory vesicles. In PC12 cells, the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) localizes preferentially to synaptic-like microvesicles (SLMVs), whereas the closely related vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) localize preferentially to large dense core vesicles (LDCVs). VAChT and the VMATs contain COOH-terminal, cytoplasmic dileucine motifs required for internalization from the plasma membrane. We now show that VAChT undergoes regulated phosphorylation by protein kinase C on a serine (Ser-480) five residues upstream of the dileucine motif. Replacement of Ser-480 by glutamate, to mimic the phosphorylation event, increases the localization of VAChT to LDCVs. Conversely, the VMATs contain two glutamates upstream of their dileucine-like motif, and replacement of these residues by alanine conversely reduces sorting to LDCVs. The results provide some of the first information about sequences involved in sorting to LDCVs. Since the location of the transporters determines which vesicles store classical neurotransmitters, a change in VAChT trafficking due to phosphorylation may also influence the mode of transmitter release

Jahrbuch Wirtschaftsrecht Schweiz – EU - Überblick und Kommentar 2023/24

Der vorliegende 19. Band der Jahrbuchreihe „Wirtschaftsrecht Schweiz – EU“ dokumentiert die aktuellen Entwicklungen in zentralen Bereichen des EU-Wirtschaftsrechts und deren Bedeutung für die Schweiz. Berücksichtigt werden diverse wirtschaftsrelevante Rechtsgebiete, u.a. Kapitalmarktrecht, Immaterialgüterrecht, Arbeitsrecht, Steuerrecht und Wettbewerbsrecht. Das Jahrbuch richtet sich an Unternehmens‑, Wirtschafts- und VerwaltungsjuristInnen sowie an RichterInnen und RechtsanwältInnen und bietet ihnen einen kompakten Überblick über die wichtigsten Gesetzgebungsvorstösse, neue Rechtsakte und ergangene Urteile im vergangenen Jahr 2023. Auch diese Ausgabe des Jahrbuchs erscheint wiederum im Verlag EIZ Publishing, und zwar als frei verfügbares E-Book (open access) sowie in gedruckter Form (print on demand)