La recepción del norte en la literatura en lengua alemana: revisión histórico-literaria de un concepto espacial

The influence of Cultural Studies has induced changes in philology and one of these is the “topographical turn” which demands to acknowledge the importance of space described in literature as a concept of concretely defined geographical coordinates. In the process towards a literary European geography a new field of investigation is developing which explores the representation of the north in literature in German. A historic and literary revision of the spatial concept of north will be supplemented by recent perspectives in literary criticism.La influencia de los estudios culturales ha inducido cambios en las filologías y uno de ellos es el “giro topográfico” que reclama la importancia del espacio descrito en la literatura como un concepto con coordenadas geográficas concretas. Dentro del proceso de elaboración de una geografía literaria europea está surgiendo una nueva línea de investigación que indaga en la representación del norte en la literatura en lengua alemana. Tras una revisión histórico literaria del concepto espacial del norte se presentan enfoques de la crítica literaria reciente

The impact of the ICAO LPRs on the ATC profession: the benefit of hindsight and what the future holds

What Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) are asking air traffic controllers (ATCOs) to do is to demonstrate the ability of language use which goes beyond the boundaries of phraseology. Phraseology as a language tool is an integral part of controllers’ competencies. ATCOs can not separate traffic without the use of this formalized code. Communication in an international aeronautical environment is provided in English which for the majority of ATCOs is a foreign or second language. Whenever exchange of information within a given traffic situation requires controllers to cross well-defined parameters of phraseology, they as language users find themselves in the realm of non-algorithmic nature of human communication. As far as our experience has led us to believe, it is in the domain of this non-algorithmic foreign language use that one of the biggest challenges associated with LPRs can be found. We have also noticed that these challenges primarily stem from the affective perspectives of ATCOs as L2 language users and recognized the importance of English language skill maintenance as the best approach to dealing with this issue. Language testing is another side of the coin and here attitude again is a variable which can not be neglected. Even though the test that we use for licensing purposes is considered valid and the overall results across our controller population are satisfactory, there is still a fair share of doubt over the face validity of the test. We would like to urge test developers to give more attention to the issue of test acceptance by the controllers or pilots for that matter. Finally, in this highly structured aviation industry the importance of individual responsibility, be it at personal (I) or organizational (we) level, can never be overemphasized

Geometric constructions on spheres and planes in Rn

Using Lie geometry and the Lie product in Rn+3, we give an algebraic description of geometric objects constructed from spheres and planes of dimension n−k, k ≥ 1 in Rn. We define algebraic invariants, which characterize geometric properties of these objects, and their position in Rn

Metal-organic frameworks for the trace detection of explosive substances and related compounds

The threat of terrorism-related explosive attacks is substantial. Thus, the successful detection of explosives, be that on a person, surface or as a vapour, is of great importance. Despite a number of effective trace detection methods being currently available, there is still a requirement to develop novel materials that demonstrate timely, sensitive, selective, and portable sensing of explosives. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged in recent years as promising candidates for the fluorescence-based detection of explosives owing to their structural tailor-ability, facile synthesis, variable luminescence properties and high permanent porosities. This thesis further expands on the relatively limited knowledge of MOFs for the application of trace explosives detection, with a particular focus on probing their potential for real-world applicability. The first experimental Chapter details a pilot study whereby two novel fluorescent MOFs have been synthesised and characterised for the vapour-phase detection of explosives-related compounds. It was found that porosity is an important consideration for analyte detection. Chapter three discusses the synthesis and characterisation of another novel fluorescent MOF, which was tested for its ability to detect trace quantities of explosives as both vapours and liquids. This MOF demonstrated flexibility in its structure. Thus, additional techniques were used for its characterisation; included in this was in-depth study of its humidity stability. Chapter four investigates the use of MOFs in sensory arrays for the discriminative detection of explosives. It was found that MOFs can identify explosives they are exposed to using this approach. Chapter five explores the potential of MOFs as explosive vapour pre-concentrators; samples of the MOF presented in Chapter three could be used to capture and release 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene vapours. Ultimately, this thesis combines materials synthesis, crystal engineering, various materials characterisation techniques with fluorescence spectroscopy and mass spectrometry to conclude that MOFs hold promising potential in the application of trace explosives detection

1,6-Diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) as a Novel Matrix for MALDI MS Imaging of Fatty Acids, Phospholipids, and Sulfatides in Brain Tissues.

