bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cleavage factor Im (CFIm) as a regulator of alternative polyadenylation
Authors: Hardy Jessica G. , Norbury Chris J.
Published: August 2016

Most mammalian protein coding genes are subject to alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA), which can generate distinct mRNA 3′UTRs with differing regulatory potential. Although this process has been intensely studied in recent years, it remains unclear how and to what extent cleavage site selection is regulated under different physiological conditions. The cleavage factor Im (CFIm) complex is a core component of the mammalian cleavage machinery, and the observation that its depletion causes transcriptome-wide changes in cleavage site use makes it a key candidate regulator of APA. This review aims to summarize current knowledge of the CFIm complex, and explores the evidence surrounding its potential contribution to regulation of APA.
Functional interactions between polypyrimidine tract binding protein and PRI peptide ligand containing proteins
Authors: Coelho Miguel B. , Ascher David B. , Gooding Clare , Lang Emma , Maude Hannah , Turner David , Llorian Miriam , Pires Douglas E.V. , Attig Jan , Smith Christopher W.J.
Published: August 2016

Polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTBP1) is a heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) that plays roles in most stages of the life-cycle of pre-mRNA and mRNAs in the nucleus and cytoplasm. PTBP1 has four RNA binding domains of the RNA recognition motif (RRM) family, each of which can bind to pyrimidine motifs. In addition, RRM2 can interact via its dorsal surface with proteins containing short peptide ligands known as PTB RRM2 interacting (PRI) motifs, originally found in the protein Raver1. Here we review our recent progress in understanding the interactions of PTB with RNA and with various proteins containing PRI ligands.
Targeting cancer using KAT inhibitors to mimic lethal knockouts
Authors: Brown James A.L. , Bourke Emer , Eriksson Leif A. , Kerin Michael J.
Published: August 2016

Two opposing enzyme classes regulate fundamental elements of genome maintenance, gene regulation and metabolism, either through addition of an acetyl moiety by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) or its removal by histone de-acetyltransferases (HDAC), and are exciting targets for drug development. Importantly, dysfunctional acetylation has been implicated in numerous diseases, including cancer. Within the HAT superfamily the MYST family holds particular interest, as its members are directly involved in the DNA damage response and repair pathways and crucially, several members have been shown to be down-regulated in common cancers (such as breast and prostate). In the present study we focus on the development of lysine (K) acetyltransferase inhibitors (KATi) targeting the MYST family member Tip60 (Kat5), an essential protein, designed or discovered through screening libraries. Importantly, Tip60 has been demonstrated to be significantly down-regulated in many cancers which urgently require new treatment options. We highlight current and future efforts employing these KATi as cancer treatments and their ability to synergize and enhance current cancer treatments. We investigate the different methods of KATi production or discovery, their mechanisms and their validation models. Importantly, the utility of KATi is based on a key concept: using KATi to abrogate the activity of an already down-regulated essential protein (effectively creating a lethal knockout) provides another innovative mechanism for targeting cancer cells, while significantly minimizing any off-target effects to normal cells. This approach, combined with the rapidly developing interest in KATi, suggests that KATi have a bright future for providing truly personalized therapies.
The importance of ribosome production, and the 5S RNP–MDM2 pathway, in health and disease
Authors: Pelava Andria , Schneider Claudia , Watkins Nicholas J.
Published: August 2016

Ribosomes are abundant, large RNA–protein complexes that are the source of all protein synthesis in the cell. The production of ribosomes is an extremely energetically expensive cellular process that has long been linked to human health and disease. More recently, it has been shown that ribosome biogenesis is intimately linked to multiple cellular signalling pathways and that defects in ribosome production can lead to a wide variety of human diseases. Furthermore, changes in ribosome production in response to nutrient levels in the diet lead to metabolic re-programming of the liver. Reduced or abnormal ribosome production in response to cellular stress or mutations in genes encoding factors critical for ribosome biogenesis causes the activation of the tumour suppressor p53, which leads to re-programming of cellular transcription. The ribosomal assembly intermediate 5S RNP (ribonucleoprotein particle), containing RPL5, RPL11 and the 5S rRNA, accumulates when ribosome biogenesis is blocked. The excess 5S RNP binds to murine double minute 2 (MDM2), the main p53-suppressor in the cell, inhibiting its function and leading to p53 activation. Here, we discuss the involvement of ribosome biogenesis in the homoeostasis of p53 in the cell and in human health and disease.
Robust adaptive beamforming based on sparse reconstruction using a non‐convex optimisation algorithm
Authors: Chen Pei , Zhao Yongjun , Liu Chengcheng
Published: August 2016

A novel robust adaptive beamforming technique is proposed to solve the problem of performance degradation with one single snapshot. A sparse signal recovery model under the non‐convex optimisation framework is first established, which dispenses with the mismatched sample covariance matrix, an indispensable part of most existing beamformers. Then, an iterative algorithm is designed to solve the optimisation problem by using the p‐shrinkage operator and the alternating direction method of multipliers. The iteration steps are closed form and convenient to apply in practice. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed algorithm.
Compact uniaxial anisotropic dielectric resonator antenna operating at higher order radiating mode
Authors: Fakhte S. , Oraizi H.
Published: August 2016

