bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How do previously acquired languages affect acquisition of English as a foreign language
Authors: Kahn-Horwitz Janina , Kuash Sara , Ibrahim Raphiq , Schwartz Mila
Published: October 2016

The present study aims to examine the linguistic and orthographic proximity hypothesis in new script acquisition by comparing the performance of Circassian L1 speaking children who are emerging quadri-literates with Hebrew L1 speaking children who are emerging biliterates. Tests in decoding and spelling various English target conventions were conducted. Thirty 10 year old Circassian L1 speaking children were compared to 46 Hebrew L1 speaking children. Results show that the group of Circassian L1 speaking children outperformed the group of Hebrew L1 speaking children and showed a significant advantage in decoding and spelling target orthographic conventions. There were no significant differences between the two groups on decoding and spelling the silent 〈e〉, which provided a challenge for both groups. The results provide support for the linguistic and orthographic proximity hypothesis whereby phonemes and orthographic characteristics that exist in a child’s first or additional language system and writing system facilitate acquisition of orthographic conventions in a new language and writing system.
Concurrent and longitudinal cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness and morphological awareness in Chinese-English bilingual children
Authors: Luo Yang Cathy , Chen Xi , Geva Esther
Published: October 2016

The present study was designed to examine concurrent and longitudinal cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness and morphological awareness at two levels, the construct level and the reading level. We investigated whether phonological awareness and morphological awareness measured in one language are related to the same constructs measured in another language in Chinese-English bilinguals. Moreover, we assessed the cross-linguistic effects of the two constructs on reading concurrently and one year later in Grade 1. Participants of the study included 91 kindergarten and Grade 1 Chinese-English bilingual children. The children were tested twice, approximately one year apart, on a battery of cognitive and literacy measures in both languages. The data were analyzed with comprehensive path models that included phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and word reading in both languages. Our results demonstrate cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness and morphological awareness at the construct level and cross-linguistic transfer of phonological awareness to reading concurrently.
The effects of bilingual education on the English language and literacy outcomes of Chinese-speaking children
Authors: Hipfner-Boucher Kathleen , Lam Katie , Chen Xi
Published: October 2016

To evaluate the effects of bilingual education on minority-language children’s English language and literacy outcomes, we compared grade 1 Chinese-speaking Canadian children enrolled in three different instructional programs (French Immersion, Chinese-English Paired Bilingual, English-only). ANCOVA results revealed that the French immersion children outperformed the other two groups on measures of English phonological awareness and word reading and that the bilingual groups were comparable to monolingual English norms on a test of receptive vocabulary. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine cross-language transfer of skills. French morphological awareness explained unique variance in English word reading and vocabulary for the French immersion group. For the other two groups, Chinese phonological awareness was significantly related to English word reading. Our results suggest that instruction in French or Chinese does not delay the development of early English language and literacy skills for Chinese-speaking children, as the children may be able to leverage skills from their other language to facilitate their English learning.
Towards a theory of assertion structure
Authors: Camacho José
Published: October 2016

This paper argues for a bi-clausal analysis of clefts related to an assertion structure with a presupposition and an assertion. It draws evidence from two constructions in Colombian Spanish. One structure involves a focalizing copular verb that occurs low in the clausal structure, and the other involves an expletive, demonstrative-like element that occurs in complementary distribution with the copular verb. The distributional differences result from combining syntactic requirements and assertion structure: the copular verb can only merge below tense because it must be c-commanded by tense, the expletive can only merge above T. Both constructions interact with nuclear-stress assignment to yield different assertion structures: the copular construction allows for narrow focus, whereas the expletive construction typically results in broad focus.
Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface
Authors: Steuck Jonathan
Published: October 2016

This variationist study examines finite clausal complementation with respect to the prosodic integration of matrix clauses (MC) and complement clauses (CC). In both Spanish and English conversational data, MCs and CCs are found to occur in a single prosodic unit, or Intonation Unit (IU), over two-thirds of the time. The presence of syntactic material (e.g., adverbs) intervening between MC verb and CC (and complementizer that, in English) favors CC occurrence in a different IU. A contrary effect, favoring CC occurrence on the same IU, is that of first person MC subjects, which may form part of formulaic expressions. These discourse-cognitive constraints provide cross-linguistic evidence for the interaction of syntax with prosody in speech.
On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics
Authors: Gielau Elizabeth
Published: October 2016

The focus of this paper is the characterization of Spanish subjunctive complements to negated epistemic predicates (e.g., creer ‘to believe’), other negated predicates (e.g., ver ‘to see’), and emotive predicates (e.g., lamentar ‘to regret’). I illustrate that various properties of subjunctive complements to negated epistemics overlap with the other two types, a novel observation. I claim that negated epistemic predicates manifest with either an evidential (like indicative-selecting predicates) or evaluative (like emotives) function, accounting for the overlapping properties. Furthermore, the pragmatic classification of the predicate affects the type and scope of negation. Finally, I claim that the subjunctive mood in true negation-triggered contexts is due to anti-veridical semantics, which has the effect of creating an unbounded complement clause event.
The mestizo speech
Authors: Colantoni Laura
Published: October 2016

