bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes in prevalence of depression and anxiety following smoking cessation: results from an international cohort study (ATTEMPT)
Authors: Shahab L. , Andrew S. , West R.
Published: March 2013

Background

Smoking cessation improves physical health but it has been suggested that in vulnerable individuals it may worsen mental health. This study aimed to identify the short- and longer-term effects of stopping smoking on depression and anxiety in the general population and in those with a history of these disorders.

Method

Sociodemographic and smoking characteristics, and mental and physical health were assessed using established measures in the ATTEMPT cohort, an international longitudinal study of smokers (n = 3645). Smokers who had stopped for at least 3 months or less than 3 months at the 12-month follow-up were compared with current smokers (n = 1640).

Results

At follow-up, 9.7% [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.3–11.2] of smokers had stopped for less than 3 months and 7.5% (95% CI 6.3–8.9) for at least 3 months. Compared with current smokers, prevalence of depression prescriptions obtained in the last 2 weeks was lower for those who had stopped for less than 3 months [odds ratio (OR) 0.37, 95% CI 0.14–0.96] or at least 3 months (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.06–0.94) after adjusting for baseline prescription levels and confounding variables. Adjusted prevalence of recent depression symptoms was also lower for ex-smokers who had stopped for less than 3 months (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.15–0.78) or at least 3 months (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.09–0.67) than among continuing smokers. There was no change in anxiety measures in the general population or any increase in anxiety or depression symptoms in ex-smokers with a past history of these conditions.

Conclusions

Smoking cessation does not appear to be associated with an increase in anxiety or depression and may lead to a reduced incidence of depression.
Decentralized case-based reasoning and Semantic Web technologies applied to decision support in oncology
Authors: d'Aquin Mathieu , Lieber Jean , Napoli Amedeo
Published: March 2013

This article presents the Kasimir system dedicated to decision knowledge management in oncology and which is built on top of Semantic Web technologies, taking benefit from standard knowledge representation formalisms and open reasoning tools. The representation of medical decision protocols, in particular for breast cancer treatment, is based on concepts and instances implemented within the description logic OWL DL (Web ontology language description logic). The knowledge units related to a protocol can then be applied for solving specific medical problems, using instance or concept classification. However, the straight application of a protocol is not always satisfactory, for example, because of contraindications, necessitating an adaptation of the protocol. This is why the principles and methods of case-based reasoning (CBR) in the framework of DLs have been used. In addition, the domain of oncology is complex and involves several specialties, for example, surgery and chemotherapy. This complexity can be better undertaken with a viewpoint-based representation of protocols and viewpoint-based reasoning, for either application or adaptation of the protocols. Accordingly, a distributed DL has been used for representing a viewpoint-based protocol. The application and the adaptation of the viewpoint-based protocol to medical cases is carried out using global instance classification and decentralized CBR.
An Annotatedlivretof Lully'sRolandas a Source for Seventeenth-Century Declamation
Authors: Wentz Jed
Published: March 2013

The Houghton Library at Harvard University holds a copy of the 1685livretforRolandby Philippe Quinault and Jean-Baptiste Lully that has been marked up in three different seventeenth-century hands. The meanings of these markings cannot be conclusively deciphered until further corroborative sources come to light, but they seem to refer to declaimed performances of Quinault's text. The purpose of the current article is to propose possible interpretations of these annotations, guided by seventeenth-century theory of the oratorical pitches (tons) and eighteenth-century links between the Académie royale de musique and the Comédie française.
Maria Antonia of Saxony and the Emergence of Music Analysis in Opera Criticism
Authors: Joubert Estelle
Published: March 2013

The Enlightenment witnessed the rise of a public whose role as sovereign arbiter of operatic taste irreversibly changed the processes by which fame and renown were bestowed upon composers. The public sphere – a conceptual space in which texts (including music) were disseminated and debated – emerged as an expansive intellectual forum in which composers, performers and works could be evaluated. In spite of opera's long-standing association with fame and renown, its role in the processes leading to ascriptions of musical value and fame in the Enlightenment public sphere is a significant dimension of canon formation that has yet to be fully investigated. This article offers a case study of Electress Maria Antonia of Saxony (1728–1780), whose mutually beneficial relationship with the Breitkopf firm, coupled with its redesigned ‘movable type’ in 1755, prompted a new mode of opera criticism, one that focused sharply on the music itself. Maria Antonia'sIl trionfo della fedeltà(1754) andTalestri(1762) were the first operas to receive reviews featuring in-text musical examples, fuelling the public's quest to monumentalise Maria Antonia as celebrated composer. Ultimately, the inclusion of musical excerpts in opera criticism was an important step toward the construct of the work as separate from individual localised performances.
HSP90 expression correlation with the freezing resistance of bull sperm
Authors: Wang Peng , Wang Yan-Feng , Wang Hong , Wang Chun-Wei , Zan Lin-Sen , Hu Jian-Hong , Li Qing-Wang , Jia Yong-Hong , Ma Guo-Ji
Published: March 2013

