Non-adiabatic and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy for molecular systems

We quantify the non-adiabatic contributions to the vibronic sidebands of equilibrium and explicitly time-resolved non-equilibrium photoelectron spectra for a vibronic model system of Trans-Polyacetylene. Using exact diagonalization, we directly evaluate the sum-over-states expressions for the linear-response photocurrent. We show that spurious peaks appear in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation for the vibronic spectral function, which are not present in the exact spectral function of the system. The effect can be traced back to the factorized nature of the Born-Oppenheimer initial and final photoemission states and also persists when either only initial, or final states are replaced by correlated vibronic states. Only when correlated initial and final vibronic states are taken into account, the spurious spectral weights of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation are suppressed. In the non-equilibrium case, we illustrate for an initial Franck-Condon excitation and an explicit pump-pulse excitation how the vibronic wavepacket motion of the system can be traced in the time-resolved photoelectron spectra as function of the pump-probe delay

Ein Spiegelbild des musikpädagogischen Umgangs mit Raumbegriffen. Rezension zu: Schatt, Peter W. (Hg.): Musik – Raum – Sozialität.

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Exporting and labor demand : micro-level evidence from Germany

It is widely believed that globalization affcts the extent of employment and wage responses to economic shocks. To provide evidence for this, we analyze the effect of firms' exporting behavior on the elasticity of labor demand. Using rich, German administrative linked employer-employee panel data from 1996 to 2008, we explicitly control for self-selection into exporting and endogeneity concerns. In line with our theoretical model, we find that exporting at both the intensive and extensive margins significantly increases the (absolute value of the) unconditional own-wage labor demand elasticity. This is not only true for the average worker, but also for different skill groups. For the median firm, the elasticity is three-quarters higher when comparing exporting to nonexporting firms

Resistance of Brahman and Simmentaler cattle to Southern African ticks

Field collections of ticks from two breeds of cattle in the North Western Transvaal showed the common tick species to be Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Amblyomma hebraeum, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi and Hyalomma marginatum rufipes. The number of these ticks was higher on Simmentaler than on Brahman cattle. Correlation was found between the number of ticks on the cattle and their serum gamma globulin levels indicating an increase in the production of antibodies. Similar correlation was also found between the number of ticks on the cattle and the number of eosinophils in their blood. Resistance was probably acquired by the hosts and, it appears, to a higher degree in Brahman than in Simmentaler.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Veterinary Research Institute, Onderstepoort. CSIR, Pretoria.mn201

Spontaneous neuronal unit activity in the primate basal ganglia and the effects of precentral cerebral cortical ablations

The discharge properties of single neuronal units in the putamen, caudate nucleus, and globus pallidus were studied in awake primates. The effects of restricted deafferentation of the striatum were determined by recording single unit activity in animals with unilateral ablation of areas 4 and 6 of Brodmann. The most striking change was on the regularity of unit firing in the putamen. Units in the normal putamen exhibited a wide range of firing rates and variability. In many units discharge rate was very slow. After the lesion, putaminal units discharged in steady spike trains with highly regular patterns of interspike intervals having on average a 63% reduction in the coefficient of variation. Contrary to expectations, average firing rates actually increased slightly (22%) from a median value of 4.88 Hz in controls to 5.95 Hz in lesioned animals. Although the rates and variability observed in lesioned animals completely overlapped the range of the sample observed in controls, the distributions were shifted such that there were more units with regular discharge patterns and slightly faster firing rates. The caudate nucleus showed no significant change in firing rate or variability. In the globus pallidus, firing rate decreased significantly in the internal segment, and both segments showed an increase in discharge variability. The findings demonstrate that the cerebral cortex strongly influences the spontaneous discharge properties in the basal ganglia. The effects on the variability of spontaneous activity are greater than on the maintenance of tonic firing.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28574/1/0000377.pd

Age and skill bias of trade liberalisation? : heterogeneous employment effects of EU Eastern Enlargement

This study analyses the 2004 Eastern Enlargement to the European Union to obtain evidence on the employment effects of an increase in trade liberalisation. The Enlargement is thought to generate a trade-induced demand shock with no (or only limited) supply effects. Besides the variation over time induced by the Enlargement, identification of the effects is based on a Melitz (2003) type productivity term to differentiate firms by the extent of exposure to the demand shock. The idea is that the effects of the demand shock should be driven by differences in firm-level productivity from the period before the new member countries actually entered the EU. German linked employer-employee data allow to observe the relation of initial establishment productivity with employment changes over a long panel from 1995 to 2009. The estimates show that the Enlargement had a negative effect on establishment-level employment growth, which is driven by increased worker separations and increased job destruction. Besides the overall employment effect, the study focuses on effect heterogeneity across age and skill groups of the workforce. These estimates point to a skill bias in the effect of the Enlargement that disadvantages low- and medium-skilled workers in terms of higher worker separation and job destruction. In addition, lowskilled workers suffer fewer accessions by firms, where against medium-skilled workers enjoy increased accessions and creation of new jobs. Besides this indication for a skill bias, there are no clear indications that point to an age bias in the employment effect of the Eastern Enlargement

