Answering the 'Bitter Cry': Urban description and social reform in the late-Victorian East End

The sensational imagery that was commonly used by social explorers and charity activists to depict the East End during the 'Outcast London' controversy of the 1880s has proven durable. The lurid accounts of slum conditions and human depravity presented in the period's journalism and pamphlet literature established the district as the quintessential Victorian slum. But local trade and manufacturing interests actively resisted this depiction, and were joined by social reformers uncomfortable with the sensationalized accounts of the district and its features. The latter offered other depictions of the East London urban landscape to recommend their own ameliorative measures. This article examines the deliberate effort undertaken by clergyman Samuel Barnett and novelist Walter Besant to directly challenge the prevailing mythology. Both presented the East End as a place of relentless toil pervaded by a 'dreary, weary monotony.' This alternative vision of the district and its problems was, nevertheless, carefully framed to elicit a response among 'West End' audiences. Barnett and Besant's rhetorical strategies in depicting the East End urban landscape highlight the discursive pragmatics of urban representation and reform in the late-Victorian metropolis

Radiation damage to nucleoprotein complexes in macromolecular crystallography

Significant progress has been made in macromolecular crystallography over recent years in both the understanding and mitigation of X-ray induced radiation damage when collecting diffraction data from crystalline proteins. In contrast, despite the large field that is productively engaged in the study of radiation chemistry of nucleic acids, particularly of DNA, there are currently very few X-ray crystallographic studies on radiation damage mechanisms in nucleic acids. Quantitative comparison of damage to protein and DNA crystals separately is challenging, but many of the issues are circumvented by studying pre-formed biological nucleoprotein complexes where direct comparison of each component can be made under the same controlled conditions. Here a model protein-DNA complex C.Esp1396I is employed to investigate specific damage mechanisms for protein and DNA in a biologically relevant complex over a large dose range (2.07-44.63 MGy). In order to allow a quantitative analysis of radiation damage sites from a complex series of macromolecular diffraction data, a computational method has been developed that is generally applicable to the field. Typical specific damage was observed for both the protein on particular amino acids and for the DNA on, for example, the cleavage of base-sugar N1-C and sugar-phosphate C-O bonds. Strikingly the DNA component was determined to be far more resistant to specific damage than the protein for the investigated dose range. At low doses the protein was observed to be susceptible to radiation damage while the DNA was far more resistant, damage only being observed at significantly higher doses

Numerical calculation of strong-field laser-atom interaction: An approach with perfect reflection-free radiation boundary conditions

The time-dependent, single-particle Schrodinger equation with a finite-range potential is solved numerically on a three-dimensional spherical domain. In order to correctly account for outgoing waves, perfect reflection-free radiation boundary conditions are used on the surface of a sphere. These are computationally most effective if the particle wavefunction is expanded in the set of spherical harmonics and computations are performed in the Kramers-Henneberger accelerated frame. The method allows one to solve the full ionization dynamics in intense laser fields within a small region of atomic dimensions

Towards in cellulo virus crystallography

Viruses are a significant threat to both human health and the economy, and there is an urgent need for novel anti-viral drugs and vaccines. High-resolution viral structures inform our understanding of the virosphere, and inspire novel therapies. Here we present a method of obtaining such structural information that avoids potentially disruptive handling, by collecting diffraction data from intact infected cells. We identify a suitable combination of cell type and virus to accumulate particles in the cells, establish a suitable time point where most cells contain virus condensates and use electron microscopy to demonstrate that these are ordered crystalline arrays of empty capsids. We then use an X-ray free electron laser to provide extremely bright illumination of sub-micron intracellular condensates of bacteriophage phiX174 inside living Escherichia coli at room temperature. We have been able to collect low resolution diffraction data. Despite the limited resolution and completeness of these initial data, due to a far from optimal experimental setup, we have used novel methodology to determine a putative space group, unit cell dimensions, particle packing and likely maturation state of the particles.Peer reviewe

Separation: divisions in the landscape

Separation leaves traces in the mind, on the body, in relationships and in the landscape. People are separated from others, from home, and even from parts of themselves. Deploying these three interconnected words - separation, division, isolation – the article introduces an important theme in Queensland’s social, environmental and psychological experience