New computational method for non-LTE, the linear response matrix

We investigate non-local thermodynamic equilibrium atomic kinetics using nonequilibrium thermodynamics and linear response theory. This approach gives a rigorous general framework for exploiting results from non-LTE kinetic calculations and offers a practical data-tabulation scheme suitable for use in plasma simulation codes. We describe how this method has been implemented to supply a fast and accurate non-LTE option in Lasnex

Transcultural engagement with Polish memory of the Holocaust while watching Leszek Wosiewicz's Kornblumenblau

Kornblumenblau (Leszek Wosiewicz 1989) is a film that explores the experience of a Polish political prisoner interned at Auschwitz I. It particularly foregrounds issues related to Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust in its diegesis. Holocaust films are often discussed in relation to representation and the cultural specificity of their production context. However, this paper suggests thinking about film and topographies, the theme of this issue, not in relation to where a work is produced but in regards to the spectatorial space. It adopts a phenomenological approach to consider how, despite Kornblumenblau's particularly Polish themes, it might address the transcultural spectator and draw attention to the broader difficulties one faces when attempting to remember the Holocaust. Influenced particularly by the writing of Jennifer M. Barker and Laura U. Marks, this paper suggests that film possesses a body ¬¬- a display of intentionality, beyond those presented within the diegesis, which engages in dialogue with the spectator. During the experience of viewing Kornblumenblau, this filmic corporeality draws attention to the difficulties of confronting the Holocaust in particularly haptic ways, as the film points to the unreliability of visual historical sources, relates abject sensations to concentrationary spaces and breaks down as it confronts the scene of the gas chamber

Community participation in bureaucratic organizations: Principles and strategies

The present paper points out that there are tasks that primary groups perform better than bureaucracies and those that bureaucracies perform better than primary groups. Both types of tasks are very interdependent so that sometimes primary group tasks must be performed within the boundaries of the bureaucratic organization. The argument is made that when primary groups intervene in bureaucracies, they can do so directly in non-expert tasks without lowering the effectiveness of the bureaucratic organization. When they intervene in expert aspects, they should do so indirectly through an expert advocate. However, in all intervention the primary group must take into account that its structure is contradictory to that of the bureaucracy and, therefore, it must keep as much distance as possible—consistent with its ability to intervene. From this analysis we derive a series of hypotheses suggesting when the community might ideally use the bureaucracy's own experts, when the community must hire its own experts, when the community should use mass media, strikes, indigenous workers, etc. It is suggested that the multitudinous possibilities for linkages can all be derived from a few basic underlying dimensions of the situation. Cet article montre qu'il existe certaines tâches que les groupes primaires accomplissent mieux que les bureaucraties, et certaines autres qu'accomplissent mieux les bureaucraties. Les deux sortes de tâches sont interdépendentes; donc parfois les tâches des groupes primaires doivent s'accomplir parmi les organisations bureaucratiques. Les auteurs soutiennent que les groupes primaires peuvent intervenir dans les bureaucraties en complétant les tâches non-expertes sans réduire l'efficacité de l'organisation bureaucratique. Quands ils participent à certains sujets experts, ils devraient se munir d'un agent expert. Mais dans toute intervention le groupe primaire doit se rendre compte que sa structure contredit celle de la bureaucratie et que, par conséquent, il doit se tenir autant à distance que possible par rapport à sa compétence d'intervention. De cette analyse proviennent des hypothèses qui indiquent quand une communauté peut se servir le mieux du personnel expert d'une bureaucratie, quand la communauté doit engager des experts, quand la communauté doit se servir des mass média, des grèves, des ouvriers indigènes, etc. Les nombreuses possibilités de liaisons proviennent toutes de quelques dimensions fondamentales de la situation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42934/1/10780_2005_Article_BF02214879.pd

Near-LTE Linear Response Calculations with a Collisional-Radiative Model for He-like Al Ions

We investigate non-equilibrium atomic kinetics using a collisional- radiative model modified to include line absorption. Steady-state emission is calculated for He-like aluminum immersed in a specified radiation field having fixed deviations from a Planck spectrum. The calculated net emission is presented as a NLTE response matrix. In agreement with a rigorous general rule of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, the linear response is symmetric. We compute the response matrix for 1% and {+-} 50% changes in the photon temperature and find linear response over a surprisingly large range

Therapeutic targeting of cathepsin C::from pathophysiology to treatment

Cathepsin C (CatC) is a highly conserved tetrameric lysosomal cysteine dipeptidyl aminopeptidase. The best characterized physiological function of CatC is the activation of pro-inflammatory granule-associated serine proteases. These proteases are synthesized as inactive zymogens containing an N-terminal pro-dipeptide, which maintains the zymogen in its inactive conformation and prevents premature activation, which is potentially toxic to the cell. The activation of serine protease zymogens occurs through cleavage of the N-terminal dipeptide by CatC during cell maturation in the bone marrow. In vivo data suggest that pharmacological inhibition of pro-inflammatory serine proteases would suppress or attenuate deleterious effects of inflammatory/auto-immune disorders mediated by these proteases. The pathological deficiency in CatC is associated with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome. The patients however do not present marked immunodeficiency despite the absence of active serine proteases in immune defense cells. Hence, the transitory pharmacological blockade of CatC activity in the precursor cells of the bone marrow may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to regulate activity of serine proteases in inflammatory and immunologic conditions. A variety of CatC inhibitors have been developed both by pharmaceutical companies and academic investigators, some of which are currently being employed and evaluated in preclinical/clinical trials

Sharing common ground: Learning about oppression through an experiential game

This paper describes the use of a simulation to teach new social work students about social injustice, discrimination and oppression. The group exercise “Community Build” contributes to students and faculty expanding their dialogue about oppression and promoting students\u27 sense of responsibility to effect social change. One hundred and ninety-three new graduate students participated in this exercise during the 1998 and 1999 fall orientations. At the end of the fall semester the students who participated in the exercise were compared to students who had not attended the simulation. Quantitative findings showed that students who had participated in this exercise felt more personal responsibility for social issues and more power to create change, while also being more perceptive to the effect of one\u27s community than the students who had not participated in the exercise

New computational method for non-LTE, the linear response matrix

My coauthors have done extensive theoretical and computational calculations that lay the ground work for a linear response matrix method to calculate non-LTE (local thermodynamic equilibrium) opacities. I will give briefly review some of their work and list references. Then I will describe what has been done to utilize this theory to create a computational package to rapidly calculate mild non-LTE emission and absorption opacities suitable for use in hydrodynamic calculations. The opacities are obtained by performing table look-ups on data that has been generated with a non-LTE package. This scheme is currently under development. We can see that it offers a significant computational speed advantage. It is suitable for mild non-LTE, quasi-steady conditions. And it offers a new insertion path for high-quality non-LTE data. Currently, the linear response matrix data file is created using XSN. These data files could be generated by more detailed and rigorous calculations without changing any part of the implementation in the hydro code. The scheme is running in Lasnex and is being tested and developed