To date, there has been little improvement in cryopreservation of bull sperm due to lack of understanding of the freezing mechanisms. Therefore, this study set out to investigate expression levels of fertility-associated proteins in bull sperm, and in particular the relationship between the 90 kDa heat-shock protein (HSP90) and the sperm characteristics after freezing–thawing. Semen was collected from eight Holstein bulls by artificial vagina. Characteristics of these fresh semen, including sperm motility, morphology, viability and concentration, were evaluated. Sperm quality was also assessed after freezing–thawing. Eight ejaculates were divided into two groups based on freezing resistance and sperm motility. Sperm proteins were extracted and sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis and western blotting were performed. SDS-PAGE results showed that there was substantial diversity in 90 kDa proteins in the frozen–thawed sperm and HSP90 was confirmed as one of the 90 kDa proteins by western blot. This study indicated that HSP90 expression correlated positively with sperm quality. The amount of expressed 90 kDa proteins in the high freezing resistance (HFR) group was significantly higher than that in the low freezing resistance (LFR) group (P< 0.05). Thus, higher expression of HSP90 could probably lead to the higher motility and freezing resistance of sperm found after freezing–thawing. Therefore, we concluded that level of HSP90 expression could be used to predict reliably and simply the freezing resistance of bull sperm.
Prehospital Synchronized Electrical Cardioversion of a Poorly Perfused SVT Patient by Paramedics
Authors: Smith Gavin , Taylor David McD , Morgans Amee , Cameron Peter
Published: March 2013

Synchronized Direct Current Cardioversion (SDC) is an established therapy for the termination of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT – either atrio-ventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) or atrio-ventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT)) with poor perfusion. The evidence is extremely limited with regard to the safety and effectiveness of this therapy. In Australia, half of the eight ambulance services include SDC within their clinical practice guidelines for the management of poorly perfused SVT; however the degree of variation in the application of SDC across these guidelines suggests a need to quantify the practice. This case provides a previously unreported example of the safety and effectiveness of prehospital SDC for SVT (with poor perfusion precipitated by a Valsalva Maneuver) by Victorian paramedics, and discusses the available literature regarding the effectiveness and safety of this practice.

SmithG, TaylorD, MorgansA, CameronP. Prehospital synchronized electrical cardioversion of a poorly perfused SVT patient by paramedics. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(3):1-4.
Parallel processing of the target language during source language comprehension in interpreting
Authors: DONG YANPING , LIN JIEXUAN
Published: March 2013

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that the parallel processing of the target language (TL) during source language (SL) comprehension in interpreting may be influenced by two factors: (i) link strength from SL to TL, and (ii) the interpreter's cognitive resources supplement to TL processing during SL comprehension. The influence of the first factor was supported by the contrasting performance on bidirectional SL and TL interpreting tasks by unbalanced bilingual student interpreters, and the second factor was supported by the contrasting performance between participants’ two developmental stages in interpreting. Implications are discussed.
EXTREME POINTS OF INTEGRAL FAMILIES OF ANALYTIC FUNCTIONS
Authors: DOW KEIKO , WILKEN D. R.
Published: March 2013

Extreme points of compact, convex integral families of analytic functions are investigated. Knowledge about extreme points provides a valuable tool in the optimization of linear extremal problems. The functions studied are determined by a two-parameter collection of kernel functions integrated against measures on the torus. For specific choices of the parameters many families from classical geometric function theory are included. These families include the closed convex hull of the derivatives of normalized close-to-convex functions, the ratio of starlike functions of different orders, as well as many others. The main result introduces a surprising new class of extreme points.
Differences in the ankle-brachial index in the general population after 4 years of follow-up
Authors: Lahoz Carlos , Garcia-Fernandez Teresa , Barrionuevo Maria , Vicente Ignacio , Gonzalez-Alegre Teresa , Mostaza José M.
Published: March 2013

Background: Variation in the ankle-brachial index (ABI) is related to the progression of atherosclerosis in the lower extremities and is associated with mid-term cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in ABI after four years of follow-up of individuals in the general population, and the factors associated with relevant variations observed. Patients and methods: The study was performed in 750 volunteers (mean age 69.9 years) men without any evidence of peripheral artery disease, who attended a primary care centre. A complete physical examination, together with standard blood tests and ABI were performed. Four years later a new clinical evaluation was done. Variations in ABI values were considered relevant if > 10 %. Results: Mean ABI in the second visit was 1.07 ± 0.15, which represented 0.02 ± 0.12 points lower than in the first visit (P < 0.001). Of these subjects, 157 (21.6 %) had an ABI decrease > 10 %. Multivariate analysis showed that the change was associated with male gender, cardiovascular history, no intake of blockers of the renin-angiotensin system, and the presence of atherogenic dyslipidaemia. A relevant increase in ABI was observed in 117 subjects (16.1 %), but was not associated with any of the studied factors. Conclusions: ABI values tend to decrease in the general population, although one sixth of the studied subjects had a relevant increase in this parameter.
Wer will heute noch Hausarzt/ärztin werden… ? Umfragen bei Medizinstudierenden und Jungärzten
Authors: Tschudi Peter , Bally Klaus , Zeller Andreas
Published: March 2013

