bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Political Consequences of the Carceral State
Authors: WEAVER VESLA M. , LERMAN AMY E.
Published: November 2010

Contact with the criminal justice system is greater today than at any time in our history. In this article, we argue that interactions with criminal justice are an important source of political socialization, in which the lessons that are imprinted are antagonistic to democratic participation and inspire negative orientations toward government. To test this argument, we conduct the first systematic empirical exploration of how criminal justice involvement shapes the citizenship and political voice of a growing swath of Americans. We find that custodial involvement carries with it a substantial civic penalty that is not explained by criminal propensity or socioeconomic differences alone. Given that the carceral state has become a routine site of interaction between government and citizens, institutions of criminal justice have emerged as an important force in defining citizen participation and understandings, with potentially dire consequences for democratic ideals.
NOTES ON GRAPH-CONVERGENCE FOR MAXIMAL MONOTONE OPERATORS
Authors: CIANCIARUSO FILOMENA , MARINO GIUSEPPE , MUGLIA LUIGI , XU HONG-KUN
Published: November 2010

We construct a sequence {An} of maximal monotone operators with a common domain and converging, uniformly on bounded subsets, to another maximal monotone operator A; however, the sequence {t−1nAn} fails to graph-converge for some null sequence {tn}.
ON THE STRUCTURE OF COMAXIMAL GRAPHS OF COMMUTATIVE RINGS WITH IDENTITY
Authors: MOCONJA SLAVKO M. , PETROVIĆ ZORAN Z.
Published: November 2010

In this paper we investigate the center, radius and girth of comaximal graphs of commutative rings. We also provide some counterexamples to the results concerning the relation between isomorphisms of comaximal graphs and the rings in question. In addition, we investigate the relation between the comaximal graph of a ring and its subrings of a certain type.
Eternalizing a Nation: ArmenianHishatakarans in the Seventeenth Century
Authors: Gureghian Aida
Published: November 2010

In 1514, the first battle between the Ottomans and the newly founded Safavid dynasty took place. The Battle of Chaldiran, as it came to be known, marked the beginning of a century-long struggle between the Sunni Ottomans and Shia Safavids that would draw to a close in 1639 with the Treaty of Zuhab. The human toll of this ongoing warfare over the Caucasus and Mesopotamia would be exacted not just from the soldiers of each empire, but also from the different ethnic groups that inhabited these regions. Some caught in the midst of these conflicts had their towns and homes razed by these troops. Others were forced to relocate and resettle. The Armenians were one such group, trapped between these Muslim forces, whose material and non-material well-being was under threat. Armenians had been coping with foreign incursions for centuries. Historical Armenia had been invaded and often laid to waste by the Arabs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the Byzantines in the eleventh, and the Mongols and Seljuks from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries. In fact, an Armenian kingdom in ancestral Armenia had not existed since the eleventh century, leaving the people of Greater (or historical) Armenia without any native sovereignty and as a politically fragmented entity. In the sixteenth century, historical Armenia had once again come to lie at the center of unremitting wars, this time fought between the Safavids and the Ottomans.
“Written in the Style of Antiquity”: Pseudo-Biblicism and the Early American Republic, 1770–1830
Authors: Shalev Eran
Published: November 2010

Students of early America have overlooked the fact that Americans published numerous pseudo-biblical texts, a practice that peaked from approximately 1770 to 1830. This unique and forgotten tradition of writing “in the style of antiquity” was the product of an age still suffused with the Bible yet at the same time Enlightened as to the liberal use of that book's language, notably for political issues across the ideological spectrum. Employing the full range of the stylistic measures of the King James Bible's English, from biblical-like titles and short numbered verses to a distinct Jacobean vocabulary, this pseudo-biblical tradition in America sheds light on a host of historical issues and problems: from the ways in which Americans attempted to reclaim authority as they experienced the diminishing influence of traditional sources of social power, to new modes of religiosity and attitudes toward time and history. This remarkable practice thus presents an ideal vantage point from which to gain a better understanding of the intellectual processes and historical consciousness that accompanied the momentous transformations that the American republic endured during the decades following its creation.
Holy Homeland: The Discourse of Place and Displacement among Silesian Catholics in Postwar West Germany
Authors: Alvis Robert E.
Published: November 2010

The author of the above quotation, Rudolf Jokiel, was one of over twelve million ethnic Germans expelled from their homes in Germany's eastern provinces (East Prussia, Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Silesia), the Sudetenland, and other pockets of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II and resettled within the country's truncated postwar borders. The expellees bitterly lamented their enforced exile, and many Christians within this population shared Jokiel's sentiments concerning the connection between faith and homeland. Those who settled in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) developed an elaborate network of overlapping subcultures dedicated to preserving their memories of lost homelands and advocating for their right to return there. In the process, these lands came to acquire a distinctly religious aura, holy places that were integral to their spiritual well-being.
Protecting the Wilderness: Comments on Howe's The Garden in the Wilderness
Authors: Flake Kathleen
Published: November 2010