A compact, wideband and high gain anisotropic rectangular dielectric resonator antenna is reported. This antenna consists of a multilayer dielectric structure which emulates uniaxial anisotropy and a relatively tall feed probe that acts both as a perfect electric conductor symmetry plane and the excitation of the higher order radiating mode. The multilayer structure and the tall feed probe are responsible for producing wide impedance bandwidth and size reduction, respectively. Measured results indicate that more than 50% size reduction is achieved without complicating the dielectric resonator antennas structure. Moreover, a wide impedance bandwidth of 19.4% along with a maximum gain of 8.1 dB is measured.
Adaptive fuzzy fault‐tolerant control for a class of unknown non‐linear dynamical systems
Authors: Liu Xiaolu , Wang Yan‐Wu , Chen Duxin , Chen Hong
Published: August 2016

This study investigates the adaptive fuzzy fault‐tolerant control (FTC) problem for a class of non‐linear multi‐input multi‐output systems with interconnections among subsystems and external unknown disturbance. The introduced multiple coupling terms have unknown non‐linear forms relying on the system outputs and the corresponding subsystems, which cause that the system is no longer pure‐feedback. Moreover, the considered actuator failures have a lock‐in‐place type and a type of loss of effectiveness. To solve the problem of actuator faults, compensative adaptive laws are constructed by taking advantages of the global fuzzy approximation property and a novel backstepping design procedure. According to the Lyapunov stability theorem, it is shown that all the signals in the closed‐loop system are bounded and the outputs can converge to a giving compact set. In addition, simulation examples are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive fuzzy FTC protocol. Compared with previous researches on non‐linear systems with unknown coupling terms, the proposed adaptive fuzzy FTC approach is more general, which may provide promising prospects of implementing in practical industrial systems.
Macro‐analysis of the evolution of motorised mobility and relationships with the development of motionless communication systems
Authors: Dalla Chiara Bruno , Cornaglia Lorenza , Deflorio Francesco
Published: August 2016

This study deals with the relationships between two different types of human communication: mobility – i.e. communication with movement – and motionless communication, sometimes also called virtual mobility. The aim of the study has been to carry out an analysis of modern motorised mobility around the world, considering the evolution of ITS. The final goal has been to provide an added value to the numerous publications already available on daily mobility, by selecting common elements and pointing out the role of being connected in future transport systems, in this way contributing to the pursuit of ‘interconnected transport systems’: the Latin root of intelligent has two meanings, one of which is interconnect (inter‐lego). An analysis on the long‐term evolution of the main transport mode, that is, by car, has pointed out that an economic cycle has been completed in most motorised countries: this also complies with historical theories on the subject. However, new motionless communication systems have appeared on the market over the last decade, and they have become actual competitors to motorised mobility or, hopefully, collaborators. Therefore, a new cycle of cars would be possible, under certain conditions – one of which includes being connected – a requirement that this study wishes to outline with the help of some numerical analyses.
Selective polarization of dielectric materials under electromagnetic scattering at radio frequency
Authors: Sinha Dhiraj , Huang Shao Ying
Published: August 2016

An analytical study of scattering between electromagnetic waves at radiofrequencies and the collective electromagnetic modes in dielectric solids which are generated as a result of transient polarization of the bound charges under non-equilibrium thermal interaction is presented. The fundamental observation is that the symmetry of frequency spectrum of electromagnetic modes is explicitly broken due to finite electrodynamic boundaries leading to dominance of selective modes. The near field radio scattering of the electromagnetic wave by the given dielectric material results in modulation of the existing electromagnetic modes, which lead to the generation of characteristic radio emission, having a specific radio signature of the given system.
Charge-transfer-to-solvent reactions from I− to water, methanol, and ethanol studied by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of liquids
Authors: Okuyama Haruki , Suzuki Yoshi-Ichi , Karashima Shutaro , Suzuki Toshinori
Published: August 2016

The charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) reactions from iodide (I−) to H2O, D2O, methanol, and ethanol were studied by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of liquid microjets using a magnetic bottle time-of-flight spectrometer with variable pass energy. Photoexcited iodide dissociates into a weak complex (a contact pair) of a solvated electron and an iodine atom in similar reaction times, 0.3 ps in H2O and D2O and 0.5 ps in methanol and ethanol, which are much shorter than their dielectric relaxation times. The results indicate that solvated electrons are formed with minimal solvent reorganization in the long-range solvent polarization field created for I−. The photoelectron spectra for CTTS in H2O and D2O—measured with higher accuracy than in our previous study [Y. I. Suzuki et al., Chem. Sci. 2, 1094 (2011)]—indicate that internal conversion yields from the photoexcited I−* (CTTS) state are less than 10%, while alcohols provide 2–3 times greater yields of internal conversion from I−*. The overall geminate recombination yields are found to be in the order of H2O > D2O > methanol > ethanol, which is opposite to the order of the mutual diffusion rates of an iodine atom and a solvated electron. This result is consistent with the transition state theory for an adiabatic outer-sphere electron transfer process, which predicts that the recombination reaction rate has a pre-exponential factor inversely proportional to a longitudinal solvent relaxation time.
Finite state projection based bounds to compare chemical master equation models using single-cell data
Authors: Fox Zachary , Neuert Gregor , Munsky Brian
Published: August 2016