Weltweit besteht die abnehmende Tendenz, Hausarzt zu werden. Der Hausarztmangel ist auch in der Schweiz Realität. Und der Nachwuchs fehlt. Grund dafür ist die abnehmende Attraktivität des Hausarztberufes. Nur rund 10 % der Studierenden und unter 20 % der Ärzte in Weiterbildung geben als Berufsziel Hausarzt an. Die Studierenden wie auch die jungen Ärzte in der Weiterbildung zeigen auf, was konkret geändert werden müsste in der Aus- und Weiterbildung, im Beruf, gesundheitspolitisch und gesellschaftlich, um den Beruf des Hausarztes aufzuwerten mit dem Ziel, dass die junge Generation wieder vermehrt das Berufsziel Hausarzt anstrebt. Die Vorteile eines hausarztbasierten Gesundheitssystems sind eindeutig. Dringend sind Massnahmen zur Sicherstellung der medizinischen Grundversorgung und der Hausarztmedizin einzuleiten und umzusetzen.
„Eine Gruppe kommt in Fahrt“
Authors: Muster-Wäbs Hannelore , Pillmann-Wesche Rainer
Published: March 2013

Welche Entwicklungsphasen durchläuft eine Gruppe? Welche Anleitung und Unterstützung benötigt sie in den einzelnen Phasen? Antworten zu diesen Fragen ermöglichen der Leitungsperson, den Entwicklungsprozess produktiv zu gestalten und eine konstruktive Arbeitsatmosphäre zu ermöglichen.
Gruppenarbeit braucht sichere Ergebnisse
Authors: Rohde Katrin S.
Published: March 2013

Wenn die Lernenden auf einem Gipfel stehen und selbst nicht sehen können, ob es der richtige ist und was sie bei einem nochmaligen Aufstieg anders machen könnten, dann ist auch der Lernerfolg ungewiss. Ergebnissicherung als Teil des Lernens mit und in Gruppen soll nachfolgend in ihren Möglichkeiten und Schwierigkeiten betrachtet werden.
Die Selbsthilfe des Patienten stärken
Authors: Adler Gudrun
Published: March 2013

Selbsthilfe- und Gesundheitskompetenzen von Patienten zu fördern, ist eine wichtige pflegerische Aufgabe. Im Rahmen des Edukationsprozesses ist es sinnvoll, mündliche Informationen durch schriftliches und visualisiertes Informationsmaterial zu unterstützen. Der Beitrag stellt Edukationsmaterial vor, das im Patienteninformationszentrum (PIZ) am Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Brüder Trier entstanden ist.
Häusliche Gewalt: Intervention und Prävention
Authors: Wieners Karin , Hellbernd Hilde , Jenner Sabine , Oesterhelweg Lars
Published: March 2013

Erleben Menschen häusliche Gewalt, sind Pflegefachpersonen und Ärztinnen in Rettungsstellen oft die ersten und einzigen Ansprechpersonen. Ihre Fachkompetenz und Handlungssicherheit entscheidet darüber, ob den Betroffenen die Hilfe zukommt, die sie brauchen. Der Beitrag präsentiert einen Handlungsleitfaden und wichtige Hintergrundinformationen.
Molecular evidence for an active endogenous microbiome beneath glacial ice
Authors: Hamilton Trinity L , Peters John W , Skidmore Mark L , Boyd Eric S
Published: March 2013

Geologic, chemical and isotopic evidence indicate that Earth has experienced numerous intervals of widespread glaciation throughout its history, with roughly 11% of present day Earth’s land surface covered in ice. Despite the pervasive nature of glacial ice both today and in Earth’s past and the potential contribution of these systems to global biogeochemical cycles, the composition and phylogenetic structure of an active microbial community in subglacial systems has yet to be described. Here, using RNA-based approaches, we demonstrate the presence of active and endogenous archaeal, bacterial and eukaryal assemblages in cold (0–1 °C) subglacial sediments sampled from Robertson Glacier, Alberta, Canada. Patterns in the phylogenetic structure and composition of subglacial sediment small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA (rRNA) assemblages indicate greater diversity and evenness than in glacial surface environments, possibly due to facilitative or competitive interactions among populations in the subglacial environment. The combination of phylogenetically more even and more diverse assemblages in the subglacial environment suggests minimal niche overlap and optimization to capture a wider spectrum of the limited nutrients and chemical energy made available from weathering of bedrock minerals. The prevalence of SSU rRNA affiliated with lithoautotrophic bacteria, autotrophic methane producing archaea and heterotrophic eukarya in the subglacial environment is consistent with this hypothesis and suggests an active contribution to the global carbon cycle. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that subglacial environments harbor endogenous active ecosystems that have the potential to impact global biogeochemical cycles over extended periods of time.
Microbial biodiversity in glacier-fed streams
Authors: Wilhelm Linda , Singer Gabriel A , Fasching Christina , Battin Tom J , Besemer Katharina
Published: March 2013

