bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Possible roles for Munc18-1 domain 3a and Syntaxin1 N-peptide and C-terminal anchor in SNARE complex formation
Authors: Hu Shu-Hong , Christie Michelle P. , Saez Natalie J. , Latham Catherine F. , Jarrott Russell , Lua Linda H. L. , Collins Brett M. , Martin Jennifer L.
Published: December 2010

Munc18-1 and Syntaxin1 are essential proteins for SNARE-mediated neurotransmission. Munc18-1 participates in synaptic vesicle fusion via dual roles: as a docking/chaperone protein by binding closed Syntaxin1, and as a fusion protein that binds SNARE complexes in a Syntaxin1 N-peptide dependent manner. The two roles are associated with a closed–open Syntaxin1 conformational transition. Here, we show that Syntaxin N-peptide binding to Munc18-1 is not highly selective, suggesting that other parts of the SNARE complex are involved in binding to Munc18-1. We also find that Syntaxin1, with an N peptide and a physically anchored C terminus, binds to Munc18-1 and that this complex can participate in SNARE complex formation. We report a Munc18-1–N-peptide crystal structure that, together with other data, reveals how Munc18-1 might transit from a conformation that binds closed Syntaxin1 to one that may be compatible with binding open Syntaxin1 and SNARE complexes. Our results suggest the possibility that structural transitions occur in both Munc18-1 and Syntaxin1 during their binary interaction. We hypothesize that Munc18-1 domain 3a undergoes a conformational change that may allow coiled-coil interactions with SNARE complexes.
Homeobox genes
Gsx1
and
Gsx2
differentially regulate telencephalic progenitor maturation
Authors: Pei Zhenglei , Wang Bei , Chen Gang , Nagao Motoshi , Nakafuku Masato , Campbell Kenneth
Published: January 2011

Homeobox genes
Gsx1
and
Gsx2
(formerly
Gsh1
and
Gsh2
) are among the earliest transcription factors expressed in neuronal progenitors of the lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE) in the ventral telencephalon.
Gsx2
is required for the early specification of LGE progenitor cells and recently has been shown to specify different LGE neuronal subtypes at distinct time points. In
Gsx2
mutants,
Gsx1
compensates, at least in part, for the loss of
Gsx2
in the specification of LGE neuronal subtypes. Because no specific phenotype has been described in
Gsx1
mutants, it is unclear what role this factor plays in the development of the ventral telencephalon. Here, we used a gain-of-function approach to express either
Gsx1
or
Gsx2
throughout the telencephalon and found that
Gsx1
functions similarly to
Gsx2
in the specification of LGE identity. However, our results show that
Gsx1
and
Gsx2
differentially regulate the maturation of LGE progenitors. Specifically,
Gsx2
maintains LGE progenitors in an undifferentiated state, whereas
Gsx1
promotes progenitor maturation and the acquisition of neuronal phenotypes, at least in part, through the down-regulation of
Gsx2
. These unique results indicate that the two closely related
Gsx
genes similarly regulate LGE patterning but oppositely control the balance between proliferation and differentiation in the neuronal progenitor pool.
Self-assembling elastin-like peptides growth factor chimeric nanoparticles for the treatment of chronic wounds
Authors: Koria Piyush , Yagi Hiroshi , Kitagawa Yuko , Megeed Zaki , Nahmias Yaakov , Sheridan Robert , Yarmush Martin L.
Published: December 2010

Chronic wounds are associated with poor epidermal and dermal remodeling. Previous work has shown the efficacy of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) in reepithelialization and elastin in dermal wound healing. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of a fusion protein comprising of elastin-like peptides and KGF. This fusion protein retains the performance characteristics of KGF and elastin as evidenced by its enhancement of keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation. It also preserved the characteristic elastin-like peptides inverse phase transitioning allowing the recombinant protein to be expressed in bacterial hosts (such as
Escherichia coli
) and purified rapidly and easily using inverse temperature cycling. The fusion protein self-assembled into nanoparticles at physiological temperatures. When applied to full thickness, wounds in Lepr
db
diabetic mice these particles enhanced reepithelialization and granulation, by 2- and 3-fold respectively, when compared to the controls. The data strongly suggests that these self-assembled nanoparticles may be beneficial in the treatment of chronic wounds resulting from diabetes or other underlying circulatory conditions.
Stress-induced evolution of
Escherichia coli
points to original concepts in respiratory cofactor selectivity
Authors: Auriol Clément , Bestel-Corre Gwénaëlle , Claude Jean-Baptiste , Soucaille Philippe , Meynial-Salles Isabelle
Published: January 2011