The goal of this chapter is to reflect on methodological practices in second language (L2) speech concerning participant selection and task choices. To frame the discussion, I turn to two central issues in cultural studies: the concept of mestizaje and the connection between speech and writing. First, drawing from research on L2 acquisition of intonation, I argue for the need of problematizing multilingual identities to include populations that currently do not fit our selection criteria. Secondly, I suggest that the discussion about the centrality of alphabetic writing in Western societies can inform research on the role of reading and writing in L2 and bilingual speech.
Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish
Authors: Klassen Gabrielle , Patience Matthew
Published: October 2016

The present paper investigates the phonological representation of stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish, building on the proposal of Colantoni and Cuervo (2013) that stressed clitics may be either affixes or independent words. This hypothesis is tested by comparing the acoustic characteristics (duration, pitch, intensity) of verbs followed by stressed clitics to verbs followed by stressed words and stressed affixes. The results indicate that stressed clitics pattern more like stressed affixes, leading to the conclusion that clitics are becoming more word internal.
Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation
Authors: Garcia Coto Miguel
Published: October 2016

Segmental Anchoring Hypothesis (SAH) and Invariant Rise Hypothesis (IRH) are two models that account for the effects of segmental information on tonal alignment. While SAH suggests that tonal targets are anchored to specific segments, IRH suggests that segmental factors condition tonal alignment. In this paper, I explore Peruvian Amazonian Spanish and examine the effects of segmental duration and syllable structure on tonal alignment. Results show that F0 peaks consistently occur in the stressed syllable, regardless of segmental duration and syllable structure. Furthermore, F0 peaks tend to align with the stressed vowel, even in closed syllables, possibly suggesting that this vowel is the segmental anchor. These findings thus provide supporting evidence in favor of SAH, contrary to previous claims for Spanish.
Sociolinguistic implications on perception
Authors: Delgado-Díaz Gibran , Galarza Iraida
Published: October 2016

This investigation examined the interplay of sociolinguistic and phonetic factors on the perception of the posterior /r/ in Puerto Rican Spanish. Delgado-Díaz and Galarza (2015) previously found that the contrast between the posterior /r/ and /h/ tends to be lost in post-pausal position and maintained in intervocalic position. The present investigation found that the perception of the posterior /r/ is influenced by the phonological context, as well as the speaker’s age and sex, reflecting the production patterns and attitudes associated with the posterior /r/ (Graml, 2009). Our results suggest that social cues become more relevant when there is greater phonetic overlap. In addition, our data support the claim that social factors influence speech perception (Drager, 2010).
Vosotros, ustedes, and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system
Authors: Morgan Terrell A. , Schwenter Scott A.
Published: October 2016

In studies of T/V address systems, research typically ignores plural forms in favor of their singular counterparts. We show that there is widespread asymmetry between singular and plural T/V forms in Castilian Spanish, and that the historically T plural vosotros often serves as the plural of both tú (T) and usted (V). Our data consist of naturally-occurring examples, interviews with a dozen Spaniards across three generations, and the results of an online survey that polled speakers about their pronominal choices when offered three scenarios involving multiple interlocutors, some addressed as tú and others as usted in the singular. In each scenario, respondent use of vosotros in the plural was significantly higher than their corresponding use of tú in the singular.
Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter
Authors: Civitello Ashlee Dauphinais , Ortiz López Luis A.
Published: October 2016

Spanish has been traditionally classified by grammatical descriptions as a language with free variation in terms of Subject-Verb order (SV versus VS), with certain syntactic-semantic and syntactic-pragmatic restrictions governing each order. This supposed free variation appears to be facing resistance in Caribbean Spanish, since available data have demonstrated a tendency towards a more fixed SV order. However, this property has been less researched compared to other properties of the Null Subject Parameter (NSP) (Ortiz-López 2010; Otheguy & Zentella 2012). For this study, 2968 tokens from a corpus recorded in Cuba were coded according to different factors (subject type, NP complexity, unaccusativity), preferring SV order in 91% of the analyzed cases, while there is a sharp distinction between behavior in pronominal versus nominal NP, the unaccusative/unergative distinction was not a significant factor. Little variation was found in cases of subject pronouns and simple or less-heavy noun phrases, evidencing an almost fixed SV order. The results evidence a different typology within the NSP in Cuban Spanish (and possibly Caribbean Spanish), challenging many previous proposals for Spanish, leaving space for typological debate.
The future is in the past
Authors: Daidone Danielle , Zahler Sara
Published: October 2016