While glaciers become increasingly recognised as a habitat for diverse and active microbial communities, effects of their climate change-induced retreat on the microbial ecology of glacier-fed streams remain elusive. Understanding the effect of climate change on microorganisms in these ecosystems is crucial given that microbial biofilms control numerous stream ecosystem processes with potential implications for downstream biodiversity and biogeochemistry. Here, using a space-for-time substitution approach across 26 Alpine glaciers, we show how microbial community composition and diversity, based on 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, in biofilms of glacier-fed streams may change as glaciers recede. Variations in streamwater geochemistry correlated with biofilm community composition, even at the phylum level. The most dominant phyla detected in glacial habitats were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria/chloroplasts. Microorganisms from ice had the lowest α diversity and contributed marginally to biofilm and streamwater community composition. Rather, streamwater apparently collected microorganisms from various glacial and non-glacial sources forming the upstream metacommunity, thereby achieving the highest α diversity. Biofilms in the glacier-fed streams had intermediate α diversity and species sorting by local environmental conditions likely shaped their community composition. α diversity of streamwater and biofilm communities decreased with elevation, possibly reflecting less diverse sources of microorganisms upstream in the catchment. In contrast, β diversity of biofilms decreased with increasing streamwater temperature, suggesting that glacier retreat may contribute to the homogenisation of microbial communities among glacier-fed streams.
Self‐adaptive transformer differential protection
Authors: Zhang Wenkui , Tan Qian , Miao Shihong , Zhou Liangsong , Liu Pei
Published: March 2013

Setting the pickup current and slope of differential relays of power transformer protection is a well‐known compromise. It has been the focus of study to improve both the security and sensitivity of transformer differential protection recently. However, it is difficult to achieve a high degree of security and sensitivity at the same time by conventional percentage restraint differential criteria based on a fixed predetermined characteristic curve. Therefore a novel adaptive protection criterion is proposed in this study, which can self‐regulate the parameters of percentage differential characteristic (e.g. pickup current, restraint coefficient and restraint current at the knee point of the slope characteristic) on the basis of operating conditions of power transformers. The test results show that the proposed scheme provides a high operating sensitivity on internal faults, while retaining higher security on all external faults. Furthermore, because of self‐regulation of the setting values of relays, it is more convenient for engineers in the field who only need to give the upper and lower limits but not the exact value of the settings of protective relay.
Assessing the power transfer performance of a lattice tower overhead line system
Authors: Kopsidas Konstantinos
Published: March 2013

This study examines the overall performance of overhead power lines (OHL) considering their electro‐mechanical properties, with a focus on lattice tower structures. Performance analysis of commonly used aluminium alloy conductors on a 275 kv lattice tower system and subsequent comparison with the corresponding performance of the conductors on a 33 kV wood pole structure highlights the effect of the OHL structure strength on overall system performance. Further results from the analysis of the lattice tower structure help to evaluate the effect of span length, conductor weight and bundle configuration on OHL system performance. Finally, a holistic analysis illustrating the benefits of the use of novel conductors on lattice tower structures at ‘normal’ operating temperatures to avoid increased losses is reported and discussed.
The Concept of ‘Basis of Articulation’ in Russia in the First Half of the 20th Century
Authors: Kedrova Galina E. , Borissoff Constantine Leo
Published: March 2013

This article traces the development of the concept of the ‘basis of articulation’ in Russia of the first half of the 20th century, analysing in detail the major works in this area of research. In Russia this concept took a specific course of development. From the beginning it has been mainly conceived as a ‘summation of features’, distinguishing phonetic systems of different languages, however, Russian linguists tended to view it in a wider generalphonemic framework. While in the West the interest to this concept generally subsided, in Russian linguistics it was always present and remained viable and attractive particularly in the fields of the teaching of phonetics, dialectology, and language typology.
(Inter)subjectification in Makhuwa
Authors: van der Wal Jenneke
Published: March 2013

This study contributes to the research on the development of pragmatic particles from the perspective of the Bantu language Makhuwa. Makhuwa shows synchronic variation in the use of va and vo, which function as locative demonstratives, va (proximal) and vo (medial), but also as pragmatic particles in the left as well as the right periphery, where they draw the attention of the addressee, intensify the illocutionary force and indicate the relationship between speaker and addressee. The supposed development from demonstrative to pragmatic particle confirms the relevance of both peripheries for the change to pragmatic particle.
Discussing the (inter)subjective properties of these pragmatic particles, the paper argues for a relatively broad definition of (inter)subjectivity as grounding the message in the speech situation (oriented towards the speaker, addressee or discourse).
1820 Settler petitions in the Cape Colony
Authors: Włodarczyk Matylda
Published: March 2013

The received view has it that the language of petitions aims at elevating the addressee and demeaning the author. Recent studies into historical (im)politeness interpret it as epistolary facework, i.e. “politic” rather than “polite” behaviour (Bax 2010). Drawing on evidence of the genre dynamics present in nineteenth-century petitions, this paper proposes that for a number of petitioners the conventionalised expression of deference could not have been their main motivation. Through close study of the structural models and their distribution in two collections of petitions related to British settlement in the Cape Colony (1819–1825), the study proposes an account for changes in users’ preferences in this respect. The discussion employs Luckmann’s (e.g. 2009) theory of “communicative genres” and “projects”, which allows one to reach beyond the textual evidence to the dimension of verbal interaction. The paper also focuses on the materiality of historical genres (cf. Barton and Hall 2000).
Thou and you in Late Middle Scottish and Early Modern Northern English witness depositions
Authors: Leitner Magdalena
Published: March 2013