Emerging techniques now allow for precise quantification of distributions of biological molecules in single cells. These rapidly advancing experimental methods have created a need for more rigorous and efficient modeling tools. Here, we derive new bounds on the likelihood that observations of single-cell, single-molecule responses come from a discrete stochastic model, posed in the form of the chemical master equation. These strict upper and lower bounds are based on a finite state projection approach, and they converge monotonically to the exact likelihood value. These bounds allow one to discriminate rigorously between models and with a minimum level of computational effort. In practice, these bounds can be incorporated into stochastic model identification and parameter inference routines, which improve the accuracy and efficiency of endeavors to analyze and predict single-cell behavior. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach using simulated data for three example models as well as for experimental measurements of a time-varying stochastic transcriptional response in yeast.
Topological defects and electro-convective flows in anisotropic fluids: A microfluidic platform for nano-objects tunable structuring
Authors: Provenzano C. , Mazzulla A. , Chiaravalloti F. , Audia B. , Cipparrone G.
Published: August 2016

Anisotropic fluids are a class of soft materials that offer wide possibilities for engineering a small scale laboratory; their physical properties can be manipulated on short length scale by appropriate confining conditions and external stimuli leading the systems across fascinating phenomena. In this work, two of these phenomena are combined to create a microfluidic platform for reconfigurable nanoparticles (NPs) patterning: the formation of topological defects and the electrically controlled convective flows. Here, the nanoscopic environments created by defects within liquid crystals have been used as linear nano-reservoirs of NPs. Afterwards, virtual channel flows that connect the linear reservoirs have been created by exploiting electro-convective rolls. The reported results reveal a strategy for managing nanometric objects based on anisotropic fluids and connected phenomena, proposing an unconventional microfluidic device characterized by switchable and contactless micro-channels.
Growth and characterization of Al2O3 films on fluorine functionalized epitaxial graphene
Authors: Robinson Zachary R. , Jernigan Glenn G. , Wheeler Virginia D. , Hernández Sandra C. , Eddy Charles R. , Mowll Tyler R. , Ong Eng Wen , Ventrice Carl A. , Geisler Heike , Pletikosic Ivo , Yang Hongbo , Valla Tonica
Published: August 2016

Intelligent engineering of graphene-based electronic devices on SiC(0001) requires a better understanding of processes used to deposit gate-dielectric materials on graphene. Recently, Al2O3 dielectrics have been shown to form conformal, pinhole-free thin films by functionalizing the top surface of the graphene with fluorine prior to atomic layer deposition (ALD) of the Al2O3 using a trimethylaluminum (TMA) precursor. In this work, the functionalization and ALD-precursor adsorption processes have been studied with angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It has been found that the functionalization process has a negligible effect on the electronic structure of the graphene, and that it results in a twofold increase in the adsorption of the ALD-precursor. In situ TMA-dosing and XPS studies were also performed on three different Si(100) substrates that were terminated with H, OH, or dangling Si-bonds. This dosing experiment revealed that OH is required for TMA adsorption. Based on those data along with supportive in situ measurements that showed F-functionalization increases the amount of oxygen (in the form of adsorbed H2O) on the surface of the graphene, a model for TMA-adsorption on graphene is proposed that is based on a reaction of a TMA molecule with OH.
Infinite rank Schrödinger-Virasoro type Lie conformal algebras
Authors: Fan Guangzhe , Su Yucai , Xia Chunguang
Published: August 2016

Motivated by the structure of certain modules over the loop Virasoro Lie conformal algebra and the Lie structures of Schrödinger-Virasoro algebras, we construct a class of infinite rank Lie conformal algebras CSV(a, b), where a,  b are complex numbers. The conformal derivations of CSV(a, b) are uniformly determined. The rank one conformal modules and ℤ-graded free intermediate series modules over CSV(a, b) are classified. Corresponding results of the conformal subalgebra CHV(a, b) of CSV(a, b) are also presented.
Development of core ion temperature gradients and edge sheared flows in a helicon plasma device investigated by laser induced fluorescence measurements
Authors: Thakur S. C. , Gosselin J. J. , McKee J. , Scime E. E. , Sears S. H. , Tynan G. R.
Published: August 2016