This study examines variation in Spanish future-in-the-past expression across six centuries in order to determine if this variation parallels canonical future variation diachronically. Future-in-the-past tokens in the conditional (e.g., iría “would go”) and imperfect go-periphrasis (e.g., iba a ir “was going to go”) were extracted from two corpora and coded according to factors known to condition the variation between synthetic future (e.g., irá “will go”) and periphrastic future (e.g., va a ir “is going to go”). Results indicate a rise in the use of the periphrastic form, analogous to the rise in the use of the periphrastic future. Additionally, most factors previously reported to influence canonical future variation were found to play a comparable role in future-in-the-past variation over time.
Chapter 2. The origin and development of the iffy-an(d) conjunction
Authors: Auer Anita
Published: October 2016

The an(d) conjunction, whose primary function in present-day English is
coordination, could introduce conditional clauses in earlier stages of English,
most notably during the Middle English and the Early Modern English periods
(Rissanen 1999: 281). This particular use of the conjunction, which Adamson
has termed iffy-an(d) (2001: 212), is strongly associated with literary English, as
in this example from Shakespeare:
An I may hide my face, let me play Thisby too, I’ll
speak in a monstrous little voice. ‘Thisne,
Thisne;’ ‘Ah, Pyramus, lover dear! thy Thisby dear,
and lady dear!’ (Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream I, ii, Bottom)
In Early Modern English, iffy-an(d) is commonly found in drama with uneducated
or lower-class speakers as well as in representations of dialect speech (cf.
Adamson 2001: 213; Culpepter and Kytö 2010: 167). While findings on the use of
iffy-an(d) in Early Modern English already exist, empirical studies on the use
of the conjunction in Middle English literary texts are still lacking. This paper
thus seeks to investigate the distribution and the development of iffy-an(d) as
well as its competition with the conditional conjunction if in Middle English
literary texts. The study will be based on the TEAMS Middle English Texts Series
Online, a collection of prose and verse texts (e.g. religious texts, romances,
Chaucer’s works). The analysis will take into consideration both internal factors,
e.g. clause position, topic, verb choice, as well as external (social) factors. The
emphasis on the latter factors will reveal whether iffy-an(d) was already associated
with spoken language and a particular social group in the Middle English
period. Attention will also be paid to the emergence and the decline of the linguistic variant under investigation.
Chapter 3. From ornament to armament
Authors: Evans Mel
Published: October 2016

Queen Elizabeth I is recognised as a monarch for whom language was an
essential tool in the construction of her authority and the maintenance of her
rule. This can be seen directly through her state communication e.g. parliamentary
speeches, or more indirectly in her activities in literary translation and
poetry undertaken throughout her life and reign. This paper explores two early
examples of her epistolary writing – a letter to her stepmother, Queen Katherine
Parr (1544) and a later epistle (written in 1554) to her sister, Mary I – to explore
how the pre-accessional Elizabeth developed these skills in rhetoric and literary
style. It combines a literary stylistic approach with Renaissance rhetorical
concepts to describe and evaluate how the epistolary language achieves identity
and inter-personal work, and how this can be seen to inform Elizabeth’s later
epistolary practices as queen.
Chapter 4. Borrowing and copy
Authors: Durkin Philip , Allan Kathryn
Published: October 2016

Adamson (1999) demonstrates the importance of “copy” (copia) as a motivation
for lexical borrowing in early modern English. Our paper will take this observation
as its starting point. Using data from the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford
English Dictionary to gain an overview of the available words realizing a given
concept, we will investigate the evidence for the use of each of these words in
the sixteenth century, as recorded in early books that can be accessed via Early
English Books Online (EEBO). Our study will investigate how far certain words
are confined to particular registers, and how far spread between registers can
be detected using these resources. It will also examine how far we can identify
diachronically what was the “usual” word realizing a particular meaning, what
were its marked synonyms, and how these words interacted semantically.
Chapter 6. The first person in fiction of the 1790s
Authors: Bray Joe
Published: October 2016

This article will examine the complexities of first-person narrative in late
eighteenth and early nineteenth-century fiction. Taking as its starting-point
Sylvia Adamson’s ground-breaking work on shifts of point of view in Puritan
narratives (see Adamson 1995), it shows that the Romantic period novel is also
concerned with exploring the potential complications of first-person perspective,
frequently with a view to exposing political changes or contradictions.
The authors focused on will be Mary Hays and Elizabeth Hamilton. The
first-person perspective in this period has often been identified as an unequivocal
outlet for Jacobin sympathies; this essay will use detailed stylistic analysis to
suggest that the picture may be more complicated. Building on recent work on
first-person narrative from a narratological standpoint (see for example Phelan
(2005)), I will show that an examination of texts from the 1790s and beyond
calls into question the traditional distinction between the ‘narrating’ and
‘experiencing’ selves of first-person narrative. The novels and memoirs under
discussion demonstrate instead the ability of the first person to contain within it
a complex, ever-shifting range of deictic and ideological positions.
Chapter 7. “Worth a moment’s notice”
Authors: González-Díaz Victorina
Published: October 2016