Crosstalk between NRF2 and HIPK2 shapes cytoprotective responses

Homeodomain interacting protein kinase-2 (HIPK2) is a member of the HIPK family of stress-responsive kinases that modulates cell growth, apoptosis, proliferation and development. HIPK2 has several well-characterised tumour suppressor roles, but recent studies suggest it can also contribute to tumour progression, although the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Herein, we have identified novel crosstalk between HIPK2 and the cytoprotective transcription factor NRF2. We show that HIPK2 is a direct transcriptional target of NRF2, identifying a functional NRF2 binding site in the HIPK2 gene locus and demonstrating for the first time a transcriptional mode of regulation for this kinase. In addition, HIPK2 is required for robust NRF2 responsiveness in cells and in vivo. By using both gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches, we demonstrate that HIPK2 can elicit a cytoprotective response in cancer cells via NRF2. Our results have uncovered a new downstream effector of HIPK2, NRF2, which is frequently activated in human tumours correlating with chemoresistance and poor prognosis. Furthermore, our results suggest that modulation of either HIPK2 levels or activity could be exploited to impair NRF2-mediated signalling in cancer cells, and thus sensitise them to chemotherapeutic drugs.Oncogene advance online publication, 10 July 2017; doi:10.1038/onc.2017.221.</p

Protodefluorinated Selectfluor® aggregatively activates Selectfluor® for efficient radical C(sp3)−H fluorination reactions

Efficient fluorination reactions are key in the late-stage functionalization of complex molecules in medicinal chemistry, in upgrading chemical feedstocks, and in materials science. Radical C(sp3)−H fluorinations using Selectfluor® – one of the most popular fluorination agents – allow to directly engage unactivated precursors under mild photochemical or thermal catalytic conditions. However, H−TEDA(BF4)2 to date is overlooked and discarded as waste, despite comprising 95% of the molecular weight of Selectfluor®. We demonstrate that the addition of H−TEDA(BF4)2 at the start of fluorination reactions markedly promotes their rates and accesses higher overall yields of fluorinated products (~3.3 × higher on average across the cases studied) than unpromoted reactions. Several case studies showcase generality of the promotor, for photochemical, photocatalytic and thermal radical fluorination reactions. Detailed mechanistic investigations reveal the key importance of aggregation changes in Selectfluor® and H−TEDA(BF4)2 to fill gaps of understanding in how radical C(sp3)−H fluorination reactions work. This study exemplifies an overlooked reaction waste product being upcycled for a useful application

Hipk2 cooperates with p53 to suppress γ-ray radiation-induced mouse thymic lymphoma

A genome-wide screen for genetic alterations in radiation-induced thymic lymphomas generated from p53+/− and p53−/− mice showed frequent loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 6. Fine mapping of these LOH regions revealed three non-overlapping regions, one of which was refined to a 0.2 Mb interval that contained only the gene encoding homeobox-interacting protein kinase 2 (Hipk2). More than 30% of radiation-induced tumors from both p53+/− and p53−/− mice showed heterozygous loss of one Hipk2 allele. Mice carrying a single inactive allele of Hipk2 in the germline were susceptible to induction of tumors by γ-radiation, but most tumors retained and expressed the wild-type allele, suggesting that Hipk2 is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor gene for mouse lymphoma development. Heterozygous loss of both Hipk2 and p53 confers strong sensitization to radiation-induced lymphoma. We conclude that Hipk2 is a haploinsufficient lymphoma suppressor gene

Job Creation and Trade in Manufactures: Industry-Level Analysis Across Countries

This paper examines industry-level responses of manufacturing employment in the context of globalization using a large sample of developed, developing, and transition economies. We find that developing countries need atypically high rates of value-added growth (about 10 %) to increase manufacturing employment appreciably (about 4 %). The employment benefits of export orientation are also modest even in “comparative advantage” industries of developing countries. However, diversifying the export basket contributes significantly to employment growth, particularly in the medium- and high-technology industries. Import competition does not undermine employment growth in low-technology industries of developing countries while it displaces jobs in the same industries in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and transition economies. For developing countries, import-induced job losses are higher in the more capital-intensive medium-technology industries. Jobs in high-technology industries are less sensitive to imports with positive relationships observed in the OECD. Investment also complements job creation in low-technology industries of developing countries that have yet to industrialize