We report experimental observation of ion heating and subsequent development of a prominent ion temperature gradient in the core of a linear magnetized plasma device, and the controlled shear de-correlation experiment. Simultaneously, we also observe the development of strong sheared flows at the edge of the device. Both the ion temperature and the azimuthal velocity profiles are quite flat at low magnetic fields. As the magnetic field is increased, the core ion temperature increases, producing centrally peaked ion temperature profiles and therefore strong radial gradients in the ion temperature. Similarly, we observe the development of large azimuthal flows at the edge, with increasing magnetic field, leading to strong radially sheared plasma flows. The ion velocities and temperatures are derived from laser induced fluorescence measurements of Doppler resolved velocity distribution functions of argon ions. These features are consistent with the previous observations of simultaneously existing radially separated multiple plasma instabilities that exhibit complex plasma dynamics in a very simple plasma system. The ion temperature gradients in the core and the radially sheared azimuthal velocities at the edge point to mechanisms that can drive the multiple plasma instabilities, that were reported earlier.
Towards developing a compact model for magnetization switching in straintronics magnetic random access memory devices
Authors: Barangi Mahmood , Erementchouk Mikhail , Mazumder Pinaki
Published: August 2016

Strain-mediated magnetization switching in a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) by exploiting a combination of piezoelectricity and magnetostriction has been proposed as an energy efficient alternative to spin transfer torque (STT) and field induced magnetization switching methods in MTJ-based magnetic random access memories (MRAM). Theoretical studies have shown the inherent advantages of strain-assisted switching, and the dynamic response of the magnetization has been modeled using the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation. However, an attempt to use LLG for simulating dynamics of individual elements in large-scale simulations of multi-megabyte straintronics MRAM leads to extremely time-consuming calculations. Hence, a compact analytical solution, predicting the flipping delay of the magnetization vector in the nanomagnet under stress, combined with a liberal approximation of the LLG dynamics in the straintronics MTJ, can lead to a simplified model of the device suited for fast large-scale simulations of multi-megabyte straintronics MRAMs. In this work, a tensor-based approach is developed to study the dynamic behavior of the stressed nanomagnet. First, using the developed method, the effect of stress on the switching behavior of the magnetization is investigated to realize the margins between the underdamped and overdamped regimes. The latter helps the designer realize the oscillatory behavior of the magnetization when settling along the minor axis, and the dependency of oscillations on the stress level and the damping factor. Next, a theoretical model to predict the flipping delay of the magnetization vector is developed and tested against LLG-based numerical simulations to confirm the accuracy of findings. Lastly, the obtained delay is incorporated into the approximate solutions of the LLG dynamics, in order to create a compact model to liberally and quickly simulate the magnetization dynamics of the MTJ under stress. Using the developed delay equation, the efficiency of the straintronics switching over the STT method is highlighted by analytically investigating the energy-delay trade-off of both methodologies.
Unifying the rotational and permutation symmetry of nuclear spin states: Schur-Weyl duality in molecular physics
Authors: Schmiedt Hanno , Jensen Per , Schlemmer Stephan
Published: August 2016

In modern physics and chemistry concerned with many-body systems, one of the mainstays is identical-particle-permutation symmetry. In particular, both the intra-molecular dynamics of a single molecule and the inter-molecular dynamics associated, for example, with reactive molecular collisions are strongly affected by selection rules originating in nuclear-permutation symmetry operations being applied to the total internal wavefunctions, including nuclear spin, of the molecules involved. We propose here a general tool to determine coherently the permutation symmetry and the rotational symmetry (associated with the group of arbitrary rotations of the entire molecule in space) of molecular wavefunctions, in particular the nuclear-spin functions. Thus far, these two symmetries were believed to be mutually independent and it has even been argued that under certain circumstances, it is impossible to establish a one-to-one correspondence between them. However, using the Schur-Weyl duality theorem we show that the two types of symmetry are inherently coupled. In addition, we use the ingenious representation-theory technique of Young tableaus to represent the molecular nuclear-spin degrees of freedom in terms of well-defined mathematical objects. This simplifies the symmetry classification of the nuclear wavefunction even for large molecules. Also, the application to reactive collisions is very straightforward and provides a much simplified approach to obtaining selection rules.
Picosecond wide-field time-correlated single photon counting fluorescence microscopy with a delay line anode detector
Authors: Hirvonen Liisa M. , Becker Wolfgang , Milnes James , Conneely Thomas , Smietana Stefan , Le Marois Alix , Jagutzki Ottmar , Suhling Klaus
Published: August 2016

We perform wide-field time-correlated single photon counting-based fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) with a crossed delay line anode image intensifier, where the pulse propagation time yields the photon position. This microchannel plate-based detector was read out with conventional fast timing electronics and mounted on a fluorescence microscope with total internal reflection (TIR) illumination. The picosecond time resolution of this detection system combines low illumination intensity of microwatts with wide-field data collection. This is ideal for fluorescence lifetime imaging of cell membranes using TIR. We show that fluorescence lifetime images of living HeLa cells stained with membrane dye di-4-ANEPPDHQ exhibit a reduced lifetime near the coverslip in TIR compared to epifluorescence FLIM.
Heating and compression of a laser produced plasma in a pulsed magnetic field
Authors: Creel J. R. , Donnelly T. , Lunney J. G.
Published: August 2016