Bacterial metabolism is characterized by a remarkable capacity to rapidly adapt to environmental changes. We restructured the central metabolic network in
Escherichia coli
to force a higher production of NADPH, and then grew this strain in conditions favoring adaptive evolution. A six-fold increase in growth capacity was attained that could be attributed in multiple clones, after whole genome mutation mapping, to a specific single mutation. Each clone had an evolved NuoF*(E183A) enzyme in the respiratory complex I that can now oxidize both NADH and NADPH. When a further strain was constructed with an even higher degree of NADPH stress such that growth was impossible on glucose mineral medium, a solid-state screening for mutations restoring growth, led to two different types of NuoF mutations in strains having recovered growth capacity. In addition to the previously seen E183A mutation other clones showed a E183G mutation, both having NADH and NADPH oxidizing ability. These results demonstrate the unique solution used by
E. coli
to overcome the NADPH stress problem. This solution creates a new function for NADPH that is no longer restricted to anabolic synthesis reactions but can now be also used to directly produce catabolic energy.
Validation of isoleucine utilization targets in
Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Istvan Eva S. , Dharia Neekesh V. , Bopp Selina E. , Gluzman Ilya , Winzeler Elizabeth A. , Goldberg Daniel E.
Published: January 2011

Intraerythrocytic malaria parasites can obtain nearly their entire amino acid requirement by degrading host cell hemoglobin. The sole exception is isoleucine, which is not present in adult human hemoglobin and must be obtained exogenously. We evaluated two compounds for their potential to interfere with isoleucine utilization. Mupirocin, a clinically used antibacterial, kills
Plasmodium falciparum
parasites at nanomolar concentrations. Thiaisoleucine, an isoleucine analog, also has antimalarial activity. To identify targets of the two compounds, we selected parasites resistant to either mupirocin or thiaisoleucine. Mutants were analyzed by genome-wide high-density tiling microarrays, DNA sequencing, and copy number variation analysis. The genomes of three independent mupirocin-resistant parasite clones had all acquired either amplifications encompassing or SNPs within the chromosomally encoded organellar (apicoplast) isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase. Thiaisoleucine-resistant parasites had a mutation in the cytoplasmic isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase. The role of this mutation in thiaisoleucine resistance was confirmed by allelic replacement. This approach is generally useful for elucidation of new targets in
P. falciparum
. Our study shows that isoleucine utilization is an essential pathway that can be targeted for antimalarial drug development.
Direct evidence for functional smooth muscle myosin II in the 10S self-inhibited monomeric conformation in airway smooth muscle cells
Authors: Milton Deanna L. , Schneck Amy N. , Ziech Dominique A. , Ba Mariam , Facemyer Kevin C. , Halayko Andrew J. , Baker Jonathan E. , Gerthoffer William T. , Cremo Christine R.
Published: January 2011

The 10S self-inhibited monomeric conformation of myosin II has been characterized extensively in vitro. Based upon its structural and functional characteristics, it has been proposed to be an assembly-competent myosin pool in equilibrium with filaments in cells. It is known that myosin filaments can assemble and disassemble in nonmuscle cells, and in some smooth muscle cells, but whether or not the disassembled pool contains functional 10S myosin has not been determined. Here we address this question using human airway smooth muscle cells (hASMCs). Using two antibodies against different epitopes on smooth muscle myosin II (SMM), two distinct pools of SMM, diffuse, and stress-fiber–associated, were visualized by immunocytochemical staining. The two SMM pools were functional in that they could be interconverted in two ways: (
i
) by exposure to 10S- versus filament-promoting buffer conditions, and (
ii
) by exposure to a peptide that shifts the filament-10S equilibrium toward filaments in vitro by a known mechanism that requires the presence of the 10S conformation. The effect of the peptide was not due to a trivial increase in SMM phosphorylation, and its specificity was demonstrated by use of a scrambled peptide, which had no effect. Based upon these data, we conclude that hASMCs contain a significant pool of functional SMM in the 10S conformation that can assemble into filaments upon changing cellular conditions. This study provides unique direct evidence for the presence of a significant pool of functional myosin in the 10S conformation in cells.
Beyond proportional analogy
Authors: Steinhart Eric
Published: January 2011

A model of analogical mapping is proposed that uses five principles to generate consistent and conflicting hypotheses regarding assignments of elements of a source domain to analogous elements of a target domain. The principles follow the fine conceptual structure of the domains. The principles are: (1) the principle of proportional analogy; (2) the principle of mereological analogy, (3) the principle of chain reinforcement; (4) the principle of transitive reinforcement; and (5) the principle of mutual inconsistency. A constraint-satisfaction network is used to find the set of assignments that preserves the greatest relational structure of the source. In contrast to the model proposed here, most models of analogical mapping use only the principle of proportional analogy. The use of many principles is shown to be superior in that it permits smoother integration of pragmatic factors and results in a more efficient mapping process.
Modularity and Speech Acts
Authors: Harnish Robert M.
Published: January 2011

Modules, as Marr (1982) and Fodor (1983) conceive of them, lie between sensory and central processes. Modules have the functional property of representing that portion of the world which turns them on, and nine non-functional or structural properties that facilitate carrying out that function. Fodor has proposed that the processing of linguistic information is carried out by a language module (LM), which therefore has the functional and structural features of modules. We argue that the proposed LM does not have the functional property of modules in general (section 2). And we argue that Fodor's candidate for the output of the LM, interpreted syntactic form, does not satisfy important structural properties of modules (section 3). We propose another candidate, speech act potential, and argue that it fits almost all of Fodor's conditions (section 4). We next report on some pilot sentence completion studies suggesting that speech act information can influence the course of a parse and hence are a part of the LM (section 5). Finally, we outline possible experiments to test the modularity of speech act information by online methods of priming (section 6).
A hybrid architecture for text comprehension
Authors: Ezquerro Jesús , Miqueleiz Mauricio Iza
Published: January 2011