This paper explores the competition between round brackets and other punctuation
marks as delimiters of kinesic parentheticals in Austen’s dialogue (e.g.
said Harriet, in a mortified voice). Drawing mainly on an analysis of Emma,
the investigation suggests that, linguistically, round brackets in Austen are
preferred over other punctuation marks in cases where the kinesic parenthetical
is not introduced by a reporting clause and takes the form of an -ing clause
(e.g. laughing affectedly). Stylistically, the data show that kinesic parentheticals
are amenable to an interpretation along Mahlberg’s (2007) distinction between
‘contextualising’ and ‘highlighting’ textual functions; the ‘highlighting’ functions
being more prominent when the kinesic information is introduced by
round brackets. More generally, the paper provides an example of how punctuation
can contribute to textual structuring. Jane Austen is known to have disliked
parenthetical attributions of speech (Toner 2012). In this connection, the paper
tentatively suggests that the use of rounds brackets as kinesic parenthetical
markers in her work may partly be the result of Austen’s stylistic experimentation
with ways of avoiding attribution of speech markers and helping the reader
to identify secondary (female) characters.
Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists
Authors: Hodson Jane
Published: October 2016

In contradistinction to interpretations that have positioned Austen as the
epitome of a fixed and finished style, in this chapter I position her as an author
who was writing at a time of considerable linguistic and stylistic change. In
order to do so, I take both a micro- and a macro-linguistic approach to her
writing. First, I focus on one specific grammatical feature that is highly salient
to some modern readers, that of concordance with either, neither and none.
Second, I examine the metalinguistic comments made by characters and narrators
in her novels and consider the extent to which these provide evidence for
Austen’s own attitudes. Finally, I explore whether or not it is true that Austen is
unconcerned with nonstandard forms of language, comparing her practices to
those of her contemporaries. Overall I argue that Austen was writing at a time
when both language attitudes and language practices were in flux, and that as an
author her style was shaped by the changes in progress, while she in turn made
use of changing language attitudes for purposes of characterisation.
Effects of GABA on the expression of type I collagen gene in normal human dermal fibroblasts
Authors: Uehara Eriko , Hokazono Hideki , Sasaki Takako , Yoshioka Hidekatsu , Matsuo Noritaka
Published: October 2016

We examined the effects of GABA on type I collagen gene expression in normal human dermal fibroblasts. Real-time PCR analysis indicated GABA increased the level of type I collagen transcripts, and suppressed the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1, which is a collagen-degrading enzyme. These results suggest GABA improves the skin elasticity by regulating type I collagen expression.
Candid Lying and Precocious Storytelling in Victorian Literature and Psychology
Authors: Laing Roisín
Published: October 2016

By comparing Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess (1905) with contemporaneous psychology and canonical literature, this article suggests that children’s literature complicates our understanding of nineteenth-century discourse about precocity. In much canonical literature of the Victorian period, the precocious child is an agent in a narrative of adult redemption. In Victorian child psychology, childhood storytelling was associated with lying and with moral insanity; adult stories are, implicitly, true by contrast. Both discourses thus reduce the precocious child to the role of agent in the tacit truth of adult stories; many such nineteenth-century scientific and literary studies of precocity are therefore, more essentially, studies of the adult reflected in the precocious child. A Little Princess, in contrast, is concerned with the experiences and perspective of its precocious child protagonist, Sara Crewe. Through this focus on the child herself, A Little Princess suggests that the position of the precocious child in contemporary discourse is a result of the threat she represents to the adult, and to the supposed truth of adult stories. Sara Crewe obviates the moral difference between adults’ stories and children’s stories, and between truth and deceit, upheld in contemporary psychology. She therefore undermines the difference between adult and child which informed debate about precocity in canonical fiction and psychology of the Victorian period. In A Little Princess, this transgression of boundaries is a productive, enabling, and even moral act.
Simple rules for passive diffusion through the nuclear pore complex
Authors: Timney Benjamin L. , Raveh Barak , Mironska Roxana , Trivedi Jill M. , Kim Seung Joong , Russel Daniel , Wente Susan R. , Sali Andrej , Rout Michael P.
Published: October 2016

Passive macromolecular diffusion through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) is thought to decrease dramatically beyond a 30–60-kD size threshold. Using thousands of independent time-resolved fluorescence microscopy measurements in vivo, we show that the NPC lacks such a firm size threshold; instead, it forms a soft barrier to passive diffusion that intensifies gradually with increasing molecular mass in both the wild-type and mutant strains with various subsets of phenylalanine-glycine (FG) domains and different levels of baseline passive permeability. Brownian dynamics simulations replicate these findings and indicate that the soft barrier results from the highly dynamic FG repeat domains and the diffusing macromolecules mutually constraining and competing for available volume in the interior of the NPC, setting up entropic repulsion forces. We found that FG domains with exceptionally high net charge and low hydropathy near the cytoplasmic end of the central channel contribute more strongly to obstruction of passive diffusion than to facilitated transport, revealing a compartmentalized functional arrangement within the NPC.
ASB7 regulates spindle dynamics and genome integrity by targeting DDA3 for proteasomal degradation
Authors: Uematsu Keiji , Okumura Fumihiko , Tonogai Syunsuke , Joo-Okumura Akiko , Alemayehu Dawit Hailu , Nishikimi Akihiko , Fukui Yoshinori , Nakatsukasa Kunio , Kamura Takumi
Published: October 2016