A pulsed 0.3 T magnetic field was used to heat and compress a low-temperature laser produced copper plasma. The magnetic field was generated using a planar 3-turn coil positioned 10 mm above the ablation spot. The plasma flowing through a central aperture in the coil was strongly focused. Inductive heating of the plasma caused a large enhancement of the overall visible light emission and the appearance of Cu II line emission. The plasma focusing is also evident in the constriction of the spatial distribution of deposited copper. The plasma heating and focusing can be explained in the framework of resistive magnetohydrodynamics.
Ab initio calculation of electron–phonon coupling in monoclinic β-Ga2O3 crystal
Authors: Ghosh Krishnendu , Singisetti Uttam
Published: August 2016

The interaction between electrons and vibrational modes in monoclinic β-Ga2O3 is theoretically investigated using ab-initio calculations. The large primitive cell of β-Ga2O3 gives rise to 30 phonon modes all of which are taken into account in transport calculation. The electron-phonon interaction is calculated under density functional perturbation theory and then interpolated using Wannier–Fourier interpolation. The long-range interaction elements between electrons and polar optical phonon (POP) modes are calculated separately using the Born effective charge tensor. The direction dependence of the long-range POP coupling in a monoclinic crystal is explored and is included in the transport calculations. Scattering rate calculations are done using the Fermi golden rule followed by solving the Boltzmann transport equation using the Rode's method to estimate low field mobility. A room temperature mobility of 115 cm2/V s is observed. Comparison with recent experimentally reported mobility is done for a wide range of temperatures (30 K–650 K). It is also found that the POP interaction dominates the electron mobility under low electric field conditions. The relative contribution of the different POP modes is analyzed and the mode 21 meV POP is found to have the highest impact on low field electron mobility at room temperature.
Estimation of resist sensitivity for extreme ultraviolet lithography using an electron beam
Authors: Oyama Tomoko Gowa , Oshima Akihiro , Tagawa Seiichi
Published: August 2016

It is a challenge to obtain sufficient extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure time for fundamental research on developing a new class of high sensitivity resists for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) because there are few EUV exposure tools that are very expensive. In this paper, we introduce an easy method for predicting EUV resist sensitivity by using conventional electron beam (EB) sources. If the chemical reactions induced by two ionizing sources (EB and EUV) are the same, the required absorbed energies corresponding to each required exposure dose (sensitivity) for the EB and EUV would be almost equivalent. Based on this theory, we calculated the resist sensitivities for the EUV/soft X-ray region. The estimated sensitivities were found to be comparable to the experimentally obtained sensitivities. It was concluded that EB is a very useful exposure tool that accelerates the development of new resists and sensitivity enhancement processes for 13.5 nm EUVL and 6.x nm beyond-EUVL (BEUVL).
Effective mobility enhancement of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors by holographically generated periodic conductor
Authors: Jeong Jaewook , Kim Joonwoo , Kim Donghyun , Jeon Heonsu , Jeong Soon Moon , Hong Yongtaek
Published: August 2016

In this study, we demonstrate a mobility enhancement structure for fully transparent amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) by embedding a holographically generated periodic nano-conductor in the back-channel regions. The intrinsic field-effect mobility was enhanced up to 2 times compared to that of a reference sample. The enhancement originated from a decrease in the effective channel length due to the highly conductive nano-conductor region. By combining conventional and holographic lithography, the performance of the a-IGZO TFT can be effectively improved without varying the composition of the channel layer.
Heteroagglomeration of nanosilver with colloidal SiO2 and clay
Authors: Maillette Sébastien , Peyrot Caroline , Purkait Tapas , Iqbal Muhammad , Veinot Jonathan G. C. , Wilkinson Kevin J.
Published: August 2016

Environmental contextThe fate of nanomaterials in the environment is related to their colloidal stability. Although numerous studies have examined their homoagglomeration, their low concentration and the presence of high concentrations of natural particles implies that heteroagglomeration rather than homoagglomeration is likely to occur under natural conditions. In this paper, two state-of-the art analytical techniques were used to identify the conditions under which nanosilver was most likely to form heteroagglomerates in natural waters. AbstractThe environmental risk of nanomaterials will depend on their persistence, mobility, toxicity and bioaccumulation. Each of these parameters is related to their fate (especially dissolution, agglomeration). The goal of this paper was to understand the heteroagglomeration of silver nanoparticles in natural waters. Two small silver nanoparticles (nAg, ~3nm; polyacrylic acid- and citrate-stabilised) were covalently labelled with a fluorescent dye and then mixed with colloidal silicon oxides (SiO2, ~18.5nm) or clays (~550nm SWy-2 montmorillonite). Homo- and heteroagglomeration of the nAg were first studied in controlled synthetic waters that were representative of natural fresh waters (50μg Ag L–1; pH 7.0; ionic strength 10–7 to 10–1 M Ca) by following the sizes of the nAg by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The polyacrylic acid-coated nanosilver was extremely stable under all conditions, including in the presence of other colloids and at high ionic strengths. However, the citrate-coated nanosilver formed heteroaggregates in presence of both colloidal SiO2 and clay particles. Nanoparticle surface properties appeared to play a key role in controlling the physicochemical stability of the nAg. For example, the polyacrylic acid stabilized nAg-remained extremely stable in the water column, even under conditions for which surrounding colloidal particles were agglomerating. Finally, enhanced dark-field microscopy was then used to further characterise the heteroagglomeration of a citrate-coated nAg with suspensions of colloidal clay, colloidal SiO2 or natural (river) water.
Contrasting intra-annual patterns of six biotic groups with different dispersal mode and ability in Mediterranean temporary ponds
Authors: Boix Dani , Caria Maria Carmela , Gascón Stéphanie , Mariani Maria Antonietta , Sala Jordi , Ruhí Albert , Compte Jordi , Bagella Simonetta
Published: August 2016