O'Brien et al. (1988) reported that readers generated elaborative inferences only when a text contained characteristics (a strong biasing context or a demand sentence) that made it easy to predict the specific inference that a reader would draw, and virtually eliminated the possibility of the inference being discon-firmed. Garrod et al. (1990), however, offered two qualifications to these conclusions. First, the two text characteristics manipulated may have produced different types of elaborative inferencing: a biasing context results in a passive form of elaborative inferencing, involving setting up a context of interpretation, whereas the presence of a demand sentence invites the reader to actively predict a subsequent expression. Secondly, clear evidence for either type of inference will be apparent only with truly anaphoric materials.
This work describes how a passive form of elaborative inferencing, reported by Garrod et al, may be implemented in a connectionist manner. We take the connectionist model proposed by Shastri and Ajjanagadde (1993) in order to represent a text in the form of a network. Next we analyze and discuss how an attentional focus could operate with the proposed reasoner system in order to deal with inference control and anaphora resolution (i.e., antecedent activation), during text understanding. Our own suggestion is that the system proposed by Shastri and Ajjanagadde could be extended by incorporating focus in order to apply it to some open problems related to text processing. However, this extension presents implementational problems due to its local character. Distributed models seem to be in a better position to deal with the shift of the attentional states, given that these systems can learn. Particularly, the model proposed by Sun (1994) is close to our aims, and so we will discuss its implications in order to design a cognitive architecture for text comprehension.
How language helps us think
Authors: Jackendoff Ray
Published: January 2011

On formal and empirical grounds, the overt form of language cannot be the vehicle that the mind uses for reasoning. Nevertheless, we most frequently experience our thought as "inner speech". It is argued that inner speech aids thought by providing a "handle " for attention, making it possible to pay attention to relational and abstract aspects of thought, and thereby to process them with greater richness. Organisms lacking language have no modality of experience that provides comparable articulation of thought; hence certain kinds of thought very important for human intelligence are simply unavailable to them.
Pragmatics and the processing of metaphors
Authors: Katz Albert
Published: January 2011

A model of metaphor processing is suggested based on the application of pragmatic principles to the type of semantic information easy to access. It is argued that, with metaphor, higher-order categorical knowledge is given processing preference over instance-specific knowledge in an attempt to recover likely intended meaning. Instance-specific information is used more often when the higher-order knowledge is taken to violate conversational postulates. One such violation occurs when the categories implicated by metaphor topic and vehicle are similar, and thus unlikely to provide new or relevant information. It is argued further that these differences could, in part, explain at least one condition that produces the asymmetry observed in metaphor when topic and vehicle are reversed. Predictions supportive of the model were obtained in three studies, employing different methodologies: feature listing, recognition memory and a vehicle choice task.
What is universal and what is language-specific in emotion words?
Authors: Myhill John
Published: January 2011

This paper proposes a model for the analysis of emotions in which each emotion word in each language is made up of a universal component and a language-specific component; the universal component is drawn from a set of universal human emotions which underlie all emotion words in all languages, and the language-specific component involves a language-particular thought pattern which is expressed as part of the meanings of a variety of different words in the language. The meanings of a variety of emotion words of Biblical Hebrew are discussed and compared with the meanings of English words with the same general meaning; it is shown that a number of the Biblical Hebrew words (though by no means all) directly represent the biblical conception of God and the role of God combined with one or another of the proposed universal emotions.
Pragmatic criteria for reference assignment
Authors: Matsui Tomoko
Published: January 2011

In the study of reference assignment, the question of what pragmatic criteria are used to evaluate the resulting interpretation seems not yet to have been properly dealt with. This paper addresses the issue by examining factors which affect the acceptability of various cases of bridging reference. It demonstrates that even highly successful accounts of reference assignment which place major emphasis on accessibility factors, e.g. the accessibility of candidate referents and the accessibility of contextual assumptions, must nonetheless involve some pragmatic criterion with which hearers can evaluate the resulting interpretation. Moreover, it argues that the pragmatic criterion used in reference assignment is not the truth-based one, which has been widely accepted, but the criterion of consistency with the principle of relevance proposed by Sperber and Wilson (1986/1995). Various accounts are tested against a wide range of examples on which I have conducted experimental tests with several sets of subjects.
Why do We Say in April, on Thursday, at 10 O'Clock? In Search of an Explanation
Authors: Wierzbicka Anna
Published: January 2011