Proper dynamic regulation of the spindle is essential for successful cell division. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate spindle dynamics in mitosis are not fully understood. In this study, we show that Cullin 5–interacting suppressor of cytokine signaling box protein ASB7 ubiquitinates DDA3, a regulator of spindle dynamics, thereby targeting it for proteasomal degradation. The presence of microtubules (MTs) prevented the ASB7–DDA3 interaction, thus stabilizing DDA3. Knockdown of ASB7 decreased MT polymerization and increased the proportion of cells with unaligned chromosomes, and this phenotype was rescued by deletion of DDA3. Collectively, these data indicate that ASB7 plays a crucial role in regulating spindle dynamics and genome integrity by controlling the expression of DDA3.
Nanoscopic compartmentalization of membrane protein motion at the axon initial segment
Authors: Albrecht David , Winterflood Christian M. , Sadeghi Mohsen , Tschager Thomas , Noé Frank , Ewers Helge
Published: October 2016

The axon initial segment (AIS) is enriched in specific adaptor, cytoskeletal, and transmembrane molecules. During AIS establishment, a membrane diffusion barrier is formed between the axonal and somatodendritic domains. Recently, an axonal periodic pattern of actin, spectrin, and ankyrin forming 190-nm-spaced, ring-like structures has been discovered. However, whether this structure is related to the diffusion barrier function is unclear. Here, we performed single-particle tracking time-course experiments on hippocampal neurons during AIS development. We analyzed the mobility of lipid-anchored molecules by high-speed single-particle tracking and correlated positions of membrane molecules with the nanoscopic organization of the AIS cytoskeleton. We observe a strong reduction in mobility early in AIS development. Membrane protein motion in the AIS plasma membrane is confined to a repetitive pattern of ∼190-nm-spaced segments along the AIS axis as early as day in vitro 4, and this pattern alternates with actin rings. Mathematical modeling shows that diffusion barriers between the segments significantly reduce lateral diffusion along the axon.
A human in vitro model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy muscle formation and contractility
Authors: Nesmith Alexander P. , Wagner Matthew A. , Pasqualini Francesco S. , O’Connor Blakely B. , Pincus Mark J. , August Paul R. , Parker Kevin Kit
Published: October 2016

Tongue weakness, like all weakness in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), occurs as a result of contraction-induced muscle damage and deficient muscular repair. Although membrane fragility is known to potentiate injury in DMD, whether muscle stem cells are implicated in deficient muscular repair remains unclear. We hypothesized that DMD myoblasts are less sensitive to cues in the extracellular matrix designed to potentiate structure–function relationships of healthy muscle. To test this hypothesis, we drew inspiration from the tongue and engineered contractile human muscle tissues on thin films. On this platform, DMD myoblasts formed fewer and smaller myotubes and exhibited impaired polarization of the cell nucleus and contractile cytoskeleton when compared with healthy cells. These structural aberrations were reflected in their functional behavior, as engineered tongues from DMD myoblasts failed to achieve the same contractile strength as healthy tongue structures. These data suggest that dystrophic muscle may fail to organize with respect to extracellular cues necessary to potentiate adaptive growth and remodeling.
Opposing roles for SNAP23 in secretion in exocrine and endocrine pancreatic cells
Authors: Kunii Masataka , Ohara-Imaizumi Mica , Takahashi Noriko , Kobayashi Masaki , Kawakami Ryosuke , Kondoh Yasumitsu , Shimizu Takeshi , Simizu Siro , Lin Bangzhong , Nunomura Kazuto , Aoyagi Kyota , Ohno Mitsuyo , Ohmuraya Masaki , Sato Takashi , Yoshimura Shin-ichiro , Sato Ken , Harada Reiko , Kim Yoon-Jeong , Osada Hiroyuki , Nemoto Tomomi , Kasai Haruo , Kitamura Tadahiro , Nagamatsu Shinya , Harada Akihiro
Published: October 2016