In contrast to Early Modern English, little is known about address pronouns in Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This paper investigates early Scottish pronoun usage in more detail by presenting a case study on singular pronominal address in Late Middle Scottish and Early Modern Northern English witness depositions from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The source texts drawn from the Criminal Trials in Scotland 1488–1624, the Helsinki Corpus of Older Scots 1450–1700 and A Corpus of English Dialogues 1560–1760 are examined with a quantitative and qualitative approach based on historical pragmatics and historical sociolinguistics. Thou is found to be relatively frequent in the Scottish and Northern English data in comparison with the rapid decline in thou recently found in South-Eastern English depositions. However, there are significant differences in the distributions of pronouns, which are explained by an overrepresentation of upper social ranks in the Scottish sub-corpus.
Two case studies of content-based language education
Authors: Genesee Fred , Lindholm-Leary Kathryn
Published: March 2013

This article describes and discusses two case studies of content-based instruction for second language education — foreign/second language immersion for majority language students in Canada and dual language education for minority language students in the U.S. After discussing the rationale for CBI in general, we examine 45 years of research on each program model and provide empirical evidence on a number of important issues, including: students’ proficiency in the two languages used for instruction; non-language academic outcomes; whether age is an important factor in students’ language outcomes; and the relationship between age of first exposure to the second language and outcomes in that language. Two outstanding major issues are discussed at some length; namely, the suitability of these programs for at-risk learners and the need for a coherent model of how best to integrate language and content instruction to maximize second language proficiency without detracting from academic achievement. Suggestions for future directions are provided.
Indigenous immersion education
Authors: May Stephen
Published: March 2013

This article outlines key developments internationally over the last 40 years in indigenous immersion education. Most notable here has been the establishment of community-based, bottom-up immersion programs, instigated by indigenous communities with the aim of maintaining or revitalizing their indigenous languages. As such, the article addresses a relative lacuna in immersion education literature, which has to date focused primarily on second- and foreign-language contexts. The article first provides a wider sociohistorical and sociopolitical context, focusing on key developments in international law, and in specific national contexts, which have facilitated the establishment of these indigenous immersion programs. The interrelationship between indigenous immersion educational policy and pedagogy is then explored, highlighting, in the process, the various challenges involved in developing, implementing, and maintaining effective indigenous immersion programs. Finally, international exemplars of indigenous education programs are discussed, including, Hawaiian, Navajo, and Cherokee programs in the U.S., and Māori-medium education in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Towards a cross-linguistic pedagogy
Authors: Ballinger Susan
Published: March 2013

This article reports on a 7-week classroom intervention in two Grade 3 French immersion schools near Montreal, Quebec, that enroll both English- and French-dominant students. The teaching intervention aimed to bridge the students’ first and second languages through collaborative language learning strategies designed to enhance students’ awareness of their and their partner’s language production and a ‘biliteracy’ project that linked English and French language arts content. Data collection consisted of audiotaped interactions between eight student pairs as they worked on collaborative tasks for the biliteracy project. A qualitative and quantitative analysis examined how the biliteracy project and strategy instruction influenced students’ collaborative interaction and reciprocal learning. All recorded pairs engaged in reciprocal strategy use and extensive on-task collaboration; nevertheless, the quality of their interaction was tempered by their engagement in further interactional moves that supported contributions from their partners.
Changing conventions in German causal clause complexes
Authors: Bisiada Mario
Published: March 2013

This paper contributes to the field of diachronic corpus studies of linguistic change through language contact in translation by replicating Becher’s (2011) study which found a trend from hypotaxis to parataxis in concessive clause complexes of German popular scientific articles, and examining whether a comparable trend can be found in causal clause complexes in another genre. The study draws on a one-million-word translation corpus of English business articles and their German translations, as well as on a comparable corpus of German non-translations. The corpora consist of texts published in two time periods, 1982–3 and 2008. German translations of English causal conjunctions are compared for both time periods to determine diachronic changes in causal clause complexes. The comparable corpus is then analysed to find out whether those changes also happened in non-translated language. While a trend from hypotaxis to parataxis in both corpora can be observed, hypotaxis remains more frequent than parataxis. The study also detects a shift in preference for the causal conjunctions weil, denn and da, which partly causes the decrease in hypotaxis.
Modality, aspect and the progressive
Authors: De Wit Astrid , Patard Adeline
Published: March 2013

This paper proffers a corpus-based study of the semantics of the French present progressive in comparison with its English equivalent. We describe the temporal and modal uses of ‘be + -ing’ and investigate to what extent they overlap with the uses of être + en train de. The observation that the use of the French present progressive is not obligatory and more restricted than that of the present progressive in English is taken as a sign of a less advanced stage of grammaticalization of the former. On the other hand, the two progressive constructions are alike in that they turn out to share the same basic, modal meaning, which we define as epistemic contingency in current reality. This meaning is, among other things, reflected in the (inter)subjective connotations that are often associated with the progressives.
A cognitive perspective on the metaphors in the Buddhist sutra “Bao Ji Jing”
Authors: Lan Chun
Published: March 2013