Why do we say ON Thursday but AT 10 o'clock? Or why do we say AT night but IN the morning? One common answer to such questions is to dismiss the problem: this is the way we speak because this is the way to speak; it is all arbitrary, conventional, idiosyncratic.
It is argued that such answers are unilluminating and unsatisfactory. Prepositions such as ON, AT, or IN have their meanings, and the choice between them is motivated by these meanings. There are also certain conventions of use based on cultural expectations; the meanings and the cultural expectations interact and their interaction produces results whose "logic" may be difficult to detect — especially if one looks in the wrong direction, that is, that of "truth conditions" regarding external situations. In fact, however, the problem is not insoluble, and if it is approached with the understanding that meaning is all in the mind and that it is a matter of conceptualizations rather than "truth conditions", the hidden "logic " behind the choice of prepositions for temporal adverbials can be explained.
The paper argues, and tries to demonstrate, that the prepositions AT, IN, and ON mean different things, and that the patterns of their use in different types of temporal phrases are determined by their meanings.
Suppletion
Authors: Mel’čuk Igor
Published: January 2011

A rigorous definition of 'suppletion' is proposed, based on prototypical cases and the following pivotal idea of the current notion: two linguistic signs are in relation of suppletion if the semantic difference between them is maximally regular (i.e., it is grammatical inflectional or derivational) while their formal difference is maximally irregular (i.e., it is not covered by any alternation). The paper offers a concise survey of major types of suppletion: derivational vs. inflectional suppletion; radical vs. affixal suppletion; suppletion of morphs vs. of megamorphs vs. of idioms; a few dozen examples are quoted. After an analysis of five difficult cases, suppletion is considered along the diachronic axis. As a conclusion, a related concept is introduced and delineated with respect to suppletion: pseudo-suppletion.
In the Vestibule of Meaning
Authors: Bickel Balthasar
Published: January 2011

In the Belhare (Tibeto-Burman) verb, morphotactics and allomorphy, but not morpheme semantics, are sensitive to a distinction between direct (1>2, 1>3, 2>3, 3SG>3) and inverse (3NS>3, 3>2, 3>1, 2>1) participant configurations. Comparison of this phenomenon with Cree (Algonquian) and rGya-ro (Tibeto-Burman) calls for a distinction of morphemic and sub- or supra-morphemic inversion. The difference is semiotically interpreted in a general theory of "Resonance Morphology". The smallest resonant pattern is either compositional and meaningful, i.e. a "morpheme", or predictable and meaningless, i.e. an "eideme". Eidemes can be motivationally grounded in an extra-morphological domain (e.g. pragmatics). This is demonstrated for morphotactics and allomorphy in Belhare and for a parallel in French.
On the Double Object Construction and the Oblique Construction in Cantonese
Authors: Liejiong Xu , Peyraube Alain
Published: January 2011

The double-object construction has always been a controversial issue in linguistic theory. In Chinese we encounter an interesting and peculiar situation: both Mandarin and Cantonese have the dative construction with the indirect object (IO) introduced by a dative preposition (V + DO + Prep. + IO), but when the preposition is absent, the indirect object always precedes the direct object (DO)) in Mandarin (V + IO + DO), while the reverse order is predominant in Cantonese (V + DO + IO).
What is the origin of the Cantonese form V + DO + IO? In many previous studies, V + DO + IO is said to come from V + IO + DO. In this paper we first show that neither synchronic nor diachronic evidence favors the Movement Hypothesis that V + DO + IO is derived from V + IO + DO. The former is not a free variant of the latter. We then argue, synchronically and diachronically, that V + DO + IO is derived from V + DO + Prep. + IO by Preposition Deletion. The two forms share the same constraints in relation to the semantic nature of the verbs and the focus information transmitted by the two objects (DO and IO).
The Interplay Between form and Meaning in Language Change
Authors: Company Company Concepción
Published: January 2011

The paper tries to show that in changes of multiple causation, meaning is a leading factor in determining the syntactic output. Although formal and semantic-pragmatic factors converge in a complementary way, they carry different weights: formal factors lay the seed for the innovative construction and the semantic-pragmatic ones act as the ultimate trigger of the change. A set of three multilevel changes in Spanish is examined; in all of them accusative and dative case-marking, in argument positions, compete for the object marking, and in all of them DAT-marking outranks the ACC one. The three changes may be characterized as a progressive grammaticalization of DAT-marking at the expense of ACC-marking, a tendency towards reinforcement of DAT objects in the history of Spanish.
Reference Entailment and Maintenance Mechanisms in Universal Grammar of Japanese
Authors: Koyama Wataru
Published: January 2011

This essay tries to 1) outline a pragmatically anchored, universal matrix of morpho-syntax and semantics, 2) provide a general account of one of its components, i.e., reference entailment and maintenance mechanisms, and 3) focus on some of these mechanisms, such as "topic-markers" and "topicalizers" (defined below), by analyzing the structural and functional characteristics of several particles in Japanese, in terms of the interactions between markedness hierarchy, the semantic contents of NPs (explained below), case relations, interclausal linkages and reference-maintenance relations. Also the paper investigates relationships between forms in the linguistic structure of Japanese and the emotive and conative effects of their uses in discourse.
Cognitive Universals and Linguistic Conventions
Authors: Ariel Mira
Published: January 2011