The membrane fusion of secretory granules with plasma membranes is crucial for the exocytosis of hormones and enzymes. Secretion disorders can cause various diseases such as diabetes or pancreatitis. Synaptosomal-associated protein 23 (SNAP23), a soluble N-ethyl-maleimide sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor (SNARE) molecule, is essential for secretory granule fusion in several cell lines. However, the in vivo functions of SNAP23 in endocrine and exocrine tissues remain unclear. In this study, we show opposing roles for SNAP23 in secretion in pancreatic exocrine and endocrine cells. The loss of SNAP23 in the exocrine and endocrine pancreas resulted in decreased and increased fusion of granules to the plasma membrane after stimulation, respectively. Furthermore, we identified a low molecular weight compound, MF286, that binds specifically to SNAP23 and promotes insulin secretion in mice. Our results demonstrate opposing roles for SNAP23 in the secretion mechanisms of the endocrine and exocrine pancreas and reveal that the SNAP23-binding compound MF286 may be a promising drug for diabetes treatment.
Organization of the axon initial segment: Actin like a fence
Authors: Huang Yu-Mei , Rasband Matthew N.
Published: October 2016

What prevents the movement of membrane molecules between axonal and somatodendritic domains is unclear. In this issue, Albrecht et. al. (2016. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201603108) demonstrate via high-speed single-particle tracking and superresolution microscopy that lipid-anchored molecules in the axon initial segment are confined to membrane domains separated by periodically spaced actin rings.
A reason to avoid SNAP judgments
Authors: Short Ben
Published: October 2016

Study reveals that the SNARE protein SNAP23 has opposing functions in exocrine and endocrine pancreatic cells.
NFATC3 promotes IRF7 transcriptional activity in plasmacy­­toid dendritic cells
Authors: Bao Musheng , Wang York , Liu Ying , Shi Peiqing , Lu Hongbo , Sha Wenwen , Weng Leiyun , Hanabuchi Shino , Qin Jun , Plumas Joel , Chaperot Laurence , Zhang Zhiqiang , Liu Yong-Jun
Published: October 2016

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) rapidly produce large amounts of type 1 interferon (IFN) after Toll-like receptor 7 and 9 engagements. This specialized function of type 1 IFN production is directly linked to the constitutive expression of IRF7, the master transcription factor for type 1 IFN production. However, the IRF7 regulatory network in pDCs remains largely unknown. In this study, we identify that the transcription factor NFATC3 specifically binds to IRF7 and enhances IRF7-mediated IFN production. Furthermore, knockout of NFATC3 greatly reduced the CpG DNA–induced nuclear translocation of IRF7, which resulted in impaired type 1 IFN production in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we found that NFATC3 and IRF7 both bound to type 1 IFN promoters and that the NFAT binding site in IFN promoters was required for IRF7-mediated IFN expression. Collectively, our study shows that the transcription factor NFATC3 binds to IRF7 and functions synergistically to enhance IRF7-mediated IFN expression in pDCs.
UNG protects B cells from AID-induced telomere loss
Authors: Cortizas Elena M. , Zahn Astrid , Safavi Shiva , Reed Joseph A. , Vega Francisco , Di Noia Javier M. , Verdun Ramiro E.
Published: October 2016

Activation-induced deaminase (AID) initiates antibody gene diversification by creating G:U mismatches in the immunoglobulin loci. However, AID also deaminates nonimmunoglobulin genes, and failure to faithfully repair these off-target lesions can cause B cell lymphoma. In this study, we identify a mechanism by which processing of G:U produced by AID at the telomeres can eliminate B cells at risk of genomic instability. We show that telomeres are off-target substrates of AID and that B cell proliferation depends on protective repair by uracil-DNA glycosylase (UNG). In contrast, in the absence of UNG activity, deleterious processing by mismatch repair leads to telomere loss and defective cell proliferation. Indeed, we show that UNG deficiency reduces B cell clonal expansion in the germinal center in mice and blocks the proliferation of tumor B cells expressing AID. We propose that AID-induced damage at telomeres acts as a fail-safe mechanism to limit the tumor promoting activity of AID when it overwhelms uracil excision repair.
Do School Food Programs Improve Child Dietary Quality?
Authors: Smith Travis A.
Published: October 2016

This paper estimates the impact of U.S. school food programs on the distribution of child dietary quality during 2005−10. The distributional approach allows one to better understand how school food impacts children prone to low‐quality diets separately from those prone to higher‐quality diets. Using a fixed‐effects quantile estimator, I find notable heterogeneity in the general population—school food has positive impacts below the median of the dietary‐quality distribution, and negative but insignificant impacts at upper quantiles. Children demonstrating substantial nutritional needs (i.e., food insecure or receiving free/reduced price meals) exhibit positive impacts at all levels of diet quality with especially high benefits at low quantiles. Although school food programs may not benefit the “above‐average” child, they do improve the diets of the most nutritionally disadvantaged.
Why is population information crucial for taxonomy? A case study involving a hybrid swarm and related varieties
Authors: Marczewski Tobias , Ma Yong-Peng , Zhang Xue-Mei , Sun Wei-Bang , Marczewski A. Jane
Published: October 2016