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, . . . set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. . . . put therein the ark of the testimony . . . bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.” No, I am not going to preach a Puritan sermon to you. I want only to remind you of the Puritan in Roger Williams who said the words that provide the title of the book under consideration. The words come from Williams's debate with John Cotton over church government: “When they [or the those who desired to Christianize the world through the use of worldly power] have opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God had ever broke down the wall itself, removed the candlestick, and made His garden a wilderness.” For Mark deWolfe Howe, Williams's “theological wall of separation” represents the evangelical impulse in American religion and is an important source for understanding American law concerning church and state. A key contribution of Howe's monograph was to remind its readers that not only Jefferson's sense of natural law and individual rights but also Williams's congregational and biblical notions informed the First Amendment religion clauses. Howe finds fault with the Supreme Court's ignoring this dual lineage and favoring only Jefferson's Enlightenment view. For Howe, the modern Court's use of Jefferson's language to impute due process values to the religion clauses “distorts their manifest objectives” to grant religion constitutionally protected status—a status distinct from other forms of conscience, not least irreligion. These other forms of conscience are, he argues, protected by other constitutional guarantees, such as speech, press, and association.
Building the “Wall of Separation”: Construction Zone for Historians
Authors: Gilpin W. Clark
Published: November 2010

The argument of Mark deWolfe Howe's The Garden and the Wilderness turned on the contrast Howe drew between two uses of a single phrase: “wall of separation.” Thomas Jefferson used the phrase in 1802, in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association: “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and state.” More than a century and a half earlier, in 1644, the colonial advocate of religious freedom Roger Williams had employed the same phrase in a letter to his theological opponent, the Reverend John Cotton of Boston. According to Williams's reading of the Bible, the people of God—Jews and Christians—were “separate from the world,” and, “when they have opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broke down the wall itself, removed the candlestick, and made His garden a wilderness, as at this day. And that therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world; and that all that shall be saved out of the world are to be transplanted out of the wilderness of the world, and added unto his church or garden.”
Law and History:The Garden and the Wildernessas Constitutional History
Authors: Dale Elizabeth
Published: November 2010

In history, perspective is everything. Given that, I should make it clear from the start that I approached Mark deWolfe Howe's history of the First Amendment and church–state relations as a historian who studies constitutions and constitution-making, and more specifically as a historian of constitutions who has written about how and why we do constitutional history. Viewing it from that perspective, I must admit I have mixed feelings about this book.
Possible juvenile Palaeoarchaean TTG magmatism in eastern India and its constraints for the evolution of the Singhbhum craton
Authors: TAIT JENNIFER , ZIMMERMANN UDO , MIYAZAKI TAKASHI , PRESNYAKOV SERGEY , CHANG QING , MUKHOPADHYAY JOYDIP , SERGEEV SERGEY
Published: November 2010

High-precision SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating yields a late Palaeoarchaean age (3290 ± 8.6 Ma) for a large, unmetamorphosed, weakly peraluminous TTG body (the Keonjhargarh–Bhaunra pluton) in the Singhbhum craton of eastern India. One inherited subhedral zircon grain gave a concordant age of 3495.9 ± 5.3 Ma and Nd isotope characteristics show a juvenile trend with εNdt~ 0 andTDM3395–3453 Ma. The data support a model of typical Archaean crustal evolution until late Palaeoarchaean times for the Singhbhum craton, which is in contrast to the more southerly Bastar craton where Palaeoarchaean non-TTG granites have been identified. These data demonstrate the diachronous development of continental crustal blocks now forming the basement of the eastern and central peninsular of India.
Numerical investigation of the nonlinear transition regime in a Mach 2 boundary layer
Authors: MAYER CHRISTIAN S. J. , WERNZ STEFAN , FASEL HERMANN F.
Published: November 2010

The transition process in a supersonic flat-plate boundary layer at Mach 2 is investigated numerically using linear stability theory (LST) and direct numerical simulations (DNS). The experimental investigations by Kosinov and his co-workers serve as a reference and provide the physical conditions for the numerical set-up. In these experiments, the weakly nonlinear regime of transition was studied. This led to the discovery of asymmetric subharmonic resonance triads, which appear to be relevant for transition in a Mach 2 boundary layer. These triads were composed of one primary oblique wave of frequency 20kHz and two oblique subharmonic waves of frequency 10kHz. While the experimentalists have focused on this new breakdown mechanism, we have found that the experimental data also indicate the presence of another mechanism related to oblique breakdown. This might be the first experimental evidence of the oblique breakdown mechanism in a supersonic boundary layer. With the simulations presented here, the possible presence of oblique breakdown mechanisms in the experiments is explored by deliberately suppressing subharmonic resonances in the DNS and by comparing the numerical results with the experimental data. The DNS results show excellent agreement with the experimental measurements for both linear and nonlinear transition stages. Most importantly, the results clearly show the characteristic features of oblique breakdown. In addition, we also investigated the subharmonic transition route using LST and DNS. When forcing both the subharmonic and the fundamental frequencies in the DNS, a subharmonic resonance mechanism similar to that in the experiments can be observed.
Battlefield-like stress following simulated combat and suppression of attention bias to threat
Authors: Wald I. , Lubin G. , Holoshitz Y. , Muller D. , Fruchter E. , Pine D. S. , Charney D. S. , Bar-Haim Y.
Published: November 2010