This is a case study of the metaphorical expressions in the Buddhist sutra “宝积经” (Bao Ji Jing, Ratnakūtasūtra) from the cognitive perspective provided by conceptual metaphor theory, aiming at discovering the conceptual system behind those metaphorical expressions and investigating what kind of role conceptual metaphors play in constructing and interpreting Buddhist doctrines. Altogether 64 metaphorical expressions in “Bao Ji Jing” are analysed, which centre around three themes: singing praise to Bodhisattva’s benefactions, looking on the emptiness and illusions of the mind and concluding persuasions. The key findings are that (1) metaphorical expressions are typically used for legitimising Buddhist doctrines and, to a lesser degree, delegitimising non-Buddhist doctrines; (2) the metaphorical expressions detected are usually highly consistent in structure, with a few or even over a dozen appearing in parallel; (3) often a metaphor is composed of a major source concept and a minor source concept on the one hand, and a major target concept and a minor target concept on the other, with the relationship between the former mapped onto that of the latter; and (4) a metaphor typically activates a series of projections between its source domain and target domain, giving rise to conceptual blends in the process.
Migration as a metaphor for metaphor
Authors: Lambkin Brian
Published: March 2013

This article is concerned with migration as a metaphor for metaphor. Metaphor is generally recognised an essential tool in the promotion of public understanding of difficult subjects and this begs the question of what metaphors are available for promoting the understanding of metaphor itself. A review of metaphors for metaphor is undertaken and they are found to be of three types, based on seeing, travelling and thinking. It is argued that recent developments in migration studies may have something to offer metaphor studies and migration is proposed as a metaphor for re-framing metaphors for metaphor.
Phonics vs. whole-word instruction in a tone language
Authors: Burnham Denis , Luksaneeyanawin Sudaporn , Kantamphan Suntree , Reid Amanda
Published: March 2013

Phonics vs. whole-word instruction effects on spelling proficiency were investigated for Thai, an alphabetic script that represents tonemes orthographically. Errors made by a cross-sectional convenience sample of 128 children aged 6, 8, 10, and 12 years old and 25 adults were categorized by grapheme category (Consonants, Vowels, Tones) and type (Reversals, Additions, Substitutions, Deletions). Fewer spelling errors were made by phonics-taught children who showed consistently better performance as a function of age. An additional quadratic component for the whole-word group suggested a different developmental trend involving a plateau after 8 years of age. Consonant errors were most frequent (but decreased rapidly over age), followed by vowel then tone errors. Vowels and tones were more dispensable than consonants, regardless of age or instruction method, suggesting that consonants may be of particular importance in Thai spelling. This preliminary observational dataset on spelling in tone languages may have implications for educational policy in Thailand.
A new proof of Sárközy’s theorem
Authors: Lyall Neil
Published: March 2013

It is a striking and elegant fact (proved independently by Furstenberg and Sárközy) that in any subset of the natural numbers of positive upper density there necessarily exist two distinct elements whose difference is given by a perfect square. In this article we present a new and simple proof of this result by adapting an argument originally developed by Croot and Sisask to give a new proof of Roth’s theorem.
Adaptive response of beam trawl fishers to rising fuel cost
Authors: Poos Jan Jaap , Turenhout Michael N. J. , A. E. van Oostenbrugge Hans , Rijnsdorp Adriaan D.
Published: March 2013

Poos, J. J., Turenhout, M. N. J., van Oostenbrugge, H., and Rijnsdorp, A. D. 2013. Adaptive response of beam trawl fishers to rising fuel cost – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 675–684. In this paper, we develop models to test different hypotheses on the optimal towing speed at which fuel savings are traded off against the reduction in catch due to the decrease in swept area. The model predicts that optimal towing speed is a decreasing function of fuel price and an increasing function of fish abundance and price. The model was fitted to vessel monitoring system (VMS) data. By means of mixture analysis, these VMS data were attributed to one of three behavioural modes: floating, towing, or navigating. Data attributed to the towing mode were used to determine the model that best fit the data. The preferred model includes a maximum towing speed and a component describing the decline in catch efficiency with decreasing towing speed. Towing speed is reduced by up to 14%. The savings obtained by reducing towing speed were estimated for each month and showed that vessels reduced their fuel consumption by between 0 and 40%.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of marine reserves for transient spawning aggregations in data-limited situations
Authors: Grüss Arnaud , Kaplan David M. , Robinson Jan
Published: March 2013