The temporal patterns of six biotic groups (from phytoplankton to amphibians) and their responses to environmental variation were studied in a set of Mediterranean temporary ponds. These biotic groups differed widely in dispersal ability and dispersal mode (active v. passive) and, for this reason, we predicted that they would exhibit different temporal patterns and responses to environmental factors. Six temporary ponds were sampled three times: at the beginning (January), middle (March) and end (May) of the hydroperiod. For each biotic group, we evaluated temporal variation in composition, species richness, among-pond similarities and number of typifying taxa. Moreover, a β diversity partitioning procedure was used to obtain the relative contributions of the replacement and richness components to overall β diversity. Finally, the effects of water, pond and landscape variables on composition and taxa richness were analysed for each group. Different temporal patterns were observed among the biotic groups studied, and in some (but not all) cases these differences were explained by their dispersal ability. Similarly, we observed that environmental control was group specific. These results advance the notion that communities in Mediterranean temporary ponds are highly variable over time and that generalisations with regard to patterns and controls across taxonomic groups are not supported.
Voseo and tuteo, the countryside and the city
Authors: Bertolotti Virginia
Published: August 2016

This study presents new evidence that supports the idea that at the beginning of the 19th century there were two distinct norms used by Spanish speakers in the Río de la Plata region as forms of address: an American/rural norm (vos tenés/tenéis) and a European/urban norm (tú tienes). That explains the use of voseante and tuteante pronominal and verbal forms as the forms used today and also explains the different attitudes toward one and the other. The data analyzed were taken from the play El valiente fanfarrón y el criollo socarrón (‘The Brave Braggart and the Sarcastic Creole’), a literary source that has been scarcely explored by the history of language in the Río de la Plata.
¿De dónde sos?
Authors: Sorenson Travis
Published: August 2016

The current study investigates the address systems of Argentines and Salvadorans living in the United States in order to determine whether these voseante speakers accommodate to forms used by other Hispanic groups with whom they come into contact by shifting from voseo to tuteo. Previous research has shown a decrease from high levels of voseo among Salvadorans in El Salvador to significantly lower levels among their U.S.-based counterparts. In the current study, the same methodology has been used to study Argentine immigrants. It was hypothesized that for reasons such as national pride and socioeconomic status, the Argentines would maintain voseante forms of address at a much higher rate, something borne out by the data.
Use and perception of the pronominal trio vos, tú, usted in a Nicaraguan community in Miami, Florida*
Authors: López Alonzo Karen
Published: August 2016

This study investigates how, in a context of dialect contact and possible shift, members of the Nicaraguan community in Miami use and talk about the 2sg pronominal trio vos, tú, usted. Through observations, a questionnaire, and audio recordings of interactions and interviews, this paper explores the patterns of personal pronoun choice, their frequency, their contexts, interlocutors’ awareness of the switch between vos and tú, and generational differences. I present evidence of participants indexing a politeness distinction that includes, at times, not two pronouns but all three. Ultimately, what is observed is a dialect leveling that may be rooted, at least partially, in one-on-one accommodation by Nicaraguans to the more unmarked Miami pronominal system of Cuban-Americans.
The changing system of Costa Rican pronouns of address
Authors: Michnowicz Jim , Despain J. Scott , Gorham Rebecca
Published: August 2016

This study examines the reported use of three forms of address (tú, vos, usted) in Costa Rican Spanish. Previous studies indicate three phenomena of interest: (1) Usted is used with [+solidarity] interlocutors; (2) While tuteo has been historically absent, some studies suggest an increase in tuteo use among young speakers; (3) Older studies indicated that younger speakers were increasing their use of vos. Based on 209 surveys, results indicate an increase in ustedeo among younger speakers, which contradicts earlier studies. Possible explanations include the socio-political history of Costa Rica, as well as a linguistic reaction against the influx of voseo-using Nicaraguan immigrants. Finally, no clear evidence of expanding tuteo is found, at least for the survey data analyzed here.
“Fijáte…sabes que le digo yo”
Authors: Woods Michael R. , Shin Naomi
Published: August 2016