Background

Acute stress disorder involves prominent symptoms of threat avoidance. Preliminary cross-sectional data suggest that such threat-avoidance symptoms may also manifest cognitively, as attentional threat avoidance. Confirming these findings in a longitudinal study might provide insights on risk prediction and anxiety prevention in traumatic exposures.

Method

Attention-threat bias and post-traumatic symptoms were assessed in soldiers at two points in time: early in basic training and 23 weeks later, during advanced combat training. Based on random assignment, the timing of the repeat assessment occurred in one of two schedules: for a combat simulation group, the repeat assessment occurred immediately following a battlefield simulation exercise, and for a control group, the assessment occurred shortly before this exercise.

Results

Both groups showed no threat-related attention bias at initial assessments. Following acute stress, the combat simulation group exhibited a shift in attention away from threat whereas the control group showed no change in attention bias. Stronger threat avoidance in the combat simulation group correlated with severity of post-traumatic symptoms. Such an association was not found in the control group.

Conclusions

Acute stress may lead some individuals to shift their attention away from threats, perhaps to minimize stress exposure. This acute attention response may come at a psychological cost, given that it correlates with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Further research is needed to determine how these associations relate to full-blown PTSD in soldier and civilian populations.
Health advantage for black women: patterns in pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder
Authors: Pilver C. E. , Kasl S. , Desai R. , Levy B. R.
Published: November 2010

Background

Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is commonly studied in white women; consequently, it is unclear whether the prevalence of PMDD varies by race. Although a substantial proportion of black women report symptoms of PMDD, the Biocultural Model of Women's Health and research on other psychiatric disorders suggest that black women may be less likely than white women to experience PMDD in their lifetimes.

Method

Multivariate multinomial logistic regression modeling was used with a sample of 2590 English-speaking, pre-menopausal American women (aged 18–40 years) who participated in the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys in 2001–2003. The sample consisted of 1672 black women and 918 white women. The measure of PMDD yields a provisional diagnosis of PMDD consistent with DSM-IV criteria.

Results

Black women were significantly less likely than white women to experience PMDD [odds ratio (OR) 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25–0.79] and pre-menstrual symptoms (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.47–0.88) in their lifetimes, independently of marital status, employment status, educational attainment, smoking status, body mass index, history of oral contraceptive use, current age, income, history of past-month mood disorder, and a measure of social desirability. The prevalence of PMDD was 2.9% among black women and 4.4% among white women.

Conclusions

This study showed for the first time that black women were less likely than white women to experience PMDD and pre-menstrual symptoms, independently of relevant biological, social-contextual and psychological risk factors. This suggests that PMDD may be an exception to the usual direction of racial disparities in health. Further research is needed to determine the mechanisms that explain this health advantage.
Cyanine dyes in biophysical research: the photophysics of polymethine fluorescent dyes in biomolecular environments
Authors: Levitus Marcia , Ranjit Suman
Published: November 2010

The breakthroughs in single molecule spectroscopy of the last decade and the recent advances in super resolution microscopy have boosted the popularity of cyanine dyes in biophysical research. These applications have motivated the investigation of the reactions and relaxation processes that cyanines undergo in their electronically excited states. Studies show that the triplet state is a key intermediate in the photochemical reactions that limit the photostability of cyanine dyes. The removal of oxygen greatly reduces photobleaching, but induces rapid intensity fluctuations (blinking). The existence of non-fluorescent states lasting from milliseconds to seconds was early identified as a limitation in single-molecule spectroscopy and a potential source of artifacts. Recent studies demonstrate that a combination of oxidizing and reducing agents is the most efficient way of guaranteeing that the ground state is recovered rapidly and efficiently. Thiol-containing reducing agents have been identified as the source of long-lived dark states in some cyanines that can be photochemically switched back to the emissive state. The mechanism of this process is the reversible addition of the thiol-containing compound to a double bond in the polymethine chain resulting in a non-fluorescent molecule. This process can be reverted by irradiation at shorter wavelengths. Another mechanism that leads to non-fluorescent states in cyanine dyes is cis–trans isomerization from the singlet-excited state. This process, which competes with fluorescence, involves the rotation of one-half of the molecule with respect to the other with an efficiency that depends strongly on steric effects. The efficiency of fluorescence of most cyanine dyes has been shown to depend dramatically on their molecular environment within the biomolecule. For example, the fluorescence quantum yield of Cy3 linked covalently to DNA depends on the type of linkage used for attachment, DNA sequence and secondary structure. Cyanines linked to the DNA termini have been shown to be mostly stacked at the end of the helix, while cyanines linked to the DNA internally are believed to partially bind to the minor or major grooves. These interactions not only affect the photophysical properties of the probes but also create a large uncertainty in their orientation.
Role-based software agent interaction models: a survey
Authors: Cabri Giacomo , Leonardi Letizia , Ferrari Luca , Zambonelli Franco
Published: November 2010