Many coral reef fish species form predictable, transient spawning aggregations. Many aggregations are overfished, making them a target for spatial management. Here, we develop a per-recruit model to evaluate the performance of no-take marine reserves protecting transient spawning aggregations. The model consists of only 14 demographic and exploitation-related parameters. We applied the model to a protogynous grouper and a gonochoristic rabbitfish from Seychelles and tested six scenarios regarding the extent of protected areas, the level of fish spawning-site fidelity, and fishing effort redistribution post reserve implementation. Spawning aggregation reserves improve spawning-stock biomass-per-recruit and reduce the sex ratio bias in protogynous populations for all scenarios examined. However, these benefits are often small and vary among the different scenarios and as a function of sexual ontogeny. In all scenarios, increases in yield-per-recruit do not occur or are negligible. The long-term yield increases due to spawning aggregation reserves may still occur, but only if spawning-stock biomass recovery results in a recruitment subsidy. Given these limited benefits, the value of no-take reserves must be weighed against those of other management options, such as fishing effort reduction and seasonal fishery closures. The latter is particularly appropriate when spawning and non-spawning areas overlap in space.
Contribution of Small RNA Pathway Components in Plant Immunity
Authors: Seo Jang-Kyun , Wu Jianguo , Lii Yifan , Li Yi , Jin Hailing
Published: March 2013

Small RNAs regulate a multitude of cellular processes, including development, stress responses, metabolism, and maintenance of genome integrity, in a sequence-specific manner. Accumulating evidence reveals that host endogenous small RNAs and small RNA pathway components play important roles in plant immune responses against various pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, and viruses. Small-RNA-mediated defense responses are regulated through diverse pathways and the components of these pathways, including Dicer-like proteins, RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, Argonaute proteins, and RNA polymerase IV and V, exhibit functional specificities as well as redundancy. In this review, we summarize the recent insights revealed mainly through the examination of two model plants, Arabidopsis and rice, with a primary focus on our emerging understanding of how these small RNA pathway components contribute to plant immunity.
First Report of Myrothecium roridum Causing Myrothecium Leaf Spot on Dieffenbachia picta ‘Camilla’ in Taiwan
Authors: Hong C. F. , Tsai S. F. , Yeh H. C. , Fan M. C.
Published: March 2013

Dumb cane (Dieffenbachia picta (Lodd.) Schott ‘Camilla’), family Araceae, is a popular houseplant in Taiwan. During the winter of 2012, dumb canes with dark brown concentric spots on leaves and bright yellow borders were found in a protected ornamental nursery in Wandan township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. On diseased leaves, fungal fruiting bodies were sometimes observed in the concentric lesions and a fungal isolate was consistently isolated from the lesions. A single spore isolate, myr 2-2, was maintained on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for further tests. To fulfill Koch's postulates, the spores of myr 2-2 were suspended in sterilized distilled water containing 0.05% of Tween 20, 1 × 105 conidia ml–1, and then sprayed on leaves of D. picta ‘Camilla’ growing in polypropylene plant pots (about 7 cm in diameter), three plants per treatment. For the control, three plants were sprayed with sterilized distilled water containing 0.05% of Tween 20. Both inoculated and non-inoculated plants were covered with plastic bags and incubated in a growth chamber at 26 ± 1°C. Nine to 12 days after inoculation, symptoms described above were observed on inoculated plants whereas the plants in control remained healthy. The same fungus was reisolated from inoculated plants but not from the controls. Furthermore, the fungal pathogen was identified using its physiological, morphological, and molecular characteristics. In the mycelial growth test, the diameter of the fungal colony reaches 58.2 mm on PDA at 25°C after 14 days. The colonies were floccose, white to buff, and sporulate in concentric zones with olivaceous black to black sporodochia bearing viscid masses of conidia. Conidia were narrowly ellipsoid with rounded ends. The average size of 100 conidia was 6.25 ± 0.04 × 1.63 ± 0.02 μm. For molecular identification, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of isolate myr 2-2 was PCR amplified using ITS1 (5′-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3′) and ITS4 (5′- TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3′) primer pairs (3) and sequenced. The rDNA sequence was deposited in GenBank (KC469695) and showed 100% identity to the Myrothecium roridum isolates BBA 71015 (AJ302001) and BBA 67679 (AJ301995) (4). According to the physiological, morphological (1,2), and molecular characteristics, the fungal isolate was identified as M. roridum Tode ex Fr. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Myrothecium leaf spot caused by M. roridum on D. picta ‘Camilla’ in Taiwan.

References: (1) D. F. Farr and A. Y. Rossman. Fungal Databases, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, ARS, USDA. Retrieved from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/ , January 31, 2013. (2) M. Tulloch. Mycol. Pap. 130: 1-42, 1972. (3) T. J. White et al. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. M. A. Innis et al., eds. Academic Press, New York, 1990. (4) Y. X. Zhang et al. Plant Dis. 95:1030, 2011.
Effects of an Innovative Strategy to Contain Grapevine Bois Noir: Field Treatment with Resistance Inducers
Authors: Romanazzi Gianfranco , Murolo Sergio , Feliziani Erica
Published: March 2013

