The first few atomic layers of a solid can form a barrier between its interior and an often hostile environment. Although adsorption at the vacuum-solid interface has been studied in great detail, little is known about adsorption at the liquid-solid interface. Adsorption at a liquid-solid interface is of intrinsic interest, and is of technological importance because it provides a way to coat a surface with monolayer or multilayer structures. A pinhole free monolayer (with a reasonable dielectric constant) could lead to the development of nanoscale capacitors with unique characteristics and lithographic resists that surpass the resolution of their conventional counterparts. Chemically selective adsorption is of particular interest because it can be used to passivate a surface from external modification or change the wear and the lubrication properties of a surface to reflect new and useful properties. Immunochemical adsorption could be used to fabricate novel molecular electronic devices or to construct small, “smart”, unobtrusive sensors with the potential to detect a wide variety of preselected species at the molecular level. These might include a particular carcinogen in the environment, a specific type of explosive, a chemical agent, a virus, or even a tumor in the human body.
During the German occupation of the Netherlands between 1940 and 1945, around 75% of the country’s Jewish population were deported and killed, primarily in the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor. Much attention has been paid to the factors which explain this, but this article questions how any Jews managed to survive in an increasingly hostile environment where there were no ‘favorable factors’ to aid them. The analysis centers on the attitudes of the Jews towards acting illegally, their relationships with the rest of Dutch society, and the possible opportunities for escape and hiding. It also looks at the myriad problems associated with the day-to-day experiences of surviving underground
This essay analyses J.M. Synge's construction of domestic and institutional space in his debut play The Shadow of the Glen. The Richmond Asylum and Rathdrum Union Workhouse, the two institutions of confinement which are mentioned in the play, are seen as playing important roles in constructing a threatening offstage space beyond the cottage walls. The essay reads Nora's departure from the home at the end of the play as an eviction into this hostile environment, thereby challenging the dominant interpretation of The Shadow as a woman's choice between her home and the road. By drawing on historical research and Synge's travel writing to delineate contemporary attitudes towards the asylum and the workhouse, the essay aims to provide a deeper understanding of the play's dynamics of place.
Perceptions of sexual harassment were investigated as a function of perpetrators' and recipients' gender. Undergraduate students (100 women, 98 men) were presented 34 scenarios of men and women interacting at work. Participants were asked to read carefully each scenario and indicate on a scale anchored by 1 (strongly disagree) and 7 (strongly agree) their opinions as to whether the scenario represented an incident of sexual harassment. Analysis indicated that women rated “hostile environment” scenarios as more harassing than men, and male perpetrators were rated as more harassing than female perpetrators. Even though some scenarios were rated as more harassing than others, the full range of the 7-point scale was used on every scenario, indicating a lack of agreement on what constitutes harassment. This lack of agreement highlights the debate within the legal community about whether the “reasonable person” or the “reasonable woman” standard should be used to judge sexual harassment in the workplace.
Our cells and organs are threatened and, in most cases, constantly subjected to the aggression of numerous situations, both endogenous, characterized by unfavorable genetics, and exogenous, by deficient or inadequate nutrition, and even by a hostile environment; in most cases, they ultimately cause a cascade of degenerative and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and infections, as well as those related to the metabolic syndrome, all of which eventually generate irreversible damage to the organism and, consequently, a significant deterioration in its survival [...]
Previous research suggests that women are more likely than men to perceive a hostile environment of sexual harassment in job-related scenarios. Such findings raise questions about whether a “reasonable woman” standard might be preferable to a “reasonable person” standard for adjudication of some sexual harassment cases. There are sound arguments for both positions, and there is no basis at the present time for unequivocal and categorical support for one position over the other.
A Listeria monocytogenes subgenomic array, targeting 54 genes involved in the adhesion, adaptation, intracellular life cycle, invasion, and regulation of the infection cycle was used to investigate the gene expression patterns of acid- and salt-stressed Listeria cells after exposure to conditions similar to those in gastric and pancreatic fluids. Three L. monocytogenes strains, one laboratory reference strain (EGDe) and two food isolates (wild strain 12 isolated from milk and wild strain 3 isolated from fermented sausage), were used during the studies. Differences in the expressed genes were observed between the gastric and pancreatic treatments and also between the serotypes. Increased transcripts were observed of the genes belonging to the adaptation and regulation group for serotype 4b (strain 12) and to the invasion and regulation group for serotype 1/2a (strain EGDe). Interestingly, no significantly differentially expressed genes were found for serotype 3c (strain 3) in most cases. The genes related to adaptation (serotype 1/2a) and to intracellular life cycle and invasion (serotype 4b) were down-regulated in order to cope with the hostile environment of the gastric and pancreatic fluids. These findings may provide experimental evidence for the dominance of serotypes 1/2a and 4b in clinical cases of listeriosis and for the sporadic occurrence of serotype 3c.
Policy actors in a hostile environment: the views of staff in maintained nursery schools in England