The role concept represents a useful approach that has been exploited in different agent-based systems, in particular applied to interactions between agents. There are some requirements that are important for the development of agent-based applications using roles, for instance the support for the analysis, the design and the implementation phases. We have considered and compared different role-based proposals in the literature, and this paper presents a survey of the most spread ones. We explain each proposal and point out if and how it meets the identified requirements. Far from deciding the best proposal, our aim is to present the advantages and drawbacks of several proposals to designers and developers, so that they can make the best choice with regard to their needs.
Discretization as the enabling technique for the Naïve Bayes and semi-Naïve Bayes-based classification
Authors: Mizianty Marcin J. , Kurgan Lukasz A. , Ogiela Marek R.
Published: November 2010

Current classification problems that concern data sets of large and increasing size require scalable classification algorithms. In this study, we concentrate on several scalable, linear complexity classifiers that include one of the top 10 voted data mining methods, Naïve Bayes (NB), and several recently proposed semi-NB classifiers. These algorithms perform front-end discretization of the continuous features since by design they work only with nominal or discrete features. We address the lack of studies that investigate the benefits and drawbacks of discretization in the context of the subsequent classification. Our comprehensive empirical study considers 12 discretizers (two unsupervised and 10 supervised), seven classifiers (two classical NB and five semi-NB), and 16 data sets. We investigate the scalability of the discretizers and show that the fastest supervised discretizers fast class-attribute interdependency maximization (FCAIM), class-attribute interdependency maximization (CAIM), and information entropy maximization (IEM) provide discretization schemes with the highest overall quality. We show that discretization improves the classification accuracy when compared against the two classical methods, NB and Flexible Naïve Bayes (FNB), executed on the raw data. The choice of the discretization algorithm impacts the significance of the improvements. The MODL, FCAIM, and CAIM methods provide statistically significant improvements, while the IEM, Class-attribute contingency coefficient (CACC), and Khiops discretizers provide moderate improvements. The most accurate classification models are generated by the Averaged one-dependence estimators (AODEsr) classifier followed by AODE and HNB (Hidden Naïve Bayes). AODEsr run on data discretized with MODL, FCAIM, and CAIM provides statistically significantly better accuracies than both the classical NB methods. The worst results are obtained with the NB, FNB, and LBR (Lazy Bayes rule) classifiers. We show that although the time to build the discretization scheme could be longer than the time to train the classifier, the completion of the entire process (to discretize data, compute the classifier, and predict test instances) is often faster than the NB-based classification of the continuous instances. This is because the time to classify test instances is an important factor that is positively influenced by discretization. The biggest positive influence, both on the accuracy and the classification time, is associated with the MODL, FCAIM, and CAIM algorithms.
The role of perceptual availability and discourse context in young children's question answering
Authors: SALOMO DOROTHÉ , GRAF EILEEN , LIEVEN ELENA , TOMASELLO MICHAEL
Published: November 2010

Three- and four-year-old children were asked predicate-focus questions (‘What's X doing?’) about a scene in which an agent performed an action on a patient. We varied: (i) whether (or not) the preceding discourse context, which established the patient as given information, was available for the questioner; and (ii) whether (or not) the patient was perceptually available to the questioner when she asked the question. The main finding in our study differs from those of previous studies since it suggests that children are sensitive to the perceptual context at an earlier age than they are to previous discourse context if they need to take the questioner's perspective into account. Our finding indicates that, while children are in principle sensitive to both factors, young children rely on perceptual availability when a conflict arises.
Cartography For Cooperative Manoeuvres With Autonomous Land Vehicles
Authors: Alonso Javier , Milanés Vicente , Onieva Enrique , Pérez Joshué , González Carlos , de Pedro Teresa
Published: November 2010