Generativist pragmatists and discourse grammarians both subscribe to a functional view of language, but they do not agree on the nature of pragmatic principles. Prince (1988a,b) has argued that form-function correlations are arbitrary and language specific. Discourse grammarians have argued that pragmatic, and even grammatical rules, emerge out of universal, natural and predictable extralinguistic pressures. I will argue that although the distribution of gaps and resumptive pronouns in relative clauses seems arbitrary and language specific, one cognitively-based form-function principle governs their distribution. Relative clauses where the head is highly accessible when the relativized position is processed take gaps, whereas relative clauses which maintain a relatively low degree of accessibility of the head when the relativized position is processed take resumptive pronouns. The differences between languages are then attributed to language-specific grammaticization processes, rather than to different motivations and/or discoursal patterns.
A Functional Approach to Subject Inversion
Authors: Bailard Joëlle
Published: January 2011

It has been argued by Kayne and Pollock (1978a-b) that, in French, full NP subject inversion (henceforth SI) can be reduced to a stylistic rule of the form Move NP, the application of which would be triggered by WH. To be descriptively accurate, a general analysis of SI would have to take into account on the one hand that not all WH-words are compatible with SI (e.g. *pourquoi part Jean?) as noted for instance by Cornulier (1974) and on the other that SI does occur in the absence of WH (e.g. in sentences with list interpretation, live coverage of sports events). These apparent exceptions can all be explained when we take into account a number of pragmatic factors such as focusing and discourse context. Taking these factors into account provides a basis for ex-plaing why some uses of SI are conditioned by style or register while others are not, and why consequently French syntax has to include at least two distinct rules of subject inversion.
Wittgenstein, Translation, and Semiotics
Authors: Gorlée Dinda L.
Published: January 2011

Wittgenstein discusses interlingual and intersemiotic translation, both in its own right and, more often, as an object of comparison. In his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922), he puts forth a pictorial view which can be construed in Saussurian terms. This rule-governed notion of translation is, in Wittgenstein's later work, dynamized and based upon the use of signs. Translation is one of the language-games in Philosophical Investigations (1953). Wittgenstein's language-game of translation approaches Peirce's semiosis. Language-games are thirds which, in their nonverbal aspects, also partake of secondness and firstness. The language-game of translation occurs, at least theoretically, in three stages corresponding to the three logical interpretants.
Translation and Original
Authors: Leuven-Zwart Kitty M. van
Published: January 2011

This article presents a method for the establishment and description of shifts in integral translations of narrative texts. The method is based on the premise that both micro- and macrostructural shifts in translation can furnish indications of the translational norms adopted by the translator, his interpretation of the original text and the strategy applied during the process of translation. Further it is based on the assumption that research on the nature and frequency of microstructural shifts must precede research on macrostructural ones, in order to guarantee that findings are verifiable and the study repeatable. Thus, the method developed consists of two components: acomparativeand adescriptivemodel. The comparative model is designed for the classification of microstructural shifts, i.e. semantic, stylistic and pragmatic shifts within sentences, clauses and phrases. The descriptive model focuses on the effects of microstructural shifts on the macrostructural level. With the aid of this model shifts with respect to characters, events, time, place and other meaningful components of the text can be determined and described.
From Translation Markets to Language Management
Authors: Hermans Johan , Lambert José
Published: January 2011

The fact that the position of "business translation" within Translation Studies remains unclear is probably symptomatic of the discipline as a whole. In this article, business translation is approached from a new point of view; namely, that of social organization and management in business environments. The situation under observation—the "translation market" in Belgium—is limited, and does not warrant any general conclusions. However, the rather predictable findings concerning the peripheral position of translation and translators in business life seem to indicate that it is not translation as such which is at stake here, but more general views on language, discourse and communication.
What Is a Translating Translator Doing?
Authors: Mossop Brian
Published: January 2011

Translating is here defined as the quoting, in sequential chunks, of the wording of a written, oral or signed text, with an imitative purpose. These features distinguish it from other sorts of language activity—intralingual paraphrasing, re-expressing of ideas, fictive quoting, speaking from a script, ghostwriting—and thus provide an object for a theory of translation production. The defining feature 'quoting ' is taken to involve demonstrating to someone selected features of the source text. Thus the translational quoter is engaged in a dual activity: quoting OF the source text (rendering work) and quoting TO the readers or listeners (pragmatic work). The texts commonly called translations arise from some combination of rendering, pragmatic and non-translational work.
Implications of Research into Translator Invisibility
Authors: Hatim Basil
Published: January 2011

Espousal of the cultural model in translation studies has been one of the more exciting developments in recent years. In this paper, an influential ap-proach representing this trend (outlined inVenuti 1995and related publications) is assessed and its many strengths indicated. Also discussed are issues which have been seen as weaknesses in the model (e.g. the minimal reliance on textual evidence and the lack of a consistent methodology). A number of proposals, primarily informed by critical linguistics and contrastive rhetoric, are put forward in an attempt to fill some of the gaps. English and Arabic provide the language pair for a set of analytic procedures which focus on the teaching of literary translation.
Names and Their Substitutes
Authors: Embleton Sheila
Published: January 2011

