We prove that most permutations of degree $n$ have some power which is a cycle of prime length approximately $\log n$. Explicitly, we show that for $n$ sufficiently large, the proportion of such elements is at least $1-5/\log \log n$ with the prime between $\log n$ and $(\log n)^{\log \log n}$. The proportion of even permutations with this property is at least $1-7/\log \log n$.

III Zw 35 is a pair of galaxies characterised by intense OH maser emission, and powerful far-infrared and radio continuum. We have made a detailed study of the galaxy pair based on optical, infrared and radio observations. The brighter northern component is identified as a LINER or Seyfert galaxy and contains an active nuclear region from which radio continuum, OH maser and thermal dust emission are detected. We propose that the northern component has a compact active nucleus deeply embedded in an obscured region of diameter ~ 210 pc within which enhanced star-formation occurs. The lower luminosity, southern component is of low mass and is undergoing starburst activity over an extended region of diameter ~ 5.5 kpc. The origin of the starburst and non-thermal activity appears to be an interaction between the two components.

The present work shows results on elemental distribution analyses in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films for solar cells performed by use of wavelength-dispersive and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) in a scanning electron microscope, EDX in a transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron, angle-dependent soft X-ray emission, secondary ion-mass (SIMS), time-of-flight SIMS, sputtered neutral mass, glow-discharge optical emission and glow-discharge mass, Auger electron, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, by use of scanning Auger electron microscopy, Raman depth profiling, and Raman mapping, as well as by use of elastic recoil detection analysis, grazing-incidence X-ray and electron backscatter diffraction, and grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence analysis. The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films used for the present comparison were produced during the same identical deposition run and exhibit thicknesses of about 2 μm. The analysis techniques were compared with respect to their spatial and depth resolutions, measuring speeds, availabilities, and detection limits.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

We classify the radical p-subgroups and chains of the Fischer simple group Fi′24 and then verify the Alperin weight conjecture and the Uno reductive conjecture for Fi′24.

Rhiannon Bury, Cyberspaces of their own: Female fandoms online. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Pp. x, 242. Pb $29.95.

This is an ethnographic study of two all-female online communities, ostensibly founded to discuss certain television series and the male actors they feature. One of Rhiannon Bury's aims was to make her book accessible to the participants in her research, but although it is written in an accessible style, this is decidedly an academic monograph rather than a popular science book. Bury begins by giving an overview of her object of research, her participants, and her own involvement in the research process as an ethnographer. She goes on to outline her theoretical frameworks. She places herself at the nexus of four interconnected theoretical traditions: poststructuralism, post-Marxism, feminism, and queer theory (p. 5). She then describes in more detail some of the theoretical underpinnings of her work. Judith Butler's Performativity Theory features prominently, as does Stuart Hall's “articulation.” A number of linguists and sociologists are also mentioned: Norman Fairclough, Deborah Cameron, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault, among others. Thus, although Bury considers her work to be (broadly) within the field of cultural studies, there is much of interest for readers who identify more with other disciplines.

Michael A. K. Halliday, On grammar. London: Continuum, 2002. Pp. x, 442. Hb $49.95.

This is the first volume in a series entitled The collected works of M. A. K. Halliday. Halliday professes to be a “generalist” (p. 7), and this is clearly reflected in the range of titles in the series: The language of early childhood, Computational and quantitative studies, and Language and society, to name just three of the ten. Halliday's introduction in this volume (1–14) serves as an introduction to the whole series. In it, Halliday revisits many of the debates he has had in the past: among others, with followers of Chomsky; with psychologists; with corpus linguists who claim that corpus linguistics is just a tool for analysis; with sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu who, Halliday claims, sidesteps the need for any linguistic analysis at all. Halliday likes “weak boundaries” (1), and this is reflected in some of the papers reproduced in this volume. Although they are all centered on his evolving notions of “grammar,” anyone familiar with Halliday's work will know that “grammar” for Halliday is not restricted to a traditional or generative conception of syntax, but rather includes phonological, lexical, and other linguistic levels. For anyone not very familiar with Halliday's work, On grammar should not be confused with an overview of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Rather, it is a collection of snapshots, allowing readers to trace the scholarly development of Halliday's ideas over time.

Shi-Xu, A cultural approach to discourse. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Pp. x, 233. Hb $69.95.

This book presents Shi-xu's theoretical and methodological framework for discourse analysis, which he terms the Cultural Approach to Discourse (CAD), and critiques what he sees as the predominantly “Western” canon of social science research so far. Shi-xu argues, often convincingly and engagingly, that culture has a far more important role to play than it has hitherto enjoyed in Western approaches to discourse. He positions himself as a researcher operating from “in-between” cultures. After critiquing Western theories and methodologies of discourse research such as representationalism, universalism, and foundationalism, Shi-xu sets out the theoretical and methodological framework for CAD, and then proceeds to give practical examples of how the approach can be applied to research. Unfortunately, there are a few incongruities between the claims the author makes about his book and more generally about his approach, and what the book actually contains and what CAD is shown to have achieved. I will highlight these in the course of describing the different sections of the book. As a whole, however, A cultural approach to discourse contains much that will interest “Western” social scientists; it could serve as a guide to those who have previously ignored “culture” in their research (at least, in the author's estimation of the term), and will perhaps lead to interesting debates with those who have already incorporated some conception (perhaps an opposing one) of “culture” in their theoretical frameworks.

We address the template-directed deposition of metals on microtubule supports for generating metal nanostructures with different morphologies. Microtubules are highly ordered protein assemblies of tubular structure with a high aspect ratio. In this approach, the biostructure serves as a functionalised scaffold where the metal is generated in situ and shaped into a nanostructure with its morphology complementary to that of the biotemplate. When the biotemplate is coupled to an appropriate chemical reaction, different Ag / protein structures are produced, ranging from microtubules densely covered by small Ag nanoparticles to continuous Ag nanowires.

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) offer extraordinary properties for applications in microelectronics. We assess the methods used to grow CNTs for integration into microelectronics, in particular, metallic carbon nanotubes for vias and interconnects as well as semiconducting CNTs for fieldeffect devices are discussed. State-of-the-art CNTFETs are compared to Si-MOSFETs. A vertical CNTFET (VCNTFET) device concept is presented which offers better growth control, adding a new quality to microelectronics and making real 3-dimensional electronics possible.

The efficiency of automatic flatness control systems in hot rolling mills is based mainly on the capability of the installed instrumentation to provide accurate flatness measurements, on accurate prediction models, and on the selection of an optimum control concept. BFI, together with Thyssen Krupp Stahl, has recently developed a new topometric flatness measurement device (called TopPlan) and advanced flatness control strategies (providing time delay compensation, systematic analysis of shape errors and exact distribution of shape coefficients to be controlled by actuator sets) that offer advantages over conventional techniques and lead to significant improvements in hot rolling processes and strip shape. The present article aims to demonstrate the principles and advantages of these technologies.