This article presents a cartographic system to facilitate cooperative manoeuvres among autonomous vehicles in a well-known environment. The main objective is to design an extended cartographic system to help in the navigation of autonomous vehicles. This system has to allow the vehicles not only to access the reference points needed for navigation, but also noticeable information such as the location and type of traffic signals, the proximity to a crossing, the streets en route, etc. To do this, a hierarchical representation of the information has been chosen, where the information has been stored in two levels. The lower level contains the archives with the Universal Traverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates of the points that define the reference segments to follow. The upper level contains a directed graph with the relational database in which streets, crossings, roundabouts and other points of interest are represented. Using this new system it is possible to know when the vehicle approaches a crossing, what other paths arrive at that crossing, and, should there be other vehicles circulating on those paths and arriving at the crossing, which one has the highest priority. The data obtained from the cartographic system is used by the autonomous vehicles for cooperative manoeuvres.
The Paradigm and the Paradox of Perfect Pilotage
Authors: Wild Captain Richard J
Published: November 2010

It is an unpalatable truth but by and large the success or failure of navigating a merchant ship in confined pilotage waters rests largely with a single individual – the pilot. Should the pilot make an error of judgement (to err is human) then his/her position as a single but vital weak link can be rapidly and cruelly exposed. Bridge teams and pilots need to improve their mutual understanding and expectations. Passage planning needs more consideration and more timely communication. The Master Pilot Exchange (MPX) needs to change from a tick-box exercise to something more meaningful, more substantive and above all, to represent a plan that can be executed and monitored.
Open Source GNSS Reference Server for Assisted-Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Authors: Li Binghao , Zhang Jiahuang , Dempster Andrew G. , Rizos Chris
Published: November 2010

Assisted-Global Navigation Satellite Systems (A-GNSS), or Assisted-Global Positioning Systems (A-GPS) in particular, are now commonly accepted as an effective way to reduce the time-to-first-fix (TTFF) in GNSS-unfriendly environments, e.g. in areas of weak GNSS signals. Today's location-based service (LBS) devices such as GPS-enabled mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA) rely on A-GPS; however, such commercial devices are equipped with an integrated A-GPS chip that makes customisation very difficult. The Open Source GNSS Reference Server (OSGRS) provided by the University of New South Wales is an open source Java application that can generate the necessary data for A-GPS clients. The GNSS Reference Interface Protocol (GRIP), based on extensible mark-up language (XML), is employed as the OSGRS interface protocol. This paper describes the current status of OSGRS: a client simulator is available open-source; client software which supports four different types of A-GPS-enabled receivers has been developed and used to test OSGRS. The performance of the OSGRS is analysed based on intensive tests. The challenges for OSGRS and future work are also discussed.
Syndromic surveillance of acute gastroenteritis based on drug consumption
Authors: BOUNOURE F. , BEAUDEAU P. , MOULY D. , SKIBA M. , LAHIANI-SKIBA M.
Published: November 2010

Since 1998, the French Health Insurance (NHI) system had established a national database in order to reimburse drug prescriptions. These electronical data are a considerable potential source for syndromic surveillance because of their exhaustive and regular updates. The aim of this study was to develop a method to identify acute gastroenteritis (AG) cases from drug reimbursements of the NHI database. The algorithm aimed at discriminating AG from other pathologies was determined from a sample of 206 AG prescriptions and 351 non-AG prescriptions collected in five pharmacies. The AG case identification was mainly based on the lag time between the prescription and delivery day, the occurrence of non-AG case-specific drugs, AG case-specific drug associations and treatment duration. The discriminant algorithm led to a sensitive and specific indicator of medically treated cases of AG with a time–spatial resolution power which met the need for waterborne AG surveillance.
Wide range of point prevalences of healthcare-associated infections in Western Greece
Authors: ALEXOPOULOS E. C. , BATZI E. , MESSOLORA F. , JELASTOPULU E.
Published: November 2010

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the region of Western Greece and its relationship with possible predisposing factors. Two 1-day prevalence studies were performed in all hospitals of the region. The average HAI prevalence was 2·9% (range 0–6·8%) in the hospitals and 0–22·7% between different medical wards. Overall, 90% of HAI patients had predisposing factors. The most frequently isolated microorganism was Escherichia coli (14·3%). The study revealed a relatively low overall point prevalence of HAI, but remarkable discrepancies between the hospitals and wards. This may be due to the presence of confounding medical conditions and/or underreporting of HAIs from certain hospital wards. Local point-prevalence surveys may increase the awareness of HAIs in hospital staff and contribute to the establishment of effective infection control.
Rabies virus strains circulating in Bhutan: implications for control
Authors: TENZIN  , WACHARAPLUESADEE S. , DENDUANGBORIPANT J. , DHAND N. K. , DORJI R. , TSHERING D. , RINZIN K. , RAIKA V. , DAHAL N. , WARD M. P.
Published: November 2010

We report a molecular epidemiological study of rabies virus (RABV) strains circulating in animal populations in Bhutan, and investigate potential origins of these viruses. Twenty-three RABV isolates originating from dogs and other domestic animals were characterized by sequencing the partial nucleoprotein (N) gene (395 bp). Phylogenetic analysis was conducted and the Bhutanese isolates were compared with rabies viruses originating from other parts of the world. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Bhutanese isolates were highly similar and were closely related to Indian strains and South Asian Arctic-like-1 viruses. Our study suggests that the rabies viruses spreading in southern parts of Bhutan have originated from a common ancestor, perhaps from the Indian virus strain.
Medicinal and biological potential of pumpkin: an updated review
Authors: Yadav Mukesh , Jain Shalini , Tomar Radha , Prasad G. B. K. S. , Yadav Hariom
Published: November 2010