Hybridization has become a focal topic in evolutionary biology, and many taxonomists are aware that the process occurs more frequently than previously assumed. Nonetheless many species and varieties are still described without explicitly considering the possibility of hybridization, especially in countries that have relatively short scientific histories, but which often possess the highest species diversities. Furthermore, new taxa are often described based only on herbarium specimens, not taking into account information from wild populations, significantly decreasing the potential to detect morphologies arising from hybridization at this crucial descriptive stage. We used morphological data from a hybrid swarm involving two Rhododendron species to showcase possible character combinations in intermediates. Certain characters used to distinguish taxa were more variable within the same individual than between species, emphasizing the importance of population information for an adequate choice of characters. Most described varieties of the two species fell within the spectrum of hybrid morphology, suggesting that these taxa would be unlikely to have merited formal description if contemporary standards had been employed. In all investigated cases the hybrid nature of described varieties seems to have been detectable with adequate morphological data alone, if populations had been assessed. A post hoc assessment of taxa is often complicated, especially if certain types of information are not provided. To avoid accumulation of such invalid taxa, careful scrutiny should be employed for new descriptions. Hybrids (not hybrid species) described as taxa obscure valuable information about natural processes and impact negatively on further research that depends on taxonomic data.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Leishmaniasis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)
Authors: Aronson Naomi , Herwaldt Barbara L , Libman Michael , Pearson Richard , Lopez-Velez Rogelio , Weina Peter , Carvalho Edgar M , Ephros Moshe , Jeronimo Selma , Magill Alan
Published: October 2016

It is important to realize that leishmaniasis guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. The IDSA and ASTMH consider adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determinations regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient’s individual circumstances.
Spatial distribution of the Black Sea copepod, Calanus euxinus, estimated using multi-frequency acoustic backscatter
Authors: Sakınan Serdar , Gücü Ali Cemal
Published: October 2016

The copepod Calanus euxinus is a key prey species for fish in the Black Sea. To estimate the distribution and biomass of the late developmental stages of this species in July 2013, we analysed multi-frequency (38, 120, and 200 kHz) echo-sounder data from a fisheries survey of the Black Sea. The dependence of acoustic backscatter on frequency, i.e. the frequency response, was estimated for daytime scattering layers, which were confirmed by net catches to be dense, post-copepodite-stage (C4) aggregations of C. euxinus with prosome lengths greater than 2 mm. The high-resolution acoustic observations revealed that the nighttime, shallow distribution was bounded by the lower portion of the thermocline and that the daytime, deep distribution was bounded by oxygen. The dense and isolated aggregations were observed in seawater with a specific density, σT, of between 15.2 and 15.9 kg m−3. These results show that fisheries acoustic surveys, typically targeting only commercially exploited fish species, may also provide information on the lower trophic levels and thereby serve as an ecosystem-monitoring tool.
Population subdivision in the tropical spiny lobster Panulirus ornatus throughout its Indo-West Pacific distribution
Authors: Yellapu Bhargavi , Jeffs Andrew , Battaglene Stephen , Lavery Shane D.
Published: October 2016

Many marine species with Indo-West Pacific distributions have been found to have a considerable level of genetic population structuring across this broad region. We investigated mitochondrial DNA diversity throughout the extensive range of the commercially valuable ornate spiny lobster, Panulirus ornatus, which has an unusually lengthy larval period that can last up to six months. In this study, 298 specimens were sampled from 17 locations covering the West Indian Ocean, Western Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Northwest and Southwest Pacific. Based on sequencing of a 461 bp fragment of mitochondrial control region, we found high levels of haplotype diversity (H = 0.99) and overall significant population differentiation (Φst = 0.113, P < 0.001). The West Indian Ocean and Western Australia populations were the most genetically divergent, with little differentiation among the remaining Southeast Asian and West Pacific populations. The Western Australia population showed evidence of being a peripherally isolated population, with significantly lowered effective population size, likely due to the prevailing ocean currents. The present results indicate that genetically distinct stocks of P. ornatus are present in the wild and that historical and present day biogeographic phenomena have likely influenced this population structure. The presence of these divergent stocks has major implications for both management of fisheries and aquaculture breeding programs for this valuable species.
Acoustic target strength (TS) of argentine anchovy (Engraulis anchoita): the nighttime scattering layer
Authors: Madirolas Adrián , Membiela Federico A. , Gonzalez Juan D. , Cabreira Ariel G. , dell’Erba Matías , Prario Igor S. , Blanc Silvia
Published: October 2016