The Astérix comic-book series, originally in French, is well-known and widely translated. Each book relates an adventurous episode in which the principal character is Astérix, a small, witty warrior from a fictional Gaulish village, the only village to have successfully resisted the Roman occupation. The series relies on many humorous techniques, but word-play and puns form an integral part. Much humour derives from the
names
used, combining various comic effects, particularly puns and double entendres. Thus the translator faces not only the usual problems in translating literary names, but also the problem of retaining these comic effects. This paper examines these problems and their solutions, based on a complete collection of name data from all 30 books in 4 languages (French original; English, German, Finnish translations), with numerous references to translations into other languages.
Arab Fatalism and Translation from Arabic into English
Authors: Farghal Mohammed
Published: January 2011

The present paper shows that while the concept of fatalism is all-pervasive in Arabic, it is kept to a minimum in English. Consequently, the translator into English is unlikely to be able to conserve the fatalism of Arabic expressions. Four areas are used to draw evidence for this cultural barrier: death terms, discourse conditionals, tautological expressions, and proverbial expressions. In most cases, the translator is forced to adopt functional equivalents, despite the fact that fatalism is missed in the functionally corresponding expressions.
Twelfth-Century Toledo and Strategies of the Literalist Trojan Horse
Authors: Pym Anthony
Published: January 2011

The scientific translating associated with twelfth-century Toledo remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Attention to its political dimension suggests that it should not be attached to the state-subsidized work carried out under Alfonso X after 1250 but is better explained in terms of Cluniac sponsorship of the first Latin translation of the Qur'an in 1142. This approach reveals grounds for potential conflict between the foreign scientific translators and the Toledo cathedral. Such conflict would nevertheless have been smoothed over by certain translation principles serving both scientific and religious interests. The foremost of these principles were literalism, secondary elaboration, the use of teamwork, the inferiorization of non-Latinist intermediaries, justification of conquest and the accordance of authority to non-Christian texts. Thanks to this shared regime, the Church helped scientific translations to enter Latin. But the translations brought with them a questioning spirit that would contest and eventually undermine Church authority.
La recherche en interprétation dans les pays d'Europe de I'Est:
Authors: Čeňková Ivana
Published: January 2011

L'auteur, interprète professionnelle, enseignante et chercheur, décrit l'évolution de la recherche en interprétation en Europe centrale et orientale à travers l'évocation de son parcours personnel en Tchécoslovaquie. Les principaux centres de recherche étaient Moscou et Leipzig, et la recherche se concentrait sur les aspects communicationnels de l'interprétation, sur l'équivalence et sur la "prévision probabiliste", avec des études par paires de langues spécifiques. Les premiers chercheurs étaient linguistes. Ils furent suivis par des interprètes professionnels diplômés en traduction ou en interprétation. L'article se termine par une description de l'activité de l'Institut de traductologie de l'Université Charles de Prague.
Headlining in Translation
Authors: Sidiropoulou Maria
Published: January 2011

A hundred translated article headlines appearing in the Greek press are contrasted to their originals in the English press. The cognitive, cultural and social constraints on headline formation observed relate to a higher degree of directness associated with the Greek version of the corpus, on the one hand, and differences with respect to 'thematic ' preferences, on the other. The quantity and quality of information to be included in the schematic category Headline, in Greek, differs: the quantity of information relates to the genre the article belongs to and the difference in quality is a result of a different 'macro-rule' application.
A Pragmatic Classification of LSP Texts in Science and Technology1
Authors: Göpferich Susanne
Published: January 2011

Theoretical approaches towards a classification of texts and empirical analyses of individual text types have been pursued more or less independently of each other. Without reference to a common theoretical framework, the results obtained when analysing individual texts cannot be compared—making it impossible to relate the individual text types to each other, and thus determine the scope of validity of the features which turn out to be characteristic of a group of texts. For this reason, an approach towards a pragmatic text typology is presented which can serve as a framework for the analysis of various LSP text types. In the last part of the paper some implications of this typology for translation studies and translation didactics are described.
There Is Always a Teller In a Tale
Authors: Schiavi Giuliana
Published: January 2011

This paper tracks down the translator's voice in the translated text; sees whether it can be included in a textual structure; and considers whether it can be regarded as part and parcel of a translated text, thus making the latter into something structurally different from an original text. The source is narrative texts, their translations, and the narratological approach to literature description.
Implicit Information in Literary Translation
Authors: Gutt Ernst-August
Published: January 2011

As an instance of human communication, literary translation operates by certain laws and principles assumed to be built into our human make-up. These 'natural laws' of communication give rise to implicit information and are responsible for its special characteristics, such as graded strength of communication and its correlates, including poetic effects. They furthermore determine the interdependence of text, context and successful communication, and limit communicability in incompatible contexts. One important contextual factor consists in what kind of interpretive resemblance the audience expects between translation and original. The ultimate test for a translation is whether or not it achieves with the target audience what the translator intended it to achieve, rather than whether it conforms to some translation-theoretical notion of equivalence.
Translating a Poem, from a Linguistic Perspective
Authors: Tabakowska Elżbieta
Published: January 2011