The use of herbal remedies individually or in combination with standard medicines has been used in various medical treatises for the cure of different diseases. Pumpkin is one of the well-known edible plants and has substantial medicinal properties due to the presence of unique natural edible substances. It contains several phyto-constituents belonging to the categories of alkaloids, flavonoids, and palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids. Various important medicinal properties including anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and others have been well documented. The purpose of the present article is to discuss various medicinal and biological potentials of pumpkin that can impart further research developments with this plant for human health benefits.
A review and meta-analysis of red and processed meat consumption and breast cancer
Authors: Alexander Dominik D. , Morimoto Libby M. , Mink Pamela J. , Cushing Colleen A.
Published: November 2010

The relationship between meat consumption and breast cancer has been the focus of several epidemiological investigations, yet there has been no clear scientific consensus as to whether red or processed meat intake increases the risk of breast cancer. We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis incorporating data from several recently published prospective studies of red or processed meat intake and breast cancer. In the meta-analysis utilising data from the Pooling Project publication (includes data from eight cohorts) combined with data from nine studies published between 2004 and 2009 and one study published in 1996, the fixed-effect summary relative risk estimate (SRRE) for red meat intake (highv.low) and breast cancer was 1·02 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·07;Pvalue for heterogeneity = 0·001) and the random-effects SRRE was 1·07 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·17). The SRRE for each 100 g increment of red meat was 1·04 (95 % CI 1·00, 1·07), based on a fixed-effects model, and 1·12 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·23) based on a random-effects model. No association was observed for each 100 g increment of red meat among premenopausal women (SRRE 1·01; 95 % CI 0·92, 1·11) but a statistically significant SRRE of 1·22 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·44) was observed among postmenopausal women using a random-effects model. However, the association for postmenopausal women was attenuated and non-significant when using a fixed-effects model (SRRE 1·03; 95 % CI 0·98, 1·08). The fixed- and random-effect SRRE for high (v.low) processed meat intake and breast cancer were 1·00 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·01;Pvalue for heterogeneity = 0·005) and 1·08 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·16), respectively. The fixed- and random-effect SRRE for each 30 g increment of processed meat were 1·03 (95 % CI 1·00, 1·06) and 1·06 (95 % CI 0·99, 1·14), respectively. Overall, weak positive summary associations were observed across all meta-analysis models, with the majority being non-statistically significant. Heterogeneity was evident in most analyses, summary associations were sensitive to the choice of analytical model (fixedv.random effects), and publication bias appeared to have produced slightly elevated summary associations. On the basis of this quantitative assessment, red meat and processed meat intake does not appear to be independently associated with increasing the risk of breast cancer, although further investigations of potential effect modifiers, such as analyses by hormone receptor status, may provide valuable insight to potential patterns of associations.
Three factors that modulate the activity of class D β-lactamases and interfere with the post-translational carboxylation of Lys70
Authors: Vercheval Lionel , Bauvois Cédric , di Paolo Alexandre , Borel Franck , Ferrer Jean-Luc , Sauvage Eric , Matagne André , Frère Jean-Marie , Charlier Paulette , Galleni Moreno , Kerff Frédéric
Published: November 2010

The activity of class D β-lactamases is dependent on Lys70 carboxylation in the active site. Structural, kinetic and affinity studies show that this post-translational modification can be affected by the presence of a poor substrate such as moxalactam but also by the V117T substitution. Val117 is a strictly conserved hydrophobic residue located in the active site. In addition, inhibition of class D β-lactamases by chloride ions is due to a competition between the side chain carboxylate of the modified Lys70 and chloride ions. Determination of the individual kinetic constants shows that the deacylation of the acyl–enzyme is the rate-limiting step for the wild-type OXA-10 β-lactamase.
An optimised rapid detection technique for simultaneously monitoring activity of rabbits, cats, foxes and dingoes in the rangelands
Authors: Read John , Eldridge Steve
Published: November 2010

A single procedure that land managers can readily use to simultaneously monitor populations of multiple pest animal species would enhance capacity to effectively manage environmental impacts in the Australian rangelands. Such a procedure should be efficient and provide a standard for data collection, enabling meaningful evaluation of changes through time. This study compared the efficiency of two indices, namely spotlight counts and a variety of passive activity indices, for detecting rabbit, cat, fox and dingo activity. Spotlight counts were more practical for estimating rabbit activity but were poor indicators of cat, fox or dingo activity. Records of animal tracks on discrete 200 m dirt road segments with favourable substrate and separated by at least 2 km are considered optimal for collectively monitoring relative changes through time in rabbit, cat, fox and dingo activity.
Evaluating the long-term project to eradicate the rangeland weed Martynia annua L.: linking community with conservation
Authors: Gardener Mark R. , Cordell Simone , Anderson Mark , Tunnicliffe Richard D.
Published: November 2010