This study investigates voseo and tuteo among Salvadorans residing in Oregon and examines whether tuteo increases as a result of contact with Hispanics of Mexican descent. Analyses of 404 tokens of 2sg verbs taken from natural conversations indicated clear preferences depending on social networks. Salvadoran-oriented Salvadorans mostly relied on voseo, while Mexican-oriented Salvadorans almost exclusively employed tuteo. While we found little intra-speaker variation, voseantes’ tokens of tuteo primarily occurred in contexts of reported speech, indicating that, for voseantes, tuteo signals ‘otherness’. We predicted that, among the tuteantes, voseo would linger in set phrases, such as fijáte. This prediction was not borne out, suggesting that fixed expressions index speakers’ identification with the community of their choice rather than national origin.
Forms of address and community identity
Authors: Kluge Bettina
Published: August 2016

The main focus of this section is the concept of identity. Taking different methodological approaches, the authors show how various aspects of the speakers’ identity as well as personal relationships are indexed through the use of pronominal forms of address. As Raymond (this volume) stresses, the way we refer to each other is “one of the primary means through which we (re-)create and (re-)establish our respective identities”, how we wish to be seen by others and how we openly categorize others in relation to ourselves, as equals, subordinates or superiors, in whatever category we focus on at the moment of talking. In what follows, I will first summarize some key points of the respective papers before setting them into perspective with each other.
The Split T Analysis
Authors: Sigur∂sson Halldór Ármann
Published: August 2016

This essay pursues The Split T Analysis, claiming that finite clauses have three syntactically active T heads, roughly corresponding to the Reichenbachian S, R, E: Speech Tense, TS, in the C-domain, Referential Tense, TR (or simply T) in the T-domain, and Event Tense, TE, in the v-domain. This analysis, it is argued, enables a coherent account of the relationship between Tense morphology (including Tense Agreement) and Tense syntax (including Sequence of Tenses phenomena and Double Access Readings).
Agreement is not an essential ingredient of finiteness
Authors: Åfarli Tor A.
Published: August 2016

I argue in this article that agreement is not an essential ingredient of T/finiteness. Using the mechanism of valuation of unvalued features, I argue that unvalued agreement features in T only exist if there is visible subject – verb agreement in the language/dialect. Correspondingly, I argue that unvalued agreement features in participles only exist if there is visible subject – participle agreement. The likelihood that these assumptions are correct is demonstrated through a comparative analysis of expletive subjects and agreement relations in impersonal constructions in Norwegian dialects and in English.
Non-finiteness in Saamáka
Authors: van de Vate Marleen Susanne , Veenstra Tonjes
Published: August 2016

In this paper we demonstrate that the creole language Saamáka does exhibit the finite vs. non-finite distinction by analysing the semantic characteristics and syntactic distribution of complementizer fu. We adopt a Klein style analysis of finiteness and argue that clauses embedded under this complementizer lack the features Assertion and Topic Time, and, hence, that these clauses are nonfinite. Based on this semantic analysis, we propose to split up the Fin-head and demonstrate that complementizer fu is base-generated in the higher Fin-position. As a result, we claim that our analysis calls for a richer lower C-domain than previously assumed in the literature.
Contradictory parameter settings in one mind
Authors: Jin Fufen , Eide Kristin Melum
Published: August 2016

This paper reports a case study of Mandarin-Norwegian bilingual boy born into a Mandarin-speaking immigrant family in Norway. Mandarin and Norwegian are typologically distinct languages and presumably have contradictory parameters in the domains of finiteness and word order, the focal areas of the present study. The study explores whether there is cross-linguistic influence in the domains of finiteness and word order, leading the Mandarin-Norwegian bilingual child to lengthy periods of ungrammatical outcomes in Norwegian or a path of acquisition distinguishable from that of monolingual Norwegian children in relevant respects. The data are drawn from 5 files of a longitudinal corpus, when the boy was aged between 5;11 and 6;11. The production data indicate that the informant has essentially the same type of abstract linguistic system as Norwegian monolinguals, though limited cross-linguistic influence can be observed in word order and in markings of M-finiteness (i.e. morphological finiteness expressed as verbal inflection; term due to Lasser, 1997: 77).
L’interjection dans la tradition grammaticale latine, de l’Antiquité à l’Humanisme
Authors: Colombat Bernard
Published: August 2016

This article examines the treatment of the interjection in the Latin grammatical tradition, from Varro to the 17th Century. The author focuses on the originality and specificity of this part of speech from different points of view: the etymology of the word ‘interiectio’ and its exploitation by grammarians; the coining of a specific term and the recognition of a subspecies within a word class; the definition of interiectio and its semiotic, phonological and syntactic functions. The interjection has a paradoxical status among Latin grammarians: lacking the status of a (full) word, and not being clearly structured, the interjection is often equivalent to an entire sentence, and is at times pragmatically more ‘efficient’ than a sentence.
Classifications of words in ancient Sanskrit grammars
Authors: Aussant Émilie
Published: August 2016