To bridge the unfortunate gap between "literature" and "language", literary critics, including critics of translation, should make use of what linguists have to say about language. Out of modern linguistic theories, Cognitive Linguistics seems particularly promising. On the basis of Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay " and one of its Polish translations, the author demonstrates how intuitive interpretations and assessments are corroborated by a strictly linguistic analysis, which is carried out in the cognitivist vein. In particular, the interplay of two grammatical oppositions—between perfective and imperfective verb forms and between countable and mass nouns—is shown to be a means of direct symbolisation of meaning. Translation losses are then discussed—some unavoidable in view of systematic discrepancies between linguistic conventions, others a compromise imposed by the demands of versification.
Créativité et traduction
Authors: Ballard Michel
Published: January 2011

Il peut paraître étrange de parler de créativité en relation avec la traduction quand on sait à quel point on se plaît à souligner qu'il s'agit d'une activité seconde. Or la traduction requiert un très grand travail à l'intérieur de la langue d'arrivée qui fait du traducteur un authentique créateur. C'est ce travail de création de formes que l'on se propose d'explorer ici par une théorisation qui implique une structuration de l'équivalence dans le cadre de l'unité de traduc­tion.
Multilign: an algorithm to predict secondary structures conserved in multiple RNA sequences
Authors: Xu Zhenjiang , Mathews David H.
Published: December 2010

Motivation: With recent advances in sequencing, structural and functional studies of RNA lag behind the discovery of sequences. Computational analysis of RNA is increasingly important to reveal structure–function relationships with low cost and speed. The purpose of this study is to use multiple homologous sequences to infer a conserved RNA structure.

Results: A new algorithm, called Multilign, is presented to find the lowest free energy RNA secondary structure common to multiple sequences. Multilign is based on Dynalign, which is a program that simultaneously aligns and folds two sequences to find the lowest free energy conserved structure. For Multilign, Dynalign is used to progressively construct a conserved structure from multiple pairwise calculations, with one sequence used in all pairwise calculations. A base pair is predicted only if it is contained in the set of low free energy structures predicted by all Dynalign calculations. In this way, Multilign improves prediction accuracy by keeping the genuine base pairs and excluding competing false base pairs. Multilign has computational complexity that scales linearly in the number of sequences. Multilign was tested on extensive datasets of sequences with known structure and its prediction accuracy is among the best of available algorithms. Multilign can run on long sequences (> 1500 nt) and an arbitrarily large number of sequences.

Availability: The algorithm is implemented in ANSI C++ and can be downloaded as part of the RNAstructure package at: http://rna.urmc.rochester.edu

Contact:  david_mathews@urmc.rochester.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Isolated left ventricular non‐compaction in adults: clinical and echocardiographic features in 105 patients. Results from a French registry
Authors: Habib Gilbert , Charron Philippe , Eicher Jean‐Christophe , Giorgi Roch , Donal Erwan , Laperche Thierry , Boulmier Dominique , Pascal Cécile , Logeart Damien , Jondeau Guillaume , Cohen‐Solal Alain ,   on behalf of the Working Groups ‘Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies’ and ‘Echocardiography’ of the French Society of Cardiology
Published: December 2010

Aims

The clinical features, prognosis, and even definition of left ventricular non‐compaction (LVNC) are still the subject of much debate. The aim of this registry was to describe the clinical, echocardiographic, and prognostic features of LVNC in France. The main endpoint was to assess clinical and echocardiographic predictors of adverse outcome, defined as death or heart transplantation.

Methods and results

Between 2004 and 2006, 154 suspected cases of LNVC were identified from a nationwide survey in France. The diagnosis of LVNC was confirmed in 105 cases by echocardiographic evaluation in a core laboratory. Clinical and echocardiographic data for the 105 cases of LVNC are presented. Left ventricular non‐compaction was first detected from heart failure symptoms in 45 patients, rhythm disorders in 12, and familial screening in 8. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was <30% in 46% of patients, but ≥50% in 16%. The latter had less symptoms of severe heart failure (11 vs. 54%, P = 0.001), but similar extension of the NC zone. During 2.33 ± 1.47 years of follow‐up, several complications occurred, including severe heart failure in 33 patients, transplantation in 9, ventricular arrhythmia in 7, embolic events in 9, and death in 12. Factors associated with death or heart transplantation were NYHA 3 or 4 (HR = 6.69; P = 0.0007), high LV filling pressures (HR = 7.59; P = 0.001), LVEF (HR = 0.93; P = 0.006), and hospitalization for heart failure (HR = 13.55; P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

In this large reported series of LVNC, we observed that: (i) Left ventricular non‐compaction was detected by familial screening in asymptomatic patients in 8% of cases. (ii) Left ventricular non‐compaction was frequently over‐diagnosed by echocardiography. (iii) Patients identified as LVNC presented with a high risk of severe complications, transplantation or death and needed close follow‐up.
Arabidopsis NPCC6/NaKR1 Is a Phloem Mobile Metal Binding Protein Necessary for Phloem Function and Root Meristem Maintenance
Authors: Tian Hui , Baxter Ivan R. , Lahner Brett , Reinders Anke , Salt David E. , Ward John M.
Published: December 2010