1,6-Diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) is a commonly used fluorescence probe for studying cell membrane-lipids due to its affinity toward the acyl chains in the phospholipid bilayers. In this work, we investigated its use in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) as a new matrix for mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of mouse and rat brain tissue. DPH exhibits very minimal matrix-induced background signals for the analysis of small molecules (below m/z of 1000). In the negative ion mode, DPH permits the highly sensitive detection of small fatty acids (m/z 200-350) as well as a variety of large lipids up to m/z of 1000, including lyso-phospholipid, phosphatidic acid (PA), phosphoethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and sulfatides (ST). The analytes were mostly detected as the deprotonated ion [M - H

Transformaciones de m�obius y fractales [con mathematica]

Un grupo Schottky es un grupo discreto de transformaciones de M�öbius cuyos generadores identfiican pares de curvas de Jordan-posiblemente tangentes-en la esfera compleja. En este arítculo estudiamos la visualización de estos grupos en el caso en que las curvas son circunferencias euclideanas en el plano C y las transformaciones de M�obius son los generadores para un grupo libre. Todas las graficas que aparecen han sido implementadas con Mathematica lo mismo que los códigos que las generan

Bismuth coordination networks containing deferiprone: synthesis, characterisation, stability and antibacterial activity

A series of bismuth–dicarboxylate–deferiprone coordination networks have been prepared and structurally characterised. The new compounds have been demonstrated to release the iron overload drug deferiprone on treatment with PBS and have also been shown to have antibacterial activity against H. pylori

Increased Expression of Simple Ganglioside Species GM2 and GM3 Detected by MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry in a Combined Rat Model of A beta Toxicity and Stroke

The aging brain is often characterized by the presence of multiple comorbidities resulting in synergistic damaging effects in the brain as demonstrated through the interaction of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) and stroke. Gangliosides, a family of membrane lipids enriched in the central nervous system, may have a mechanistic role in mediating the brain\u27s response to injury as their expression is altered in a number of disease and injury states. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) Imaging Mass Spectrometry (IMS) was used to study the expression of A-series ganglioside species GD1a, GM1, GM2, and GM3 to determine alteration of their expression profiles in the presence of beta-amyloid (A beta) toxicity in addition to ischemic injury. To model a stroke, rats received a unilateral striatal injection of endothelin-1 (ET-1) (stroke alone group). To model A beta toxicity, rats received intracerebralventricular (icv) injections of the toxic 25-35 fragment of the A beta peptide (A beta alone group). To model the combination of A beta toxicity with stroke, rats received both the unilateral ET-1 injection and the bilateral icv injections of A beta(25-35) (combined A beta/ET-1 group). By 3 d, a significant increase in the simple ganglioside species GM2 was observed in the ischemic brain region of rats who received a stroke (ET-1), with or without A beta. By 21 d, GM2 levels only remained elevated in the combined A beta/ET-1 group. GM3 levels however demonstrated a different pattern of expression. By 3 d GM3 was elevated in the ischemic brain region only in the combined A beta/ET-1 group. By 21 d, GM3 was elevated in the ischemic brain region in both stroke alone and A beta/ET-1 groups. Overall, results indicate that the accumulation of simple ganglioside species GM2 and GM3 may be indicative of a mechanism of interaction between AD and stroke

Sensing and discrimination of explosives at variable concentration with a large-pore MOF as part of a luminescent array

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown great promise for sensing of dangerous chemicals, including environmental toxins, nerve agents, and explosives. However, challenges remain, such as the sensing of larger analytes and the discrimination between similar analytes at different concentrations. Herein, we present the synthesis and development of a new, large-pore MOF for explosives sensing and demonstrate its excellent sensitivity against a range of relevant explosive compounds including trinitrotoluene and pentaerythritol tetranitrate. We have developed an improved, thorough methodology to eliminate common sources of error in our sensing protocol. We then combine this new MOF with two others as part of a three-MOF array for luminescent sensing and discrimination of five explosives. This sensor works at part-per-million concentrations and, importantly, can discriminate explosives with high accuracy without reference to their concentration