Grapevine Bois noir (BN) is a phytoplasma disease that is widespread in most viticultural regions of the world, and it can result in heavy reductions to yields and grape juice quality. At present, there is no effective strategy to reduce the incidence of BN-infected grapevines. However, phytoplasma-infected plants can recover through spontaneous or induced symptom remission. Five elicitors (chitosan, two glutathione-plus-oligosaccharine formulations, benzothiadiazole, and phosetyl-Al) were applied weekly to the canopy of BN-infected ‘Chardonnay’ grapevines from early May to late July. The best and most constant recovery inductions were obtained with benzothiadiazole and the two glutathione-plus-oligosaccharine formulations. The plants that recovered naturally or following the elicitors showed qualitative and quantitative parameters of production no different from healthy plants. In another vineyard, diseased plants showed reduced shoot length and production compared with healthy plants, and there were no negative effects on these parameters for grapevines sprayed with a glutathione-plus-oligosaccharine formulation. The application of resistance inducers promoted the recovery of BN-infected grapevines with no adverse effects on the plants. Therefore, grapevine can be used as a model species to test this innovative strategy to contain phytoplasma diseases.
Genetic characterization of Blueberry necrotic ring blotch virus, a novel RNA virus with unique genetic features
Authors: Quito-Avila Diego F. , Brannen Philip M. , Cline William O. , Harmon Philip F. , Martin Robert R.
Published: March 2013

A new disorder was observed on southern highbush blueberries in several south-eastern states in the USA. Symptoms included irregularly shaped circular spots or blotches with green centres on the upper and lower surfaces of leaves. Double-stranded RNA was extracted from symptomatic leaves suggesting the presence of virus(es) possibly involved in the disease. Sequencing revealed the presence of a novel RNA virus with a ~14 kb genome divided into four RNA segments. Sequence analyses showed that the virus, for which we propose the name Blueberry necrotic ring blotch virus (BNRBV), possesses protein domains conserved across RNA viruses in the alpha-virus-like supergroup. Phylogenetic inferences using different genes placed BNRBV in a clade that includes the Bromoviridae, the genus Cilevirus (CiLV) and the recently characterized Hibiscus green spot virus (HGSV). Despite the strong genetic relationships found among BNRBV, Cilevirus and HGSV, the genome of BNRBV contains three features that distinguish it significantly from its closest relatives: (i) the presence of two helicase domains with different evolutionary pathways, (ii) the existence of three conserved nucleotide stretches located at the 3′ non-coding regions of each RNA segment and (iii) the conservation of terminal nucleotide motifs across each segment. Furthermore, CiLV and HGSV possess poly(A)-tailed bipartite and tripartite genomes, respectively, whereas BNRBV has a quadra-partite genome lacking a poly(A) tail. Based on these genetic features a new genus is proposed for the classification of BNRBV.
Genotype patterns of contemporary reassorted H3N2 virus in US swine
Authors: Kitikoon Pravina , Nelson Martha I. , Killian Mary Lea , Anderson Tavis K. , Koster Leo , Culhane Marie R. , Vincent Amy L.
Published: March 2013

To understand the evolution of swine-origin H3N2v influenza viruses that have infected 320 humans in the USA since August 2011, we performed a phylogenetic analysis at a whole genome scale of North American swine influenza viruses (n  =  200). All viral isolates evolved from the prototypical North American H3 cluster 4 (c4), with evidence for further diversification into subclusters. At least ten distinct reassorted H3N2/pandemic H1N1 (rH3N2p) genotypes were identified in swine. Genotype 1 (G1) was most frequently detected in swine and all human H3N2v viruses clustered within a single G1 clade. These data suggest that the genetic requirements for transmission to humans may be restricted to a specific subset of swine viruses. Mutations at putative antigenic sites as well as reduced serological cross-reactivity among the H3 subclusters suggest antigenic drift of these contemporary viruses.
Reduced Carbohydrate Availability Enhances the Susceptibility of Arabidopsis toward Colletotrichum higginsianum
Authors: Engelsdorf Timo , Horst Robin J. , Pröls Reinhard , Pröschel Marlene , Dietz Franziska , Hückelhoven Ralph , Voll Lars M.
Published: March 2013

Colletotrichum higginsianum is a hemibiotrophic ascomycete fungus that is adapted to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). After breaching the host surface, the fungus establishes an initial biotrophic phase in the penetrated epidermis cell, before necrotrophic growth is initiated upon further host colonization. We observed that partitioning of major leaf carbohydrates was shifted in favor of sucrose and at the expense of starch during necrotrophic fungal growth. Arabidopsis mutants with impaired starch turnover were more susceptible toward C. higginsianum infection, exhibiting a strong negative correlation between diurnal carbohydrate accumulation and fungal proliferation for the tested genotypes. By altering the length of the light phase and employing additional genotypes impaired in nocturnal carbon mobilization, we revealed that reduced availability of carbon enhances susceptibility in the investigated pathosystem. Systematic starvation experiments resulted in two important findings. First, we showed that carbohydrate supply by the host is dispensable during biotrophic growth of C. higginsianum, while carbon deficiency was most harmful to the host during the necrotrophic colonization phase. Compared with the wild type, the increases in the total salicylic acid pool and camalexin accumulation were reduced in starch-free mutants at late interaction stages, while an increased ratio of free to total salicylic acid did not convey elevated pathogenesis-related gene expression in starch-free mutants. These observations suggest that reduced carbon availability dampens induced defense responses. In contrast, starch-free mutants were more resistant toward the fungal biotroph Erysiphe cruciferarum, indicating that reduced carbohydrate availability influences susceptibility differently in the interaction with the investigated hemibiotrophic and biotrophic fungal pathogens.