Eradication of an invasive species is a holy grail sought by land managers, scientists and policy makers alike. This prize is particularly attractive to funding bodies that foresee a one-off investment to solve a problem. We evaluate a 20-year eradication project on the annual weed Martynia annua L. from remote Gregory (Jutburra) National Park in northern Australia. M. annua was regionally introduced in the 1860s and has since become naturalised and locally abundant on some pastoral properties. When land use changed from grazing to national park in the mid 1980s, M. annua was thought to be a serious problem. An eradication project was started in the late 1980s. Eradication of all individuals from within the National Park has not been successful but there have been other benefits of the project. We analysed operational, biological, social and economic criteria to find that the principal barriers to eradication were: occasional inaccessibility during the crucial seed production window; many widely dispersed small infestations; a perennial seed bank; and long-distance dispersal mechanisms. The two successes of the project were control of the weed to a level where ecological impact was negligible; and extensive community engagement. A novel approach adopted by the National Park, a biannual event called the Devil’s Claw Festival, has trained and educated hundreds of local, national and international people about biological invasions and conservation issues in remote northern Australia. Long-term institutional leadership and investment have been crucial for this project. We offer recommendations to policy makers embarking on eradication projects of widespread rangeland weeds.
Restrictive Relativization in Gullah
Authors: Mufwene Salikoko S.
Published: November 2010

It is argued in this paper that there are three kinds of relative clause (RC) strategies in Gullah: the deletion, WH-pronoun, and resumptive pronoun (RP) strategies. The deletion strategy applies to RC's beginning with a null (0) COMP or a purposive fuh, the WH strategy applies to Ø-COMP RC's, and the RP strategy applies to any of the above kinds. The latter actually complements the former two in allowing relativization where a gap is not permitted, viz., from the genitive function to the bottom of the Keenan-Comrie NP Accessibility Hierarchy (NPAH). However, it is sometimes attested where a gap is permitted. The deletion and WH strategies are akin in allowing a gap under the same NPAH-based constraints, which is the opposite of the application of the RP strategy. But it is argued that Gullah's WHrel is only COMP-like but not a COMP itself. In a different vein, the question of the origin of these RC strategies is also addressed in this paper. The evidence points to the predominant role of English superstrate influence and to the restriction of possible, corroborative, African substrate influence only to the COMP-like interpretation of WHrel.
Butler English
Authors: Hosali Priya , Aitchison Jean
Published: November 2010

Butler English is the conventional name for a reduced and simplified variety of Indian English which has been characterized as a "minimal pidgin." This paper analyzes in detail the speech of 7 speakers (aged between 17 and 65) with a view to finding out, first, the salient features of this variety of English, second, the relationship between 19th and 20th century Butler English, and third, the source of the shared features. The texts revealed a dynamic mix of universal features of pidginization, folk beliefs about English, and incipient independent constructions. This mix indicates that Butler English is neither a "minimal pidgin" nor mere "broken language." It sheds interesting light on the origins of pidgins, but shows that attempts to "pidgin-hole" pidgin-like systems are doomed to failure.
Adjectives and Copulas in Sranan Tongo
Authors: Sebba Mark
Published: November 2010

Some linguists regard predicate adjectives in Sranan and other creole languages as stative verbs, one argument being the absence of a copula before such adjectives. An analysis by Seuren, on the other hand, treats predicate adjectives as true adjectives in Sranan: an underlying copula fails to surface before them. This paper argues for an analysis which treats Sranan predicate adjectives as a type of stative verb, and accounts for the appearance of the copula in a relatively small number of cases by positing the existence of "extent phrases" in Sranan. These may modify a verb or copula; except under certain conditions, they contain a quantifier and an adjective. This accounts not only for the appearance of copulas with predicate adjectives, but also for the "repetition" of the adjective as in o bradi a liba bradi? (how broad the river broad) 'How broad is the river?'
Convergence and Divergence in Bozal Spanish
Authors: Lipski John M.
Published: November 2010

Afro-Hispanic language is attested from the 15th century to the early 20th century in Spain, Africa, and Latin America. The speech of bozales (slaves born in Africa and speaking Spanish only imperfectly) has frequently been used as evidence for monogenetic theories of Hispanic Creole formation, based on structural parallels and possibly Afro-Portuguese roots. The present study reviews the principal Afro-Hispanic manifestations over a period of more than 300 years, and traces those structures most frequently cited in monogenetic Afro-Iberian theories. The overall conclusion is that, while such cases as Papiamentu, Colombian Palenquero, and 19th century Cuban/Puerto Rican bozal language point to common origins or mutually shared influences, most other Afro-Hispanic language forms suggest merely imperfect learning and incipient pidginiza-tion which arose spontaneously each time Spanish and African languages came into contact.
Nana K Nana, Nana K Napa
Authors: Corne Chris
Published: November 2010

