178 research outputs found
The French Invasions of Portugal 1807-1811: rebellion, reaction and resistance
No full textPortugal’s involvement in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars resulted in substantial economic, political and social change revealing interconnections between state and economy that have not been acknowledged fully within the existing literature. On the one hand, economic and political change was precipitated by the flight of Dom João, the removal of the court to Rio de Janeiro, and the appointment of a regency council in Lisbon: events that were the result of much more than the mere confluence of external drivers and internal pressures in Europe, however complex and compelling they may have been at the time. Although governance in Portugal had been handed over to the regency council strict limitations were imposed on its autonomy. Once Lisbon was occupied, and French military government imposed on Portugal, her continued role as entrepôt, linking the South Atlantic economy to that of Europe, could not be guaranteed. Brazil’s ports were therefore opened to foreign vessels and restrictions on agriculture, manufacture and inter-regional trade in the colonies were lifted presaging a transition from neo-mercantilism to proto-industrialised capitalism. The meanings of this dislocation of political power and the shift of government from metropolis to colony were complex, not least in relation to the location and limits of absolutist authority. The immediate results of which were a series of popular insurrections in Portugal, a swift response by the French military government and conservative reaction by Portuguese élites, leading to widespread popular resistance in 1808 and 1809 and, subsequently, Portugal’s wholesale involvement in the Peninsular War with severe and deleterious effects on the Portuguese population and economy. Ultimately, these events would lead to demands for constitutional reform and civil war but not, as yet, the dismantling of mercantilism, the abolition of slavery or the separation of Portugal and Brazil as independent states. Ironically, the forces for change in this regard, in the years immediately following the Napoleonic Wars, would appear stronger in the metropolis and weaker in its former colony
Analysis of Selected and Designed Chimeric D- and L-alpha-Helix Assemblies
No full textKükenshöner T, Hagemann UB, Wohlwend D, et al. Analysis of Selected and Designed Chimeric D- and L-alpha-Helix Assemblies. Biomacromolecules. 2014;15(9):3296-3305.D-Peptides have been attributed pharmacological advantages over regular L-peptides, yet design rules are largely unknown. Based on a designed coiled coil-like D/L heterotetramer, named L-Base/D-Acid, we generated a library offering alternative residues for interaction with the D-peptide. Phage display selection yielded one predominant peptide, named HelixA, that differed at 13 positions from the scaffold helix. In addition to the observed D-/L-heterotetramers, ratio-dependent intermediate states were detected by isothermal titration calorimetry. Importantly, the formation of the selected HelixA/D-Acid bundle passes through fewer intermediate states than L-Base/D-Acid. Back mutation of HelixA core residues to L-Base (HelixLL) revealed that the residues at e/g-positions are responsible for the different intermediates. Furthermore, a Val-core variant (PeptideVV) was completely devoid of binding D-Acid, whereas an Ile-core helix (HelixII) interacted with D-Acid in a significantly more specific complex than L-Base
FULLSPECTRUM, a New PV Wave of more Efficient Use of the Solar Spectrum.
No full textAbstract not availableJRC.H - Institute for environment and sustainability (Ispra
Measurement of branching-fraction ratios and CP asymmetries in B± → DCP±K± decays at Belle and Belle II
No full textWe report results from a study of B±→ DK± decays followed by D decaying to the CP-even final state K+K− and CP-odd final state KS0π0, where D is an admixture of D0 and D ̄0 states. These decays are sensitive to the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa unitarity-triangle angle φ3. The results are based on a combined analysis of the final data set of 772 × 106BB ̄ pairs collected by the Belle experiment and a data set of 198 × 106BB ̄ pairs collected by the Belle II experiment, both in electron-positron collisions at the Υ(4S) resonance. We measure the CP asymmetries to be ACP+ = (+12.5 ± 5.8 ± 1.4)% and ACP− = (−16.7 ± 5.7 ± 0.6)%, and the ratios of branching fractions to be RCP+ = 1.164 ± 0.081 ± 0.036 and RCP− = 1.151 ± 0.074 ± 0.019. The first contribution to the uncertainties is statistical, and the second is systematic. The asymmetries ACP+ and ACP− have similar magnitudes and opposite signs; their difference corresponds to 3.5 standard deviations. From these values we calculate 68.3% confidence intervals of (8.5° < φ3 < 16.5°) or (84.5° < φ3 < 95.5°) or (163.3° < φ3 < 171.5°) and 0.321 < rB < 0.465
Measurement of the e+e−→π+π−π0 cross section in the energy range 0.62–3.50 GeV at Belle II
No full textWe report a measurement of the e+e− → π+π−π0 cross section in the energy range from 0.62 to 3.50 GeV using an initial-state radiation technique. We use an e+e− data sample corresponding to 191 fb−1 of integrated luminosity, collected at a center-of-mass energy at or near the Υ(4S) resonance with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. Signal yields are extracted by fitting the two-photon mass distribution in e+e− → π+π−π0γ events, which involve a π0 → γγ decay and an energetic photon radiated from the initial state. Signal efficiency corrections with an accuracy of 1.6% are obtained from several control data samples. The uncertainty on the cross section at the ω and φ resonances is dominated by the systematic uncertainty of 2.2%. The resulting cross sections in the 0.62–1.80 GeV energy range yield a3πμ = [48.91 ± 0.23(stat) ± 1.07(syst)] × 10−10 for the leading-order hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment. This result differs by 2.5 standard deviations from the most precise current determination
Search for the lepton-flavor-violating τ− → e∓l±l− decays at Belle II
No full textWe present the result of a search for the charged-lepton-flavor violating decays τ− → e∓l±l−, where l is a muon or an electron, using a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 428 fb−1 recorded by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB e+e− collider. The selection of e+e− → τ+τ− events containing a signal candidate is based on an inclusive-tagging reconstruction and on a boosted decision tree to suppress background. Upper limits on the branching fractions between 1.3 and 2.5 × 10−8 are set at the 90% confidence level. These results are the most stringent bounds to date for four of the modes
Test of light-lepton universality in τ decays with the Belle II experiment
No full textWe present a measurement of the ratio Rμ=Bτ−→μ−ν ̄μντ/Bτ−→e−ν ̄eντ of branching fractions B of the τ lepton decaying to muons or electrons using data collected with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB e+e− collider. The sample has an integrated luminosity of 362 ± 2 fb−1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV. Using an optimised event selection, a binned maximum likelihood fit is performed using the momentum spectra of the electron and muon candidates. The result, Rμ = 0.9675 ± 0.0007 ± 0.0036, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic, is the most precise to date. It provides a stringent test of the light-lepton universality, translating to a ratio of the couplings of the muon and electron to the W boson in τ decays of 0.9974 ± 0.0019, in agreement with the standard model expectation of unity
Search for Rare b →dl+ l- Transitions at Belle
No full textWe present the results of a search for the b→dl+ l- flavor-changing neutral-current rare decays B+,0→(η,ω,π+,0,ρ+,0)e+e- and B+,0→(η,ω,π0,ρ+)μ+μ- using a 711 fb-1 data sample that contains 772×106 BB ̄ events. The data were collected at the Υ(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We find no evidence for signal and set upper limits on branching fractions at the 90% confidence level in the range (3.8-47)×10-8 depending on the decay channel. The obtained limits are the world's best results. This is the first search for the channels B+,0→(ω,ρ+,0)e+e- and B+,0→(ω,ρ+)μ+μ-
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