This paper focuses on the classifications of words which were elaborated in the different schools of ancient Sanskrit grammar (Vyākaraṇa). It describes first the Pāṇinian classification of words, the most elaborate, and then presents the word class system in post-Pāṇinian Sanskrit grammars, which are predominantly topically organized. The final aim of the study is to provide an overview of the word class system in the Sanskrit grammatical tradition, similar to the one given by Robins in 1966 for the European grammatical tradition
Study of the dialogues in the Sprachbücher by Juan Ángel de Zumaran (fl. 1617–1634)
Authors: Corvo Sánchez María José
Published: August 2016

Juan Ángel de Zumaran was a teacher and interpreter of the French, Italian, Spanish and German languages, who lived among the Germans in the first decades of the 17th century. In this period he published his textbooks or Sprachbücher, whose abbreviated titles are as follows: Tyrocinium (1617), Das Newe Sprachbuch (1621), Thesaurus (1626) and Grammatica (1634). In this paper, we would like to focus on his work as a teacher and, more specifically, on the analysis of the role of the dialogues in his original works.
Models of language and mankind in the milieu of the ‘Idéologues’
Authors: Ohligschlaeger-Lim Kerstin
Published: August 2016

In late 18th century Paris, the possibility of a scientific language in the humanities was a very frequently discussed subject. The circle of the so-called Ideologues who had an enormous influence both philosophically and institutionally, wanted to develop the theory of signs beyond the sensualism of Condillac. Within this purpose, the academic prize contest about the influence of the signs on the thoughts by the Institut National des Sciences et des Arts was tendered in 1797 and awarded in 1799. The topics of different models of language and mankind are two of the most frequent arguments in the essays sent to the contest. In the following article, a selection of eight out of 23 manuscripts will be sketched focusing mainly on their divergent points of view on language as an analytical method and on the role of mathematics as a model of scientific language.
Polysemy in 19th century linguistic studies in Chile
Authors: Rojas Darío
Published: August 2016

This paper analyzes the attitudes towards polysemy in the works of Chilean Spanish-speaking grammarians and lexicographers from the nineteenth century. These attitudes are mainly negative: the authors consider that words should have only one meaning (the “proper” meaning). Such a belief can be best understood within the frame of standard language ideology. As this language ideology aims for reduction of linguistic variation, the existence of semasiological variation (i.e., polysemy) becomes the subject of negative evaluation. Moreover, we underline the political motivations of such ideology and attitudes towards polysemy.
Paths and stages in acquisition of the phonological word in Hebrew
Authors: Ben-David Avivit , Bat-El Outi
Published: August 2016

The chapter traces the acquisition of the phonological word in Hebrew, with reference to the development of the prosodic word (number of syllables), the foot (stress patterns), the syllable and its sub-syllabic units (onset and coda), and the segments and their features. For each type of phonological structure, we (i) provide distributional data about Hebrew, in order to evaluate the role of frequency in phonological development; (ii) discuss the constraints active during the different stages of development; and (iii) consider the simplification strategies children apply en route to faithful targets. In conclusion, we consider the resources that children employ in the course of their phonological development.
Foundations of the early root category
Authors: Ravid Dorit , Ashkenazi O. , Levie Ronit , Ben-Zadok G. , Grunwald T. , Gillis Steven
Published: August 2016

The Semitic root is commonly assumed to be the main lexical prime in Hebrew, relating morphological families in the major word classes. Psycholinguistic evidence supports the role of the consonantal root in acquisition and processing of Hebrew, from children’s early ability to extract roots from familiar words to spelling and reading in Hebrew by adults. There is, however, little information regarding the actual distribution of roots in verbs, their canonical habitat, in the Hebrew addressed to young children. To meet this lacuna, the authors examined verbs, roots, and binyan patterns in two types of linguistic input to children: (1) spoken – child-directed speech to toddlers aged 1;8–2;2 and (2) written – preschoolers’ storybooks and 1st-2nd grade texts. Input verbs were analyzed for type and token frequencies, distributions of full and defective roots, morphological verb families, and semantic relations between verbs sharing the same root. The picture that emerges challenges established views of root-based morphological families, providing the basis for a novel model of early verb and root learning in Hebrew.
Expression of temporality in Hebrew narratives written by deaf adolescents
Authors: Kupersmitt Judy , Meir Irit
Published: August 2016

The chapter examines how temporal relations are expressed in narratives written by deaf compared with hearing Hebrew-speaking adolescents. Written texts of deaf students manifest distinct characteristics, attributable to the different circumstances of acquisition of spoken language in the two populations. The study focuses on two facets of narrative temporality – use of an anchor tense and tense shifting – in order to shed light on linguistic features of cartoon-based texts written by deaf students in Hebrew. Findings show that deaf students have good mastery of Hebrew tense forms and some sensitivity to how these are used to express different discourse functions. However, narrative tense anchoring is less established among deaf than hearing participants, and only the deaf students employ tense shifting for unconventional, not strictly temporal purposes. These results are explained in terms of language-internal features of the Hebrew system of marking tense that present deaf children with particular difficulties together with the external circumstances in which deaf children growing up in Israel acquire and use spoken language.