SODIUM POTASSIUM ROOT DEFECTIVE1 (NaKR1; previously called NPCC6) encodes a soluble metal binding protein that is specifically expressed in companion cells of the phloem. The nakr1-1 mutant phenotype includes high Na+, K+, Rb+, and starch accumulation in leaves, short roots, late flowering, and decreased long-distance transport of sucrose. Using traditional and DNA microarray-based deletion mapping, a 7-bp deletion was found in an exon of NaKR1 that introduced a premature stop codon. The mutant phenotypes were complemented by transformation with the native gene or NaKR1-GFP (green fluorescent protein) and NaKR1-β-glucuronidase fusions driven by the native promoter. NAKR1-GFP was mobile in the phloem; it moved from companion cells into sieve elements and into a previously undiscovered symplasmic domain in the root meristem. Grafting experiments revealed that the high Na+ accumulation was due mainly to loss of NaKR1 function in the leaves. This supports a role for the phloem in recirculating Na+ to the roots to limit Na+ accumulation in leaves. The onset of root phenotypes coincided with NaKR1 expression after germination. The nakr1-1 short root phenotype was due primarily to a decreased cell division rate in the root meristem, indicating a role in root meristem maintenance for NaKR1 expression in the phloem.
LAP6/POLYKETIDE SYNTHASE AandLAP5/POLYKETIDE SYNTHASE BEncode Hydroxyalkyl α-Pyrone Synthases Required for Pollen Development and Sporopollenin Biosynthesis inArabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Kim Sung Soo , Grienenberger Etienne , Lallemand Benjamin , Colpitts Che C. , Kim Sun Young , Souza Clarice de Azevedo , Geoffroy Pierrette , Heintz Dimitri , Krahn Daniel , Kaiser Markus , Kombrink Erich , Heitz Thierry , Suh Dae-Yeon , Legrand Michel , Douglas Carl J.
Published: December 2010

Plant type III polyketide synthases (PKSs) catalyze the condensation of malonyl-CoA units with various CoA ester starter molecules to generate a diverse array of natural products. The fatty acyl-CoA esters synthesized by Arabidopsis thaliana ACYL-COA SYNTHETASE5 (ACOS5) are key intermediates in the biosynthesis of sporopollenin, the major constituent of exine in the outer pollen wall. By coexpression analysis, we identified two Arabidopsis  PKS genes, POLYKETIDE SYNTHASE A (PKSA) and PKSB (also known as LAP6 and LAP5, respectively) that are tightly coexpressed with ACOS5. Recombinant PKSA and PKSB proteins generated tri-and tetraketide α-pyrone compounds in vitro from a broad range of potential ACOS5-generated fatty acyl-CoA starter substrates by condensation with malonyl-CoA. Furthermore, substrate preference profile and kinetic analyses strongly suggested that in planta substrates for both enzymes are midchain- and ω-hydroxylated fatty acyl-CoAs (e.g., 12-hydroxyoctadecanoyl-CoA and 16-hydroxyhexadecanoyl-CoA), which are the products of sequential actions of anther-specific fatty acid hydroxylases and acyl-CoA synthetase. PKSA and PKSB are specifically and transiently expressed in tapetal cells during microspore development in Arabidopsis anthers. Mutants compromised in expression of the PKS genes displayed pollen exine layer defects, and a double pksa pksb mutant was completely male sterile, with no apparent exine. These results show that hydroxylated α-pyrone polyketide compounds generated by the sequential action of ACOS5 and PKSA/B are potential and previously unknown sporopollenin precursors.
HdcB, a novel enzyme catalysing maturation of pyruvoyl‐dependent histidine decarboxylase
Authors: Trip Hein , Mulder Niels L. , Rattray Fergal P. , Lolkema Juke S.
Published: January 2011

Pyruvoyl‐dependent histidine decarboxylases are produced as proenzymes that mature by cleavage followed by formation of the pyruvoyl prosthetic group. The histidine decarboxylation pathway of Streptococcus thermophilus CHCC1524 that consists of the pyruvoyl‐dependent histidine decarboxylase HdcA and the histidine/histamine exchanger HdcP was functionally expressed in Lactococcus lactis. The operon encoding the pathway contains in addition to the hdcA and hdcP genes a third gene hdcB. Expression of different combinations of the genes in L. lactis and Escherichia coli followed by analysis of the protein products demonstrated the involvement of HdcB in the cleavage of the HdcA proenzyme. The HdcA proenzyme and HdcB protein were purified to homogeneity and cleavage and activation of the histidine decarboxylase activity was demonstrated in vitro. Substoichiometric amounts of HdcB were required to cleave HdcA showing that HdcB functions as an enzyme. In agreement, expression levels of HdcB in the cells were low relative to those of HdcA. The turnover number of HdcB in vitro was extremely low (0.05 min−1) which was due to a very slow association/dissociation of the enzyme/substrate complex. In fact, HdcB was shown to co‐purify both with the HdcA S82A mutant that mimics the proenzyme and with the mature HdcA complex.