A recent study of Tayo shows an obligatory subordinator sa in all relative clauses. The Isle de France dialects, like most other varieties of Creole French, have an obligatory subordinator ki for subject relatives, while ki is optional elsewhere. Reunion Creole has a subordinator ke which is almost always optional, and thus stands out as different from all others in this respect.
To explain this oddity, the paper contains the following topical sequence: 1) Reunion Creole relative clauses and the "mysterious" verb marker i with which they interact are described, using data covering nearly three centuries; 2) a highly specific past tense formation is described and discussed; and 3) inferential arguments are advanced, with the addition of data that pertain to both Tayo and Isle de France Creole, to suggest that the anomalous optionality of the relative subordinator in Reunion Creole became established in the 17th century as a result of Malagasy influence on what is essentially a continuation of 17th century (varieties of) French. Tayo and Isle de France Creole are seen as new creations, new solutions to problems of interethnic communication.
Early Saramaccan Syllable Structure
Authors: Aceto Michael
Published: November 2010

This paper presents a diachronic analysis of Saramaccan syllable structure. It examines data from Schumann's 1778 manuscript, and demonstrates that early Saramaccan syllable structure included complex onsets. A case is also made that in the last two centuries, these complex onsets in Saramaccan have been simplified from CCV to CVCV. This example of language change has important implications for creole studies because most views of change (for two exceptions, see Muhlhäusler, 1986; Mufwene, 1993), especially those that rely on models of decreolization, often suggest that CV templates precede a change to complex onsets. A change from CCV to CVCV, though representing a common and less marked shift in terms of general syllable typology, appears to be considerably less documented among the Atlantic creole languages.
Aspect, Tense, or Aktionsart?
Authors: Thurgood Elzbieta , Thurgood Graham
Published: November 2010

This paper attempts to determine whether the particle ja in Kristang (spoken in Malacca, Malaysia) functions as part of an aspect, a tense, or an aktionsart system. The paper first argues that ja does not mark the perfective in an aspectual system. Second, it argues that ja does not mark the past in a tense system. It then argues, instead, that ja marks an aktionsart category, namely, a change of state. The paper concludes by noting some historical changes in the usage of ja and speculates about some incipient changes in the Kristang system as a whole.
The analysis of this particle in different conversational settings suggests that for some speakers ja marks the present relevance of events that occurred in the past. This usage of the particle relates to its original adverbial semantics in Portuguese, where já means 'already'. However, it is argued that this change in the usage of the particle has been induced by English. English is now the dominant language for many Kristang speakers and it has a semantically very similar present perfect. It is on the basis of these similarities that ja is determined to be largely a perfect marker for some Kristang speakers.
Theories of Creole Genesis, Sociohistorical Considerations, and the Evaluation of Evidence
Authors: Singler John Victor
Published: November 2010

In an early Caribbean colony the conversion from other crops to sugar monoculture utterly transformed the colony's society and arguably its language as well. A comparative quantitative analysis of the populations of Haiti and Martinique makes the case that the initial period of creole genesis on each island extended as much as 50 years beyond the introduction of sugar growing. The reconstruction of the ethnic distribution of the African population brought to the French Caribbean in the late 17th century suggests that speakers of Gbe dialects would have been numerically dominant in Haiti during the first several decades of the sugar era. This fact may seem to lend plausibility to Lefebvre and Lumsden's application of the Relexification Hypothesis, but a number of vexing issues call this hypothesis into question.
The Tense, Mood, and Aspect System of Haitian Creole and the Problem of Transmission of Grammar in Creole Genesis
Authors: Lefebvre Claire
Published: November 2010

It is often assumed that creolization involves a break in the transmission of grammar. On the basis of data drawn from the TMA system of Haitian creole, as compared with those of its source languages — French, the superstratum language, and Fongbe, one of the substratum languages — this paper argues that creolization does not involve a break in transmission of grammar. The properties of the Haitian creole TMA system are shown to reflect in a systematic way those of its contributing languages. While the syntactic and the semantic properties of the TMA markers of the creole parallel those of Fongbe, the markers' phonological form appears to be derived from phonetic strings found in the superstratum language. This systematic division of properties is predicted by the hypothesis that relexification has played a major role in the formation of the creole. The fact that the lexical entries of the creole have phonological representations which are derived from phonetic strings found in the superstratum language is the visible signal that creolization involves the creation of a new language. The fact that the lexical entries of the creole show semantic and syntactic properties that parallel those of the languages of the substratum argues that there has been no break in the transmission of grammar in the formation of the creole.