Engraulis anchoita is a physostomous fish with a dual chambered swimbladder (sb). In situ target strength (TS) measurements on this species are only possible at night, when anchovies disperse forming a scattering layer near the sea surface. A survey data series comprising more than 50000 single target detections, recorded from 1995 to 2008, was analyzed in order to study the species specific TS at 38 kHz. A TS vs. fish total length (L) equation was obtained from the in situ measurements (TS = 31.9 log L – 82.4 dB; r2= 0.78). When the slope of the regression line was forced to 20 into the TS equation, the resulting value for the constant term (b20) was −68.6 dB. In any case, these results indicate an average difference of +3 dB (higher TS values) when compared with the general model suggested for clupeoid fish. The TS measurements obtained inside the nighttime sound scattering layer exhibited a negative trend with depth. An empirical depth dependence term for the anchovy TS equation was obtained through a three parameter least square fitting of the data [TS = 31.3 log L – 79.6 dB – 4.74 log (1 + z/10); r2 = 0.74]. Anatomical data obtained through high resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography was employed as input for a Prolate Spheroidal Model (PSM). Theoretical TS vs. tilt angle functions were obtained considering the compression of the sb at different depths and under the assumption of different contraction rates. The TS functions were then averaged over different fish tilt angle distributions and used to derive theoretical depth dependence curves of average fish TS. The implications of the adopted sb contraction rate and tilt angle distribution are discussed by comparing the modelled TS(z) curves against the empirical data.
Networks of Desire: How Technology Increases Our Passion to Consume
Authors: Kozinets Robert , Patterson Anthony , Ashman Rachel
Published: October 2016

How is consumer desire transformed by contemporary technology? Most extant theory holds that technology rationalizes and reduces passion. In our investigation of networks of desire—complex open systems of machines, consumers, energy, and objects—we find technology increasing the passion to consume. Effects depend upon participation in the network, which can be private, public, or professional. Private participation tends to discipline passion into interests reflecting established cultural categories. Public and professional participation build new connections between extant desires and a wider network, decentering ties and deterritorializing flows that limit hungers to emplaced bodies. Public and professional participation drive consumption passion to transgressive extremes. We use ethnography and netnography to study online food image sharing, a broad field that includes everything from friend networks to food bloggers. Using and extending Deleuze and Guattari’s desire theory, we conceptualize desire as energetic, connective, systemic, and innovative. Critically examining the role of technocapitalism in the realm of consumption passion, we question the emancipatory possibilities of unfettered desire. Networks of desire create a passionate new universe of technologically enhanced desire, one that challenges the way we think about consumer collectives, capitalism, emancipation, and posthuman consumption.
European Colonization, Not Polynesian Arrival, Impacted Population Size and Genetic Diversity in the Critically Endangered New Zealand Kākāpō
Authors: Bergner Laura M. , Dussex Nicolas , Jamieson Ian G. , Robertson Bruce C.
Published: October 2016

Island endemic species are often vulnerable to decline and extinction following human settlement, and the genetic study of historical museum specimens can be useful in understanding these processes. The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) is a critically endangered New Zealand parrot that was formerly widespread and abundant. It is well established that both Polynesian and European colonization of New Zealand impacted the native avifauna, but the timeframe and severity of impacts have differed depending on species. Here, we investigated the relative importance of the 2 waves of human settlement on kākāpō decline, using microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to characterize recent kākāpō genetic and demographic history. We analyzed samples from 49 contemporary individuals and 54 museum specimens dating from 1884 to 1985. Genetic diversity decreased significantly between historical and contemporary kākāpō, with a decline in mean number of microsatellite alleles from 6.15 to 3.08 and in number of mtDNA haplotypes from 17 to 3. Modeling of demographic history indicated a recent population bottleneck linked to the period of European colonization (approximately 5 generations ago) but did not support a major decline linked to Polynesian settlement. Effective population size estimates were also larger for historical than contemporary kākāpō. Our findings inform contemporary kākāpō management by indicating the timeframe and possible cause of the bottleneck, which has implications for the management of extant genetic diversity. We demonstrate the broader utility of a historical perspective in understanding causes of decline and managing extinction risk in contemporary endangered species.
Alpha-particle fluence in radiobiological experiments
Authors: Nikezic Dragoslav , Yu Kwan Ngok
Published: October 2016

Two methods were proposed for determining alpha-particle fluence for radiobiological experiments. The first involved calculating the probabilities of hitting the target for alpha particles emitted from a source through Monte Carlo simulations, which when multiplied by the activity of the source gave the fluence at the target. The second relied on the number of chemically etched alpha-particle tracks developed on a solid-state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) that was irradiated by an alpha-particle source. The etching efficiencies (defined as percentages of latent tracks created by alpha particles from the source that could develop to become visible tracks upon chemical etching) were computed through Monte Carlo simulations, which when multiplied by the experimentally counted number of visible tracks would also give the fluence at the target. We studied alpha particles with an energy of 5.486 MeV emitted from an 241Am source, and considered the alpha-particle tracks developed on polyallyldiglycol carbonate film, which is a common SSNTD. Our results showed that the etching efficiencies were equal to one for source–film distances of from 0.6 to 3.5 cm for a circular film of radius of 1 cm, and for source–film distances of from 1 to 3 cm for circular film of radius of 2 cm. For circular film with a radius of 3 cm, the etching efficiencies never reached 1. On the other hand, the hit probability decreased monotonically with increase in the source–target distance, and fell to zero when the source–target distance was larger than the particle range in air.